Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1284 Oscar Awards Arrangement

"This is protected by the First Amendment...We didn't know this would happen..." Jerry Bruckheimer returned Ronald's call.

The boundary between parody and copyright infringement is a bit fuzzy. There is controversy over whether "Top Gun" plagiarized the main idea of ​​"Top Gun" or was a secondary creation with a mocking mentality.

The director of the film is Jim Abrahams, who has actually met Ronald. He is the partner of the Zucker brothers. In "Flying Away", the three of them made an exception and co-directed the film. The Zucker brothers no longer wanted to direct such a spoof, so this time Jim Abrahams took the lead alone.

Copyright law states that if a work is commented on, criticized, or ridiculed as an original work, then it falls under the category of "fair use" and is not considered plagiarism, and the permission of the original copyright holder need not be obtained.

"But they plagiarized the core of Top Gun, the fierce competition between the pilots in the training base, the feelings with the female instructor, and the climax at the end..." Although Ronald knew that it was indeed difficult to judge this matter as illegal, he was still a little angry that his masterpiece was spoofed like this.

"I say, man, no one in Hollywood will testify for you. The screenwriter and director of the movie, with such professional knowledge, the judge will summon expert witnesses, who will risk offending the entire group of comedians to testify for you?" Bruckheimer also thought about suing, but all the avenues were blocked.

"I remember the principle of fairness, which requires ensuring that the market value of the original work is not damaged. Wouldn't such a spoof affect the sales of the Top Gun videotapes?" Ronald followed the instructions on a fax paper and proposed another way of filing a lawsuit from a different angle.

This is the cheat sheet that attorney Lindsay Doll sent him from New York.

"Hey, I thought the same as you. When the lawyer went to collect evidence, he found that the rental rate and sales of Top Gun had increased slightly this week. Many people haven't seen Top Gun. They heard that Condor Heroes is a spoof of it, and they want to borrow it to read..."

"Shxt!" Although Ronald still received a check for the remaining dividends from Top Gun's videotapes every quarter, the main thing he felt was that he couldn't get over the embarrassment.

……

What is even more embarrassing for Ronald is yet to come.

On Monday, the weekend box office statistics came out. Ronald's "Other People's Money", with the support of Harvard professors, rushed to 7.8 million. The box office of more than 4,000 US dollars per theater is considered very good for a drama with a slightly profound theme.

The box office of "Terminator 2" continued to decline by % each week, closing at million, just surpassed by Ronald's new film.

But the top box office hit was still the spoof "Toy Story", which barely exceeded 8 million, still above Ronald.

"Hey, how could I be defeated by such a movie?" Ronald held a barbecue at home. He invited Cameron and Linda Hamilton to come. He didn't pretend to be happy in front of Cameron. The results of the first weekend were not better than others in the second weekend, which made him look unhappy, so he sighed.

"Don't mention you. My Terminator 2 cost so much money, but now he has taken the first place..."

The total investment of "Fighting Eagle" is just over 20 million, which is of course very expensive for a spoof film, but compared with a serious movie, it is still a small or medium-sized production.

They had no help from the US military, so they used Flanders fighters. The flight deck of the aircraft carrier was built on a cliff in the desert.

However, the result of this simple and crude film made the audience laugh. This rough effect is just right for the atmosphere of this spoof comedy.

To be honest, after seeing the box office results and the crudeness of the filming, Ronald began to wonder whether he should also follow the trend and shoot such a movie. Instead of letting you make money by making a spoof of me, I might as well make a spoof of myself.

However, thinking of my status as a commercial film, I couldn't bring myself to let my company produce a work that makes money by copying other people's films.

"Why is your movie also rated R?" Cameron asked Ronald as he didn't understand something.

"Swearing and talking about relationships between men and women..." Ronald said lightly after taking a sip of beer and eating some barbecue.

"Can't this be edited?" Cameron was even more confused. Such a comedy movie with a commercial theme was not an exploitation film that stimulated the audience through words and senses. On the contrary, the jokes in it were quite advanced.

"If we re-edit it, we will need to reshoot the key transition scenes, but several of the leading actors are unable to spare the time. Plus, if we postpone it to the off-season in October, the box office may be even worse. So I didn't appeal again..."

