"Make an appointment for me with Jerry Weintraub and meet with him when I get to Los Angeles." Ronald called his temporary agent Kevin Huvin.
The high-quality asset Yoram Globus was talking about was the nearly 2,000 British films that Weintraub's film company bought from them before Giancarlo Paretti took over Cannon.
Movie library.
At that time, Cannon encountered a financial crisis, and Weintraub obtained a US$150 million credit line from Bank of America, signed a twenty-year distribution contract with Columbia, and began to flex his muscles.
Weintraub's first big move was to swallow up this part of the British film library assets in one fell swoop. He wanted to become a comprehensive film and television group.
But the stock market crash and Wall Street's interest rate hikes were fair game to all Hollywood's debt-generated companies. Weintraub's two big projects both failed.
One project is to follow the successful route of Cannon in the past, first pre-sale in Europe, obtain a bridge loan from Credit Lyonnais, and then invest in the sports movie "The Big Blue" by new Chinese director Luc Besson.
.
However, this project tells the story of ocean divers and dolphins. The audience is too small, the marketing is not good, and the production cost is not even recovered.
The second project is the Broadway adaptation of the musical "Evita", directed by Oliver Stone and starring Meryl Streep as Evita.
This project was supported by Argentine President Menem, who promised to provide 50,000 free extras to ensure that the film would be filmed in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, riots occurred in Argentina and had to be stopped for security reasons.
After that, they moved to Spain for filming, and the grand scene caused the production cost to soar to 35 million US dollars.
At this time, news came that "Blue Sea and Blue Sky" failed at the box office. Bank of America canceled his credit facility because of this project. Without money, he could not make a movie, so the "Mrs. Peron" project had to be cancelled.
At that time, Weintraub had no choice but to ask Ronald for help. After filming "The Kid 3", he regained some strength. With the help of his newly hired president Harry Usher, Bank of America resumed its relationship with Ronald Weintraub.
Bank of America signed a $95 million credit line, which is a relief.
However, Weintraub's business is still unstable. He is called a "mini-big studio" by the Hollywood media, which means that although it is not large, it will make big productions, starring stars, and famous directors to help adapt and adapt.
Famous articles.
What Weintraub wanted to be was a smaller version of Orion...
The real Orion can't stand this business model. It's running hard and is now looking for buyers everywhere. The smaller Orion will directly declare to enter the bankruptcy process.
Before he filed for bankruptcy and reorganization, it was a good opportunity to purchase the "British 2000" film library that had several buyers.
The two romantic comedies invested by Ronald, "Pretty Woman" and "Beautiful Love", have domestic box office scores of 176 million and 216 million respectively. Just about right.
It’s time to enter the branch account.
It is more than enough to buy a "British 2000" film library.
It's a pity that the heroines of the two movies, Julia Roberts and Demi Moore, have seen their net worth rise significantly, and they may not be willing to shoot movies with similar themes. If you want to repeat the box office success of romantic comedies, you have to wait for the opportunity...
…
"Sorry, Ronald, Weintraub seems to have disappeared from Hollywood now, and no one can find his whereabouts..."
As soon as he landed in New York, Kevin Huwen called him.
"You asked for his favor... No, the assistant Susan didn't? If you asked for her, she should know where Weintraub is..."
"Susan?" Apparently Kevin Hoover is new to this.
"Susan Akins, his personal assistant, should now be a producer at Weintraub Pictures, or the director of the president's office or something like that..."
"Okay, I'll go check..."
"By the way, what's the news in Hollywood these days when I'm in London? Have you sorted out important articles from newspapers and magazines for me these days?"
"Uh, sorry, I'll ask my assistant to send it to you right away..." Hu Wen said awkwardly.
Ronald shook his head. Richard was still familiar with his own affairs. Hu Wen was not as proactive as Yang Yanzi. His advantage was that he had a wide range of friends and deep relationships...
"It's okay, I'll just find someone to handle it..." Kevin Hu Wen is considered a very powerful one among the young agents at CAA. Winning him into his own camp has many potential benefits.
, a small mistake will be fine. However, I still need to find a capable assistant in the future.
"Hey, Richard, I'm not here these days, is there any news I need to know?" Ronald still called Richard.
"It's probably just about Julia Roberts..."
"Ah? What happened to her? Isn't she filming a Spielberg movie?"
"She and her boyfriend canceled their wedding the day before their wedding..."
"Um……"
A few hours later, Ronald finally got the full report on this big gossip. It was very exciting, and in some ways more twists and turns than a Julia Roberts movie.
While filming "Pretty Woman," Julia Roberts was hit by an earthquake and had a moment of psychological vulnerability. At this time, the appearance of her boyfriend Kiefer Sutherland made her feel like she had met Mr. Right.
