Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 538 Ronald has many friends

Stallone gave another phone interview with Mavin Griffin over the weekend, he pointed out that Ronald was not imitating Star Wars, it was a space opera, and Ronald this is the story on the ground. .

   is also fighting, also defeating the defending champion. The "Rocky" series of films is the pioneer who created this type of film.

   "Okay, thank you, Rocky, played by Sly, is the eternal benchmark of our American spirit..."

"His second round of offense came, not directly attacking your counterattack, but once again hinting at some structural similarities between your film and Rocky." Eva, a public relations consultant, distributed a new message to everyone. Published newspaper with an interview with Stallone.

   Ronald's counterattack made Stallone loaded. If he didn't continue to fight back, he would become a clever clown. People are obviously imitating Star Wars. Are you feeling good about yourself?

   "Very good, as we expected," Nisita nodded.

   "Ronald, your phone," Richard handed the receiver.

"Hey?"

   "Why did you have **** with Stallone?" It was Diane who called. She was worried about Ronnie and called to check on the situation.

   "It's alright, we have a little bit of 'history', I'm ready, this time just to hype my movie." Ronald replied pretending to be relaxed.

   "Well, you always have ideas and get things done. You gotta do it right. Brother Ronnie."

   "Your popularity is not bad, this is the first girl to call?" Weintraub on the opposite side made fun of Ronald.

   "Not many," Ronald said with a haha.

   Letterman's talk show was broadcast on time, and 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 is still relatively restrained, the nature of the matter shocked the people in the circle.

   A popular movie star like Stallone, few people dare to talk back to him on TV.

   The first caller, arguably the direct cause of this incident, was Rachel Ward. The Australian beauty was about to return to China. She heard that Ronald and Stallone exchanged words, delayed the flight, and came to ask Ronald about the situation.

   and ex-girlfriend Michelle Pfeiffer, who has not been in contact for a long time, also called to care.

   Ronald didn't feel this kind of caring for a long time, so he replied one by one. I just responded to Stallone, nothing major.

   Only Brooke didn't have an agent by her side, and she was temporarily out of 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 also male friends are calling. Nicholas Cage, Kane Costner, and Judge Reinhold, who have worked with him, all called in succession.

   Cameron and Gale, as well as Cameron Crowe, two Israeli brothers, and his teacher in New York, Martin Scorsese, came to find out.

  Roger Coleman was particularly concerned. He was the one who helped Stallone to debut, and asked Ronald if he needed to reconcile.

   Ronald refused directly, but thanked him for his kindness. Stallone is no longer the supporting character in the New World movie shooting with a submachine gun. He is now a popular superstar, but he may not necessarily miss the old love.

Weintraub smiled, "Well, I'm not qualified to make fun of you. But Dick Cavett agreed. He is willing to come back from retirement. If he comes back out of the mountain, the first interview will be George Lucas, he is very Happy."

   Weintraub used to be a big producer in the music industry. The following superstars were all interviewed by Dick Cavett, so as soon as he shot, he convinced Dick immediately.

   "The preset question?" Paula Wagner, one of Ronald's agents, was very concerned about whether Kavitt would ask the preset key question.

   "Don't worry, I've known him for a long time, and Dick is very experienced. His style is to let the interviewee relax and then talk about in-depth issues. Lucas agreed to cooperate, no problem."

   Weintraub joined the fray after watching David Letterman's show over the weekend. He worked very hard when he came up, and expressed his willingness to add more resources to make this matter bigger.

  The reason is, of course, the box office success. With the release of Schwarzenegger's new film "Conan the Destroyer" over the weekend, "Dragon Power Kid" bucked the trend and grew at the weekend box office, exceeding 6 million.

   There is no more marketing investment, and there is no special change in word of mouth. But this Sleeping Beauty movie suddenly became popular with all the parents and children in America.

   The box office for the third weekend has already surpassed the previous two weeks. There is no doubt that Weintraub concluded that there is no other reason, that is, Ronald's back and forth war of words with Stallone in the media made more people know about the movie "Dragon Power Boy".

