"Another big player in the recording industry joins Hollywood."
In the "News" section of "Daily Variety", there is news in a corner that "Jerry Weintraub Production Company" has officially announced the joining of a new director for its new film.
"Jerry Weintraub is ready to bring his talents to Hollywood. He revealed to this reporter that emerging director Ronald V. Lee will join the crew of 'The Kid' and serve as the director. It is reported that
, who is also the screenwriter of this film.”
"Praised by Stanley Kubrick as one of the most promising emerging directors, Ronald Lee is an alumnus of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and directed Universal's 'Race to Richmond'
High School', and the small production 'Night of the Comet'.
This was his first opportunity to direct a $7.5 million major production. Mr. Jerry Weintraub said that he admired Ronald Lee's talent and keen insight into young audiences.
Mr. Weintraub told this newspaper that the story of the film is adapted from real events, and he said that "The Kid" will be an action romantic comedy that will be loved by young audiences."
Ronald folded the newspaper and put it into his collection box. The day before yesterday, he and his agent went to sign a director's contract with Weintraub. The director's salary was a total of two hundred thousand dollars, plus one percent.
Profit dividends. Not counting the dividends, it is about the same as my screenwriter’s remuneration.
However, this kind of profit sharing is generally a term of honor for directors and actors. Most of the time, no one can get it. This is different from "Night of the Comet" in which Ronald invested part of his own money.
Different.
What Ronald valued was that the film had a budget of up to $8.5 million, of which $1 million was a reserve. If it was not enough during the filming period, it could only be used after Weintraub signed off.
Moreover, Weintraub has signed a distribution agreement with Columbia, so the marketing and distribution of "The Kid" are not a problem. As an old studio, Columbia must be much more stable than Atlantic in this regard.
Ronald still remembers the day he signed the contract and asked Weintraub what he thought of Pat Morita playing Master Miyagi. Weintraub said categorically that as long as he was a producer, it would be impossible to cast Pat.
Morita. and declined further discussion.
Ronald had to put the matter aside for the time being and talk with Weintraub about the casting of several other major roles.
The male lead has been confirmed, and we are not looking for any second-generation stars to play the lead. Weintraub has asked Susan to send audition invitations to major Hollywood agencies. However, because all the young actors are now auditioning for "Red Dawn,"
So the audition for "Longwei Boy" needs to be held back a bit.
The heroine is a pretty girl, as long as she is a pretty girl with a girl-next-door temperament that Danny can fall in love with. Ronald secretly recommended Helen Slater to Weintraub.
After seeing the audition photos from his agent, Weintraub said that he could go directly to the second round of auditions. Once the male lead Danny is confirmed, they can audition together to see the chemical reaction.
Master Miyagi is of Japanese descent, which is quite special. He has tried his best to find all the Japanese and Chinese actors in Hollywood to audition. He also asked Ovitz of CAA to take the lead and asked the Japanese film industry for some photos of actors who can speak English.
.
Ronald recalled Avelson's reminder. When Francis Coppola was looking for Marlon Brando to play Corleone in "The Godfather", he also faced strong opposition from the top management of the production company, but in the end he still did it. It became a matter of course, and I came up with the idea of going to my home to seek Buddhist scriptures.
Coppola is very busy. His second film adaptation of Hinton's novel "Betta", which was filmed in Oklahoma, has been edited and will be released soon. This time it did not go through Warner Bros., but used his own The "Peepshow" company was doing the distribution, and it was a very busy time.
Fortunately, Niceta was also Coppola's agent. After his call, Ronald was able to visit him and Coppola agreed to give him half an hour to chat.
"Hey, Ronnie. What, I heard you want to see me for something?" Coppola's complexion was much better when he was on the set. The box office of "The Kid" was neither high nor low, with more than 25 million US dollars. After the film was released, Warner Bros. shipped some of the copies in good condition abroad and began showing them overseas, expecting to earn close to another 10 million.
This gave Coppola's name credibility again after the box office failure of "Old Love, New Love". Various studios began to look for him to direct. The famous independent producer Robert Evans was also looking for Coppola. Discuss projects.
"I won't waste your precious time. I have something to ask you. When you were filming 'The Godfather', how did you convince Paramount's executives to cast Marlon Brando? I met someone like this Question, I would like to borrow your wisdom, Francis."
"Marlon Brando," Coppola adjusted his glasses, "It's a long story. Would you like some salami? My friend brought it from Europe. A glass of red wine? Produced on my estate. "
Coppola poured Ronald a glass of red wine, then lit a cigar and slowly recalled the events of that year.
"Brando's reputation was very bad at the time. He encountered accidents in several consecutive films. He was a very smart man. Sometimes when he met a poor director, he would get angry and stop acting. So when Paramount heard about it, I thought I enabled him and immediately rejected him."
"Oh? This is very similar to what I encountered." Ronald took a sip of red wine, "This wine tastes very good, even better than the one at the Oscar dinner last time. I will buy a box and take it back."
"Of course, the weather this year is very good. If I were you, I would buy more."
"Then let me tell Niceta, it tastes really good."
"By the way, the president of Paramount told me at the time that I was prohibited from mentioning Marlon Brando's name or discussing his role in The Godfather."
