Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 418 Second Weekend

"Night of the Comet" grossed more than $5.5 million in its first week, Ronald heard on Sunday. In the middle of the week, some screening theaters were added, and the average box office of a single theater in a week has already reached 5,000.

This result was far beyond Atlantic's expectations. In the middle of the week, the box office did not drop significantly compared to the first weekend, which indicates that the film's reputation is very good, and it may be a box office in the second weekend. will exceed the first weekend.

   This box office trend made Ronald's second directorial work a Sleeping Beauty-style box office structure (SleepingHit). If the Atlantic can spend more marketing dollars and get more screenings, the potential of the opening weekend will not stop there.

   But this is all an afterthought. I chose the Atlantic Ocean because only they trusted themselves to be able to shoot science fiction well.

"Your performance has caught the attention of Mr. Ovitz, and the seven major studios have also taken the initiative to approach CAA. Your selection range for the third film will be much wider." Agent Nisita in the office , said to Ronald.

   "Of course it's very good." Ronald was happy. A person's status in the industry is often determined with his past history.

   "In the film industry, due to the huge difference between the top and bottom of the box office, practitioners often have a roller coaster-like experience.

For example, you are familiar with director Peter Bogdanovich, a former Oscar best director, best screenwriter nominee, since he failed to find a publisher for his girlfriend Stratten's posthumous work "They All Laughed" For half a million dollars, he bought the distribution rights to the film.

Then Peter used his production company to independently distribute the film. After spending three million dollars, Bogdanovich was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now he is wandering around major film companies, hoping to take on another directing project. money to pay debts. "

  Nisita said to Ronald.

   "Is it so miserable?"

   "Yeah, he just left CAA, he's a bit cornered now, I see his mansion, I'm afraid it will be replaced soon."

  Nisita answered, took out a black envelope from the drawer, and threw it over.

"This is an invitation letter for the premiere of Star Wars - Return of the Jedi, sent by Lucasfilm, and it seems that George Lucas is also very optimistic about you." Nisita invited Ronald to CAA for an interview this time, mainly Or give him this invitation.

   "It's a pity Helen isn't here." Ronald took out the invitation from the envelope, a large black letter, and folded it in half. On the cover is the red "Return of the Jedi" LOGO, Ronald opened it, and inside was a premiere ticket and a T-shirt.

  The navy blue T-shirt also has the words "Return of the Jedi". It seems that Lucasfilm hopes that the audience attending the premiere will wear T-shirts to participate.

   "Thursday at eight o'clock?" Ronald looked at the time on the invitation.

   "Yes, you are among the lucky ones among all Californians who saw "Return of the Jedi" first. All other movie theater audiences have to wait until the early morning to watch the midnight show.

   "All movie theaters?"

   "Yes, almost all of the movie's filming days are given to Return of the Jedi, after all, it is the finale of the much-anticipated Star Wars trilogy."

   "I have to make a phone call and ask." Ronald looked solemn, picked up the phone and called the president of Atlantic Pictures.

   "Tom, I heard that starting from Thursday, all California cinemas will be showing Return of the Jedi? What about our movie?"

"It doesn't start on Thursday, it's a day on Thursday. Our films will resume on Friday, but the screenings will be squeezed a lot, and that's something that can't be helped, Ronald. When the weekend is over, we'll have the next week. Theatrical releases will be compressed unless Return of the Jedi isn't as good as expected, but that's Lucas."

   "Okay, how much will it drop?"

   "We're fighting for it, but there's Star Wars on it, and there's a 'Lightning Dance' below the box office that hasn't dropped, so I'm not very optimistic. The number of theaters released may be reduced to less than 900."

   "Okay, okay. No, I'm not angry, there's nothing I can do about it, who made us meet this Big Mac?"

   Ronald put down the phone, still a little unwilling in his heart, for such a good movie, the momentum is very good. Who would have thought that "Star Wars" would be so appealing to theaters?

  Fortunately, I still have a weekend and a mid-week where I can grab the box office.

   is coming to Monday soon, and the box office results of the second weekend have been counted. The weekend box office was little changed compared to the first week, at just over $3.5 million. Atlantic also pulled over some theaters from "Valley Girl", and a total of 968 theaters were released.

  What is terrifying is that "Lightning Dance", the box office of the sixth weekend, did not drop but picked up a little, just over "Night of the Comet" by more than a hundred thousand dollars, squeezing Ronald's film to fourth place.

"How did they do it?" Ronald flipped through the box office data on The Hollywood Reporter. "Blitz Dance" didn't increase the number of theaters this week, and suddenly surpassed its fifth week in its sixth weekend. More than 500,000, and it has warmed up again.