After that, their relationship progressed quite well, and they even starred in a movie together. They even appeared as a couple at the Oscars.
The two originally planned to hold a wedding this fall, and invited many young actors to attend as guests. After Madonna and Sean Penn, another famous celebrity couple in Hollywood was going to hold a grand wedding, and the paparazzi were dispatched.
Ambush across from their love nest, hoping to take exclusive intimate photos of the unmarried couple.
But just three days before the wedding, rumors were already circulating in Hollywood circles that the two had canceled their wedding. Although the two parties did not come out to clarify.
What's even more outrageous is that on the wedding day, Kiefer Sutherland moved out of Julia Roberts' Beverly Hills house. Roberts then openly drove away with a man.
Gossip reporters all jumped on their motorcycles and followed the runaway bride and the third man to the airport. They bought tickets there to go to Ireland. At the airport, the reporters who approached took photos of the man and passed by.
Identified, this man is also an actor, his name is Jason Patric.
What's even more outrageous is that this Jason Patric is a good friend of Kiefer Sutherland, or in other words, a former good friend.
According to subsequent reports, Jason had been a candidate for best man, but Keefer immediately canceled the arrangement and later deleted him from the guest list.
Just when everyone thought it was a gossip drama about two good friends competing for a beautiful woman, a new gossip broke out a week later. The reason why Kiefer Sutherland was kicked out was because he was cheating before the wedding.
A few days ago, Julia Roberts was caught having an affair with a stripper.
For a time, who was at fault became the biggest discussion point in the couple's escape from marriage. The National Enquirer, America's largest gossip media, even ran a series of columns to follow up on the incident.
The titles of the gossip also come up and down, which is very interesting. They range from "Runaway Bride", to "My Best Friend's Wedding", to "British Lover" and so on.
Ronald felt as if he had missed a big piece of gossip that only happened once in ten years, so he watched it interestingly on the plane back to Los Angeles. When they got home, Diane saw that he was still reading the National Enquirer, so she curled her lips and said, "So
Is this interesting?"
"Hey, the audience thinks it's interesting. I might find someone to adapt it into a movie script in the future... hahaha"
To talk about this gossip, there are dramas, there are dramas before and after, and one of the actresses with the most box office appeal in Hollywood today is acting in movie plots in her life. The only flaw is that the two male protagonists are a bit less famous.
If the man is also a heavyweight movie star, I am afraid that even Clarence Thomas, the first black justice nominated by the current President George Sr., had a scandal involving a former colleague accusing him of sexual harassment before the Senate voted to confirm this historic nomination.
It was also covered.
"Oh yeah? Can it really be written into a movie script?" Diane didn't believe it.
"Really, these National Enquirer titles can actually be used as the titles of movie scripts. They are topical and arouse the audience's curiosity. It would be best to let Julia Roberts herself act, hahaha..." Luo
Nader grabbed Diane's waist and kissed her on the mouth.
"By the way, Richard called just now and said he was coming over." Diane was kissed by Ronald, and her uncomfortable emotions were relieved.
"oh……"
…
"Weintraub is hiding and refusing to see anyone... His company is about to enter bankruptcy protection..."
"Does he owe a lot of money?" Ronald was also very sad about the situation of this old friend.
"It's not a matter of owing money. That's actually not difficult to deal with, because he still has a 20-year publishing contract with Columbia. With this, he has enough food and clothing, and can maintain the life of a rich man without any problem..."
"Then why don't you see anyone?"
"I called Jane Morgan, and she asked Susan Aikins to come see me in person. She said that Weintraub was depressed and autistic. He felt that his business failure was ridiculous, and he didn't want to see any more circles.
Wife, lest your face be tarnished."
"why is it like this?"
Ronald understood, no wonder even Kevin Hoeven couldn't find his person. Fortunately, he knew Weintraub's wife Jane Morgan and lover Susan Akins, so he had a chance to find him.
he.
…
Susan Akins wore very ordinary clothes and secretly came to chat with Ronald for a while. Then she got in Ronald's car and went with him to a secluded suburban villa where Weintraub used to live.
He bought her a gift with his own money. Now Weintraub is hiding in it.
"Jerry, Jerry..." Susan Akins asked the servant to keep an eye on Weintraub when she left. As soon as she entered the house and didn't see Weintraub, she became nervous.
"Will something happen to him?" Ronald was also startled.
Then I heard Weintraub's hoarse voice coming from a small study room on the second floor, "Susan, who did you bring here? Didn't I say that I won't see anyone from Hollywood or the record industry? Still
Those vampires from Wall Street are gone, gone, not a single one..."
