Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 670 Break free from the **** of the earth

   "Ronald, we have to use all the means at our disposal, and the audience rating of exports is also very problematic."

   Bruckheimer came over, tugged Ronald's arm secretly, and motioned for him to talk to the side.

   "What's wrong? Bad grades?"

   "The rating is okay, with an A, but more than two-thirds of the audience refuse to rate it, which is unprecedented."

   "Oh Shxt!"

   Ronald's worst fear seems to be coming. Is the movie that can be dreamed of in a dream necessarily the best-selling movie of that year?

   Just like "How Beautiful Life" is broadcast on Christmas Eve TV every year, it has now become one of the symbols of America. But when it was released that year, although it starred Jimmy Stewart and directed by Frank Capra, it was a big failure at the box office.

   It can be seen that the film can be circulated for decades, and it is not necessarily proportional to the box office performance at that time.

"This way," Ronald thought for a while, "My first few films had a good interaction with the episodes. This time I took the initiative to shoot a music video for the Berlin Band, and try to play a segment on MTV before the film is released. time."

   Bruckheimer patted Ronald on the shoulder, "Very well, Tang and I also mean the same, we will urge Paramount to release the video tape as soon as possible, and if the box office fails, we can recover some of the cost from the video tape market."

"Um...can it be cheaper?" Ronald recalled his encounter with the video store on the street, "Few families can afford it at a price close to one hundred dollars. If it is bought from a rental store, we will Can't receive rent for those recurring rentals."

   "You're right, we're going back for the $79.99 discount. Plus, the premiere..."

   "I invited Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and his wife. Now that we are, let's mobilize all our friends in the circle to join us."

   Farewell to everyone, McGillis got into the cab, and she drove Ronald back to the hotel.

   "Anything annoying?" McGillis made him a cup of coffee.

   Ronald took it and put it on the coffee table, pretending to be calm.

"It's nothing. The audience's reaction today is a little less positive. I discussed with the producer to arrange another test screening to see if there is anything that can be modified." Ronald pressed his hand to his temple, with huge worry, Let the veins burst out.

   "Don't worry, it's just a popcorn commercial." McGillis thought Ronald really had a headache, she stood behind, hugged Ronald's head in her arms, and gently rubbed it with her hands.

   "Oh..." Ronald felt comfortable for a while, and couldn't help but cry out.

McGillis's hand was very comfortable, Ronald's gradually relaxed, and his worries were temporarily put aside, enjoying the beauty's service, and gradually... His eyelids began to heavy, and he lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. on.

   McGillis sighed and brought a blanket to cover Ronald.

   Still the actors are comfortable, the director needs to take on too many things.

   Ronald, who was sleeping very comfortably, saw another screen in front of him, with the title of Twentieth Century Fox on it.

   "What movie is this dreaming about again?" Ronald pouted comfortably.

  Suddenly, the surrounding stereos recalled the rhythm of "Dangdangdang..." bells.

   "This looks a lot like the title shot of Top Gun." Ronald thought, except that the Paramount logo was changed to Twentieth Century Fox. Is it a sequel? Changed publisher?

   No, although this theme song is very similar to a variation of the "Top Gun" theme song, it is less solemn and elegant and more funny.

   On the black screen, a white title also appeared. The style of the font can clearly imitate the traces of "Top Gun".

  “HotShot! (Fighting Condor)”

After the title of    appeared, the theme song became more and more like "Top Gun".

   "Is this a spoof of my movie?" Ronald pouted, does this mean that "Top Gun" did not fail at the box office?

   It doesn't seem to be necessarily, Jerry Zucker's "Flying in the Sky" directed by Jerry Zucker spoofed a lot of movies at that time. There are blockbuster films such as "International Airport", and some are not well shot, but some scenes in it are widely known because they are too badly shot, and they are very poisonous slave street movies.

  The screen lit up, Ronald found that it was really a plagiarism of "Top Gun", even the fighter jets on the aircraft carrier slipped into the screen, and the busy scene scheduling of the deck sergeants was completely imitated. Even the background under the rising sun is imitated, that is, there is no aesthetic feeling of shooting by myself, but a dusty, cottage feeling.

   "Bang..."

  The two sergeants on the deck even installed bombs on their shoulders to the aircraft. The two collided and the bombs fell on the deck.

"Hahaha……"

   At first glance, it is a typical parody, deconstructing the drama to achieve a comedy effect.

Then, the movie began to imitate the effect of the afterburner engine of the Tomcat fighter in "Top Gun", but the flame was very small, and it was also used by the deck staff to barbecue. With the weak flame, a sergeant wore a sausage with iron wire. Grilled on the fire behind the engine.

"Hahaha……"

   Ronald's worried mood was relieved by this deconstructed joke.

   Don't worry too much, who can guarantee that their film department will sell well? After a long time, you can't escape being spoofed.

   Then the fighter jet was parked on the edge of the deck by the pilot parallel to it, like a car. Falling into the sea with a few sergeants playing rugby on the deck.

   Just when Ronald was having a great time, the hero and heroine appeared on the screen.

  The male protagonist is the younger brother of Emilio Estevez, named Charlie Sheen. I didn't expect his comedy talent to be good.

  The heroine is also a bit familiar. Or to be more precise, a bit like an acquaintance of Ronald. Jennifer Beals, the heroine of "Lightning Dance".

   is definitely a parody of her, with the same hairstyle and face. Charlie Sheen is actually a bit like Tom Cruise.