   "But Dick Cavett doesn't have a broadcast platform anymore. It's no easier to get a special broadcast channel resource in a short period of time than to find a heavyweight talk host with a job." Nisita raised a realistic question.

   Weintraub shrugged, saying that he didn't have the network of the TV station and couldn't do anything.

"It's better to go to Mavin Griffin instead of this," Eva, a public relations consultant, put forward her own plan, "It was there that Stallone launched the first attack, and Griffin would be happy to participate in the second round. Helped to boost his dismal ratings on cable."

   Stallone's counterattack made Ronald overjoyed. If he can respond with a heavy punch from the back, it will be a technical knockout situation on the spot. They're trying to get this thing over with.

   "Paula, can you guarantee that he will ask the right questions?" Nisita looked at the colleague and lover, wondering how much influence her friend Eva had on Mavin Griffin.

   Paula Wagner shook her head invisibly.

   It seems that there is no 100% guarantee that when he interviews Lucas, he will ask preset questions.

   Unlike Dick Cavett, who Weintraub introduced, Griffin now has a cable talk show. This gives Ronald a completely different control and influence over him here. If you don't ask strong questions on the show, it will be like a punch to the air, the resources invested will be wasted, and Stallone may seize the flaws and fight back.

   "Ronald, I can help you clarify." A blond man rushed into the CAA's office and shouted to Ronald, "I can be on TV, no one knows your character better than me."

   "Tom, what are you doing here?" Paula Wagner scolded Tom Cruise who had broken into the office.

"I heard that Stallone was trying to attack Ronald's creative ability, and I knew him well. He was a true friend, and I will never forget that he gave me my first audition. I went to the dentist to fill the front teeth."

   "Don't get involved in this matter, we will deal with it. If you speak out rashly, it will disrupt our plan."

  Tom Cruise was pulled aside by Paula Wagner for a lesson.

   Cruise was very obedient to this agent like his sister. He promised not to give interviews in private, excused Ronald, and then came over and hugged Ronald.

   "If you have any need, I mean, any need, I will help you." He also clenched his fists against the air.

"It doesn't matter, we are discussing how to deal with it. Paula and Nisita are very experienced people." Ronald thanked Cruise, pointed to Rebecca De Mornay in the corner, and said to him, "Come on, your girlfriend is still waiting for you."

   "Any need, OK." Cruise tilted his head to confirm with Ronald again, then took Demoney's hand and left.

   "Lock the door," Nisita told Richard after Cruise had gone out.

   "Now we need a choice, time is short, we can only choose one person, if the wind leaks out, I'm afraid Stallone will be prepared. So I vote for Dick Cavett."

   "Then can you get the latest broadcast resources of the TV station?" Eva asked, not to be outdone.

   "This is a multiple choice question, we can't put our chips on someone who has no control..."

   "Ring bell ring bell..." Richard picked up the phone again, "Hey... Ronald, I'm looking for you, it's..."

   He made a "Helen" mouth shape.

   "Ronnie, I saw Stallone attacking you on TV, what happened?" Helen Slater from New York was on the phone.

   "Don't worry, I'm already dealing with a little history, I can handle it." Ronald didn't expect it to be Helen's call, it sounded like she was fully recovered.

   "Don't lie to me, I asked Gerald, and he said that you are now stifled 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, I'll ask Gerald for help if needed."

   "Gerald? Gerald Slater's daughter Helen?" Nisita and Richard confirmed.

   "Okay, thank you for calling." Ronald cut off the phone.

   "Okay, let's continue, don't answer the call next time." Ronald apologized to everyone.

"No, it's not necessary." Nisita made a pause gesture and whispered to Ronald, "I'll call Gerald Slater, PBS is Dick's old club, Even though they fired him not long ago, there's no lack of interest in doing a special with Dick's interview with Lucas."

"but……"

"Nothing, but you need his help now, Ronald." Nisita's eyes narrowed, "I don't think you will affect your future because of this little thing, right? I'll call Gerald. ."

