The third part of "The Kid" has been officially approved. The new project company established by Weintraub is called "The Kid" Pictures, which provides the production rights of the film (the right to shoot a sequel). Ronald's Daydream participated in the investment and provided the scriptwriting rights for the characters (Ronald writes the script, even if he is not the scriptwriter for the sequel, he must be the first screenwriter).
Such a combination has many film investors excited in Hollywood, where good scripts are currently in short supply. Although it was not directed by Ronald himself, it was a legitimate sequel to two movies that grossed over 100 million yuan, attracting many investors to place bets.
On Ronald's side, it was his old friend Bannon who took the lead and received the first batch of three million US dollars of investment quota released (the first batch of investments is also the first batch to be divided after the box office settlement).
Weintraub contacted the original publisher Columbia and also invested $3 million. The remaining investment amount was packaged and divided into several shares and then sold to Wall Street.
Pat Johnson, the action director of the first two films, and Daryl Vidal also return. Director of photography James Crebe and art director William Cassidy both agreed to come back and continue the adventure of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
To make the project a success, Weintraub threw a big party and entertained everyone. He also took this opportunity to announce to Hollywood that Weintraub is not bankrupt yet! As long as I have the Longwei Boy series in my hands, Weintraub will have no problem! Look, this is not alive again.
At the party, Ronald and the leading actors hugged one by one and chatted for a few words. Everyone has been having a hard time in the past few years, and there has been little progress in their acting careers. This return is also with the intention of re-appearing in front of the audience through the old series, reminding everyone that we are not out of date yet.
Of course, at the party, Ronald also introduced the new director Tsui Hark to everyone. Some clips from Xiangjiang action movies were playing on the TV, which shocked the action actors in the previous movies.
TsuiHark hired some martial arts instructors from Xiangjiang to take charge of the flying scenes. Coupled with the costumes responsible for part of the plot in China, this movie, which is about to officially start filming and is scheduled to be released next summer, can also be a blockbuster co-produced by China and the United States.
"I have equipped you with many senior professionals, including the directors of photography from the first two films, and a capable first assistant director. You can rely on their professional abilities in matters such as photography and crew scheduling. But those Ami For the creative parts that the audience has not seen before, you still have to rely on your own imagination.
None of these people have ever filmed a scene of flying into the sky and escaping from the earth. They don’t know how far you can achieve it. As long as you know what you want, just insist on following your requirements. If you have any questions, just call me. "
Ronald explained some creative principles to TsuiHark, and then introduced him to the leading actors and the main crew.
"This is the director of photography, James Claybey..." Ronald introduced the director of photography of the first two films. He set the tone for the images of Long Wei Boy in the first two films. The third film should also follow this image tone. , this is what Ronald is most concerned about, because many Hong Kong movies do not pay attention to this aspect. Different batches, different models, and even different brands of film are used in a movie. When a shot is switched, the tones are completely turned upside down. It’s very schizophrenic for the audience.
"Cough...cough" James Crebe coughed violently.
"What's wrong with you? Do you have the flu?" Ronald patted him on the back twice.
"It's okay, maybe I drank too much during this period. Ahem..." Crebe said it was okay, but he still couldn't stop coughing and his face was a little pale. I apologized for going to the bathroom later.
"It's the good old days again..." Weintraub came over with a champagne glass. He escaped from death this time and had hope of turning around. I felt a lot of emotions at the same time.
"By the way, Jerry, are you familiar with Frank Sinatra?" Ronald asked him about something.
"I'm quite familiar with him. I persuaded him to arrange his concert tour. He is a weirdo. At the concert broadcast live on NBC in New York, he came in a helicopter and sang live. After singing the last song, he left in a helicopter. No delay at all." Weintraub was very happy when talking about his proud work. now
God allowed him to taste the feeling of being a successful person again.
"I have an interlude in my movie that uses his song. Can you tell me about it? I went to his agent. He was very difficult to deal with. He asked for a million dollars." Ronald fell in love with a Sinatra song. The song "It Had to Be You" is very suitable for the storyline of "When Harry Met Sally".
But to use this old song as the theme song, Frank Sinatra, a famous singer, must be found to have the singing rights. Whether a big star is willing to give you the copyright is more a matter of his own displeasure. It would be much better if someone acquainted could communicate directly with Sinatra, bypassing the agent.
"Do you want it to be used in the movie? I can make a call." Weintraub agreed immediately. "Do you want the song to be used as an interlude, or do you want Sinatra's sung version?"
"If you can, please ask me the price..." Ronald knew that singers' singing versions were very expensive.
Soon, Frank Sinatra's reply came. You can pay a friendly price for using the song copyright, which is only 50,000 US dollars, but if you ask him to sing a version, you still have to pay 1 million.
