Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 705 The first weekend box office does not represent the total box office

"congratulations……"

   Ronald took the hands of several creators and congratulated them one by one in the hall of the theater after the show was over.

The staff of   CinemaScore also sampled the audience's reactions here and pulled them to fill in the form to score.

  Ronald stood by and peeked at a few pictures, most of them still rated B+ or higher, which made him relieved.

   The audience reaction of this movie was okay, and there were many audience members in the bathroom discussing funny plots. It seems that the box office will not be completely overturned. If you are lucky, you can still make a return.

   "Congratulations, Betty," the lead actor Danny was pale, and his comedy never had so little laughter.

   "Happy together, happy together", Betty Midler is also an actress who has won the Golden Globe Award. Seeing comedy veteran Danny DeWito say this, I believe it. "Looking at Ronald's face, it looks good, what do you think?"

   "Really?" Danny DeVito ruffled his hair and clenched his girlfriend's hand tightly. "You're telling the truth? It seems we're doing a good job, eh?"

   He leaned over to Ronald to talk a little more with the Hollywood blockbuster and see what he thought of his first major comedy-drama film.

  Ronald is discussing with Disney's publicity staff, "This is not a traditional Zack comedy, and I am still very satisfied with the feeling of the audience."

   "But the number of laughter seems to be unqualified. We counted it strictly. Even in traditional neuro-comedy, the number of laughter is a little less."

"I feel like the next marketing plan needs to be adjusted..." Ronald said of the live ratings that CinemaScore saw, "It seems to be a little better than we expected. If the touchstone can be invested more, maybe the box office in the first week. Can it be improved?"

   "It's over, it's over, we're done." DeWeto only heard the first half of the sentence, "The marketing plan needs to be adjusted." His face suddenly turned pale, and he pulled his girlfriend back, his palms sweaty.

   "What, what are you talking about?" Betty Midler heard Dewito's muttering and hurried up to ask.

   "Producer Ronald said that the number and intensity of laughter were not as good as expected, and he was discussing with Xuanfa whether it was an adjusted marketing budget."

"Ah..." Betty Midler exclaimed, "It's over, I'm over. Our acting careers are over. We're not as good-looking as Helen, we can only rely on acting and laughing in this business. mix.

  If this movie is a big hit at the box office, the two of us will only be able to play supporting roles in small productions in the future. "

   "Ah... so bad?" DeWeto's face turned pale again, "It's over, you still have a singing career to rely on, I can only play Roger Coleman's low-cost exploitative films."

   Ronald did not know that the two protagonists were terrified.

  After he and Helen finished, they drove to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, which was just a few blocks away from the Pritt Theater.

   Little Bud helped him book a big suite.

  Ronald took a quick shower and came out in his bathrobe.

Helen didn't change out of the sleeveless red top, just took off her high-heeled sandals. She saw Ronald combed his hair back into an aviator hairstyle, and was wearing a pair of Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses in the room. .

   "I heard that you like men taller than you, beauty." Ronald took off his bathrobe, revealing his sturdy upper body.

"Hee hee hee...I think playing volleyball on the beach **** is very artistic now..." Helen's hair was combed high, and her blue eyes were full of admiration, wrapping her arms around Ronald's neck , and kissed him.

   "Tall men are more suitable for me, and I don't need to borrow a seat for a kiss scene."

   "How was my kiss scene?" Ronald kissed for ten seconds, then joked with Helen.

   He found that Helen was still closing her eyes, her face was intoxicated, and she pursed her lips nervously.

   Ronald couldn't hold back and kissed again.

   "Well...you act very well."

  …

   "Ding dong..."

   The next morning, Richard, the broker, knocked on his door again.

   "Come on", Ronald looked at Helen who was sleeping beside Begonia, got dressed, closed the bedroom door, opened the door and welcomed Richard.

   "The box office came out last night?"

   "Yes, this is your first production work and touchstone's first film. Mr. Eisner has taken care of it, and the data will be sent to you as soon as it comes out."

"How many?"

   "Less than 2 million. 1.7 million to be exact, with a margin of error of 20,000."

   "Tsk...hey..."

  Ronald sighed, this score is not very good. The first weekend is probably about 5 million box office results.

   Combined with the CinemaScore of around B+, the multiplier for the first weekend will be 5 or lower, and the multiplication of the two is the estimate of the total box office.

  If it can be shown for about ten weeks, the box office of the first weekend is multiplied by five, and the total box office of the whole movie is 25 million to 30 million.

   His first production work may be a tepid level. Although it didn't embarrass Eisner, it certainly wasn't as strong as he did to support his expected results.

   "What did the touchstone say?" Ronald asked Richard, frowning.

"Touchstone said that it will invest resources for publicity and distribution according to the original plan. There will be no shortage of newspaper interviews and TV interviews. This is what Katzenberg personally ordered. However, it will not invest any more resources to print copies and increase the number of screenings. The number of theaters is also very difficult.”

   "I see, I'll call Mr. Eisner."

