Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 677 Chapter 307 The box office rose against the trend in the second week

   "Ronald, in addition to Pepsi, there is an agency that wants to add commercials to the 'Top Gun' video and wants you to direct it."

   "Oh? Which company?" Ronald received a long-distance call from Hollywood producer Bruckheimer. Since AT&T was split, the telephone companies in each area operated independently, and the cost of in-room calls and answering machines was much lower. However, the price of long-distance calls rose instead of falling. Ronald often had to chat with multiple people about his creative projects, and the monthly bill for phone calls skyrocketed.

"It's not the company, it's the American Navy. They want to put a recruiting ad on the tape. Because the Navy has a strict bidding process, they've sent out bids to all the 4A agencies, but they strongly imply that you're their favorite. As long as you nod your nod, 100% will win the bid.”

   "Uh, well, if any 4A advertising company wins the bid, let him contact Eddie, the general manager of my Daydream Productions."

  Two investigators from the Navy quickly discovered that Ronald's film portrayed the work of the Navy very attractively.

   In addition to pilots who can pick up girls, play MiG pilots, play volleyball on the beach, and drive cool fighter jets like the Tomcat, even the ground crew is portrayed by Ronald as a good job choice.

Whether it's dancing to rock music on the aircraft carrier, or the ground crew working in the towers of the base, communicating with the pilots by radio, it is a very desirable job (various scenes in the sun and oil and wrenches) Ronald didn't take it).

In the second week of the movie's release, the Navy saw a more than 300 percent increase in enquiries from recruiting offices. The bureaucrats of the Pentagon were already worried about the continuous decline in the number of recruits every year. This time, in order to seize the opportunity, they overcame the bureaucratic red tape and quickly opened recruiting points in movie theaters in major cities across the country.

   Ever since the Vietnam War made civilian families in America cry for their children who died under the conscription system, a major issue in the election is to change the conscription system to a conscription system. After voters got their wish, the Pentagon quickly discovered that they could no longer recruit soldiers from good middle-class families.

  No one wants to serve in the army, be humiliated by the instructors, and have the chance to die on the battlefield. Soon, the makeup of the army was turned upside down. Blacks and various minorities began to rapidly surpass their respective percentages of the total population and became the Army's largest source of troops.

   And the worst is the Air Force and Navy. Both services require a large number of highly educated people to serve as highly skilled arms. But American society has gradually regarded being a soldier as a worthless place. The navy has become the most difficult military service to recruit because it has to serve at sea, away from land and family, surpassing the air force.

   Originally the most honorable military service in America and the first choice for the children of many senator families to enlist in the army, now gradually began to suffer serious recruitment difficulties.

  If the soldier is not for honor, but for a job and a way out, the quality of soldiers will soon become worse and worse.

   This time "Top Gun" brought an unexpected surprise. Young people quickly discover that being a soldier is not only a job, but a "cool" job. The sense of honor and the status of being a naval pilot when picking up girls is invincible, which makes young people start to look forward to being a soldier again.

   Ronald quickly picked up on the trend, and in nightclubs and bars, people started renting navy uniforms and wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses to pick up girls. The boat caps and badges drove the girls crazy, although Ronald guessed many were fake navy.

  Going to a nightclub was proposed by an advertising agency hired by PepsiCo. Ronald also met an old acquaintance, Darcy Maguire, the original creative director of BBDO.

   Ronald's original agent in New York, Eddie, took over the duties of general manager of "Daydream Pictures". Pepsi gave a lot of creative freedom and a lot of production costs.

   Their only request is to let Ronald combine the iconic scenes in "Top Gun" to promote Pepsi's latest "Sugar-Free Pepsi"

   With huge agricultural subsidies and food stamps for the poor, a side effect is a massive increase in obesity. City dwellers are chasing fads, the wealthy are exercising in the gym, and the middle class, who have no money or time, prefer to find comfort in products.

   "Sugar-free Pepsi", which was launched by Pepsi in the 1960s, was once again welcomed by consumers in the mid-1980s.

  Pepsi also found a quarterback of the San Francisco Four-Nines last year, Joe Montana, to endorse Sugar-Free Pepsi. In addition, they tasted the sweetness of sponsoring the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, and this time they also sponsored the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

This time, Tom Cruise showed his sturdy figure several times in the movie. Pepsi was originally interested in such a model for young women (Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, etc., sturdy and shirtless, and dressed in cool clothes) uniforms), and movies that have huge appeal with young men (supersonic jets, air combat, and cool uniforms) are of great interest. The box office in the first two weeks also gave them huge confidence.

   Pepsi even wanted to find Tom Cruise for a commercial. However, this is inconsistent with Paula's star positioning for Cruise. Pepsi took the next step, hitchhiking, and found an actor who looked a lot like Cruise to shoot the commercial.

   After discussing with the film's two producers and Paula Wagner, they all readily agreed to use the film and the star's image for the advertisement.

  Advertising on videotape will not be broadcast on the influential public television station, on the other hand, it can increase the extra income of the film. Neither side has any objection to this.

