Stallone accepted another phone interview with Melvin Griffin over the weekend. He pointed out that Ronald was not imitating Star Wars, it was a space opera, and Ronald was a story that took place on earth.
.
It's the same fight, and it's the same defeat of the defending champion. The "Rocky" series of movies is the originator of this movie type.
"Okay, thank you. Rocky, played by Sly, is the eternal benchmark of our American spirit..."
"Here comes his second round of attack, which does not directly attack your counterattack, but once again hints at some structural similarities between your movie and Rocky." Public relations consultant Eva distributed a new version to everyone.
Published newspaper with an interview with Stallone.
Ronald's counterattack put Stallone in the crosshairs. If he didn't continue to fight back, he would have turned into a smart clown. They are obviously imitating Star Wars, but you feel good about yourself, right?
"Very good, it's all within our expectations," Niceta nodded.
"Ronald, your phone", Richard handed over the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Why are you having sex with Stallone?" It was Diane who called. She was worried about Ronnie and called to inquire about the situation.
"It's okay. We have a bit of history. I'm ready. This time I just want to hype up my movie." Ronald replied pretending to be relaxed.
"Well, you always have great ideas and can get things done. You have to do it properly, brother Ronnie."
"You are quite popular, which girl's phone number is this?" Weintraub on the opposite side teased Ronald.
"Not many," Ronald said haha.
Letterman's talk show aired on time. Everyone in the Hollywood circle knew that there was a young director who had a direct conversation with Stallone. Although the tone of the two was relatively restrained, the nature of the matter shocked people in the circle.
For a popular movie star like Stallone, few people dare to argue with him remotely on TV.
The first caller, who can be said to be the direct cause of this incident, was Rachel Ward. The Australian beauty was about to return to China. I heard that Ronald and Stallone had a verbal exchange and postponed the flight. I came here specifically to ask Ronald.
Condition.
My ex-girlfriend Michelle Pfeiffer, whom I had not contacted for a long time, also called me to show concern.
Ronald hadn't felt this kind of caring for a long time, so he responded one by one. He just responded to Stallone, it was nothing serious.
Only Brooke didn't have an agent, and she was temporarily away from Hollywood's Vanity Fair. She didn't understand the impact of this incident on Ronald, so she didn't call to comfort him.
Not only female friends, but male friends also called me. Nicolas Cage, Kane Costner, and Judge Reinhold, who I have worked with, all called me.
Cameron and Gale, as well as Cameron Crowe, two Israeli brothers, and their teacher in New York, Martin Scorsese, also came to inquire about the situation.
Roger Corman was particularly concerned. He was the one who promoted Stallone's debut and asked Ronald if he needed to mediate.
Ronald refused directly, but thanked him for his kindness. Stallone is no longer the supporting character in the movies of the New World, holding a submachine gun and shooting. He is now a popular superstar, and he does not necessarily miss the old relationship.
Weintraub smiled, "Well, I don't have the right to make fun of you. But Dick Cavett agreed. He is willing to come back from retirement. If he comes back, the first exclusive interview will be with George Lucas. He is very
Happy."
Weintraub used to be a big producer in the music industry, and several of the following superstars had been interviewed by Dick Cavett, so he convinced Dick right away.
"What about the preset questions?" Paula Wagner, one of Ronald's agents, was very concerned about whether Cavett would ask the preset key questions.
"Don't worry, he and I are old acquaintances, and Dick is very experienced. His style is to let the interviewee relax and then talk about in-depth questions. Lucas promised to cooperate, no problem."
Weintraub joined the group after watching David Letterman's show over the weekend. He worked very hard and expressed his willingness to add more resources to make this matter bigger.
The reason, of course, is the box office performance. With Schwarzenegger's new film "Conan the Destroyer" being released over the weekend, the box office bucked the trend and grew to over 6 million.
There was no more marketing investment, and there was no special change in word-of-mouth. But this Sleeping Beauty movie suddenly became popular among parents and children in America.
The box office of the third weekend has exceeded that of the first two weeks. There is no doubt that Weintraub concluded that the reason is that Ronald and Stallone's back and forth war of words in the media let more people know
Got the movie "Longwei Boy".
