"So what the hell is this script?" Ronald asked Joel Silver.

"It is an adaptation of the novel 'Nothing Is Forever'. The author Rodriguez Thorpe is a real New York detective. His novel is rich in details and very popular. It was adapted into a Hollywood movie in the 1970s

.starring Frank Sinatra.”

Joel Silver winked at the blonde beauty in his arms, and the beauty obediently stood up and went out first, leaving the study room to him and Ronald.

Then Silver searched on the bookshelf and found a paperback copy of the original first edition of the novel "Nothing Is Forever" and handed it to Ronald.

"When we were filming 'Streets of Rage', you left a deep impression on me. I wish I had found you to be the director at that time." Joel Silver brought up the old story again. He and the director back then

Walter Hill, in order to steal money from the budget, took all the shots that could have been shot on location and staged them in a studio.

In a studio in Los Angeles, a Chicago subway station and a night view of the city were recreated. We also hired the best lighting engineer, the best costume designer, and the best composer, but we forgot to hire the best director.

Walter Hill's creative taste could not catch up with the new-age audience. He failed miserably at the box office and was ruthlessly abandoned. Some of Ronald's ideas at that time deeply impressed Joel Silver. After the film failed,

During the declining years, Silver would sometimes think in the dead of night that if he could have had Ronald as director, he might have continued to be successful.

Ronald took the novel and flipped through it casually. It was packaged in an ordinary paperback detective novel, with an old detective-looking man on the cover and a skyscraper in the background.

"Take it and have a look. If you are interested, please call me at any time. I am waiting for you. I have been working on this project for the whole year." Silver put on a simple and honest look and smiled warmly at Ronald.

"Been busy all year? Where is your script?" Ronald looked at the introduction. It was about a retired detective named Joe Leland. When he went to New York to visit his daughter at Christmas, he was attacked by a group of German terrorists.

He took his daughter, grandson and granddaughter hostage...

"The script is still being written..."

"Ouch..." Ronald sighed. He didn't know whether he was surprised that the other party could keep his composure and pursue a wonderful script with excellence, or he was surprised that the producer was always like this, daring to come out to persuade when he had nothing in hand.

Others join.

"Who is your bank mortgage? Sinatra is suitable. He is 70 this year, right? It's just right to play a retired old man."

What Ronald was talking about was a producer's lingo. For a film to be able to start a project, get a contract from a distribution company, and then start financing, it's a chicken-and-egg problem.

No matter who it is in Hollywood, they like to join projects that are already joined by other well-known industry insiders. If a project already has a big star agreeing to participate, then other things can be completed naturally.

Unless, like Ronald, you use your own money to make a film. The starting point for a medium-sized or larger Hollywood project is to first get distribution, director, and stars, and then use the people and resources you have already secured to persuade others to participate.

.

In terms of difficulty, because banks have no idea what projects will be successful, it is easiest to start with celebrities. As long as the celebrities agree to star in the project, the remaining difficulties will be an order of magnitude smaller.

This is one of the reasons why Hollywood stars are so popular and can do almost anything they want.

Precisely because celebrities play such a big role, when banks see celebrities participating in the project, they can basically regard them as collateral for the project, so everyone in the industry likes to call celebrities bank mortgages.

"Sinatra is already over 70, and his emphysema has made it difficult for him to perform on stage in Las Vegas. I don't think he can do heavy physical labor like filming a movie."

"Um...then who did you find?" Ronald continued to ask.

"We will find whoever you are willing to cooperate with. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood..."

When Ronald heard these names, he shook his head for a while. Joel Silver was afraid that he didn't know the "history" between him and Stallone, and Stallone and Eastwood were both narcissistic and had no relationship with him.

Well…it’s just that Schwarzenegger and myself are quite compatible.

"Wait a minute..." Ronald was still thinking about what project Schwarzenegger was currently filming and whether it would be suitable for him to play the role. Suddenly, he realized that he had almost been deceived by Silver.

"You SOB, you haven't even managed to become a celebrity. You want me to be your bank mortgage, right?"

"Hahaha..." Joel Silver showed no shame after being exposed, but laughed loudly, "You should be proud, Ronald. Now you can also be like those big stars, and be betrayed by SOBs on Wall Street.

Ours is a guarantee of box office success.”

"So you, an SOB, are here to use my name and then deceive those SOBs on Wall Street?" Ronald also laughed. Silver is really a wonderful person. To be honest, being a producer is a must.

He has this kind of "talent" that is shameless and tries everything.

"To be honest, I really want to cooperate with you." Silver put away his smile and looked very sincere, "I have a very good relationship with 20th Century Fox. As long as I can agree to the director, I can tell them

A relatively good condition.”

"Hehe... I also have a good relationship with their vice president Joseph Farrow. I can get what you mentioned myself." Ronald didn't hide it either. He had a good relationship with the CEOs of several major studios.

It's not bad, Fox's Farrow worked with him on "The Show", and they had a tacit understanding to steal a lot of Fox's money and resources.

"If you go and talk, can you negotiate a commission on the box office?" Silver lowered his voice.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Can you do it?" Ronald saw that he seemed to be able to do it, and he became interested.