  Ronald thought about it, called producer Don Simpson, and he should have explained why he had helped him so much.

   "Aha, Ronald, you're the fourth person to call me today to ask about this, you're very sharp." Don Simpson replied, yawning as it was almost noon, as if he had just woken up.

   "Who are the first two?"

   "Paramount's Michael Eisner, Katzenberg, and CAA President Michael Ovitz. No one else has my phone, hahaha."

   "Then what's the reason? Did you do any marketing? It doesn't seem like it." Ronald asked.

   "I'm telling you the 100% truth, no compromises," Don Simpson seemed to be blowing his nose over the phone. "The only extra thing we did last week was release a videotape."

   Ronald hung up the phone and started thinking about it. The seven major Hollywood studios spent a huge amount of money and influence trying to prevent the VCR from becoming popular in America. Who knew that "Lightning Dance" would immediately release a video tape while the movie was still in theaters, but it drove the box office. Growth is really an unexpected thing.

The only answer to    is that many viewers who have watched the video tapes choose to watch it again on the big screen of the cinema. They think the effect of watching in the cinema is much better than watching a small TV at home.

  Invisibly, videotape has become a propaganda channel. Anyway, most of the customers who bought or rented videotape watched it with their family and friends, thinking that it was better to go to the cinema to buy a ticket to see a better screen effect. As a result, a videotape brought in several moviegoers.

   "Ring, ringing, ringing..." The ringing of the phone interrupted Ronald's thoughts.

   Ronald answered the phone, it was Aunt Karen calling him.

   "Ronnie, you haven't called Auntie for a long time. Auntie misses you."

   "My fault, Aunt. I've been busy with the movie release these past few weeks. By the way, did you and Donna go to see it?"

   "Donna went to see it and said you did a great job and the comet was great. But that's not my cup of tea, I just want to see movies that reflect family life."

   "Okay, aunt, you know, I'm only twenty-three years old this year. When I'm a little older, I'll definitely make a family movie. Let's watch it together."

   "Of course, of course, you're a good boy. I'm waiting for that day, but if you have a successful film career in the future, or not, you promised me that you must go back and get a college degree..."

   Ronald and his aunt chatted for a while and were very happy. It was the family who thought about him. My aunt must have called herself to congratulate her when she knew that the new movie was released. Next time, let Richard remember to remind himself that he must call his family first when the new movie is released.

  Ronald continues to write a new film about karate.

   After chatting with Vidal for several days, Ronald gradually came up with an idea. Let the villain, the kid who bullied the protagonist Danny, is also a karate practitioner.

   And what he practiced is the kind of karate moves that are based on fierce and unreserved attacks. That's why Danny was very scared of him, didn't dare to resist, and was powerless to resist.

   In the end, Danny found a teacher from Dongying, and finally learned the method of rigidity and softness, defending and counterattacking, and defeated the villain.

   Instead of actively attacking the enemy, learn skills and fight back when others bully you. This is also in line with the oriental philosophy of rigidity and softness. Learning martial arts is for the bad guys dare not attack you, not for attacking others.

   Ronald felt that this story had a deeper content than the one he had written. The competition between the two is not just a competition between two boys for a girl, but a competition between two philosophies, two methods, and two wisdoms.

   One is the American tradition of preemption, relying on force to strike those who are not as good as themselves. The other is the traditional Chinese wisdom, attacking others from behind, focusing on doing your own thing well, and cultivating force in order not to be attacked by others.

   In this way, the contradictions of the story can have another dimension. The masters of the two protagonists are actually competing, not directly, but who can teach a better apprentice. Such a structure can add a lot of dramatic conflict and emotional experience.

   "Tony, let me tell you a story, a little kid, he transferred to Los Angeles to go to high school, he met a beautiful girl at school, and the two had a good impression of each other."

   Ronald went to the hair salon he used to go to, and found Tony, the hairstylist, to tell his story. The average audience isn't like professional screenwriters, they're listening to your story from an appreciative angle, and if it's not fun, they won't listen, and Ronald knows there's room for improvement.

  Tony kept responding to Ronald's story, sometimes asking a few questions.

   "Danny found a teacher, he is from Dongying. He taught him the philosophy of karate, which is to be both offensive and defensive."

   "What?" Tony continued to look at Ronald in the mirror and trimmed his hair.

   "It's just attack and defense, just use one trick."

   "How is it possible, when you hit someone with your fist, someone else has a chance to hit you."

   "That's right, just turn around like this."

   "Oh, don't move, don't move, I'll cut you off like this."

   "Okay, okay." Ronald ended the story unsuccessfully. It seems that there is still a way to tell this journey of learning and the oriental wisdom and philosophy of karate in a way that ordinary audiences can understand.

   (end of this chapter)