Chapter 342: Are Ronalds days of being favored by God coming to an end?
After the two project companies established by Daydream completed the transfer of ownership of "Dances with Wolves" and "Silence of the Lambs", Daydream published an article on the business page of The Hollywood Reporter in accordance with the regulations of the MPAA.
Two low-key statements completed the film producer's re-registration.
Then we started to form a team, starting from New York and New Jersey, and slowly met with movie theater practitioners from various places, trying to sign individual distribution contracts with them.
Although Ronald kept a low profile, this abnormal behavior still spread within the Hollywood circle.
"Have you heard? Ronald spent more than 10 million to shoot a western movie, hahahaha, western movie. This guy edited an old movie at the Oscars and fell in love with John Ford (the famous
Western director)?" an actor spreads gossip about Ronald at a party.
"How did I hear it was 19 million?" Another actor pretended to be quiet. In fact, he wanted others to hear them talking about the illusory "I'm much smarter than him" brought about by famous Hollywood directors making mistakes and falling.
The pleasure.
"Nineteen million, that's all for external publicity. I heard it was more than twenty-five million, and Ronald made two additional investments! Think about it, a western film was directed by an actor...
..." The first actor mysteriously sold gossip.
"Don't spread these rumors here..."
He spoke out to stop these nonsense people, with muscular muscles and crooked mouth corners, as if he looked down on them for gossiping about a successful person behind his back.
The people who were originally gathered here suddenly became quiet. After all, the visitor was the Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, who owns the two blockbuster franchises: First Blood and Rocky.
"We were just joking, Sylvester..." The actor who was so good at spreading gossip couldn't help but lower his voice and only followed Stallone's wishes. Isn't it said that he and Ronald were not on good terms?
?How can you help Ronald speak?
"You have to speak accurately, otherwise you will be sued." The words coming out of Stallone's mouth were a bit authoritative. Jack Nicholson sued Warner Bros. because he thought the box office share figures were not accurate enough.
Warner Bros. must have falsely reported overseas box office results. Nicholson was well prepared, and a luxurious team of lawyers including Mickey Kanter had collected evidence. If they did not pay back their due share, they would disclose everything in court.
box office information.
This is certainly unacceptable to Warner Bros., because in order to turn their accounts into losses so that they can pass on dividends to fringe investors, they have taken the art of Hollywood-style creative accounting to the extreme.
Many income items have used the practice of setting up affiliated companies, which has reduced Warner Pictures' income to a ridiculously low level. For example, income from Batman peripheral products, such as T-shirts, toys, posters, etc., only recorded US$2.9 million (
In fact, the fee for authorizing a joint credit card is as high as half a million).
For another example, the movie's episode, "Bat Dance" sung by the famous black singer Price, rushed to the top of the charts, but the revenue recorded by Warner Bros. was only $380,000.
Therefore, when Jack Nicholson sued for falsely reporting box office revenue, Warner Bros. had no choice but to reach an out-of-court settlement with him and obediently pay the relevant dividends.
This matter was widely spread in Hollywood. When the actors heard that Stallone was referring to this "crime", they became as silent as a stone cold.
"What's more than 25 million, it's actually 22.8 million... Hahahaha..." Stallone thought he had told a funny joke, and he laughed happily.
"Hahaha..." These ordinary actors also had to laugh along with them.
Stallone has been in a slump since his Minahan Golan-produced movie "Over the Top," about a truck driver's arm-wrestling affair, failed miserably at the box office. But last year, his new film, "Fury" with Kurt Russell
"Tiger, Mad Dragon" has grossed 54 million at the domestic box office, and the total overseas box office is expected to exceed 100 million.
Now Stallone felt that he was back to the level of an action star, and his speech had returned to the same arrogant feeling before. When talking to agents and directors, he had become the big man who could talk nonsense and still be regarded as the truth.
mouth.
However, these actors really have nothing to do with Stallone. If they can be favored by Stallone and support a supporting role in a movie, it can be regarded as a rapid advancement in their personal careers.
"Hahahaha, a Western movie worth more than 20 million yuan, I laughed so hard that tears came out..." Stallone began to wipe his eyes with his hands.