"But Dick Cavett no longer has a broadcast platform. To acquire a special broadcast channel resource in a short period of time is not as simple as finding a heavyweight talk host with a job." Niceta raised a practical question.
Weintraub shrugged, saying he had no network connections and could do nothing.
"Instead of doing this, it is better to go to Melvin Griffin," public relations consultant Eva proposed her own plan. "That's where Stallone launched his first attack. Griffin will be happy to participate in the second round. This
It will help improve his poor ratings on cable channels."
Stallone's counterattack made Ronald overjoyed. If they could respond with a heavy punch from behind, it would be a technical knockout on the spot. They tried to end the matter at once.
"Paula, can you guarantee that he will ask the right questions?" Niceta looked at this colleague and lover, wondering how much influence her friend Eva had on Melvin Griffin.
Paula Wagner shook her head invisibly.
It seems that there is no 100% guarantee that he will ask preset questions when interviewing Lucas.
Unlike Dick Cavett, who was introduced by Weintraub, Griffin now has a talk show on a cable TV station. This makes Ronald’s control and influence over him completely different. If there is no powerful question on the show,
To solve the problem of Taoism, it would be like hitting the target with a punch, not to mention that all the resources invested would be wasted, and Stallone might seize the flaw and fight back.
"Ronald, I can help you clarify." A blond man rushed into CAA's office and shouted to Ronald, "I can be on a TV show. No one knows your character better than me."
"Tom, what are you doing here?" Paula Wagner scolded Tom Cruise who broke into the office.
"I heard that Stallone wanted to attack Ronald's creative ability. I know him very well. He is a sincere friend. I will never forget it. It was he who gave me the opportunity to audition for the first time. It was also he who guided me.
I went to the dentist to get my front teeth filled."
"Don't get involved in this matter. We will take care of it. If you speak rashly, it will disrupt our plans."
Tom Cruise was pulled aside and given a lecture by Paula Wagner.
Cruise was still very obedient to this agent who was like a sister. He promised not to be interviewed in private to excuse Ronald, and then came over and hugged Ronald.
"If you need anything, I mean, any need, I will help you." He said and clenched his fists in the air.
"It doesn't matter, we are discussing how to deal with it. Paula and Niceta are both very experienced people." Ronald thanked Cruise, pointed to Rebecca De Mornay in the corner, and said to him,
"Go quickly, your girlfriend is still waiting for you."
"If you need anything, ok." Cruise tilted his head to confirm with Ronald again, then took Demonny's hand and left.
"Lock the door," Niceta ordered Richard after Cruise walked out.
"Now we need a choice. Time is running out. We can only choose one person. If the news leaks out, I'm afraid Stallone will be prepared. So I vote for Dick Cavett."
"Then can you handle the TV station's recent broadcast resources?" Eva asked, not to be outdone.
"This is a multiple-choice question. We can't put our chips on a person who has no control..."
"Ring ring ring ring..." Richard answered the phone again, "Hello... Ronald, the person looking for you is..."
He made a "Helen" mouth shape.
"Ronnie, I saw Stallone attacking you on TV, what happened?" On the other end of the phone was Helen Slater from New York.
"Don't worry, I'm already dealing with it. It's just a little history. I can handle it." Ronald didn't expect Helen's call, and it sounded like she had fully recovered.
"Don't lie to me. I asked Gerald and he said that you are now suppressed by Stallone's fame. If you don't find a suitable big star to endorse you, you will be passive."
"It's okay. Thank you and Gerald for your concern... I'm fine. If necessary, I will ask Gerald for help."
"Gerald? Gerald Slater's daughter Helen?" Niceta and Richard confirmed.
"Okay, thank you for calling." Ronald pressed the phone.
"Okay, let's continue, don't answer the next call." Ronald apologized to everyone.
"No, there is no need to open it." Niceta made a pause gesture and whispered to Ronald, "I will call Gerald Slater, PBS is Dick's old club.
Even though they fired him not too long ago, there would be no interest in airing a special episode of Dick's interview with Lucas."
"but……"
"Nothing but, you need his help now, Ronald." Niceta's eyes flashed, "I don't think you will affect your future because of such a trivial matter, right? I will make the call to Gerald.
.”
