After the two project companies established by Daydream completed the transfer of ownership of "Dances with Wolves" and "Silence of the Lambs", Daydream published an article on the business section of the Hollywood Reporter in accordance with the regulations of the MPAA. Two low-key statements completed the film producer's re-registration.
Then we started to form a team, starting from New York and New Jersey, and slowly met with movie theater practitioners from various places, trying to sign individual distribution contracts with them.
Although Ronald kept a low profile, this abnormal behavior still spread within the Hollywood circle.
"Have you heard? Ronald spent more than 10 million to make a western movie, hahahaha, western movie. This guy edited old movies at the Oscars and fell in love with John Ford (the famous western Director of the film?" An actor spreads gossip about Ronald at a party.
"How did I hear it was 19 million?" Another actor pretended to be quiet. In fact, he wanted others to hear them talking about the illusion that famous Hollywood directors made mistakes and fell. I am much smarter than him. pleasure.
"Nineteen million, that's all for external publicity. I heard it was more than twenty-five million, and Ronald invested twice more! Think about it, a western film was directed by an actor... ..." The first actor mysteriously sold gossip.
"Don't spread these rumors here..."
He spoke out to stop these nonsense people, with muscular muscles and crooked mouth corners, as if he looked down on them for gossiping about a successful person behind his back.
The people who were originally gathered here suddenly became quiet. After all, the visitor was the Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, who owns the two blockbuster franchises: First Blood and Rocky.
"We were just kidding, Sylvester..." The actor who was so good at spreading gossip couldn't help but lower his voice and only followed Stallone's wishes. Isn't it said that he and Ronald were not on good terms? How to help Ronald speak.
"You have to speak accurately, otherwise you will be sued." The words coming out of Stallone's mouth were somewhat authoritative. Jack Nicholson sued Warner Bros. over box office split figures that he believed were inaccurate.
Warner Bros. must have falsely reported its overseas box office results. Nicholson was well prepared, and a luxurious team of lawyers including Mickey Kanter had collected evidence. If they did not pay back their due share, they would disclose everything in court. box office information.
This is certainly unacceptable to Warner Bros., because in order to turn their accounts into losses so that they can pass on dividends to fringe investors, they have taken the art of Hollywood-style creative accounting to the extreme.
Many income projects use the practice of setting up affiliated companies, which has reduced Warner Pictures' income to a ridiculously low level. For example, Batman peripheral products, such as T-shirts, toys, posters, etc., only recorded US$2.9 million in revenue (in fact, the cost of authorizing a co-branded credit card is as high as half a million).
For another example, the movie's episode, "Bat Dance" sung by the famous black singer Price, rushed to the top of the charts, but the revenue recorded by Warner Bros. was only US$380,000.
Therefore, when Jack Nicholson sued for falsely reporting box office revenue, Warner Bros. had no choice but to reach an out-of-court settlement with him and obediently pay the relevant dividends.
This matter was widely spread in Hollywood. When the actors heard that Stallone was talking about this "crime", they became as silent as a stone cold.
"What's more than 25 million, it's actually 22.8 million... Hahahaha..." Stallone thought he had told a funny joke, and he laughed happily.
"Hahaha..." These ordinary actors also had to laugh along.
Stallone has been in a slump since "Over the Top," Minahan Golan's arm-wrestling truck driver movie, failed miserably at the box office. But last year, his new film, "Tiger" with Kurt Russell, took in 54 million at the domestic box office, and the total overseas box office is expected to exceed 100 million.
Now Stallone felt that he was back to the level of an action star, and his speech had returned to his previous feeling of being arrogant. When talking to agents and directors, he once again became the big talker who could talk nonsense and still be regarded as the truth.
However, these actors really have nothing to do with Stallone. If they can be favored by Stallone and support a supporting role in a movie, it can be regarded as a rapid advancement in their personal careers.
"Hahahaha, a Western movie worth more than 20 million yuan, I laughed so hard that tears came out..." Stallone began to wipe his eyes with his hands.
…
"Does he really want to publish it himself? Hehe..."
