Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1419 Shirley Lansing's Workplace Experience
"Congratulations, Ronald, your movie has been number one on the charts for two weeks in a row..."

Shirley Lansing was in the Paramount office, looking at Ronald with a smile on her face.

"Congratulations..." Ronald also smiled. Being able to knock Jurassic Park off the top of the domestic box office charts for three weeks was indeed a very convincing achievement, both for himself and for Shirley Lansing's control over Paramount.

Of course, if overseas distribution and sales of derivatives are taken into account, Jurassic Park still stands out from the crowd, and all Hollywood movies pale in comparison.

During the domestic distribution tour, the creators participated in the promotion in each state, and each time they put up a huge dinosaur skeleton and various movie props for exhibition near the main marketing theater.

This immediately boosted the profits of many movie theaters by selling dinosaur toys, and saved many old-fashioned, nearly obsolete single-screen movie theaters in countless southern, midwestern, and central states.

In the overseas market, it was even more popular. Ronald attended the London Royal premiere, and then the main creators also participated in screenings in Scotland, Wales and other places, and incidentally helped a Welsh theater called Lyric to avoid bankruptcy.

At the same time, audiences in various countries responded far more to the groundbreaking special effects of Jurassic Park than in North America. In Japan, the film easily grossed $840 million from screens in its first two days of screening.

In Brazil, it grossed $487.5 million from 740 screens. In Britain, it grossed £ million (US$ million) from screens, breaking many of Ronald's Hollywood box office records in Britain.

In Hong Kong, the highly acclaimed kung fu movies of the past few years were stunned. Whether it was Jackie Chan-style kung fu comedy or Tsui Hark-style freehand kung fu, the box office was only half of last year. Children and adults, like audiences in other parts of the world, were attracted by the real dinosaurs.

In short, wherever it goes, it breaks the box office record. The number of moviegoers and the audience's praise are unprecedented. In the past ten years, the names of those Hollywood movies that were well received in various countries have been quickly replaced by Jurassic Park.

Next, only the European markets of the United States, Germany, and China remain to be tested. Because of the government's protection of the domestic market, these places did not join the first global simultaneous release like other staunch allies of America, but are still negotiating the release date. It is estimated that we will have to wait until the end of this year or next year to feast our eyes on the film.

Of course, Shirley Lansing can only watch with envy. Such international distribution capabilities and having a director like Spielberg who is accepted by mainstream audiences around the world are both rare opportunities.

This also made her look at Ronald in front of her and she had to continue to win him over.

"I recently heard some rumors that people from Warner Bros. were saying that the box office potential of Forrest Gump was consumed by Rain Man two years ago. These two movies are essentially about a warm and mentally retarded story..."

"Hehehe, the same script will be presented differently in the hands of different directors. Besides, you have Tom Hanks now..." Ronald didn't care about such rumors at all. The loser just had no vision and couldn't see the key points of the script that really attracted the audience.

This generation of audiences is a total reactionary to the hippie attitude that dominated Hollywood in the 1970s. Drug abuse and sexual openness are unpleasantly outdated fashions after the...popularity and the deaths of many celebrities.

What's more, Rain Man and Forrest Gump, both of whom have IQs lower than the average of ordinary people, are two completely different people. Rain Man actually has a very high IQ in some aspects, but he is mentally retarded because of his special subject bias. Forrest Gump, on the other hand, is slightly lower than the average person, and his learning ability and understanding of the world are even more backward than that of ordinary people.

The difficulty of the two performances is also different. It is impossible to achieve good results by just imitating an autistic patient and bringing in his own painful memories like Dustin Hoffman's method acting. Ronald has seen Tom Hanks's performance of Forrest Gump in his dreams, which is very appropriate and can be controlled freely. This is not the same level of acting skills.

"I know, I understand, I think so too. But do you want to make this movie in a different way?"

Shirley Lansing is actually a person who doesn't have much insight into filming. But this is where she is most powerful. She knows how to rely on people who know the business to reduce her own risks.

The original expected production investment for this film was 50 million US dollars. If it can be reduced to below 40 million, the possibility of the film making a profit will be much greater.

After all, this Forrest Gump movie is not a high-concept movie that targets the largest audience group of movies, teenagers. It requires a very good marketing plan to mobilize adult audiences who don't usually go to the cinema to review their growth history from the eyes of a fool.

However, this type of marketing is not always successful. From the perspective of a production company CEO, the best way to increase profitability is to cut some of the production budget, so that even if the audience is not fully mobilized, the possibility of profitability will be relatively high.

"That won't do, Shirley. We agreed that you would give it your full support. If you don't want the movie, I can take him away and try my luck at Columbia or TriStar."

Ronald was not polite, of course. He was not a director who spent money recklessly. The $50 million was the result of careful calculations. Ronald had a deep understanding of the input-output ratio. He could not save money in the filming of many parts of this movie, and had to spend money on several key scenes. In addition, the special effects of various historical figures meeting Forrest Gump also had to be slowly polished out by the stunt team. These places could not save money.

"That's not what I meant, Ronald. You know, I'm the CEO of Paramount, and the most important thing in my evaluation criteria is that every important production must make money. But making a movie as profitable as Jurassic Park is not something that anyone can control, do you understand?"

Shirley Lansing immediately appeased Ronald. If the first plan failed, she would go to plan B. For a female CEO, gaining a foothold in this industry does not require you to be the CEO of the most profitable production company like Universal's Sheinberg.

As long as she can ensure that every project at Paramount makes money, she can keep her position. After all, big investments bring big risks. As long as she wins, she will be much better than those male CEOs in other studios who gamble and spend a lot of money on every project.