"Hmph..." Cameron also wanted to make his Terminator PG-13, but he could only think about it. If such a violent aesthetic movie were to become PG-13... "Is the MPAA giving you a hard time?"

"I can't say..." Ronald didn't want to talk about it in depth. It involved a lot of conflicts and exchanges of interests. This time someone wanted to make him sad on purpose.

But this is a minor issue, and Ronald didn't dwell on it too much. "Other people's money" to be honest, it won't lose many young audiences just because the rating is lowered from PG-13 to R. They can't understand such a complicated plot anyway.

"Your production company should be established as soon as possible so that you can become a member of the Producers Guild. When the next MPAA election comes, we will work together to obtain a board seat."

MPAA ratings are reviewed by anonymous parents. As official members of the MPAA, several film studios have a lot of room for internal manipulation. However, some small and medium-sized producers can only be at the mercy of others.

In addition to the traditional Hollywood Big Seven (United Artists was removed from the list after bankruptcy), this year there are several medium-sized film producers such as Ambassador Pictures, Orion Pictures, De Laurentiis Pictures, and Photo Road Pictures. These film studios suffered a major blow after the stock market crash and interest rate hikes, and have all gone bankrupt and closed down.

If the MPAA is controlled by the big studios that control the distribution channels, then it will be even more difficult for small and medium-sized producers to do business. The rating system is an important key to the distribution system. In many places, big companies with distribution rights can use the rating system to control you.

Therefore, there has been a strong demand in the past two years to introduce new MPAA members to represent the interests of small and medium-sized producers. In the next election, many small and medium-sized producers want to squeeze in, or unite to form an alliance to participate.

Ronald was also planning this, and Cameron himself was also going to set up his own production company. After his ex-wife Gail Hurd left, he mainly worked as a part-time director.

The success of "Terminator 2" allows him to form his own team to participate in the filming of future movies.

"We must learn a lesson from this. We should make more movies above PG-13 in the future. When making movies now, we can only look for the greatest common divisor, rather than looking for movies that suit the tastes of a minority of audiences," Ronald summed up.

"There also needs to be plots about families, couples, lovers, and children..." Cameron added. Try to focus more on family-friendly movies, as that has the greatest box office potential.

"It is best to conform to the common values ​​of people around the world..."

……

Fortunately, in the second week, spoof films like "The Condor Heroes" lacked stamina and dropped by 26% to just over 6 million, allowing "Other People's Money", which had an unusually stable number of viewers, to successfully top the box office with 6.2 million, surpassing it and temporarily sitting at the top of the box office charts.

In this off-season when the summer movie season is about to end, this result is enough for "Other People's Money" to top the box office charts for at least one week, maintaining Ronald's consistent record.

"How long has it been since you first came to my show?" The famous film review show host, Barbie Wygant, made an exception this time and went to Ronald's house to interview Diane Lane.

If veteran viewers of NBC Channel 5 are careful, they will notice that the sofas on which the two interviewers and the interviewee sat, as well as the furniture in the room, are much more expensive and tasteful than those in ordinary hotels. There are also some Chinese-style wooden furniture, which is very distinctive.

"Oh, I remember it was Douyu? I went there with Matt Dillon and Nicolas Cage..." Diane was wearing a light yellow shirt and her hair was floating behind her head, which was quite different from the way she dressed like a little girl when she appeared on the show back then.

"Then there was the Cotton Club..." Barbie Wygant even showed Diane two group photos from that time.

"Yes, they were all Coppola's projects. Hahaha... why was I so fat at that time..." Diane laughed. She appeared on the show twice that year, but both times the show suffered a huge failure at the box office, and she fell out of the ranks of Hollywood actresses.

"You then and you now, I have to say I feel very emotional. Back then you were still a little girl, and now you are already a wife and a mother..."

"Ah, yes, a lot of changes..." Diane no longer feels insecure. Compared to the nervousness she experienced back then, she is much more relaxed now.

"I heard that you and your husband, director Ronald Lee, worked together on Coppola's crew?" Barbie Wygant asked a carefully prepared question. She also wanted to make a breakthrough in the ratings for this interview.

