"The thing is, two Israelis made a teen comedy called 'The Last American Virgin'. There are several plots in it that are very similar to 'Fast-paced Richmond High'."
Niceta quickly briefed Ronald on the situation in CAA's office.
"They had a distribution agreement with MGM, so they sent the finished film to MGM for a test screening. But among the audience at the test screening, someone watched 'Fast Time' and told the investigators about it."
After conducting an investigation, GM notified Universal."
The more Ronald heard, the more familiar he became, two Israelis, distributed by MGM, "What is the name of this company? Who are those two Israelis?"
"Cannon Pictures, named Minahan Golan, and Yoram Gobulos. People at Universal nicknamed them the go-go brothers from Israel. (The initials of Golan and Gobulos
, the nickname is an unpleasant derogatory meaning)”
Sure enough, it was these two fat men.
"Is it really plagiarism?" Ronald didn't believe it. Not long after the editing of "Fast Tempo" was completed, how could Minahan copy it? It was too late?
"There are indeed a few things that are beyond the possibility of ordinary coincidence." Niceta handed over a piece of paper, which was a briefing from MGM.
"In one scene, the heroine went to the hospital for surgery. After seeing the mannequin, she thought about her pregnancy and vomited.
Another scene is the male protagonist who has always had a crush on the heroine. His best friend is the man who got the heroine pregnant.
But they are unlikely to plagiarize your finished film. Now it seems that they may plagiarize the script or some details of the original novel. There is a possibility that the script will be leaked during the filming process."
"What does Universal mean?"
"The lawsuit against the other party has been delayed for a long time. Universal is not optimistic about the box office potential of their 'The Last Virgin'. Moreover, they are outsiders. No big distributor in Hollywood is willing to offend Universal and take over their distribution business.
Of course, Universal would also like to seek your opinion on whether it needs to be released earlier than June to eliminate the impact of ‘The Last American Virgin’ on the box office.”
Niceta lit a cigarette, took a puff and looked at Ronald.
"MGM has refused to distribute this film from Cannon Pictures due to film quality issues. However, Cannon Pictures itself has some distribution capabilities. They will try to contact theaters themselves and find enough theaters to release it in late July."
Ronald thought for a while and said to his agent, "Actually, I know these two fat guys. They met me at the Golden Globe Awards dinner last year and knew that I was writing a script for Universal to adapt this novel."
"Is that so?" Niceta put out her cigarette. Why don't we contact them head-on and see the quality of their movies before making a decision? The target audience for your movie is teenagers. If it is released in July as originally planned,
It will bring in a lot more box office.”
"Yes, I don't need to be afraid of them. The last movie directed by Minahan, 'Apple', was very bad. It was trashed by the audience in Montreal, Canada. I feel that his level will not improve so fast."
Ronald dialed Minahan Golan's phone in Niceta's office.
"Hey, Minahan, this is Ronald. I heard you plagiarized my movie?"
"Hahaha", Minahan's rude laughter came from the phone, "You are such a joker, Ronald. How could I plagiarize your movie?"
Minahan was delaying time with laughter and gesturing to his cousin Yoram to come over and discuss it together.
"I also don't think you are so mean. I have helped you in Canada and Los Angeles.
But I got a letter from MGM, and the movie you asked them to release, 'The Last American Virgin,' has a very similar plot to my 'Fast-paced Richmond High.'"
Ronald and Niceta, who picked up the other receiver and listened, made gestures to show that they were testing each other.
"Nothing is wrong, I promise you. I swear on my two daughters that I will never plagiarize. At most...at most..."
Next to him, Yoram quickly wrote a word on the manuscript paper and handed it to Minahan to read.
"At most it's a reference, a coincidence. Ronald, to tell you the truth, 'The Last American Virgin' is a remake of the old film 'Lemonade' that Yoram and I made in Israel.
If you don’t believe it, you can come to me and I will show it to you. It is a complete remake of our own Hebrew film, and there is no plagiarism.”
Ronald on the other end of the phone glanced at Niceta and asked for advice.
Niceta made an OK gesture to him, asking him to agree.
"Okay, my agent and I will go to your place now. If your new film is really a remake of your own old film, I won't mind. This kind of subject matter collision often happens in the film industry, but if..."
"Ah, I know, Ronald, you are a reasonable person. I asked my subordinates to get ready, let's watch two movies together and compare..." Minahan said and hung up the phone.
"Minahan, you should not swear on your daughter again." Yoram said to Minahan. "Last time you used your oath on the bank to mortgage your two daughters to them without paying the money. Your wife
I’m so angry that I want to divorce you.”
Minahan waved his hand, "I can't help it, Ronald is not that easy to deceive. I have to give him a first impression that we did not plagiarize, so that he will be inclined to think that the two plots are coincidences. I
It also took a lot of effort to get his script...
Moreover, we are in a bad situation in Hollywood. Ronald is a genius and his scripts are infinitely creative. If we want to make big productions that will shock Hollywood, we still have to rely on him.
