The last shot of "Terminator" was beautifully shot. After the dailies were developed, Ronald was invited to Cameron's editing room to watch.
"I think you will be a very professional candidate to be a director of photography. Nowadays, the director of photography in America does not necessarily have to be an operator or a coolie. As long as you have a good aesthetic feeling and some understanding of the camera, you can
Be a good photography director." Cameron praised sincerely.
"Ronald is going to be a great director." Gale corrected from the side. Cameron sometimes doesn't pay much attention to these things. Let a director who has made many blockbuster movies be the director of photography. If you are not familiar with it,
People thought he was belittling.
"We are old friends. Jim is actually right. If I hadn't had the opportunity to write scripts and become a director, I might have developed a career in photography."
"Click!" Cameron pressed down the lens shot by Ronald, then quickly picked out the motor sound and wind sound from the sound material, aligned them in sync and fixed them with tape.
"Why do you still use this old-fashioned editing tape?" Ronald was a little surprised. "I have a new tape here, which is very easy to use and will not eat up one and a half frames of film with one editing port."
Ronald recommended using Walter Mersey's new editing tape. Each editing port only covers less than one-third of the film, allowing the rhythm and breathing of the film to remain intact. It can be said that the director and editor, once they saw it,
Just fell in love with it.
"I've heard that it was invented and manufactured by Walter Mersey. But he's not in America recently and I can't contact him." Cameron is a technology enthusiast and found a dealer by himself.
"Let me call his home." Ronald called San Francisco and asked Mersey's wife to buy it. However, he was told that Mersey was still filming "Return to Oz" in England and there was not much stock left.
After saying some good words, Ronald bought the last two rolls of inventory from Mrs. Mersey and asked Cameron to send a check to the other party. Mersey refused to open the factory because of the small volume. I hope everything goes well for him in London when filming.
Time has quickly come to the weekend of the second week of June.
Ronald in the box office section of The Hollywood Reporter, looking from bottom to top.
"Streets of Rage" and "Once Upon a Time in America" starring Diane, both had box office drops of over one million, and faced the embarrassment of being forced to cancel their releases within a month.
"Break Dance" directed by Ronald, MGM's film schedule has been gradually reduced by the release of three new films, and the number of theaters is gradually reduced. The weekend box office has dropped below 2 million, with only 1.6 million left.
But the reports sent by Cannon show that the box office of newly released films in second-tier theaters in big cities and rural theaters in small towns continues to surge. Everything is very good, and the decline is very slow.
In total, the box office of "Break Dance" has not decreased but increased, and has returned to more than 4 million. The total box office is close to 40 million.
Next up is "Break Dance"'s fierce rival, "Hot Street" released by Orion. This movie had a lot of buzz before its release. Orion has secured 1,400 theaters for release and has begun to focus on advertising in major media.
.
"Five million and two hundred thousand," Ronald looked at the box office figures and felt relieved.
"Hot Street" claims to be a real "Break Dance" movie, and there are many attacks on "Break Dance" in various advertisements. However, in the end, the first week box office of "Break Dance" was not as high as 7.8 million in 1,000 theaters.
.The average box office of a single museum is only half of its own.
No matter how much film critics led by Roger Ebert brag, it is impossible to compare with him at the box office.
Further up, the box office of "Star Trek: The Search for Spock" has quickly dropped to 9 million. "The Raiders" still maintains a box office performance of more than 12 million, worthy of Spielberg and Lucas.
A big joint production.
"Hey", Ronald saw "The Raiders" along the way, and there were actually two movies on it. The weekend box office was actually higher than the works directed by Spielberg?
I want to move my eyes up with my fingers, there are two new films!
The second ranked one has something to do with Spielberg!
It was Chris Columbus, whom Ronald knew, who served as the screenwriter. It was shot by Spielberg's Amblin Pictures and released by Warner Bros. "Gremlins", a teenage fantasy horror film.
Ronald looked at the details. The director of this film is one of the leaders in his directing career, Joe Dante. The heroine is the black-haired beauty Phoebe Cates, whom he discovered.
"Joe Dante, forget it, otherwise shouldn't I have asked myself to make this movie?" Ronald knocked on his head. The actors, screenwriters, and producers were all his acquaintances. How could Spielberg not do it?
Didn't you think of yourself?
Maybe there are fewer connections, Ronald thought. No wonder these big-name directors and stars live together in several affluent communities in Los Angeles. Just the contacts who often attend parties can help them find out a lot.
information.
Unlike himself who often goes to New York, he lives in an apartment in Los Angeles instead of a separate house. He is not as close to Beverly Hills as possible, so he is far away from the circle. Ronald made up his mind that after getting the share of "Break Dance", he would
Consider moving into a better independent large house where you can at least hold parties.
"Gremlins" was released in 1,500 theaters in its first week and grossed 12.5 million.
If Ronald's finger goes up further, which movie can be more powerful than this?