…
"Does he really want to publish it himself? Hehe..."
Terry Tramel of Warner Bros., an executive who strongly advocates the interests of the Jewish community, was also very amused by Ronald's actions.
As early as the era of the invention of sound films in the first half of this century, Hollywood no longer had the space to independently release large-scale commercial films. Unless you are a small production like "God Is Crazy" or "Dirty Dancing", movie theaters are still willing to
Bought to fill the gap in the schedule.
The publicity and production cost of this film is 19 million, and the registered production cost is 23 million. In fact, industry insiders estimate that Dances with Wolves will exceed 30 million. It is impossible to obtain more than 2,000 with such a piecemeal approach.
Opening a movie theater.
A few hundred theaters would be released, which might still have some vitality ten years ago. Now, in an era where the release period is generally shortened to three months to six months, it is impossible to secure more than 1,500 first-weekend theaters.
Basically, it doesn’t even make it into the box office rankings.
"What script did Minahan pick?" Robert Daley, the boss of the company, although he never talks about his ethnicity in public, is also a Jew who actively pursues ethnic interests.
He is also the main funder and promoter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Although this league has a grand and universal name, it is actually an organization run by Jews, mainly against society.
The anti-Semitic trend in the world basically ignores the discrimination and slander against other ethnic groups.
"Forrest Gump, The Fugitive, and other people's money." Temel reported to his boss with a smile.
"Ronald is the puller of his puppet?" Daley was very sensitive, and suddenly thought of whether Ronald was the one pulling the strings.
"Who knows? Anyway, we have lowered our expectations for these two movies now. If Ronald takes a fancy to it, it will be more cost-effective to change to Fantastic Four..."
Terry Temel said with a smile.
Ronald's series of actions have almost become a joke in Hollywood. Everyone says that this young man has been dazzled by success.
In recent years, independent distribution is not impossible, but the ones that are successful are small productions. If you want to make back the money from this large production of more than 30 million through independent distribution, there must be something wrong with your brain.
Hollywood is a place that easily produces dreamers whose brains are dazzled by success. After a person succeeds several times in a row due to luck, it is easy for several failures to follow. Even Spielberg and George Lucas
There is no exception.
Now it seems that Ronald Lee's days of being favored by God are over.
"Forrest Gump" may have been the most potential first-tier project two years ago. But now "Rain Man" has filmed all the scenes with its mentally retarded protagonist. The good days of adaptations of best-selling novels are gone forever.
Milos Forman, a double Oscar-winning director, also fell into the double trap of repeating themes and adapting famous works. "Valmont" cost him so much that no one asked him to film.
"Of course, if he wants it, then give it to him. It's not a loss to switch to the Fantastic Four..." Temer laughed twice. Warner has new weight in the selection of future themes. The scripts of these two movies,
Then leave it to Ronald.
"You can't give him an advantage," the Jew laughed in a way that he only knew. Warner's internal disapproval of these two scripts does not mean that Ronald's valuation of this project is low. The philosophy of Jewish business is that you are willing to pay
One hundred dollars, I sold it for ninety-nine and it was a failure.
…
"How much? Three million US dollars? The copyright fee they paid to the novel's author, Winston Groom, was only US$350,000!"
Ronald received the news from Minahan. Warner Bros. offered "other people's money" for the transfer of the script, and offered $200,000, plus the price of exchanging the film co-production rights of the "Fantastic Four".
This price is quite sincere, after all, 'other people's money' belongs entirely to Minahan. But "Forrest Gump" offered two million, which is too expensive.
Obviously, the other party already vaguely knew that Ronald was behind Minahan, so this offer was a throw-in-the-wool offer.
"They are willing to offer a counteroffer of 3.5 million to buy my Fantastic Four. It's hard for me to refuse this offer..." Minahan hesitated on the phone. He obviously wanted to agree to this price.
The movie was not released but sold directly for 3.5 million. After excluding the filming fees and profits for Roger Corman, he could still earn over 1 million. For his empty-shell 21st Century Pictures, it was considered a success.
A sum of money comes in handy.
"Ha, I asked why they just multiplied the copyright fee ten times. It turns out they are waiting for me here..."