Warner Bros.'s Terry Tramel, an executive who strongly advocates for the interests of the Jewish community, was also very amused by Ronald's actions.
As early as the invention of talkies in the first half of this century, Hollywood no longer had the space to independently release large-scale commercial films. Unless you are a small production like "God Is Crazy" or "Dirty Dancing", movie theaters are still willing to buy it to fill their schedule gaps.
The publicity and production cost of this film is 19 million, and the registered production cost is 23 million. In fact, industry insiders estimate that Dances with Wolves will exceed 30 million. It is impossible to obtain more than 2,000 with such a piecemeal approach. Opening a movie theater.
Hundreds of theaters were released, which might have had some vitality ten years ago. Now, in an era where the release period is generally shortened to three months to six months, it is impossible to secure more than 1,500 first-weekend theaters. Basically, it doesn’t even make it into the box office rankings.
"What script did Minahan pick?" Robert Daley, the boss of the company, although he never talks about his ethnicity in public, is also a Jew who actively pursues ethnic interests.
He is also a major funder and promoter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Although this alliance has a grand and universal name, it is actually an organization run by Jews. It mainly opposes anti-Semitic trends in society and basically does not care about the discrimination and slander of other ethnic groups.
"Forrest Gump, The Fugitive, and other people's money." Temel reported to his boss with a smile.
"Ronald is the puller of his puppet?" Daley was very sensitive and suddenly thought of whether Ronald was the one pulling the strings.
"Who knows? Anyway, we have lowered our expectations for these two movies now. If Ronald takes a fancy to it, then it will be more cost-effective to change to Fantastic Four..."
Terry Temel said with a smile.
Ronald's series of actions have almost become a joke in Hollywood. Everyone said that this young man had been dazzled by success.
In recent years, independent distribution is not impossible, but the ones that are successful are small productions. There must be something wrong with your brain if you want to make this big production worth more than 30 million yuan through independent distribution.
Hollywood is a place that tends to produce dreamers whose brains are dazzled by success. After a person succeeds several times in a row due to luck, it is easy for him to have several bad luck in succession. Even Spielberg and George Lucas are no exception.
Now it seems that Ronald Lee's days of being favored by God are over.
"Forrest Gump" may have been the Division I program with the greatest potential two years ago. But now "Rain Man" has run out of scenes with its mentally retarded protagonist. The good days of best-selling adaptations are also gone.
Milos Forman, a double Oscar-winning director, also fell into the double trap of repeating themes and adapting famous works. "Valmont" cost him so much that no one asked him to film.
"Of course, if he wants it, then give it to him. It won't be a loss if he replaces the Fantastic Four..." Temer laughed twice. Warner has new weight in the selection of future themes. The scripts of these two movies, Then leave it to Ronald.
"You can't give him an advantage," the Jew said with a sly smile that he only knew. Warner's internal disapproval of these two scripts did not mean that Ronald's valuation of this was low. The Jewish business philosophy is that if you are willing to pay one hundred dollars, if I sell it for ninety-nine dollars, it will be a failure.
…
"How much? Three million US dollars? The copyright fee they paid to the author Winston Groom was only US$350,000!"
Ronald got the message from Minahan. Warner Bros. offered "someone else's money" for the script transfer, offering $200,000, plus the price tag for a swap of "Fantastic Four" movie co-production rights.
This price is quite sincere, after all, 'other people's money' belongs entirely to Minahan. But "Forrest Gump" offered two million, which was just too expensive.
Obviously, the other party has vaguely known that Ronald is behind Minahan, so this offer is asking for advice.
"They are willing to counteroffer to 3.5 million to buy my Fantastic Four. It's hard for me to refuse this offer..." Minahan hesitated on the phone. He obviously wanted to agree to the price.
The movie was not released, but sold for 3.5 million. After excluding the filming fees and profits for Roger Corman, he could still earn over 1 million. For his empty shell of 21st Century Pictures, it was considered a success. A sum of money comes in handy.
"Ha, I asked why they just multiplied the copyright fee ten times. It turns out they are waiting for me here..."