"How can we ban the discussion?" Ronald felt that Coppola must have some tricks up his sleeve. Under such circumstances, he could finally let Brando star. It seems that he came to the right decision this time.
"I lay on the ground on the spot, pretending to be about to faint, in protest. If Brando is not even allowed to be mentioned by name as an actor, what kind of creative freedom is this? They promised me creative freedom at the time. "
"Hahaha..." Ronald was very happy.
"My move worked, and the president immediately gave in and said I could mention Brando's name. But hiring him was impossible." Coppola then drank a little red wine, chewed a piece of salami, and then smoked took a puff of cigar.
"I fought with them for a long time, and finally the president said that Brando could be cast, but he had to agree to three conditions.
Gu Sheng
First, he had to star for zero pay.
Second, you must undergo an audition
Third, Marlon Brando must pay a $1 million bond, and if his misconduct on set causes filming to be delayed, the million will be deducted."
"How did you get them to give up on such harsh conditions?" Ronald was curious. It was impossible for any actor to agree to such conditions.
"I immediately agreed and said yes." Coppola laughed loudly, "You have to remember that these producers are amateurs. They only said this to show their power and that they can decide some things.
As long as Marlon Brando agrees to star, and I think he is the most suitable candidate, as long as the person with the real decision-making power nods, the final conditions will be modified."
"Oh", Ronald nodded in agreement. This is a key point and he must learn it carefully.
"It was impossible for Brando to accept the audition, so I called him and said there was a role for him, but it was Italian, so I wanted to go to his house and let him do some improv to get a feel for it.
Ma Long is a smart man. Of course he knew that this was an audition. Like a Japanese ninja, my man quietly walked into his house and set up the camera. He understood what was going on as soon as he arrived.
He is a great actor, so he hates directors discussing how to act with him. I never instruct him on how to act. I brought him some salami, chino chips, and crispy wedges and put them on the table.
superior.
This way he will feel relaxed and willing to audition for me."
"So he auditioned in the end?" Ronald picked up a piece of salami and ate it with red wine. This thing goes well with wine.
"Yes, Brando just woke up from his nap and walked to the living room with long blond hair. He was only forty-seven years old at the time.
He had read the novel "The Godfather" and knew that I was auditioning. So he immediately combed his long hair and tied it into a bun at the back of his head. Then he took a box of shoe wax and turned the exposed hair black.
.
He was very spiritual and told me that Vito Corleone had been injured by a gunshot. This kind of person speaks very softly. Then he muttered softly, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...".
He also said that Vito was old and his cheeks would fall off. He took two more tissues, rolled them up and put them in his mouth, "Eh, uh, uh..."
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I think it’s a great performance.” Coppola imitated Brando’s inarticulate acting method, which was very vivid.
"And then they were convinced by the audition?" Ronald asked.
"No, it's not. Ronald, you have to be flexible sometimes. There are bad guys in this business.
I got the audition footage I needed, put it into videotape format, and then I did a little trick. Instead of showing it to the president of Paramount, I flew to New York and showed it directly to the president of Gulf Western, the parent company of Paramount.
Watch Charlie Bluehorn."
"I told him I would only delay him for five minutes, and he promised to take a look at the video."
At first Mr. Bluehorn was very reluctant and said to me, "No... no... no..." Then the scene showed Brando dyeing his hair black, putting a napkin in his mouth, and finally said in a weak voice, "
"Uh huh huh..." while mumbling.
Charlie Bluehorn immediately grabbed my hand and said, "Francis, that's great!"
"That's how that classic character was born."
After Ronald listened to Coppola's story, it was still very helpful. Sometimes, you should not engage in verbal disputes with the producers. They often don't know what the director is thinking. You need to use actual images to convince them.
The other thing is to find the right people and show them the right clips at the right opportunity.
CAA has not found a suitable Japanese actor, but Ronald still agrees with the professional vision of fellow director Avelson. He thought for a long time, called Niceta from CAA, and made an appointment with actor Pat Morita for a private meeting.
.
Pat Morita is a typical Japanese, small, and very polite. He grew up in America and is a second-generation immigrant. He also fully accepts American values, so his name is completely Western, with the surname Morita (
morita) is placed at the back, and the Western name Pat is placed at the front.
"Hello, Ronald. So I still have a chance?" Pat Morita has not received any roles since the end of the sitcom "Happy Days." This is the most difficult time for an actor. And he
Being of Japanese descent, there are no suitable roles except for certain TV series.
Ronald talked with him about his views on the role of Mr. Miyagi. Avelson was right, Morita was indeed very suitable. As a child, he and his parents were imprisoned in a concentration camp for several years during World War II.
And he himself was rescued by a kind-hearted church, which treated him for polio free of charge, and he later had no sequelae.
This attitude of being both resentful and grateful towards America is almost a replica of Master Miyagi. Except that he is a little younger than "Miyagi Shigeyoshi", but this is not a problem under makeup.
"Mr. Avelson and I have the same view, but your appearance is not good, you have to make some changes.
First, you need to grow a beard. On the surface, Master Miyagi is a repairman who lives alone. He does not pay much attention to appearance. You need to grow a messy beard, just like a single person.