Ronald understood that the price of Warner Bros.'s Temel was provocative. You used Roger Corman to produce "Fantastic Four" in three weeks. You want to change it from Warner Bros.
Come out with 3.5 million. Sorry, we know you are interested in Forrest Gump, so just give us back the original price.
"You can promise them, but I still have to think about whether to buy Forrest Gump. I will pay for it with other people's money."
Ronald hung up the phone and fell into deep thought.
It's not that I can't afford 3.5 million. If I can quickly cut through the trouble and buy this movie, it's not unacceptable.
Although the price is expensive, the fragments in his dream are very shocking, and it is in line with his creative interests, and coincides with the content of his debut script. Now Ronald has enough wealth to do whatever he wants once or twice.
Moreover, this record-breaking price, in turn, is not a good subject for speculation? The record-breaking Hollywood changes in the copyright fees for comedy satirical novels can attract the attention of the audience before they are filmed, and you can also use this as an advantage to go to
You won't necessarily lose a lot by persuading other investors and celebrities to join.
However, as Warner Bros.'s two Jewish executives were either overt or covert, their price may not necessarily be the final price. Ronald had many dealings with Jews and could still figure out a thing or two about their business experience.
Your unreasonable agreement to this outrageous condition is tantamount to giving them a signal. You have discovered Ronald's weakness, and you can also increase the price!
At that time, it is foreseeable to increase the transfer fee, ask Minahan to add more chips, or change it to a co-production, and all kinds of increases.
More importantly, Ronald was found out from secretly manipulating Minahan. When the time comes, he will directly face Warner Brothers. They said, "I won't deal with you." If Ronald wants to get the script, he has to
Increase quotation.
…
"Honey, what are you worried about?" Diane saw Ronald frowning, so she came over and put her arms around his shoulders and asked. She had just finished yoga, and she was working very hard to get back in shape after giving birth. Not only did medical experts formulate
Recipes, and yoga instructors come to provide guidance. Even Demi Moore often comes over to do her postpartum recovery yoga routine.
"Huh? It's nothing..." Ronald raised his head and kissed Diane. Today she was wearing something like Jane Fonda's aerobics video. Her breasts were soaked in high-slit bodybuilding pants, and there was a faint smell.
came.
"Is the investment in Dances with Wolves too big? Do you want me... It just so happens that the profits from my game have arrived..." Diane leaned against Ronald gently.
"Hahaha, I'm not that big..." Ronald laughed.
"Demi has told me. It is said that your production cost was close to 30 million...Does the distribution also cost some money?"
"How can there be so much?" Ronald smiled and explained to Diane. The production cost of 23 million (the number on record) was actually 9 million pre-sold through the distributor in Europe. In addition, the Wall Street class
Nong, and Douglas Jr., both led some people and voted some.
Adding up this money, plus Kevin Costner giving up his salary in favor of receiving dividends, and the bridge loan from Crédit Lyonnais, Ronald’s own money to escape is less than 700
Ten thousand.
Coupled with the cost of distribution, public relations and next year's Oscar budget, the impact of "Dances with Wolves" on his cash is not very important. He can just rely on the video sales revenue of Dirty Dancing for a quarter, or Coca-Cola
, and Microsoft's stock rose easily.
But since Diane wanted to solve his own problems so much, Ronald also wanted to repay his wife.
"Minahan got a script from Warner Bros. called Other People's Money. I'm going to buy it. Are you willing to be the heroine?"
"Huh?" Diane's eyes lit up. Her husband gave her a script and praised her as the heroine. Isn't this a scene that she often dreamed of before?
"Who is the leading actor? Is it Tom Cruise or Michael Keaton?" Diane reported the names of several popular male stars in succession.
"Hey, this is a comedy. The male protagonist is a man who is ugly and even ugly, but he is very good at business..."
"Huh!" Diane frowned the more she listened, Ronald is too petty, is he jealous because he works with a handsome guy?"
"This is the effect of the script. It does not hinder the heroine's outstanding performance. You will understand when you read the script." Ronald replied with a smile.
"Hmph, how about Tom Hanks? I'll work with him again..."