Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 707 The female star was torn up on the set

   "Yes, I've signed a distribution deal with MGM, and they're offering better terms than Paramount's."

   Ronald sat smugly at home, answering a call from Paramount President Ned Tanin.

  Tanin probably didn't expect that MGM's Weintraub was so fierce that in order to quickly gain dominance in the factional struggle, he was willing to pay for Ronald to make this drama.

   I don't know it was Weintraub, who was the owner of the record company. After the success of the two "Longwei Boys", he felt that he could handle everything. Or did he have some tricks, thinking that "Moonlight Sultry" could summon the "Sound of Music" audience, in short, he lost Ronald's new film distribution contract so quickly, which made him both happy and worried.

  I am glad that this film with a strong literary atmosphere was negated in this way, so as not to have a deadlock with Ronald. But I am also vaguely worried, what if Ronald creates another box office miracle? And this kind of film with a strong literary atmosphere will be liked by the film critics. If Ronald won any awards by then, it would be too late to regret it.

"Ronald, I want to congratulate you that you have enough budget to realize your dreams. But if there are other commercial films, don't forget Paramount. As long as it is a high-level commercial concept, I can be in high-level meetings. Slap the table to the old stubborn ones."

"I will, and I said the same to Mr. Eisner from Disney, and Mr. Barry Diller from Twentieth Century Fox. I'm going to die, and I'm going to fly to Massachusetts to talk to Cher about the heroine. ." Ronald flaunted his popularity and hung up.

"Damn, it turns out that Disney and Fox are also trying to figure out his idea." Ned Tanin put down the phone, smoked a cigar, and drank two glasses of whiskey, "No, such a genius must not be spared, I will Be the laughing stock of Hollywood."

He pressed the call button on the phone and told his secretary, "Get me on Michael Ovitz from CAA, damn, I'm going to talk to Ronald again, even if he's not a director and is willing to be a producer. , I must sign a few more movies with him."

   "You're right, Tanin must be restless." Richard handed the ticket, and he would go with him to find Cher in Massachusetts.

   "I didn't lie anyway, Eisner and Diller did say so." Ronald laughed. At Disney and Fox, the treatment of "Moonlight Sultry" is similar to that of Paramount. Everyone is a little worried about their transformation into an atypical commercial film.

   And neither studio is in a very good financial situation right now, and they really can’t bet a lot of money on their new projects without the generosity of Wall Street funds. MGM is still a bit more aggressive, and gave the distribution contract without any counter-offer.

"Now that I have got the distribution contract, I will negotiate with Xue Er, and I think the chance of success will be higher. Xue Er is a relatively straightforward person, as long as she feels that your show can help her acting career, she will definitely agree. "

   "Maybe, let's go to her first, and if she doesn't agree, then to Sally Field."

  The two flew to Boston, Massachusetts, and then transferred to a nearby town, Cohasset.

  This is the filming location of the Warner Bros. movie "The Witches of East Town", and Cher is preparing for the first day of filming.

  Ronald contacted Cher's agent through Nisita's wife, Paula, Tom Cruise's agent, and made an appointment to chat with Cher for a while in the morning before starting the game.

"The Witches of Eastwick" is a fantasy film about an alien wizard (played by Jack Nicholson) who comes to a small town in Rhode Island and has three single women Relationships, and then weird things going on in this religiously devout town.

  Cher still has long curly black hair. She met Ronald at the hotel where she was staying.

   "Ronald, what do you fancy about me? Chased here to ask me to participate in your movie? Tom also called to say good things about you."

   Ronald first took a look at Cher's appearance, and his gestures were filled with a superstar style. This made him very satisfied. In "Moonlight Sultry", Loretta wanted this sultry look after her heart was revived after falling in love with Johnny.

"I know that you are a very good actor. I just need a woman who is full of charm but lacks love in my movie. After being nourished by love, a beautiful woman who re-radiates brilliance. You are the most suitable. "

   "Aha...Did you write the script after knowing about Tom and me? Do you want Tom to act together?"