"Ha, you are really well prepared..." Diane smiled.

"I did my homework. What was your impression of him then?"

"I had a crush on him at that time..."

"Do you have a crush on him? Why?"

"He's so handsome, hahahaha..."

"What impressed you most about him?"

"He's so good at playing table tennis that he beat all the male actors in the crew..."

"Let's get back to the point. Do you think there is any difference between when Ronald directed you and when Coppola directed you?" Barbie Wygant was sponsored by Ronald this time. He brought Coca-Cola sponsorship to her show in Dallas. This time, she must give back to the couple. So the question ultimately turned to Diane's acting skills.

“Professionally speaking, well, Director Coppola has more talent for on-the-spot performances. He can find out what possibilities your performance has on the spot and then ask you to do it again.

Ronnie is a director who is more actor-oriented. He will create good opportunities so that actors can be free of any worries and give full play to themselves. Also, he usually doesn’t shoot many takes. ”

"Ah, Cher said the same thing when I interviewed her last time. Is it true that working with Ronald will be less stressful?"

"Yes, we, I mean the two leading actors, Mr. Pike and Tom, they all felt that the filming team was very loving and it was a pleasant experience."

"What do you think is the difficulty in performing your character Kate?"

"First of all, Kate is a Wall Street lawyer. To be professional, I spent several weeks working with real female lawyers in New York and learning their speaking habits and dressing. At the same time, she is also a beautiful woman. I have to find a balance between the two...

As for the performance, I was lucky enough to work with two great actors, so it was very enjoyable to act..."

"Thank you, Diane..." Barbie Wygant ended the interview with a smile, saying that Ronald had invested a lot of money in his wife's pursuit of an Oscar nomination. Anyway, if you pay, I will cooperate. Dallas is not a very commercially developed city. With the sponsorship brought in by Ronald, the influence of her program can be said to be greatly improved.

"I'll ask Ronald to talk to you, haha, you can hear his opinion from him..." Diane stood up and was about to call Ronald.

"Ah, happy women always act stupid..." Barbie Wygant stopped her with a smile, saying that Ronald was busy and she could just wait. What else do you want to say? I am doing this interview just to follow your husband's wishes and give you a high evaluation of your acting skills..."

Diane felt bad, so she went to Ronald's study to see him. He was chatting with his former assistant Yang Yanzi about Chinese films.

"This is really interesting. The Best Foreign Language Film Oscar selected by the mainland was also starred by someone I know..."

Last year, Yimou Zhang's "Ju Dou" had a good chance of winning the Best Foreign Language Film. But because Yimou did not come for some reason, he missed the opportunity. This time, his new film "Raise the Red Lantern" was smarter and was selected by a Hong Kong company, occupying the Hong Kong quota.

But what was unexpected was that the production selected by the mainland this time was "New Year's Eve" starring Zhao Lirong.

"Which movie do you think has a greater chance of winning the award?" Ronald asked Yang Yanzi.

"If we look at the film's reflection of national character, it's undoubtedly the Chinese New Year. This film is a huge contradiction and irony. The Chinese New Year is supposed to be a day for family reunion, just like our Christmas. But it exposes all the family conflicts instead.

But the core of this kind of movie is too profound, I doubt that not only ordinary American audiences, but even judges can understand it. "

"So you mean Yimou's movie?" Ronald heard the implication.

"Yes, patriarchal oppression and female tragedy are common themes all over the world. Besides, Yimou's films are rich in color and style..."

"Haha, that's it. Let's put all our PR resources into this film and try to get it nominated." Ronald understood what Yang Yanzi meant. "If it wins, then it will be a good opportunity to launch it in all our Chinese theaters...

"Dear, Barbie Wygant..." Diane came in and interrupted as soon as she saw that Ronald seemed to have finished his work.

"Ah, Honey, I'll be there right away." Ronald stood up and explained something to Yang Yanzi.

"Bobby Wygant is still the same, but I'm much better this time." Diane felt strongly that she was very relaxed in this interview and would definitely look good on camera.

"This is just the beginning. You still have many interviews to do..."

(End of this chapter)