Of course, Ronald still couldn't let go of Frank Sinatra's unique singing voice, which seemed to be speaking in a straightforward narration, but it was also extremely capable of impressing American audiences...
Therefore, Ronald decisively rejected Sinatra's offer. He asked Daydream's music director Jimmy Lena to choose among jazz musicians, and finally found a jazz pianist and singer who had just turned twenty, Harry Connick Jr.
It's also interesting to say that this man's singing voice is exactly the same as Sinatra's when he was young. Ronald decided to let him record a version of "It had to be you", but the audience wouldn't be able to hear it if they didn't pay attention to the end credits.
Not only did Harry Connick Jr. have a good singing voice, he also had good piano skills. Ronald simply asked him to sing all the jazz songs in the movie. Jimmy Liner also found a small brass band to perform "It Must Be You" I recorded several pure music versions with different rhythms and moods, and only paid a total of 20,000 US dollars, which can be said to be a bargain.
…
"You can help me find a meteorological expert to ask, when will it be more likely to snow in New York with the Christmas atmosphere this year?" Ronald's movie still has some snow scenes to reshoot, and he assigned Richard a task , it is best to give a reminder one week in advance so that you can have enough time to recall the leading actors and technical team.
"Experts say it's unlikely to make an accurate forecast one week in advance, but three days in advance at most..."
"Okay, I know this myself from watching the weather forecast on the TV station." Ronald called Aunt Karen again.
"Does it snow in New York? It's usually early to mid-November in Staten Island, around the time when the general election is held. If it's in Manhattan, it's even later, until late November." Aunt Karen knows better than There are even more experts.
"I will go to reshoot some scenes at that time, and then I will go to Staten Island to see you. Bye, love you..."
Ronald arranged things and then lay alone on the custom-made bed and watched TV. Diane went to New York to meet Donna again. Helen also filmed in British Columbia, Canada. Kim Basinger and Annette Bening both went to mainland Europe to film. For a moment, I was alone without anyone to accompany me.
How about calling Richard? Find two familiar models.
As soon as this idea came to him, Ronald couldn't control himself. Just when his hand was about to touch the phone, news about candidate Dukakis' campaign suddenly popped up on the TV.
"Woooooooo..." A very unique engine noise came. It's not crisp like a traditional gasoline engine, nor roaring like a diesel engine, but more like a high-frequency buzzing noise emitted by an electronic device.
"Huh?" Ronald was surprised to see Dukakis wearing a steel helmet with his name on it, sitting in a new General Dynamics M1 Abrams tank, his head stuck out with difficulty, He also waved to the audience.
The camera flashed by, and Ronald was left with only one impression, that is, Dukakis' helmet was huge and he was wearing it like Charles Schulz's classic comic character Snoopy.
The camera cut to a live speech. Dukakis was talking to the employees of the arms industry in a tank factory in Michigan: After he becomes the commander-in-chief, he will increase investment in traditional weapons (tradition is relative to nuclear weapons). ).
This speech was very opportunistic and appealed to his voters' fear of nuclear war, while also boosting support for veterans and the military-industrial complex. Hedges' approval ratings rose as George Sr. adopted a new campaign strategy.
"Hey, Doug, did you watch Dukakis on the TV news?" Ronald quickly called Douglas Jr.
"What? I didn't look..."
"Watch NBC..."
"What does this mean? Why would Dukakis please the military industry? Still targeting weapons for the Army and Marine Corps." Douglas watched the news for a while and became confused. If the TV screen was turned off and everyone just listened to the voice, no one would guess that it was Old George who said this, right?
"Don't you think this is an opportunity for a KO?" As a filmmaker, Ronald clearly saw the comedy potential of Dukaski's scene in the tank. A politician who has never supported strengthening the armament budget actually acted like a fool, wearing a helmet to ride on a tank, and waving to the audience along the way...
"Damn, you're so right, I'm going to find little George right away." Little Doug also reacted, "We'll call you then."
"Hey, Ronald, can you tell me what you said to little Douglas again." Half an hour later, after little George was woken up from his sleep, he became excited after what little Douglas said.
But he felt a little dizzy after listening to the many reasons given by little Doug. Listening to Ronald speak, I feel more clearly.
"It's a simple thing, George. The Donkey Party people don't like their people sitting in tanks and giving public talks about funding the military industry.
People who are like the Party will not like the funny look of a Donkey Party politician sitting in a tank. That's a defilement of their beloved big toy. Dukakis seemed to have put himself on a silver platter this time and handed it to your father with his own hands. "Ronald used two simple metaphors to make the matter clear.
Dukakis may have become flustered as George Sr.'s approval rating loomed. He knew that Old George was playing the card of military industry and veterans, so he also wanted to play this card to reduce the momentum of Old George's pursuit.
"Damn it, you're right, this is a chance to KO Dukakis." Little George has a good intuition about ordinary people's perceptions. Just like when I was at Yale, I was opposed to the faction headed by Oliver Stone in my class. People who try to please both sides are often disliked by both sides.