  Xue Er burst out laughing, she actually knew Ronald for a long time. The two met when their little friend Tatum O'Neal auditioned for Ronald's first film. At that time, there was also an accident where the actresses fought. Tatum was beaten by the older Melanie Griffiths, and he picked her up by himself.

   Then she met again at Madonna and Sean Penn's wedding, when she and Tom first met.

   "You are very good at pleasing women, Ronald. My focus of work recently has shifted from singing to acting. I actually like your movies and want to work with you. But..."

   "What?" Ronald glanced at Richard, "He's my agent, and I have no secrets with him."

   "No..." Cher hesitated.

   "I'll go out first." Richard went out of the room by himself.

   "You know, I have severe aphasia. The script you sent was so thick and the dialogue was so long that I didn't have time to read it.

  You know, people with aphasia need to spend five times more energy than normal people to read to barely do it. I can't even read my friend's phone number. "

   "This..." Ronald didn't expect Cher's aphasia to be so serious, much worse than Tom Cruise.

   "It shouldn't be a big problem, right? Didn't you play one of the three heroines in this play?"

   "I don't have many lines in this movie." Xue Er stroked her long hair, "And I asked someone to make a special arrangement."

   "It doesn't matter, I can do the same." Ronald agreed first and said, "Tom and I have also worked together. I arranged it very well, and no one found out on the set."

   Ronald asked someone to record the lines in the script, and then used a tape recorder to listen to Tom Cruise, so as to avoid the influence of aphasia.

"But my agent read your script, and he said to me, it has really good drama. But I either focus on reading the script or focus on acting, I can't do both at the same time. "Cher is still a little worried.

   "I can ask someone to record..." Ronald explained his approach, "You can ask Tom to verify that our effect on the set is still good."

   "But I'm not Italian, the characters here are all Italian in New York, and their accents are heavy."

  This "Moonlight is sultry", since it is a realistic drama, of course, the character must speak like an Italian, but also like an Italian in Brooklyn, with an Italian accent superimposed on a Brooklyn accent.

   "It's okay, I'll find a trainer who is proficient in accents and let her record all the lines in a Brooklyn-Italian accent, you can listen to it then."

   "But I'm not Italian, I'm Armenian with a little bit of American Indian, will the audience recognize me as an Italian woman?"

   "No problem at all, you have black hair, and you look a bit like the facial features of Italians." Ronald thought, anyway, in the dream you acted quite alike.

"Okay, since you've thought about it so thoughtfully, I believe you. The recording of the accent coach and script, let's wait until I finish filming this 'Witch of East Town', you know my aphasia, and watch two movies at the same time The script is very difficult."

   "Okay, no problem." Ronald heaved a sigh of relief, and the original heroine nodded in agreement.

   "You're going to hang out here, right? It's going to start in the afternoon. Hurry up and chat with my agent. If it's appropriate, we can reach a consensus after shooting the first day's footage in the afternoon."

   "Okay, just in time to watch the filming of this movie."

  …

   "The price is not expensive. Xueer's popularity is worth the price. Among the three heroines in 'Witch of East Town', her salary also ranks first."

  Ronald made a phone call and told Weintraub and Nisita what Cher had promised. After they called Cher's agent, they also tended to agree to the salary price she proposed.

   "But her schedule is very tight. After filming The Witch of East Town, she will go to Broadway soon. In addition, there is another movie 'Suspect' waiting for her. When she is free, it will be early next year."

"Tsk... She fights like this? There won't be any financial problems, right?" Ronald said, making three movies this year, a Broadway play, and new songs and performances, which are more than he can fight for himself. .

"I haven't heard that she is still living in the new apartment building in New York, and the rent is several thousand dollars a month. But it is also possible that you said that stars always have to maintain their pomp, otherwise the creditors will be forced to come to the door. .