And his background and connections are unfathomable. At that time, he gave us a piece of news, and we were able to connect with the big distributor MGM, otherwise we still wouldn’t be able to find a distribution channel now.”
Ronald and Niceta walked to Cannon Pictures not far away. There was no change here from last time, many employees were still sitting in the corridor working.
"Please, please...Ronald. Let's go to the screening room, and I'll ask an employee who understands Hebrew to translate the original dialogue of 'Lemonade' for you on the spot." Minahan was waiting for Ronald at the door, saying ruthlessly
I hugged him hard and invited him into the screening room.
The old Hebrew movie "Lemonade" was shown first. An employee stood nearby with a microphone in hand and read out the dialogue of the characters in the movie.
Ronald noticed that the scale of this film was larger than the "Fast Pace" he shot. Moreover, among the several suspected plagiarism plots mentioned by Niceta, only the relationship between the two male protagonists and one female protagonist existed.
In "Lemonade", there is no plot where the heroine goes to the hospital for surgery.
Then the English-language film "The Last American Virgin" was shown. In this film, the heroine went to visit the hospital again after the operation in the hospital and was nauseated and vomited after seeing the mannequin.
plot.
Ronald glanced at Minahan suspiciously. This must have been plagiarized from his own movie script, but the plagiarism was a bit weird. Why did he edit some inexplicable scenes before and after? Could it be? Ronald quickly shut up.
Hold back your laughter.
"Mr. Golan, this part of your plot is very similar to my client's script..." Niceta said to Minahan after the playback.
"Absolutely not. I have not read Ronald's script at all. I have only read Mr. Crowe's best-selling novel. Based on his novel, I wrote this plot. If there is a coincidence, it is because Ronaldo and I
Nader were both playwrights, and great souls often think alike."
Ronald remained silent, closed his mouth without saying a word, and looked at Minahan.
"I promise you, Ronald, if you insist on holding us accountable, we will have no choice but to fight.
But we are not enemies, right? Our movies are not released together. I have decided to use Cannon Pictures' own power to distribute. And the release time we set is specifically two weeks later than your movie.
We won't have any competition.
Ronald, you helped me twice and I will never forget it. You are indeed a top playwright. I want to buy your scripts at a high price in the future. If you are willing, I will also pay a high price to invite you to direct."
Minahan talked a lot, but Ronald still held back his words.
"Ronald, I will never forget your help to me. We have received financing from a bank in the Netherlands and will soon start shooting a multi-million-dollar production. I will never forget you." Mina rarely sees Ronald.
Still saying nothing, he stepped forward and hooked Ronald's shoulder while he was sitting.
"How about it? Are you willing?" He shook Ronald's shoulders and asked. Minahan felt a little nervous. He found that Ronald's body was shaking, as if his anger could no longer be suppressed.
After more than ten seconds, no one spoke. Finally, Ronald nodded, shook hands with Minahan, and then Minahan hugged him and kissed him three times on the cheek.
Left.
"Hahahaha..." After Ronald left, Minahan hugged Yoram and the two danced, "We finally shot our first movie in America, and we also got Ronald's understanding.
We will definitely succeed. This movie will be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and Actor."
"There is also the best supporting actor." Yoram is also very happy. It can prevent Ronald from taking legal measures, which is good news for the release of the film. Ronald also knows the lawyer named Mickey, whose
The two Israelis had already seen the tactics when negotiating with MGM.
"Yes, there are also best director and best picture." Minahan became more and more happy as he talked. He picked up the cup and poured two glasses of strong wine, and drank them all in one gulp with Yoram.
"These Hollywood producers are not even willing to play golf or tennis with us. This time we must make a big splash and let them know about us, Cannon Pictures."
"Hahahaha..." After Ronald walked out of Cannon Pictures and crossed a few roads, he stopped at a roadside where the Cannon Pictures office could not be seen. He couldn't bear it any longer and leaned on the wall until he laughed.
"Is that the hospital scene?" Niceta saw him laughing so fiercely and patted Ronald's back gently.
"Yes, he actually used the pizza cutting scene to make a montage, followed by the heroine being pushed onto the operating table. Hahaha..."
Ronald held it in for a long time and finally laughed enough.
Minahan is really a "directing wizard". He couldn't get enough of the plagiarized passages. When the heroine went to the hospital for surgery, he edited many scenes in parallel with the hero going to work in a pizza shop to earn money to pay for her surgery.
Finally, when the heroine was put on the operating table and the doctor picked up the scalpel, he cut the camera to show the hero cutting the pizza with a knife. He cut the pizza into two pieces with a "swipe" sound.
"What kind of editing method are these? Hahaha..." Ronald felt like he had seen a cartoon.
"Just because of this, you won't pursue him? Do you think the audience can't accept this editing method? In the end, the box office was not good?" asked Niceta.
"Of course this is a reason. But the main thing is the ending. The hero did not win the beauty.
The male protagonist who paid for the heroine to have surgery did not get together with the heroine. Instead, he saw the heroine reconcile with the handsome guy who ignored her after she unexpectedly got pregnant.
We Americans don't have this kind of hobby. The hero must ultimately win and win the beauty."