Chapter 538 The release of "Fist of Fury" and its highest box office record
Chapter 538 The release of "Fist of Fury" and its highest box office record
Wei Zetao quickly agreed: "Okay, I will make a plan for the entire project soon."
Yang Wendong added: "Also, see if other industries in Hong Kong are short of steel plates. If they are, then we can do it together. We can even export it in the future."
Either don't do it, or do the best within your capabilities. The more customers you have, the lower the cost. After recovering the funds, you can recycle them and develop them on a larger scale. This is also the core logic of many Fortune 500 companies.
"Okay." Wei Zetao agreed with a smile.
Time soon came to the end of June, and Yang Wendong came to Tseung Kwan O again. This time, he was invited by Li Xiaolong.
"Mr. Yang, Mrs. Yang." When Li Xiaolong saw Yang Wendong and Su Yiyi, he greeted them with a smile.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Xiaolong, I heard that your movie was out, so I rushed here as soon as possible."
Naturally, he was very interested in Li Xiaolong's movies and had asked about the progress several times during this period. And just yesterday, Li Xiaolong personally called and invited Yang Wendong to come, so he naturally came.
Li Xiaolong said happily: "Okay, Mr. Yang, let's go inside and take a look. The film is ready."
Several people came to the screening room inside Changxing Film Company. As the largest film group in Hong Kong, it naturally has a complete cinema inside its headquarters.
Before many movies are released, professional film critics, journalists, etc. are invited to watch the premiere. This is a historical tradition of Hong Kong films. However, Changxing Film Group will also conduct an internal review before the premiere.
The movie "Fist of Fury" begins quickly. The plot is not very complicated. The protagonist (Li Xiaolong) works in a factory, but this factory is just a cover for a drug trafficking boss. As a result, the workers who knew the secret were killed one by one, which aroused the workers' suspicion. A good friend of the protagonist was also killed, which eventually caused conflicts and then the final decisive battle.
From Yang Wendong's point of view, such a thing must be reported to the police immediately, but in this era, it is not the case, because you don't know whether the police who come will be in cahoots with the factory owner. It is hard to say.
Moreover, movies are all about fighting. Although there must be a plot, it cannot be just the plot. It is perfect only when both are present.
90 minutes later, after a thrilling fight, the movie ended, the lights came on, and many people at the scene began to applaud enthusiastically.
Yang Wendong smiled at Li Xiaolong who was sitting next to him and said, "Xiaolong, I think this movie will definitely be a big hit in Hong Kong and even in Asia."
If he were in his previous life, he might have given a so-so review of the plot and fighting scenes in this movie, but considering that it was a movie from the 70s, it's good enough that people can still watch it 50 years later. Of course, it may still be better than some movies after 2020.
After traveling through time for ten years, his entertainment threshold was no longer that high, and seeing Li Xiaolong's various fights also made him feel a little excited.
This kind of excitement is similar to the short videos in the previous life, where the fight is completed in a very short time and it is very exciting. It is not like the fights nowadays, where two people fight for ten minutes and then continue to laugh. It seems okay at first, but becomes boring after watching it too much.
When Li Xiaolong heard this comment, he immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Yang."
"I'm just telling the truth. I also want to thank you for making such a wonderful movie." Yang Wendong smiled, then looked at Zhou Wenhuai: "Old Zou, has the release date of this movie been decided?"
Zou Wenhuai said: "It's ready. It will start in early July, just in time for the summer vacation. Many students will have enough time to watch it."
With the development of Hong Kong's economy and the gradual investment of the Hong Kong government in education, many children have begun to go to school. Although it is not free, the financial pressure is much less, especially since Hong Kong's economy has developed very rapidly in recent years, and many people have better financial conditions.
Therefore, businesses are beginning to value students' spending power, and the same is true for the film industry. During both winter and summer vacations, there will be an obvious wave of student spending.
"Okay, arrange for Changxing Media and TVB to vigorously promote this movie. I want this movie to be a hit." Yang Wendong ordered.
