"Daniel continued to learn karate with Mr. Miyagi. The next year...it was time for the annual All-Fernando Valley Karate Championship. This time, as the defending champion, he had to accept the challenges of masters from all walks of life..."
Ronald read Weintraub's summary.
"How about it? Is this a story okay? You are an expert, how about we devise a trick to let him defend his title in the championship?"
Ronald couldn't hold it back, so he told the truth, "Jerry, the first part has written Daniel's story to the end. If you want to make a sequel, the protagonist must focus on other characters, otherwise
It's like filming the first film with a new look. The audience won't buy it."
"Hey? How do you say that?" Weintraub was deeply impressed by Ronald's confident attitude on the first day of the movie. What he said must have some truth.
"Well...for example, in Lucas's 'Star Wars', if the Death Star is blown up in A New Hope, the Empire builds a bigger Death Star in the sequel, and then lets Luke go and destroy it.
He exploded. Even if the force is several times stronger than before and the special moves are more powerful than before, the core of the story remains the same and the audience will not like to watch it."
"What you said makes sense." Weintraub put away the synopsis he wrote. "Then whose story do you think we should film?"
"It's better to shoot the role of Ali. There are a lot of things that can be explored in her. She is not a passive heroine. She dates Daniel, plays football, actively conflicts with Johnny, and encourages Daniel to persevere even though he is injured. I think she can make
She becomes Master Miyagi's second apprentice. She talks about women practicing martial arts to protect themselves.
Moreover, Elizabeth Sue is a sports girl. She has a foundation in gymnastics and football, and is also very good at karate. She can perform action scenes by herself without a stand-in. After she completes part of her studies, we will find a summer vacation and let her come back to film the sequel."
"Is that so? Does that mean we have to wait at least two years for the sequel to be released?"
"Yes, we have to wait a year before filming starts, so that we can give the audience time to reflect and look forward to it. Even Star Wars cannot be a film every year."
"Are there any other candidates?" Weintraub was actually a little annoyed that Elizabeth Shue refused to participate in the marketing campaign.
"Hmm...", Ronald thought for a while, "Then there is another option, which is to film the story of Master Miyagi, how he went from a Ryukyu fisherman to America, from a hero in the war to a
The humble repairman in the apartment."
“An immigrant story? Like ‘The Godfather Part II’?”
"Yes, to uncover the mystery of Master Miyagi, I think there must be some stories behind his departure from Ryukyu. We can also let him return to Ryukyu again in the story to wrap up the previous stories."
"Hmm... I like your idea better. Can we also film the story of the villain coach Chris?" Weintraub drew inferences.
"This?" Ronald didn't expect Weintraub to like fighting scenes so much, and all his thoughts revolved around more and more exciting fights.
"But he is a villain. Will the audience be interested in the villain? In fact, I didn't give him much writing in the movie."
"We can discuss it slowly, so you are still very interested in directing the sequel?" Weintraub laughed.
"Hahaha, maybe." Ronald is not disgusted with Weintraub's communication method, but whether he will continue to serve as screenwriter and director will be discussed later.
"How is the box office trend this week?" Ronald asked the topic that the two of them were most concerned about. If it can sell well at the box office, then the filming of the sequel can be guaranteed. The investment in the second part will definitely be much higher than the first one.
In today's movies, all the actors have signed a single film contract. If a sequel is made, the salary of the director and the actors will increase. Only if it is a hit at the box office, the production company and distributor will invest more budget to shoot the sequel.
.
"The momentum is very good, and with feedback from Columbia, the box office in a single theater has even surpassed that of 'Legend of the Devil', and is on par with 'Gremlins'."
"The trend is really good." Ronald couldn't help but look forward to the second week's box office statistics. It is estimated that the drop will be very small.
…
"We need a director who is good at youth exploitation films." In the producer's office of 20th Century Fox, a middle-aged man lamented to his subordinates, think about it, who can take on this important task?
"This?" The subordinates looked at each other. The script of this movie was written by Noel Black, who holds a senior position in the Fox Production Department, and then he gave the green light.
However, I continued to look for many directors, but either expressed no interest or were rejected by Black.
Twentieth Century Fox is in a very chaotic situation right now. After the female president, Shirley Lansing, was driven out by the new boss, the oil tycoon, the top executives went their own way and took advantage of the short happy time without the president to start various performances.
Relatively speaking, Mr. Black only used his power to film the script he wrote, which is considered very moral, except that the script is a bit outdated.