  Ronald wrote the script, imitating the scene at the beginning of the movie, where the Lone Ranger flies upside down above the MiG-28.

   He changed the actor who looked like Cruise and changed his call sign to Mustang, which means a maverick young man like Maverick.

  During the flight, the sugar-free cola placed on the drink cup holder was stuck to the cup holder by the companion and could not be taken out to enjoy. The Mustang had to fly upside down, took the Pepsi poured out with a cup, and drank it.

  Advertising Ronald didn't do it himself, just a name. He found Kathryn Bigelow, who couldn't find a job, and gave her a director's fee, and then hired Cameron to build a special effects ring system on the ground to shoot the scenes in the cockpit.

   Darcy Maguire gave the green light to Ronald's plan. Since the two have cooperated, their careers have grown by leaps and bounds in their respective industries. Maguire has become a rare female creative vice president in the industry.

   PepsiCo is a big customer, and the annual advertising production cost is tens of millions. Since Ronald agreed, she was also happy to let a director who was also a woman produce it. The final result delighted Darcy Maguire, the language of Katherine Bigelow's shots was beautiful, and the final result had a sense of comedy parodying "Top Gun."

   "Satisfied?" Ronald nodded when he saw the client, and turned back to congratulate Bigelow.

   With the payment for this filming, she can hang out in Hollywood for a long time again. There are few opportunities for female directors to get independent investment.

   "You know, the Navy is also bidding for a 30-second recruitment advertisement, and they also asked me to bid."

   "What do they think? Recruitment advertisements are actually not easy to shoot, especially now that the American people's psychological trauma to the Vietnam War has not fully healed."

   "I didn't submit a plan. In fact, your movie is the best recruiting advertisement. You don't need to submit any more ideas."

   "Ah? Don't you do business when you deliver to your door?"

   "You don't understand, this is the best strategy. Those people in the Navy are very concerned about costs. If I can convince them, they will think that I really care about them, and there will be no less orders in the future."

  "So it is", Ronald felt that these people had a very clear understanding of the psychology of customers, and they deserved to open an advertising company.

"Actually, this time is a good opportunity for you. Pepsi's sponsorship of Top Gun's video tapes this time will definitely lead to a surge in sales. I watched Top Gun, it's a phenomenal movie. This is your reputation in the fast-moving consumer goods market. It's completely established.

   I guess Coca-Cola will want you soon too. Even other giants in the snack industry will want to try their luck on you. The higher your movie box office, the more extra Pepsis you will sell, and the better your reputation in advertising will be..."

  Darcy Maguire gave Ronald a description of his business prospects. Ronald thought it was a good opportunity, and his daydreams also required more shooting opportunities with less demanding requirements, training technicians and artistic creators, and when the opportunity came, he could start shooting from low-cost exploitative films .

   Week two, the big Memorial Day weekend is over.

   The box office statistics are out. In the second week, the box office did not decrease but increased, and it rose to 10.5 million. The box office of the single hall increased by more than 10%, and the total box office exceeded 22 million.

  “Huh…”

   This result really scared Paramount.

  Although the box office champion was surpassed by "Cobra" starring Stallone, who was signed by Minahan Golan with a salary of more than 10 million, it only ranked second.

   But the Warner Bros. distribution that Minahan asked for, in order to support the first movie of the first superstar he signed, arranged more than 2,100 movie theaters to show.

   That's it, and it's only slightly higher than "Top Gun" weekend box office.

   Ronald used 1,000 theaters to almost equal the box office of 2,000 other theaters. And it was the second week with the usual box office decline, the first week against Stallone.

  Paramount's distribution manager, Sid Ganis, went crazy, and he approached President Ned Tanning with a very aggressive plan. One thousand additional copies will be printed, and 500 additional theaters will be screened urgently starting in June. Let the number of screening theaters become more than 1,500.

   "It's a very workable plan. We've leniently estimated the appeal of Ronald's films, and the impact of Tom Cruise. But we still underestimated their charm.

   The box office of the second week can greatly exceed the box office of the first week, which shows that the audience of this movie are those who did not go to the cinema very much. This kind of opportunity is rare. We predict that this film can be shown for a long time, and it can start in the summer vacation in June as a new film to play in the ring. "

  Tanin quickly signed the document and agreed, this Ronald gave himself endless surprises.

   "The next international premiere will also depend on their international appeal. How do you predict?" Tanin asked.

"We expect good results in all English-speaking countries, Britain and Australia. It will also sell well in East Ying and South Korea, and in Hong Kong on the other side, there will also be some progress. The fierce scenes of fighter dogfights do not need to be Language can also be transmitted.

   And the charm of McGillis and Cruise can be seen by anyone who is not blind. "

   "You guys have worked so hard to replace all their hotels with penthouse executive suites. How is the arrangement for the Royal Premiere in Britain?"

   "The Royal Office said that the Princess will attend the premiere, and the Queen is also fighting for it. She will also receive new Lordship winners and outstanding representatives of cultural undertakings."

   "Very good, keep in touch, and if Her Majesty can make it to the London premiere, an additional PR fee to get our lads on the British press."

   (end of this chapter)