   "But Gerrard's price won't come cheap." Ronald let go of the phone receiver.

  Nisita took it and called the front desk, "Get me the vice president of PBS, Mr. Gerald Slater."

"Well, um, no problem, Ronald will definitely help with this." Nisita smiled and said to everyone, "Everyone, the Dick broadcast platform has agreed to do a special show on PBS this weekend, a hours of show time.”

   Ronald looked at Nisita who made his own way and thought, what price did you sell me for?

   "Not long ago, in a small town near San Francisco, a child who grew up living a comfortable life..."

By Thursday night, PBS aired a special, an interview with George Lucas, with the opening credits parodying the "Star Wars" heading into the distance, and then Dick Cavett appeared on Lucas' day. Walker Ranch.

   "Is this ranch your paradise? 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 film crew to visit his paradise. In addition to everything about Star Wars, there is also the famous Industrial Light and Magic special effects company, which also works here.

   "When did you start getting into the film industry? We know you actually directed a movie before 'American Graffiti'."

   "Ah, yes, I had just arrived at Francis Coppola's 'Diorama' company, which was the first film ever made by a diorama..."

After chatting about Star Wars for a while, Dick Cavett asked a good question at the right time, "Coppola, you, Spielberg, DePalma, you have been called the representative of the directors of New Hollywood, so what do you think, Are the directors of the 1980s still continuing your original innovation?"

"I think so," Lucas stroked his beard. "In the new era, there will also be a new directing style. Of course, Steven, Francis, and others are not old yet, and we are still shooting. The new generation of films is also innovative.

  I recently watched 'Longwei Kid', which broke through the previous martial arts movies and had a new narrative mode. "

   "Ronald Lee? But there's a debate now, is he parodying your 'Star Wars' or Stallone's 'Rocky'?"

"I know Ronald, and I don't believe he imitates anything. There are just so many narrative modes in movies. If you've seen old classics in the past, all new Hollywood films will, to some extent, be in the classics. absorb nutrients.”

   "So there's no imitation of Star Wars, and 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 used to be a screenwriter. If you go to his previous screenwriting records, you will know He also wrote the screenplay for Stallone.

  Film creation is a very difficult thing. The audience enjoys the final meal on the screen. There is no need to care about those rumors. It is the movies, not these rumors, that remain in history. "

   "Huh..." This is the final word. Ronald let out a sigh of relief, and Lucas was very helpful. It was already pointed out inside and out that he also worked as a screenwriter for the film directed by Stallone. If he was still entangled, the hat of questioning was about to fly over his head.

  Why does a director question his screenwriter? Could it be that Stallone, who was criticized for his directing ability in "Dragon Flying Phoenix", changed Ronald Lee's script indiscriminately, and then became jealous of the backward Ronald?

   "Fuck! You incompetent waste, garbage!" Stallone sat in his mansion and cursed at the agent.

   He grabbed the wine glass and smashed it at the TV where Lucas's interview was on.

   "What do I do now?" Stallone asked aloud. Lucas, as a top director, took the stage for Ronald. Now it's your turn to make a fool of yourself. Those interview records that were released at the beginning have now become pistols aimed at him.

   Ronald was not only admired by Lucas, but also revealed that he once worked as a screenwriter for himself. How can those accusing him of imitating "Rocky" come true now?

   Lucas has more fans than Rocky. Now that the people take Lucas's words as the truth again, isn't it a clown left to Stallone?

   "I, I'll call Mr. Mayer." The agent ran out in a hurry, he didn't want to stay in front of Stallone anymore, so as not to be fired on the spot like the public relations manager who encouraged him to continue attacking Ronald.

"Sly", the tall bodyguard behind Stallone came out to speak, "Ronald's manager is also in CAA, in Japan, where I have stayed for more than ten years, in such a situation, we have to ask the biggest one to arbitrate. already."

   "Arbitration?" Stallone repeated, then opened the door and yelled at his agent, "You come back to me, I'm going to talk to Michael Ovitz."

   (end of this chapter)