All marketing activities on the East Coast were cancelled, leaving only a few media interviews on the West Coast. Ronald also did not participate in any local marketing activities in California. He asked the two leading ladies to undertake all the publicity appearances.
I had to call Brooke Shields to explain, but luckily Brooke didn't mind and postponed her talk show with David Letterman until after the movie was released to cover it up for herself.
Friends all know that Ronald is in a bad mood. He hides at home and watches TV sports programs and late-night movie theaters every day. He seems to be autistic.
After learning the news, Spielberg called specifically and invited him to write and revise the script for his Amblin Studio.
Amberling got a taste of the teen market and began to collect a large number of teen movie scripts. Spielberg promised that as long as Ronald's script could get the green light from the distributor, he would give him an independent director within a year or two.
Chance.
Ronald thanked Steven for his concern and said that he was fine but needed some time to sort out and adjust.
"Hey, the director's first work is very important. You should call his agent after a while and extend an invitation to adapt the script."
Spielberg lamented that a director who makes a blockbuster success will immediately become the darling of Hollywood, while a director who fails at the box office will have to start over and start from scratch again.
If Ronald can survive this time and maintain his strong desire to create, he may still advance and become a qualified Hollywood commercial director. If he fails to recover...
During this time, several CAA agents were busy with their own affairs. Coppola, newly signed by Niceta, was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, filming another script adapted from Hinton's novel.
Niceta often flew in to look after her, and if the film was a success, Coppola would be able to almost pay off the mortgage on his vineyard and house and get back on his feet.
Paula Wagner got Tom Cruise a starring role in another movie, Risky Business, and now Paula became Tom's nanny, taking care of him on the set.
Only Richard was in Los Angeles, and he often came to the motel where Ronald was staying to bring him something to eat.
"Hi, Richard, you're here?" Ronald squatted at home for a few weeks, and his beard had grown longer. He was holding a football in one hand, doing throwing and catching exercises while watching the football on the video tape.
Game video.
"This is an invitation from Catherine from Amblin Studios. What, do you want to make a rugby movie?" Richard joked, seeing that he was in a good mood.
"Maybe." Ronald pressed pause and rewinded. He was watching a game in the NFL playoffs at the beginning of the year. The San Francisco 49ers faced the Dallas Cowboys in the National League finals.
When 49ers quarterback Joe Montana trailed by six points with less than a minute left in the game, a long pass found wide receiver Clark in the end zone and scored a touchdown. The last point narrowly defeated the opponent.
Made it to the Super Bowl and won the cup.
During this time, he asked Richard to find a video of this classic game called "the catch" by the commentator, and watch it repeatedly at home to find some spiritual support for himself.
"How is Tom in Illinois?" Ronald asked Richard while playing football.
A few days ago, Tom Cruise called specifically from the crew of "It's Crazy" to say that he still lacks an experienced assistant director here. He hopes Ronald can come over to help him and he can recommend it to the director.
.
Ronald's help to Tom on the set of "The Kid" made him feel that his acting skills had made a breakthrough, and he wanted to ask him for help again. It also gave him a chance to repay his friend and make a comeback.
Of course, Ronald declined. His movie had not yet been released, and he was unwilling to fail.
"Matt Dillon is coming later. The Italian pizza you brought is good. I'll save some for him."
"Oh, is he coming to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of 'Texas'?" Richard learned that Dillon was coming and started calling the front desk to ask for some drinks.
The doorbell rang and it was Matt Dillon who walked in.
"Hi, Ronald, I was asked by Diane and Ms. Hinton to come here to see you." Dillon made a funny gesture like a press secretary, and then came over to hug Ronald. He had just returned from Oklahoma.
He Ma took time off from the studio to fly here to attend the premiere of Disney's "The Texas Man."
"You are in better spirits than I thought." Ronald handed over a bottle of Coke.
"The Texan" starring Tillon and Meg Tilly was just released nationwide on July 30th. The box office in the first weekend was only over one million, which should really be comforting.
"Shouldn't I be the one to say this?" Seeing that Ronald could still joke, Dillon let go of his worries.
“How many theaters is your movie playing in?”
"There are less than five hundred, most of them are in California." Ronald handed over the pizza, "I'm still very optimistic about the box office."
"Hahaha, I'm going to call Ms. Hinton and let her hear your voice. You're in good shape."
Dillon called the studio's phone number, and the assistant there found Ms. Hinton.
"Hi, Ronald. Let me tell you some good news. I showed the manuscript you wrote on the set of 'The Kid' to my agent. He said it can be published and it will be scheduled for the end of the year. Now I am looking for an editor to proofread and
With pictures." Hinton was very happy to hear Ronald's voice and congratulated him first.
"That's really good news. I'm short of money right now." Ronald said half-jokingly. The turmoil surrounding the movie's release made him want to invest in a movie by himself and no longer be subject to the supervision of studio executives.