   "I'm going to make an appointment with his secretary."

  Ronald's mood is a little down. After all, he is not a producer with any unique secrets. He can see whether the movie will sell well.

   This comedy is not a failure, but it is by no means a success. Fortunately, with a production budget of less than 10 million yuan, and a box office of 25 million yuan, it is already profitable, so how can it be explained to the first investment work of the Screen Fund and the touchstone for making live-action movies.

   is about Eisner's internal power struggle at Disney, and this achievement is far from a useful weight.

"It seems that my level of being a producer is not as good as being a director. After all, it was filmed based on dreams, and the movies that can be dreamed of, it is estimated that in the previous life, they were box office hits before they could be made into videotapes. be seen by oneself."

   "His secretary said he was in the office, Mr. Eisner wants to talk to you."

   "Mr. Eisner, the box office numbers are not very satisfactory." Ronald answered the phone and told Eisner his thoughts directly.

   "Don't be too discouraged, Ronald. It's just your production work, Jerry Zucker wants to change his directing style, it's his problem, there's a formula for success out there."

"Can this result help you in Disney?" Ronald asked. At that time, Eisner invested in this film, on the one hand, to give an explanation to the eldest son of the deputy commander, and on the other hand, the night show was for the purpose of making the movie at Disney. Internally, the achievements were used to combat the old school of animation, headed by the founder's nephew Roy Disney.

   "If there is only less than 30 million at the box office, I am afraid it is not good news for live-action movies. How about your next movie, or put it on the touchstone? I will give you the best treatment."

   "I'm still waiting to hear from Paramount, Mr. Eisner. Can you budget a little more?"

   "The people from the Screen Fund are very stubborn and insist on investing a budget of less than 10 million yuan. This time the family has a bad box office performance. I am afraid they have something to say and will further reduce the budget of each film."

   "Hey, these people really don't understand the business and art of filming."

   "Actually, based on your box office results, it is not difficult to attract investment. I can make 600 to 800 million here. If you find 5 million investment, it is almost the same."

  Michael Eisner is short-lived. He has been in charge of Paramount for ten years. He is not asked about movies under 15 million. Now he has to worry about the investment of millions of live-action movies.

   "Well, according to the contract, I have to wait for news from other studios, and then I will visit you."

   Ronald hung up.

   "Moonlight" is not the kind of high-concept movie that I am best at. If I want to invest 5 million together with Douglas Jr., I am afraid there is a lot of risk to take.

   "There is a villain in the house" gave him a wake-up call. For a movie that needs to urge the audience of "The Sound of Music", many factors are beyond his control. Who knows why those audiences who rarely see a movie a year will go to the cinema for what?

  To say that investment makes money, it is still more confident in high-concept movies like "Top Gun". It’s also good to recommend movies among friends, the movie where the aerial battle took down the MiG of the Soviet Union.

   "You make an appointment with Ned Tanin from Paramount, and we'll meet him and listen to his decision." Ronald asked his agent Richard to contact the production of "Moonlight Sultry".

   owns Paramount, Disney, and MGM/United Arts, which Weintraub recently acquired, and three companies expressed interest.

  The best is of course Paramount, they are not a big deal to invest in this kind of film, and they have the strongest distribution ability. Disney has budget constraints, and while Weintraub's power at MGM is unclear, their conditions are the most variable.

   "Ronnie, ah...you're here, Richard." Helen woke up and came out in her pajamas, and she greeted Richard.

   "I'll contact the studio first, then you and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley will go with you." Richard nodded in greeting, got up and left.

   "The box office results are out?" Helen packed herself up and came out to eat breakfast with Ronald.

"Yes, about five million or so in the first weekend. One hundred and one hundred theaters are not bad, and they can enter the top five of the box office chart." Ronald handed her a glass of orange juice and pushed the bread basket. past.

   "That's it? Isn't it as high as the weekend box office of 'Supergirl'?" Helen took the bread basket, took the vegetable salad, and was about to eat it. Hearing the box office numbers, he stared at Ronald with wide eyes.

   "Is it because of my performance problems that dragged down the box office?"

   The memory of the failure of the first two films came to mind again, and Helen stopped with her hand reaching for the bread, eating only salad and drinking orange juice. She touched her face, did she gain weight again?

Ronald cut a piece of fresh baguette and handed it to Helen, "Don't be nervous, the first weekend box office doesn't represent the total box office. Our CinemaScore is good, and the box office multiplier is expected to be five, so the total box office will not be less than 2,000. Five to thirty million."

   "Really?" Helen resumed her smile, she picked up the baguette and put it in her mouth. The fresh bread made a crisp sound and tasted really good.

   "Hee hee, this is the movie I acted in, the first time the box office exceeded 20 million."

   "It will be better in the future." Ronald wiped the crumbs from Helen's mouth. She is indeed not very lucky, and the two films she starred in both failed at the box office. Now the third film is the second female lead, and it has not been a big hit.

   (end of this chapter)