"It's me, Ronald." Ronald answered outside the door, "Don't you see me too? Come out quickly Jerry, or I'm going to knock down the door."
"Oh..." Upon hearing that it was Ronald, Weintraub was not afraid of embarrassment and immediately opened the door.
There was thick cigar smoke inside, and no light was turned on. Susan went to turn on the light and opened the window to disperse the smoke.
"What's wrong with you? Jerry, the Weintraub I know is a man who never compromises and is always full of optimism..." Ronald looked at Weintraub, who was only wearing a bathrobe, with a look on his face.
They all look decadent.
"Hey, Ronald, I'm done, I'm completely done... Only now do I understand that the success of Boy Longwei is not my unique vision, but the result of your ability as a screenwriter and director. Without a genius like you
Director, genius screenwriter, I was fooled by them in Hollywood..."
Weintraub did not hide anything from Ronald. His previous financial dilemma was alleviated by Ronald. Ronald was the only one in Hollywood who would not make him feel shameless in public, because he had already lost his face.
.
Weintraub took a Martell brandy bottle and drank from it, while telling Ronald exactly what happened to him who was tricked by the Wall Street people.
It turned out that the various financing contracts he signed were full of loopholes. When Weintraub Pictures' project was progressing smoothly, he could use these to increase leverage, fight for big with small, and get rid of the "mini-big" with just one movie.
From the status of "production studio" to a "medium-sized large studio" like Orion, success relies on the vision of selecting movies and big directors and big stars.
But after the failure of two major projects in a row, his funds were very tight, and even Longwei Boy III could not completely get him out of danger. So Weintraub made another big gamble, imitating "Batman" and filming "Peter...
Pan" movie.
Who knows, it finally attracted the interest of Dodi Fayed, a billionaire businessman from the Middle East, who wanted to invest in the film. Paramount expressed interest, bought the production rights, and prepared to start filming.
Who knew that after a few more months of delays, Paramount sold the film's production rights to TriStar Pictures' vice president Mike Medavoy. Mike Medavoy found his client from back then.
Spielberg, he knew that Spielberg had long been interested in making a Peter Pan movie.
Naturally, Spielberg found two more stars, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams to play Captain Hook and the adult Peter Pan respectively. Julia Roberts, who just made a big gossip, also has
A "Tinker Bell" character.
But a big star means big trouble. Dustin Hoffman is back to his old habits, and he is a methodical man who has to spend his time trying to find the feeling of a pirate captain.
Robin Williams also has many ideas of his own. If he wants to join Peter Pan who gets married and has children as an adult and forgets his childhood identity, he needs to revise the script significantly.
Over and over again, the movie that was supposed to be launched at the beginning of the year has been delayed for a long time.
It didn't matter that this delay, Weintraub's cash flow dried up. When his loan expired and he could not renew it through his share of the Peter Pan movie, the vampire bankers on Wall Street canceled his credit.
Amount.
To a certain extent, Bank of America is hoping that he will go bankrupt and reorganize. If he takes advantage of some high-quality assets in Weintraub's company after bankruptcy and reorganization, the profit will be much better than the loan interest.
"Hey, I'm also here to buy assets from you..." Ronald thought it would be better to explain it clearly. "Originally, I wanted to buy a bit of the copyright share of the Britannia 2000 film library you acquired from Cannon. Now you
If necessary, I can find some private investors to buy more things... Of course, it is up to you to decide whether to sell or how much to sell. If you decide to go bankrupt and reorganize, I can also accept the auction to the court afterwards."
"What's wrong with you? You are really good at buying things. If these film libraries are in your hands, they will be of greatest use." Weintraub jumped up. If he had this money to save his life,
His production company will be saved, and he won't have to be laughed at by "friends in the industry".
Not only is his film library willing to be sold to Ronald, but also the Long Wei Boy series he produced can be sold if you like it. Do you want the copyright of the works you directed? You can remake or shoot sequels in the future.
OK……
"That's not okay. It's your favorite movie series. When you last filmed the third installment, you said this was the movie you wanted to engrave on your tombstone. I can't take away your love."
"Hey, we are old friends. Boy Longwei is not so much my success as your success..." Weintraub was now afraid that Ronald would not want to buy it, so he quickly persuaded him...
"I can buy it, but even if we shoot sequels and remakes in the future, you will also be the producer of course. I will reserve this power for you..." Ronald really couldn't get interested in filming the Longwei Boy series anymore.
If Weintraub still wanted to be a producer, he would definitely put 100% of his energy into doing it well because of emotional and financial factors.
"Hey, you are a true friend, I finally understand..." Weintraub hugged Ronald with tears in his eyes...
The price of this sale is really heavily discounted...