Chapter 519 Go to Cannes to sell films

   "Well, thank you, aunt." Ronald started packing his passport and other documents after breakfast.

  Aunt Karen helped him pack his luggage and put it aside.

  “The Souvier League suddenly announced a boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics and would not send a delegation to participate. The reason is that America is experiencing chauvinism among great powers and anti-Soviet hysteria.

  Bulgaria announced a boycott, and the national attitudes of other Eastern camps are unclear. "

   "Hey? Didn't you say you came to participate this time?" Ronald watched the "Morning America" ​​program on TV, and another big news broke.

   "Here are the newspapers for you, brother!" Donna happily drove out in the red car early in the morning, bought various entertainment newspapers for Ronald, and focused on the box office situation in the second week.

   "Hmm, thanks."

  Ronald turned over to "Daily Variety Show" and turned to the column of the weekly box office.

   "Breakdance" is still at the top of the weekend box office with a box office of 6.3 million, and the cumulative total box office is as high as 16.3 million..."

   "Haha...", Ronald was very satisfied with this number.

   In second place is the new film, Robert Redford's "Natural Talent," with just over five million dollars.

   The third place is another new film "Arsonist", adapted from Stephen King's novel of the same name, with 4.7 million.

   "Sixteen Candles" has dropped to fourth, with only 3.2 million.

   The "Breakdancing" box office that many were expecting, which plummeted in its second week, didn't exist.

Richard kept calling Ronald to report the aggregated news. Universal expected the box office of "Breakdance" to decline rapidly this week, while "Sixteen Candles" won by word of mouth, and the second week's decline would be even lower. much smaller.

   They have a lot of reasons why "Breakdance" is a fan movie, only Latinos and blacks see it. The box office of "Breakdance" was brought up by MJ's fans. After the fans found out that it was a cameo, they stopped going.

  All are fallacies!

"It seems that your long-term box office is not very good?" Ronald did the math. Compared with the first week of "Sixteen Candles", the box office dropped by nearly 30%, while the decline of "Breakdancing" , only eighteen percent.

   "No one can stop us

  No one does it better than us

  Red lights can’t stop us

No no no no,…"

   Ronald hummed the song "Nobody Can Stop Us" at the beginning of "Breakdancing", feeling very happy.

"Can I take you to the airport? My driving skills are good. The instructor Smith who taught me to drive said that my driving level surpassed many old drivers." Aunt Karen is busy with the factory. Donna's driver's license is looking for a coach. Learned.

   "Okay", Ronald took down the suitcase. Although Donna's small red car is very compact, it has a lot of space. Ronald was over six feet tall and not crowded at all.

  Meet Minahan at the airport, and the two board an Air France flight to Paris. This time they did not choose the Concorde, but took an ordinary passenger plane, slept on the plane for seven and a half hours, and landed at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Then I went to Cannes, a seaside town in the southeastern part of the country, without stopping.

   "It's such a beautiful place", Ronald took out his sunglasses and put them on, his clothes were blown by the sea breeze, and the sun was very comfortable on his body.

  The climate in Cannes is pleasant, and the average temperature in May is around 20 degrees, which is a good place for vacation. Everything else was great except for the high room rates due to the film festival.

  Yoram, who came earlier, came to pick him up, and stayed in the pre-booked room.

  He has lived here for three or four days, and a large number of leaflets are piled up in Yoram's room. Minahan was very polite, he shared a large room with his cousin and gave Ronald the smaller single room.

   "This is your pass," Yoram handed Ronald a pass.

  Ronald took it and saw that it said "Marché du Film Badge". He didn't know French and looked up at Yoram.

"The market pass means that this kind of pass has the highest authority, and you can go to any place in the film festival. If you want to see the trading market in Cannes, I will help you apply. You can apply for a film practitioner pass. That kind of comparison It’s cheap, and you can go anywhere except the trading market.”

   "Oh, thank you." Ronald hung it around his neck carefully so that he could look around at will.

   "Did our break dance participate in any selection? What's the booth number?" Ronald inquired about the arrangement of the Cannon Company.