This is the female business rule that she is proud of. I don't require the profit margin of each movie to be the highest, but the overall profit ratio of all the movies added together must be the best. As long as she has this rule in hand, those high-ranking boards of directors and Wall Street analysts will not let go of this female CEO who can make steady money in Hollywood.

Ronald's mind moved, and he understood what Shirley Lansing had not said. Paramount did not want to invest too much real money. If Ronald and Tom Hanks, two big payrolls, could convert their pay into investment in the film, it would allow her to reduce her investment by $8 million.

As for the fact that she made less money after the movie became a big hit? Not to mention that the possibility of this happening is not very high. The domestic box office performance of Rain Man was only about 170 million. Even if Ronald broke all the prejudices of Warner and achieved similar results, as the main investor, they would not lose much.

But if the box office of the movie is not satisfactory, then the profit and loss line of Paramount's production and distribution of this movie can be reduced from 120 million to about 80 million. The probability of success will rise sharply.

"Tom Hanks's star is rising rapidly. If you want him to accept it, you must offer more conditions..."

Ronald thought about it and decided that he didn't care about it. At that time, Hanks' box office of 4 million US dollars was just a key point for a mature actor with good acting skills. If he didn't get the declared salary for this movie, then his future films would also be affected.

"We will speak with one voice in our publicity that he is a quasi-first-line star." Shirley Lansing was delighted, as this meant that Ronald himself accepted this profit-sharing arrangement.

"Not enough. We also need some kind of sharing arrangement of box office and video revenue. You know, in Hollywood now, all the stars want to enjoy the same kind of contract as Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson."

Ronald's meaning was also very clear, you have to raise the price. Nicholson's "Batman" and Schwarzenegger's "The Twins" were both for similar reasons, and they received direct box office revenue and some dividend terms for videotapes. As a result, they received tens of millions of dollars, far more than first-class stars.

And judging by the performance of Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," the contract he signed with Universal Studios will probably guarantee him hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you want to reduce the risk of these things, you have to pay a price, right? Although Ronald felt that he could not compete with Spielberg in the global box office, he also wanted to make a good profit.

"No problem..." Shirley Lansing agreed immediately and said what Ronald didn't say, giving Ronald more priority in profit-sharing terms, making him a shareholder of the movie like Tom Hanks.

"Oh, this number is very generous..." Ronald looked at the draft contract that the other party took out and felt that it was quite generous.

"As a producer, the most important thing is to share everything with the artist who can give the best results. I figured this out long before I took office." Shirley Lansing looked very happy. Ronald was confident in himself, so he didn't have to sell the idea. As for whether it was profitable or not, and whether he got more fixed salary or commission, it had nothing to do with him.

It’s your own choice anyway... I guess, no matter how good it is, it can’t be better than the Rain Man back then, which was co-starred by two big stars, the double Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman and the most box office-appealing Tom Cruise... right?

"But you still have to help me do one thing, and that is to convince Tom Hanks..." Shirley Lansing said finally.

"Of course, he will agree..." Ronald took the contract and went to discuss it with Hanks.

……

"Ronald, this isn't fair to Tom."

Who would have thought that when they arrived at Tom Hanks' house, his wife Rita Wilson jumped out to express her dissatisfaction before his agent even said anything.

"How is it unfair?" Ronald asked her to finish her sentence.

"What Tom needs now is the recognition of awards or the recognition of the film market. You know, he has not made any progress in either area. Awards are difficult to grasp, but film market, exchanging the $4 million in hand for uncertain dividends?
I know that Jack Nicholson and Schwarzenegger make a lot of money, but many people get nothing..."

Rita Wilson didn't say it completely. In fact, she was a little dissatisfied because Ronald was already a wealthy man. Although no one knew how much money he had, the mansion he built after robbing Stallone's land was now the most central and valuable residence in Beverly Park.

Ronald could bear the same risk, but she and Hanks were much less capable of taking it. Apart from anything else, they couldn't afford a house of this level and needed a loan.

"Well, I can personally guarantee that if your dividends don't reach the original salary standard, I will make up the difference of four million. If it exceeds, you will get it according to your dividends. I have already made an agreement with Ms. Shirley Lansing, and she will say that Tom is getting paid like a top male star."

Ronald thought about it and decided that if he wanted to mobilize Tom Hanks' abilities and let him reproduce his explosive acting skills in "Philadelphia Story" in Forrest Gump, he would have to increase his motivation.

This not only avoids family conflicts, but also gives Hanks great motivation. You know, Tom Hanks, the protagonist of Philadelphia, can also use many looks, makeup, and the weak voice of a dying patient to mobilize the audience.

But a mentally handicapped character like Forrest Gump, not only does he not have any leverage, but he is also limited in the emotional expression of a normal person. He really needs to bring out his inspiration and potential to give a perfect performance.

"Ronald, I don't know what to say. I like this script very much, let's do it." Tom Hanks was also a little moved. Ronald obviously thought that he was the first choice for Forrest Gump.

After officially taking over the project, he rejected John Travolta, who was originally contacted by Menahem Golan, without regard for his feelings. This made the other party quite frustrated, although the reason he used had nothing to do with acting skills, but that Travolta was too beautiful.

But this excuse is not taken seriously in the industry, because Ronald's comments on the casting of Rain Man, saying that it would be better to let Tom Cruise play Rain Man, have already been recognized by actors in the industry. They are both idiots, why does one have to be beautiful and the other not?
"Hahaha, that's great, we'll start preparing. Next you'll audition with many actresses..."

Ronald glanced at Rita Wilson, who showed no expression. She was still immersed in the joy of the guaranteed 4 million.

My health is getting better and I can resume updating.