Zou Wenhuai immediately agreed: "Yes, Mr. Yang."
Under the boss's personal arrangement, Changxing Group's media machine immediately began to operate;
The front page of Oriental Daily News featured a half-length photo of Li Xiaolong, with the headline "American Sanda Champion Li Xiaolong's new movie "Fist of Fury" to be aired soon"; TVB also began to promote Li Xiaolong and his new movie on a rolling basis;
There were also promotional boards for Li Xiaolong and his new movie at the entrance of Changxing Cinema Company, and even many middle school students were called up to distribute flyers in major shopping malls and supermarkets in Hong Kong;
With the overwhelming publicity, almost everyone who is not a homebody knows Li Xiaolong, or at least recognizes him after seeing his image.
"Li Xiaolong? American Sanda champion? Sounds impressive?"
"If you know Sanda, you will definitely be able to make a good movie? Not necessarily, right?"
"TVB is promoting it every day, so it shouldn't be that bad, right? Why don't we go and have a look?"
"Okay, let's go and take a look. It's only a few dollars anyway."
The benefit of sufficient publicity was that all the early tickets for "Fist of Fury" were sold out;
In front of a movie theater in Central, Zou Wenhuai and Qi Ruifan were smoking at the intersection and chatting casually: "Mr. Yang really values Li Xiaolong. The publicity for the first Jin Yong movie "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was far inferior to this one today."
"But Li Xiaolong's fighting is really exciting. I felt very excited after watching it." Qi Ruifan said: "The quality is good, and with the publicity investment from Mr. Yang, I think Li Xiaolong will become the top star in Hong Kong in the future."
Qi Ruifan also agreed: "Yes, it's not just Hong Kong, it's probably the whole of Asia. Looking at Mr. Yang's layout a few years ago, it's obvious that he is preparing to integrate the Asian film industry.
I heard from Fang Xianming that Mr. Yang is also planning to invest in a movie theater chain in Japan, but he has not found a suitable target yet. "
Zou Wenhuai smiled and said, "Mr. Yang's layout is really big. Back then, Shaw Brothers and Lu Brothers basically only knew how to compete for the market in places like Hong Kong, and they relied on foreign companies in Southeast Asia."
Qi Ruifan shook his head and said, "This is incomparable. Mr. Yang's current industry is so strong. The reason why Shao is still alive is probably because Mr. Yang doesn't want to be too extreme and wants to leave some competition."
"Yes, a few years ago, Run Run Shaw was still thinking about unifying the Hong Kong film market, but he didn't expect that it can survive now because Mr. Yang deliberately showed mercy." Zou Wenhuai was also very emotional.
After Lu's incident, Shao Yifu thought that his chance had come, but he didn't expect that Changxing Film Company would integrate Lu's resources and become a larger theater chain and film production group.
Shaw Brothers Film Company had no competitiveness in front of such a giant. Fortunately, Shaw Brothers also had its own cinemas and film production, and was self-sufficient, but the profits were definitely not as good as before. After all, whether in the Hong Kong or Singapore market, the number of people watching movies was limited, and the budget of each moviegoer was also limited...
……
At Shaw Brothers Film Company, Run Run Shaw looked at the Oriental Daily in his hand and remained silent for a long time.
A young woman came over and asked, "Shao Sheng, what's wrong?"
Shao Yifu handed the newspaper over: "Yihua, take a look at this newspaper. Changxing Group is going crazy now, promoting Bruce Lee every day."
Fang Yihua took the newspaper, read it for a while and said, "I think Changxing Film Company is trying to create a star. Hollywood companies sometimes use this method."
"Making stars?" Shao Yifu was puzzled. "Yang Wendong already controls more than 8% of the big and small screens in Hong Kong. The meat in the whole pot belongs to him. Why does he have to spend so much money to make stars?"
Fang Yihua thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he wants to make the meat in the pot more abundant? Or make it taste better?