"About that. Fox's financial situation is not very good now. Half of their building has been renovated, and the upper floors have not yet been renovated, so the legal department and finance department have moved in. We will take advantage of this period to discuss the terms with them. We will definitely

You can make a lot of money.

Besides, your old relationship with Farrow has now lost his say in Fox. The new president is Leonard Goldberg, the former ABC TV station. We have known each other for a long time..."

"In that case, it's worth considering." Ronald thought of two friends in Japan who wanted to invest in Hollywood. Fox happened to be short of money, so it might be a good opportunity.

"That's right." Silver picked up the novel from the table again and put it in Ronald's hand. "Take a good look. Even if you don't direct, I welcome your company to invest in this book."

From a movie.”

Ronald put the novel away, and he already planned to take the time to see if he could put some positive Japanese characters in it. Anyway, as long as positive images appear in the movie, two Japanese pro-American entertainment industry bosses,

You can invest.

"I said Joel, can you tell me the truth, who is the leading actor in your mind, and who did you contact? Who rejected it, and who agreed to consider it? This will save me the trouble if I am interested later.

Ask those who say no.”

"It's fair." Silver raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Both Eastwood and Stallone rejected it. We hope that the male protagonist will have action skills and a certain sense of humor. The most promising one right now is Schwarz.

Singh, in contact."

"Sounds less promising?" Ronald saw two more names crossed out from the three names on the list.

"Hey, you'll understand if you make more movies. Not all the projects of the seven major studios will have stars competing for them."

Joel Silver took out a portrait and handed it to Ronald.

Above is a sketch of a male protagonist, with muscles all over his body and a smile on his face.

"To have both action and comedy talent, these two conditions don't seem to be compatible, unless we find a black star Eddie Murphy."

"Humph, I understand." Ronald glanced at the portrait twice, and there were a lot of names of celebrities listed below.

The column on the left is action stars, including Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood and others. These are people who can shoot action scenes, but their comedy talents have not been proven yet.

The column on the right contains people with acting skills, including Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Al Pacino and others, but their ability to shoot action scenes is slightly inferior.

"I'll take this novel and read it. I can't promise anything." Ronald patted the thick paperback novel and prepared to leave.

"Of course, of course, but I think you're going to like this novel and you're going to like this project," Joel Silver predicted.

"By the way, you said the screenwriter is still writing the script, is it too late? When will Fox start the project and when will it be released?"

"This year's Las Vegas trade fair is confirmed, next summer. Don't worry, the screenwriter I'm looking for is paying off his mortgage. His previous script was abandoned by Columbia. Now Disney is giving him some odd jobs and he can't make ends meet.

, I gave him a high salary, and he could work 18 hours a day..."

"What the hell, you SOB, eighteen hours a day? Joel, don't squeeze me too hard. Now the Writers Guild is very dissatisfied with the division of videotapes. They have sent letters to me, a member of the union, to encourage everyone to refuse to make movies.

Overtime of time.”

"Yeah, yeah... you are still a member of the Producers Alliance now, you are on our side." Joel Silver laughed and sent Ronald out.

…

After negotiating the video rights for several films to be produced, Ronald prepared to go to the East Coast with Michelle Cannold to finalize the business of the video tape factory in New Jersey.

Ever since Ronald took a long-distance flight on a private business jet, he felt that business jets were much better than first-class seats on commercial flights. He knew many big shots who owned business jets, and he also got contacts with business jet leasing companies through his broker.

Way to get in touch with them.

Los Angeles and New York are the busiest business routes in America, with many flights commuting every day. Ronald can find cheap business jet rental sectors as long as he informs them in advance.

Many CEOs of listed companies, or wealthy people who rent business jets for travel, do not actually return immediately after flying to their destination. At this time, the business jet company needs to dispatch the plane back, and at this time, one or two people can catch a ride.

Passengers, the price can be greatly discounted. But the time is uncertain and you need to wait.

This time, Ronald was put on the waiting list by the business jet company, and it would take about 24 hours before there would be a scheduled flight to New York.

"Ronnie, where are you? New York or Los Angeles?"

Ronald, who was about to hide at home and read a novel, received a call from Kelly McGillis.

"I'm in Los Angeles and may go to New York at any time. What? What's going on?"

"It's great that you are in Los Angeles. I need to ask you for help. Are you still in the same place?"

"Yes, come on." Ronald put away the novel. What did McGillis want to ask him for? It couldn't be the one he mentioned last time... right?

Just as he was wondering who McGillis' girlfriend would be, Kelly rushed over as quickly as possible and knocked on Ronald's door.

"Ronald, help me, I've been calling all over the phone these past two days." McGillis was very anxious when he came in.

"What's the matter?" Ronald helped McGillis take off his shirt and hung it on the coat rack. He looked back and saw that there seemed to be no other person.

"Paramount couldn't find a suitable actor for the assault victim in 'Pear Robbery', so they still wanted me to play the victim and find another lawyer for the role."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Oh, how could it be?" Ronald took a list that McGillis took out of the bag, and there were many Shirleys listed on it.
To be continued...