However, finding someone to direct his script is not an easy task. If the director is too good, he will not be interested in such an outdated script. If the director is too bad, Black will be dissatisfied with the result.
"Can't any of you think of a suitable candidate?" Noel Black started to shout loudly, "We must seize this time and shoot as soon as possible."
"If we wait too long, this movie may be reconsidered once the new president comes." The subordinates all complained.
A subordinate in the corner, named Ben Fatty, raised it with trembling hands.
"explain!"
"How about we get Ronald Lee? He's been directing exploitation films, and every one of them is a hit."
"That kid who directed the breakdance?" Noel Black asked.
"Yes, he also directed 'Fast-paced Richmond High', and his debut film was a youth comedy about teenagers on campus."
"Pfft..." Another subordinate couldn't help laughing.
"Do you have any opinions?" Noel Black glared over, "I think Ronald is a good candidate."
"I don't have any objections to Ronald. I just think that Ben may have been busy with work recently and not watched movies. I don't know that Ronald Lee is the most popular director now. He has become a big shot and will not go back to direct this movie."
It’s a low-budget exploitation film.”
"What other movies has he directed recently? Didn't Breakdancing just come out?" Noel Black continued to ask.
"The best-performing new film this week, 'The Kid', is his work. It was released by Columbia with a production budget of eight million. He was highly praised by film critics. Roger Ebert of Chicago even gave him the best
The rating is four stars.
In addition, the box office results are also very good. With this success, he has basically jumped out of the low-cost quagmire."
"Eight million?" Noel Black thought for a while, "We can also invest him with eight million, and increase the director's salary to fifty, no, one million."
The subordinates below were overwhelmed by Noel Blake's arrogance. "Heart and Soul" looks like a script from the 1960s, but he actually invested 8 million in it. This is all for his dream.
? Or are you using power for personal gain and taking advantage of Fox's messy situation to turn your script into a film?
"Why are you still hanging around? Go find Ronald Lee's agent, I want to interview him at Fox."
Everyone left the office in a mess and went to make phone calls separately.
Noel Black searched on his desk, got the latest issue of the Chicago Sun-Times, and found the latest Roger Ebert film review session.
Sure enough, "Longwei Boy" was reviewed above.
"I wasn't planning on seeing this movie. I glanced at the title and thought it was either (a) an outdated martial arts fight movie or (b) a poor adaptation of a DC comic.
I was totally wrong. "The Dragon King" was the biggest surprise of 1984 - an exciting and heart-warming story about two people who had been friends for years and were the first couple we'd seen on screen in a long time.
One of the most interesting friendships.
Two friends come from different worlds. A kid named Daniel (Ralph Marzio) is a New Jersey teenager who moved to Los Angeles with his mother. An older guy named Miyagi (Pat Morita)
·Noriyuki) is the Japanese janitor in their apartment building...
Then begins the best part of "The Dragon King" where the old man befriends the kid from Jersey and begins teaching him authentic Ryukyu karate. Miyagi's karate teaching system is offbeat, to say the least. He lets Daniel go
Wax cars, paint fences, scrub floors.
Daniel complained that he was not learning karate, but working as a free labor force. But Mr. Miyagi's training was systematic.
"The Kid" is written and directed by someone I can't imagine, Ronald Lee. I have belittled his directorial ability before. I thought he could only shoot some good-looking scenes, but lacked the ability to describe characters and make them exciting.
Narrative ability.
But this movie completely shattered my prejudices. Its core is not the fight scenes, but the relationships. In addition to Daniel's friendship with Miyagi, there is also a sweet romantic relationship with Ari (Elizabeth Shue),
She's your standard girl from the right side of town, with the usual snobbish parents.
Ralph Mazzio was an unusual, interesting choice for Daniel. He was not your typical handsome Hollywood teenager, but a tall, lanky, energetic kid whose delivery always sounded natural,
There is no sense of reading the lines.
He's a good, wholesome, interesting protagonist, but the movie really belongs to Pat Morita, an actor who's been in the business a long time (he played Arnold in "Happy Days"
), but there has never been such a good role.
Morita makes Miyagi a model of hard work. The Miyagi he plays is a completely original character, which is really refreshing.
"The Kid" is a sleeper hit. Maybe its title gave you the wrong idea: it's one of the best movies of 1984.
Four stars!
"Well..." Noel Black put down the newspaper with satisfaction, "Only a director like this can produce good results for my semi-autobiographical script."