Ronald understood, Warner Bros.'s Temer, that the price was provocative. You used Roger Corman to produce "Fantastic Four" in three weeks, and you had to get 3.5 million from Warner Bros. Sorry, we know you are interested in Forrest Gump, so just give it back the original price.
"You can promise them, but I still have to think about whether to buy Forrest Gump. I will pay for it with other people's money."
Ronald hung up the phone and fell into deep thought.
It's not like I can't afford 3.5 million. If you can buy this movie quickly and quickly, it's not unacceptable.
Although the price is expensive, the fragments in his dream are very shocking, and it is in line with his creative interests, and coincides with the content of his debut script. Now Ronald has enough wealth to do whatever he wants once or twice.
Moreover, this record-breaking price, in turn, is not a good subject for speculation? Record-breaking changes in the copyright fees of comedy satires in Hollywood can attract the attention of the audience before filming. You can also use this as an advantage to persuade other investors and stars to join, and you may not necessarily lose a lot.
However, the two Jewish executives at Warner Bros., who are either overt or covert, their price may not be the final price. Ronald has had many dealings with Jews and can still figure out a thing or two about their business experience.
Your unreasonable agreement to this outrageous condition is equivalent to giving them a signal. You have discovered Ronald's weakness, and you can also increase the price!
At that time, it is foreseeable to increase the transfer fee, ask Minahan to add more chips, or change it to a co-production, and all kinds of increases.
More importantly, Ronald was found out from secretly manipulating Minahan. When the time comes, he will have to face Warner Brothers directly. They will say, "I won't do business with you." If Ronald wants to get the script, he will have to increase his offer.
…
"Dear, what are you worried about?" Diane saw Ronald frowning, so she came over and put her arms around his shoulders and asked. She had just finished yoga. She was working very hard to get back in shape after giving birth. Not only do medical experts formulate recipes, but yoga instructors also come to provide guidance. Even Demi Moore often comes over to do her postpartum recovery yoga routine.
"Huh? It's nothing..." Ronald raised his head and kissed Diane. Today she was dressed like Jane Fonda's aerobics video. The high-slit bodybuilding pants made her breasts wet, and there was a faint smell.
"Is the investment in Dances with Wolves too big? Do you want me... It just so happens that the profits from my game have arrived..." Diane leaned against Ronald gently.
"Hahaha, I'm not that big..." Ronald laughed.
"Demi has told me. It is said that your production cost was close to 30 million...Does the distribution also cost some money?"
"How can there be so many?" Ronald explained to Diane with a smile. The production cost of 23 million (recorded figure) was actually 9 million pre-sold through the distributor in Europe. In addition, Wall Street Bannon and Douglas Jr. led some people to invest some.
Adding up this money, plus Kevin Costner giving up his salary in favor of receiving dividends, and the bridge loan from Crédit Lyonnais, Ronald’s own money to escape is less than 700 Ten thousand.
Coupled with the cost of distribution, public relations and next year's Oscar budget, the impact of "Dances with Wolves" on his cash is not very important. He can just rely on the video sales of Dirty Dancing for a quarter, or Coca-Cola , and Microsoft's stock rose easily.
But since Diane wanted to solve his own problems so much, Ronald also wanted to repay his wife.
"Minahan got a script from Warner Bros. called Other People's Money. I'm going to buy it. Are you willing to be the heroine?"
"Huh?" Diane's eyes lit up. Her husband gave her a script and praised her as the heroine. Isn't this a scene that she often dreamed of before?
"Who is the leading actor? Tom Cruise or Michael Keaton?" Diane reported the names of several popular male stars in succession.
"Hey, this is a comedy. The male protagonist is a man who is ugly and even ugly, but he is very good at business..."
"Hmph!" Diane frowned more and more as she listened. Ronald was too petty. Was he jealous because he was working with a handsome guy? "
"This is the effect of the script. It does not prevent the heroine from excelling in her roles. You will understand when you read the script." Ronald replied with a smile.
"Hmph, how about Tom Hanks? Let me work with him again..."