"But Gerald's price won't be cheap." Ronald relaxed his hand and put down the phone receiver.
Niceta took it and called the front desk, "Put me through the Vice President of PBS, Mr. Gerald Slater."
"Well, well, no problem, Ronald will definitely help with this." Niceta smiled and said to everyone, "Everyone, Dick's broadcast platform has agreed to do a special program on PBS over the weekend.
One hour of program time.”
Ronald looked at Niceta, who was making her own decisions, and thought, what price did you sell me for?
"Not long ago, in a small town near San Francisco, a child lived a comfortable life..."
By Thursday night, PBS aired a special, an interview with George Lucas, which opened with a parody of the "Star Wars" heading into the distance, followed by Dick Cavett's appearance in Lucas' Skywalker.
pasture.
"Is this ranch your paradise? It's like every little boy's childhood dream."
"Haha, yes, many things here are very expensive. I put all my dreams here." George Lucas took the camera crew to visit his park. In addition to everything about Star Wars, there are also famous
The Industrial Light and Magic special effects company also has offices here.
"When did you start entering the film industry? We know that you actually directed a movie before 'American Grace Painting'."
"Ah, yes, I had just arrived at Francis Coppola's Peep Show Company at that time. This was the first movie Peep Show produced..."
After chatting about Star Wars for a while, Dick Cavett asked the agreed question at the right time, "Coppola, you, Spielberg, De Palma, you are considered to be the director representative of New Hollywood, what do you think?"
, directors in the 1980s, are you still continuing your original innovations?"
"I think so." Lucas stroked his beard. "In the new era, new director styles will also appear. Of course, Steven, Francis, and I are not old yet. We are still filming.
.The new generation of movies also has an innovative spirit.
I recently watched ‘The Dragon King’, which broke through the previous martial arts movies and created a new narrative mode.”
"Ronald Lee? But there's a debate now, is he modeled after your 'Star Wars' or Stallone's 'Rocky'?"
"I know Ronald, and I don't believe he has any imitative behavior. There are only so many narrative patterns in movies. If you have watched the classic old movies in the past, all new Hollywood movies will, to some extent, be based on the classics.
Get nutrients from it."
"So there's no imitation of Star Wars, and there's no imitation of Rocky?"
"I don't know where these rumors come from? Ronald is the screenwriter of this movie. I know him very well. He started out as a screenwriter before. If you look through his previous screenwriting records, you will know
He also wrote a script for Stallone.
Film creation is a very difficult thing. The audience enjoys the final feast on the screen and there is no need to care about the rumors. In the end, it is the film, not the rumors, that remains in history."
"Huh..." This was the final word. Ronald let out a sigh of relief. Lucas was very helpful. He already pointed out that he had also worked as a screenwriter for a movie directed by Stallone. If he still persists,
If he doesn't stop, doubts will fly to his head.
Why would a director question his own screenwriter? Could it be that Stallone, who was criticized for his directing ability in "So Far", randomly changed Ronald Lee's script, and then became jealous of the underachiever Ronald?
"Damn it! You incompetent trash, rubbish!" Stallone sat in his mansion and cursed at his agent.
He grabbed the wine glass and threw it at the TV showing the Lucas interview.
"What should I do now?" Stallone asked loudly. Lucas, as a top director, stood up for Ronald. Now it is his turn to make a fool of himself. Those interview records that were originally released have now become pistols pointed at him. .
Ronald was not only admired by Lucas, but also revealed that he once worked as a screenwriter for him. Those who accused him of imitating "Rocky", how can they be rounded now?
Lucas has more fans, much more than Rocky. Now that people regard Lucas's words as the truth, wouldn't it leave Stallone himself to be a clown?
"I, I'll call Mr. Meyer." The agent hurriedly ran out. He didn't want to stay in front of Stallone any longer, lest he be fired on the spot like the PR manager who encouraged him to continue attacking Ronald.
"Sly", the tall bodyguard behind Stallone came out to speak, "Ronald's agent is also in CAA. In Japan where I have lived for more than ten years, when encountering this kind of situation, you have to ask the biggest one to arbitrate. Already."
"Arbitration?" Stallone repeated, then opened the door and shouted to his agent, "Come back here, I want to talk to Michael Ovitz."