How about   , can you agree to this schedule? "

   "It's not a big problem, anyway, Mr. Weintraub still needs three months, and the shooting schedule at the beginning of next year is about the same." Ronald reconfirmed with Weintraub and agreed to Cher's salary and schedule contract.

   "The female stars are so expensive now." Ronald looked at the numbers on the contract and let out a sigh.

  Cher's salary is relatively high among female stars, and it looks like one-third of Stallone's. If this trend of rising star prices continues, it will be impossible to make movies.

  …

   "Ronald, you're welcome."

  The first scene of "Witch of East Town" will be filmed this afternoon at the location of the town.

   "Hello, Mr. Nicholson."

   He was greeted by the hero Jack Nicholson.

   "Roger and I praised you very much when we called." Nicholson and Roger Coleman worked together for many years and were classmates in acting training classes together. They are friends of the poor and humble, and they often contact each other after they become famous.

   "I benefited a lot from Roger."

   "Ronnie?"

   "Michelle?

   Ronald suddenly found out that his ex-girlfriend Michelle Pfeiffer was also there.

   "Are you the heroine? Oh? Sorry, I don't know."

"Hahaha...Didn't you come to me? I still miss the headline last time." Pfeiffer laughed happily. She was involved in Ronald's scandal last time. The two hadn't seen each other for a long time. Surprise, so joking.

   "Haha, I'm here to find Cher and invite her to play my next movie. Don't be jealous, it's the role of an old woman..."

   "Okay, then I won't be jealous." Michelle Pfeiffer heard that he was playing a middle-aged man, so he kept silent.

   Once a Hollywood female star plays a middle-aged woman, it will announce the end of the girlhood, and she will only be able to play her mother in the future.

   "Where is Cher?"

   "I'm here..." Xue Er came out from behind, found a place to take the contract that Ronald took out, signed her name, and officially signed the "Moonlight Sultry" crew.

   "Don't let her hear me say she's an old woman..." Ronald drew a cross on his chest. These actresses were all haunted, and he didn't see them at all.

   "Hahaha, do you really want me to be the heroine so much?" Cher was in a good mood when she saw Ronald praying with the cross.

   "No, when you are free, I will also let the male lead candidates audition with you to see the chemistry."

  The two returned to the studio chatting and laughing, waiting for the shooting to begin.

   Another heroine also came to the scene, her name was Susan Sarandon, the director and producer stepped forward to stop her, as if to say something.

   Ronald watched from the side, thinking that writers always say that three women are like five hundred ducks. There are three heroines in this play, don't know what will happen?

"It's so infuriating for you to do this! This is a great disrespect to me! Even if you switch roles, you have to tell me beforehand, and on the first day of filming, tell me that I have been preparing for Alexandra for a month, I just told me today that this role is to be given to Xue Er, what is it?"

  Susan Sarandon's eyes were originally big, but now they stared like bull's eyes in anger.

   "Hey, I chose the role of Alexandra, but the producer promised me, I like this role." Cher stepped forward and argued with Sarandon.

   The two actresses are very aura, and they scolded the hapless director and producer across the air.

"Oh, God?" Ronald, who was still holding the contract with the ink in his hand, was taken aback, and he took off his sunglasses, "Is Cher playing such a big name on the set? Can it still be like this? After taking someone else's role, only tell them about it on the first day of filming?"

   "Let me see how the liquidated damages are written?" Ronald lowered his head and began to look up the part of the contract for breach of contract.

"What do women want?" Jack Nicholson also sighed beside him. His girlfriend Anjelica Huston also wanted to play a role in this movie. This kind of script suitable for female stars to play a role is really good. is too little.

"What do women want?" Michelle Pfeiffer heard this sentence next to him, glanced at Ronald, and thought silently, "What women want, even women themselves don't know very well, but actresses want themselves The role you want. Would the role you get now be better if you hadn't broken up in the first place?"

   (end of this chapter)