"Ahem, our 'Breakdance' was filmed in a hurry, and we didn't have time to send it to the film festival. Even the place in the trading market has been snatched up. I'm trying to figure out a way to buy a booth from other people and sell it. Our movie."

  Yoram was actually a little bit burnt out. This "break dance" was a temporary idea in early 1984, and it had just been filmed not long ago. It was too late to show or sell the film, so I had to go to Cannes and try to find a way.

   "Oh?" Ronald thought, and he was fooled by the two brothers again. They said that something had been done, but what they actually meant was that we had just had an idea.

   "Don't worry, things will be fine, Ronald."

Minahan saw something wrong with Ronald's expression, so he stood up and massaged Ronald's shoulders a few times, "Our two brothers came to America from Israel, and because of the foreign exchange control, each of us had 500 dollars in our pockets. Here we go. Haven't you succeeded?

  It’s the same at Cannes this time, with your film, everything will go smoothly. "

   "Then what are you going to do?"

"Every year in Cannes, there are many lucky people who have sold their copies of the movie and withdraw the booth in advance. We will always have a place." Yoram said, "If it doesn't work, we will hold business cards and posters and sell them outside the exhibition hall. .”

  The two began to pick up the phone and take turns calling, contacting all their acquaintances to find a solution.

   Ronald saw them working so hard, and wondered if they could get a booth in the film trading market.

  He casually picked up a list of films and exhibitions that participated this year on the table, and a list of manufacturers in the film trading market, and looked at it himself.

   "Huh?" Ronald discovered that on May 22, the film "Beat Street" filmed by Orion Films was going to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

   "Minahan, is 'Hot Street Kid' a participating film?" Ronald asked, frowning.

   "No, they are Horscompetition", Yoram replied with a French noun.

   "It means not to participate in the screening unit. Orion does not participate in any awards in Cannes, but is only shown here. You know, showing a movie here will always attract some movie buyers to participate in the trading market."

   "The themes of the two films are the same. Is it really okay for us to sell the film like this? Do we have to find a way to show it in Cannes?"

   "Relax, Ronald. I can't beat you when making movies, but I still know a thing or two about selling movies, quack quack." Minahan's drake voice sounded again, reassuring Ronald.

  Ronald was a little nervous, but the Cannon Pictures of the two brothers has been selling copies in Europe and attracting investment. If there is no success in the past few years, they will not be able to survive, right?

  Thinking of this, Ronald decided to go out for a stroll. He changed into a plain cotton shirt, sunglasses, and white trousers underneath. He walked out of the hotel and walked on the street with the sea breeze blowing slowly, gradually forgetting his troubles.

After a while, Ronald walked along the main road to the main venue of the Cannes Film Festival, the Palais des Festivals (Palais des Festivals). There was a large poster hanging at the entrance, which was the opening film of this year's Cannes "Sagan Fort". .

   Above the name of the movie, there are two headshots of Chinese movie stars, which means that they are big-name leading actors and enjoy online treatment.

   Fortunately, Ronald still knows them all.

  The male star has a very big nose, Gérard Depardieu.

  Ronald is more familiar with female stars. He has a beautiful face with French femininity and blond hair. It is Catherine Deneuve, a national treasure actress of the Hair Country.

   Behind the two stars is a desert, and a row of people are riding camels and carrying guns.

   "Why does it look like a 'Sahara' again." Ronald complained.

  Below the movie poster, there are a few heads of supporting characters. One of the actresses also looks like baby fat, and she looks a bit like Diane.

   "Sophie... Marceau, Marceau?" Ronald spelled out the name, which he hadn't heard in Hollywood.

   "I don't know when Diane will regain the figure in "Streets of Rage"?" Ronald muttered a few words.

   "tesvousunacteur?" a girl's voice asked.

   "What did you say?" Ronald turned around and saw a girl wearing a white tank top and a miniskirt with a bulging chest.

   "Did I say you are an actor?" The girl pointed to the passport on Ronald's chest. She spotted this tall handsome guy and came up to strike up a conversation.

   "Oh, I'm not, I'm a film director."