   "Hahaha..." Ronald laughed out loud, this director is a genius, and the casting is looking like a god.

   "Ronald, Ronald"

   McGillis saw Ronald laughing in his sleep and came over to shake him awake.

   "Oh Kelly, what time is it?"

  Ronald rubbed his eyes, he was no longer worried. Anyway, there is a movie that spoofs "Top Gun", even if the box office is not good, it seems that it will be remembered in the future, and I should not make a bad movie that no one cares about.

   "It's already night, I'll call a service and let them bring the food."

   "Okay, honey," Ronald kissed McGillis, then turned on the TV with the remote.

   "Suddenly, the White House broadcast live, the commander canceled the annual State of the Union address, and will give a televised speech on the issue of the space shuttle Challenger, the issue of greatest concern to the people."

   "The space shuttle Challenger crashed?"

   Ronald was startled and asked McGillis if he knew.

   "I don't know, I haven't been there for the past two days, haven't I been with you?" McGillis came over and sat in Ronald's arms.

   NASA in America, since the Apollo landing on the moon, has not crashed during a launch mission, causing casualties. Before this, only the ground experiment of the Apollo project had caused the death of three astronauts due to fire.

   "My dear Americans, I was going to speak to you today about this year's State of the Union address, but earlier events made me cancel my original plan."

The commander-in-chief sat at the desk in the Oval Office and delivered a televised address to the nation.

   "Today is a day of mourning and remembrance. Both Nancy and I are deeply saddened by the loss of the Challenger..."

   Ronald gripped McGillis's hand tightly, as if something was wrong with the Challenger. The space shuttle is not like the Apollo spacecraft that only had three astronauts, and a space shuttle has to take seven people.

"It really crashed," McGillis ran to the newspaper bag at the door and took out the newspaper with the headline "Challenger disintegrates in mid-air 73 seconds after liftoff, all seven astronauts may be killed. "

"Students across the country, who saw this tragedy on live television, were scheduled to speak with Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian astronaut, a middle school sociology teacher, to give a lecture on the development of women in America. course."

"Oh my God."

  Ronald flipped through the newspaper that McGillis had brought, this was not just an aerospace accident, but an accident in front of all television audiences across the country and even the world. The photo in the newspaper is a snapshot of the Challenger turning into several pieces in the sky. The white trajectory came to an abrupt end in the sky, and a large fireball formed in the air.

   Seeing that all the astronauts are dying.

   What is even more pitiful is that the children in middle schools across the country were originally organized to watch live TV at the school collectively, waiting for the heaven and earth to talk, and the students who followed Mr. McAuliffe to the class did not expect to see the tragic scene of the teacher's explosion in the air.

"So, maybe the audience's reaction at the preview today was because of the Challenger crash? That's why I lost my mind and didn't respond to all the aerial combat scenes, romantic love scenes? Only had a strong reaction to the plot of the death of the dumb goose plane crash? "

  Ronald thought to himself, how will this matter affect the box office? If the people of the whole country are still in shock and grief at that time, "Top Gun" will still be affected.

   Only by putting an end to this accident and everyone moving forward, will it be possible to start liking aerial combat films again at the original premiere in May.

"…the seven astronauts on the Challenger are heroes, and I want to say a word to the students who watched the tragedy live on TV. I know it may be difficult for you to understand, but sometimes tragedies happen. , it's all part of a great exploration and discovery...

  The future does not belong to the weak, but to the brave. The seven heroes of the challenger are the brave heroes who pull us and expand the boundaries of humanity..."

"What a great communicator." Ronald praised that the speech of the chief commander directly taught the millions of children who were overwhelmed by watching the big bang on the live TV. Human exploration of the universe is a matter of A daring, intrepid expedition, with failure and loss in between, like all great undertakings.

  These children will surely remember this childhood scene firmly, and their future may change something because of it.

  "...The seven warriors of the Challenger will always be remembered by us. We will always remember the last time we saw them before launch and waved goodbye to us...

Then……

   Break free from the **** of the earth and touch the face of God...

thank you all. "

   Ronald hugged McGillis tightly, and both were in tears.

Footage of the Challenger wreck resumed on TV, then passed the consternation and tears on the faces of the audience watching live at the Space Launch Center in Florida, then the tears of NASA staff, and finally thousands waiting in front of the TV. Watching the tears of the children watching their dear Mr. McAuliffe in class.

   "Bell bell bell..."

   The phone rang, Ronald wiped his tears and picked it up.

   "Ronald, I'm Bruckheimer..."

   "Jerry, you saw the commander..."

   "Ronald, you saw the commander..."

   The two asked each other at the same time.

Like Ronald, the two Hollywood producers don't usually care about NASA's space missions. These two days they are either spending a fortune, or they are busy arranging test screenings. The three of them don't even know that such a big accident happened. .

   "It depends on how people view this disaster. In a few months, whether their hearts are still hurt or not," Ronald said.

   "Yeah, it's hard to imagine how this could happen in front of the whole world. Our international reputation will also be greatly affected." Bruckheimer also agreed.

   "It is best that this accident has a satisfactory investigation result, so that we can sort out the pain and set off again."

   "Hope, I heard that the chief commander will appoint an investigation committee, and he will also invite the Nobel Prize winner in physics, Richard Feynman, to participate. He will definitely be able to give a satisfactory answer to the accident."

  The two cheered each other up, and all the extra measures remained the same, adding up, everyone hoped that by May, the people had turned the matter over.

   (end of this chapter)