Constraints.
"He also said that the box office of his movie will be higher than that of our 'Naughty Boy'." Ti Lung added jealously.
"Oh, really? That's not easy." Hinton's words were full of joy. Southern ladies in America like boys like Ronald who can still maintain a sense of humor in adversity.
"Diane wants to talk to you." She handed the phone to Diane Lane who came over after hearing the news.
"Hi, Ronald. Your movie will be successful. I've always had confidence in you."
"Thank you. Director Coppola didn't give you special treatment this time, right?"
"No, this time I play a girl from a poor family."
"Also, my agent called me. The "Magic Stains" you helped me reshoot will also be released, but it will be a small scale. It may eventually be bought by a TV station to broadcast."
"It doesn't matter, that is also a good communication channel, and the audience will like you."
"Um, did I say something wrong? His movie seems to have been scaled down and then bought and broadcast by TV stations." After putting down the phone, Diane felt something was wrong and asked the fat Ms. Hinton.
"It doesn't matter, Ronald is a person who can stand failure."
After staying at home for a few more days, the news spread, and Ronald received consoling calls from family and friends one after another.
Helen Slater called from the filming set of the ABC TV series and said that she would come to Los Angeles to stay with him after filming was completed. The two of them, who were separated by two places, only communicated by phone frequently.
"Stop running around. After the movie is released, I will go back to New York."
"Really? That's great, let's go to the museum again. Now I hope that after this TV series is aired, it will bring me some audition opportunities."
…
Richard still visits him every day, hoping that he will cheer up, but he guesses that Ronald has suffered a big blow in a short period of time and needs some time to recover. When the movie is released, this "autistic" state will disappear
Something has changed.
The Israeli brothers from Cannon Pictures also called. Their film "The Last American Virgin" suffered a huge failure at the box office. In the first round, only more than a hundred first-tier cinemas screened their film, and they had to switch to second-tier cinemas for screening.
However, in second-run theaters, they seem to get good box office, but the lower share ratio of these theaters makes it impossible for them to recover the cost.
"Ronald, come and cooperate with us. We can get money from European investors, you can write and direct, and we can work together to do it. We will find popular stars to act. This time it is because there are no stars.
, MGM won’t distribute our movies.
Let's do it together, best picture, best screenplay, best director... it's all ours. Ronald, best director, Minahan and Yoram, best movie..."
After putting down the phone calls to these two unreliable guys, Ronald turned to visit his two good friends, Jim Cameron and Gale Hurd.
"Look, I actually have nothing to do, I just want to take a rest."
"Cheer up, Ronald, don't waste your genius." Gale saw the video of him watching the football game again, and he was so angry that he grabbed the remote control and turned off the TV.
"Hey, don't turn off my TV." Ronald stopped, took the remote control and turned on the TV again.
"Cameron is writing the script of his robot, why are you here decadent and autistic? People who were created by Roger Corman's hands will not fail like this."
Gail was a little angry. She recently received an investment from her father and quit her job to start her own production company.
Seeing that Ronald was not doing his job properly, I asked him for a script without saying anything, so I came to take a look with Cameron.
Ronald turned on the TV again and watched the game video of "That Catch", still playing with a football in his hand.
"Did you watch this game, Gail?" Ronald asked Gail, pointing to the TV.
"Why do you think Joe Montana is so sure that wide receiver Clark will catch the ball?" Ronald asked, pointing to the quarterback on the TV.
Joe Montana was forced to the sideline by five or six defensive players, and when he was about to go out of bounds, he ran a pass high into the sky and found the wide receiver Clark in the end zone. Clark jumped up to catch the ball and scored a touchdown. It is said that four
The shooting guard couldn't see the position of the wide receiver at all, and it looked like he was just throwing it casually based on his feeling.
Afterwards, the defensive players of the Dallas Cowboys were interviewed, and they also believed that Montana was a lucky throw, and they were defeated because of bad luck.
"Because he's Joe Montana." Gayle certainly knew the game, and Montana is now an idol for boys across the country.
"No, wrong."
Ronald threw the football and Gale caught it with both hands.
"Because he knows the receivers are going to be there, that's why he's Joe Montana."
Ronald corrected, "Why do you all think my movie will fail? I saw a different picture."
Cameron pulled Gale and said, "Let's go, Ronald knows exactly what he is doing."
On the first weekend of August, "Fast Richmond High" opens on the West Coast in California and other places.
A total of 498 theaters screened the film, and without any publicity or marketing, it attracted huge audiences.
The three-day box office of the first weekend exceeded US$2.5 million, and the average three-day weekend box office of each theater exceeded US$5,000.
This single hotel's performance is only a little behind "The Best Chicken Room in Texas". Compared with "et Alien", it is more than half of theirs.
As a youth exploitation film, "Fast Richmond High" was a box office hit.