It was released in 1,340 theaters, with a box office of 13.5 million in the first weekend, and the average box office per theater exceeded 10,000 US dollars.
"Ghostbusters! (ghostbusters)"
Another movie that I know.
I also had a beer with the Canadian screenwriter and star Dan Aykroyd, and made an appointment to have dinner with my Canadian colleagues working in Hollywood, but I forgot about it.
It was the last film that former Columbia president Frank Price agreed to before leaving for Universal.
Finally, comedy master Bill Murray was invited to star together with actress Sigourney Weaver.
This is a movie that Michael Ovitz, the president of CAA, worked hard to promote. From the screenwriter, director, to the main actors, they are all clients of CAA. Ovitz has long been optimistic about the genre of comedy and horror, and this time he finally caught the
"Ghostbusters" was a huge success.
Suddenly, Ronald felt the pressure was increasing. Two new films, two blockbusters in the second week, and "The Dragon King" to be released in two weeks will face the attack of the previous four blockbuster films.
Ronald picked up the phone and called producer Weintraub, "Jerry, have you seen today's box office results? We have to do something."
Jerry took Susan Aikins with him and met Ronald in the office. They all felt that the challenge was huge.
Weintraub wanted to spend another half million to increase the marketing of the movie. Ronald began to inquire with old friends to see if he could get another talk show or a movie interview before the release.
After the discussion was settled, the two of them took action separately.
Ronald rushed to the CAA office, where someone was launching streamers. Many people held champagne to celebrate the success of "Ghostbusters".
Ronald left the celebrating crowd and walked straight to Niceta's office.
"Rick! Do you also want to hold a celebration party like this?"
"Shh!" Niceta made a low voice, stood up and closed the door behind the office.
"Of course I think your 'Longwei Boy' has also been threatened, right?"
"Of course, you have to help me think of ways to increase exposure. This movie will definitely be a box office success, but I'm worried that the current Ghostbusters and Gremlins are box office monsters and will swallow them up.
Our exposure.”
"What do you think? Which programs do you want to be exposed on?"
"Are there any major talk shows? Johnny Carson, or David Letterman. Although I know their schedules are full, is there anything you can do?"
"I have a plan. I can get on both of these talk shows this weekend. Maybe I can also go to CBS News 60 Minutes."
"Ah? What can I do? Tell me quickly."
"You reveal your relationship with Brooke Shields, and then they will all come." Niceta poured herself a glass of wine and drank it.
"ah?"
"Hahaha, I fooled you."
Ronald realized that the other party was joking, "Brookee wants to graduate from Princeton, and she doesn't even accept movie offers."
"I know, can you persuade her? Her reputation is still very strong, wouldn't it be a good time to go out and make a movie during the summer vacation?"
"If you can kick her mother away and become her manager, I won't object and will help you." Ronald actually felt that Brooke shouldn't give up her acting career, as she might regret it in the future.
"The time is really tight, I can't arrange it." Niceta shook her head and rejected Ronald's idea.
"Can I be on Bobbi Wygant's show?" Ronald thought of this female film critic, his own 'Fast Pace', who had been on her show before, and it was arranged by Universal at that time.
"I'll make some phone calls."
Niceta made a few calls to inquire about the situation, "Barbie happened to be recording a show in Los Angeles. She might be able to give you a gag, but she needs some gimmicks. It's just a medium-sized production released by Colombia, and there are no stars to join.
She wants to fuck you, but she also needs some reasons."
"reason?"
Ronald thought again and again, thinking about all the participants in the movie.
Neither the male protagonist nor the female protagonist is a star. There are some second-generation stars in the supporting roles, but they are not qualified. Producer Weintraub has entered the film industry? However, interviews with Bobbi Wygant have always been conducted only with the main creative staff.
"Can I go on by myself without Brooks?" Ronald felt that he was still a successful director.
"It's very difficult. Your current movie was produced by Weintraub, and it's impossible for Columbia to use resources so actively."
"Then the only one left is Noriyuki Morita who plays Mr. Miyagi."
Ronald thought for a while and called the office of Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye on Capitol Hill.
"Mr. Inoue is busy working on his proposal in the Senate to adopt a new sterilization method for milk transported by troops stationed in Hawaii. The original bus sterilization method can only last for eight days, and soldiers in Hawaii and Alaska often drank sour milk.
milk."
"Why can the senator only propose this kind of proposal?" Ronald wondered, "Then can I get assistance from Mr. Inoue's office?"
"Hello, I am Mr. Inoue's public affairs assistant, who are you?" The call was transferred to Inoue's subordinate office.
"I am the director of a film about the history of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, Ronald Lee."
"Mr. Inoue has specially told you that after the movie is released, I hope you will send a copy to Capitol Hill for screening. Do you need his help with anything?"
"I hope Mr. Inoue can give me some help in promoting my movie, so that the actor who plays the Medal of Honor recipient of the Infantry Regiment can get an interview opportunity on a film review program."
"Bobby Wygant? She needs advertising for her show, right? I'll call someone at Sony."