   "Director? Hehehe..."

   "It's true, I want to sell a movie in Cannes called Breakin'"

   "Break?" The girl made a gesture of hammering something with her hand.

   "Breaking? BreakDance, a kind of dance, break dancing." Ronald simply posed two poses.

   "Where is your movie released? Can you take me to see it?" The girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately sent out an invitation.

   "We haven't found a good place to screen it yet." Ronald looked at the girl, with a graceful figure and good looks, "Did you come with your friends?"

   "Yes, they are there", the girl pointed to the beach in the distance, which is the place with the highest density of beauties in Cannes during the film festival.

  Every year in mid-May, it seems that beauties from all over Europe who aspire to be movie stars come to this small coastal town in the hair country, expecting a miracle to happen to them.

   "Please leave your contact information, I will call you when I confirm the time and place of the screening." Ronald made a phone call gesture.

   "Okay", the girl left her phone number and left with a smile.

  Ronald put the sunglasses back on, and he understood that the current Europeans don't understand breakdancing at all. If only the English title of "Breakin" is mentioned, many people will not be able to understand it.

  Ronald continued walking along the perimeter of the Film Palace, and all the films participating in the "Palme d'Or" awards had posters posted.

   "Huh? Isn't this Natasha Kinski?" Ronald discovered that a photo of an acquaintance was also on a movie poster.

  “Paris, Texas”

   Natasha Kinski on the poster is wearing a magenta coat, looking back and smiling, looking very charming.

   Ronald stared at it for a long time, and felt that this German actress was really too good-looking to make a movie. Unexpectedly, the movie she starred in also participated in this Cannes.

   I just don't know how the "Maria's Lovers" she invested in sold? Did you make a deal with Minahan?

   After a full circle, Ronald returned to the hotel.

   "Damn it, it looks like we are really going to distribute leaflets on the street." Before entering the door, Ronald heard Minahan next door shouting at Yoram.

   "What happened?" Ronald entered the door and saw Minahan's face was flushed.

  It turned out that the staff of the Cannes film market rejected Minahan's idea of ​​buying a booth at a high price.

   "Why don't they sell it at a high price?" Ronald felt strange. Hair country is still a capitalist society.

   "They said that Cannes is an orderly place, and the relevant procedures must be completed in advance." Yoram came to explain, "But I think the real reason may be that Orion is working hard."

Yoram continued, "I have a friend who works in the organizing committee. She told me that Orion issued a protest, slandering our film as preemptive release and piracy. Because the themes of the two films are indeed similar, and they are official. Screening Movies…

  So Cannes is unwilling to arrange theaters for us to screen or sell us suitable booths. "

   "Then what shall we do?"

"We have found our partner EMI in Hair Country, they will support a set of outdoor projection equipment, and we will show it on the beach." Minahan slapped the table, "Now we will play a big game. During the opening ceremony, we distributed leaflets at the gate of the movie palace!"

"So what?" Ronald took out a pen, "I just found out that our English film title has a cultural barrier in China, and the audience can't understand that this film is about a dance. We have to Change your name."

   "What?" Minahan stared wide-eyed, "You are right, the word Breakin, Europeans don't understand that it is the name of a dance."

   "But we only have two days, and the day after tomorrow Cannes will officially open."

Ronald took out the contact information left by the girl again, "Since we are handing out flyers, we might as well find some pretty girls. Let's rush to make some clothes and embroider new names on them. As for the flyers, we can find someone to come." Change it by hand."

   "You know the beautiful local girls so soon?" Minahan gave a look of "You can do it".

   "This is a good idea, don't look for anyone else, just me and Yoram." Minahan picked up a marker and brought a stack of leaflets over, "What should we change our name to?"

   "BreakDance (break dance)?" Ronald suggested, adding dance at the end, it must be understood.

   "It's better to call it BeatDance (Hot Dance, Yoram began to hold back his bad idea again, "It looks like BeatStreet (Hot Street Kid), and many movie buyers will think that Orion was shot by us."

   "Quack quack... I knew it, you kid really has a trick."

  (end of this chapter)