"What should we do, Ronald?"
"You immediately give that shot of Dukakis in the tank to Roger Ailes. He knows what to do."
Ronald put down the phone and just smiled. For a guy like Little George, the big meal was served on the table and he had to ask others how to get the knife and fork before he could eat it.
When he looked at the time, it was already very late. It was too late now for Richard to contact the models. He had no choice but to turn up the volume on the remote control. Fortunately, what ABC was broadcasting now was a new film of an old TV series that was urgently shot in Brisbane, Australia, to cover up the drama that was too late to be filmed due to the writers' strike...
The opening song of "Die Hard" came from the TV. Ronald felt that he was still attracted by the theme music and couldn't wait to watch it.
"This is really a million-dollar opening song..." Ronald continued to watch. To be honest, the rhythm of the filming was a bit old and not as good as expected. But the opening song makes people want to watch it. Old TV dramas like this have a signature opening song, which makes people come to watch TV from other places as soon as they hear it. I don’t know why modern TV dramas don’t include such a part.
…
Although little George is already very slow, there are many people who can't eat better than little George...
At an emergency meeting jointly held by George Jr. and Roger Ailes that night, they both told Ronald about the video of Dukaski riding in a tank and the strategies he taught.
Unexpectedly, his brother Jeb was the first to object.
"We should not use unethical means to attack our competitors. Otherwise our voters will have a bad impression of us. While reducing our opponents' support, our support is also declining."
I don't know if he really thinks so, or if he just doesn't want his brother to be in the limelight. Jeb's reason is quite weak.
"This is the era of television media. People don't care about logic or facts. They only care about whether their ideas are recognized by others. A strategy, regardless of whether it conforms to the facts or whether it is logical, as long as it is effective, we will Use it." Roger Ailes couldn't help it and refuted Jeb face to face.
"But why do you say that your strategy will definitely succeed?" Jeb was unconvinced. The other campaign manager sitting behind him also had a sullen face. He didn't come up with such a strategy...
"I asked several people who had seen this clip, and they all told me that when Dukaski waved to the people on the M1 tank, the audience below was laughing.
Everyone on the scene will think this strategy is ridiculous. As long as we can let it be broadcast on major TV stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the whole country will think this is a ridiculous thing. Then he's finished. "
Roger Ailes explains. This clip was only played on the news section for ten seconds and was never replayed. Their campaign office contacted the three major wireless TV stations, various cable stations, and even local TV stations in Michigan. The response they received was either that they could not find the video tape, or they asked other TV stations to buy the footage.
In short, we may have broadcast the news, but there is no backup videotape (for you to use against Dukakis).
"If we didn't see that scene and relied on your one-sided words, how could we..."
"Jeb, I heard about that scene from Ronald. He told me it was a good opportunity. He is a big director in Hollywood and he won't make mistakes..."
"Hmph...who doesn't know that most of Hollywood is from the donkey party, just like TV stations..."
What Jeb said was correct. The director of the TV station obviously saw this fatal flaw just like Ronald. The TV stations are all progressive elements who favor the Donkey Party. They will not send the program tapes to the campaign office of George Sr. of the Elephant Party.
"You..." Little George was so angry that he wanted to go over and bully his younger brother.
"That's enough. I trust Ronald's judgment, but what Jeb said makes sense. Without a suitable picture, we can't invest huge sums of money to talk about a rumor. There must be Dukakis in the tank. Picture..."
Barbara stopped her two sons from attacking each other.
"What are you going to do?" Roger Ailes asked little George. He made up his mind. If little George was not determined enough, he would fly to Illinois overnight and hold a campaign there to win. The Air Force and Navy supported George Sr., the manufacturer of military aircraft.
"Damn it, I don't believe it. No one has video of the scene or recorded news footage." Little George said fiercely, "Everyone, I mean everyone..."
He clapped twice and mobilized all the election volunteers on his side, "Everyone, go call me, call your family, friends, high school classmates... and ask them if they have this dukkah. That tape of Keith in the tank. I don't care what you did or how you got it, I just want that damn tape.
Whoever can bring that scene of Snoopy in the tank will get a bonus from my own pocket."
As he spoke, Little George took out all the cash in his wallet, threw it on the table, and spread it out in a fan shape, which contained a small amount of a thousand dollars. "This is the best opportunity for our team so far. For us, The concept we worked on together for my father's campaign, we had to get the tapes available."
"Quick, quick, take action..." Little George began to applaud, encouraging everyone, "Go and make a call... Can our ideas be successful and can we stop Dukakis's Massachusetts donkey party (in many conservative circles)? In the eyes of Pai, this word is derogatory, describing those who are particularly "radical" and progressive.
Donkey Party) to enter the White House, it depends on you. "