It is true that there is enough market, but many Hong Kong people still don’t watch movies. Maybe if a star is really created, it can attract many people to watch movies? "
"That's possible, Yihua, you really have a good business sense. It's a pity that you were just a singer before." Shao Yifu smiled and said, "If Changxing Film Company succeeds in creating a star, we may also benefit from it."
When more people who didn't watch movies before get used to watching movies, it will be good for every business in the entire industry.
Fang Yihua frowned with some worry and said, "I'm afraid that if this star-making is successful, it will steal away the crowd that originally didn't watch much, and then we will suffer a great loss."
Many people may only watch a movie every few months. Given that watching TV is free nowadays, it is obviously not cost-effective to spend money to watch a movie. Therefore, film companies are under a lot of pressure and must ensure the quality of their films.
If the rival company made a hit movie, it would suck away the money of other companies at the same time. "We can't do anything now, just wait and see what results Bruce Lee will achieve." Shao Yifu was also a little worried, but the worry was useless.
……
Time quickly arrived on July 7th, and the first day of the release of "Fist of Fury" officially began.
Thanks to early publicity, dozens of Changxing Cinemas in Hong Kong were packed with people, with only a few seats in the front rows and corners being likely to be chosen by few people.
When the time is almost up, everyone takes their seats, the lights above go out, and various advertisements begin to play in front of the screen, usually local advertisements for real estate, shopping malls, etc.
This is also a major profit-making method for cinema chains. Those who can come to the cinema to watch movies have more or less some purchasing power and are considered a high-quality group. Real estate companies, in particular, like this kind of advertisements.
The audience has also become accustomed to it, and some of them even really want to buy a house. Watching more advertisements will be beneficial to their choice.
Soon, the commercial ended and the film officially began. The first thing that appeared on the screen was a factory near the river...
……
Including the advertisements and music before and after, the movie lasted a total of 100 minutes. Yang Wendong also accompanied Li Xiaolong to a cinema, but they did not go in.
"Good, good, good..." Outside, everyone could hear cheers from inside from time to time, as well as occasional applause.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Xiaolong, judging from the popularity, your movie is obviously a success."
"I also want to thank Mr. Yang for giving me this opportunity." Li Xiaolong was also excited.
Although he was very confident about his movie before, no matter how high his confidence was, it could not be 100% without feedback from the audience.
Yang Wendong said: "That's because you are capable, so you have this opportunity. My business development also needs talents."
Li Xiaolong asked: "So what do we need to do next?"
Yang Wendong replied: "Don't do anything for now. After the box office results of this movie in Hong Kong come out, I will send it to Nanyang for screening.
In Hong Kong, I will arrange an interview with TVB. Remember, the interview should focus on martial arts, not movies, let alone the box office. Your goal is not to make money, but to promote Chinese martial arts, and making movies is also for this purpose.
It is very important to define your personality.”
"Okay, I understand." Li Xiaolong nodded: "I also want to promote Chinese martial arts."
Yang Wendong smiled and said, “That’s good. In addition, if you have time, you can also build a martial arts school in Hong Kong and pick some people with martial arts skills to learn from you.
Whether it is a martial arts gym or a movie shoot, you can’t rely on yourself alone, you need a team. I don’t need to explain the reasoning here. Even when shooting a movie, if you are familiar with each other, you can cooperate well and save time and energy. ”
This is an extreme plan. If Li Xiaolong is still the same as in history, then he must have a backup plan. Although it is difficult for the backup person to reach Li Xiaolong's level, it is better than nothing. At least he can inherit certain abilities in film shooting.
"Okay, I'll prepare to build a martial arts school right away." Li Xiaolong agreed and said, "It just so happens that I also need to think about what movie I should shoot next during this time."
"You can decide what to shoot, but considering your character, it's best to think about martial arts from a national perspective, such as challenging martial artists from Japan, Europe and the United States during the Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China," Yang Wendong analyzed casually.
Both Jin Yong and Gu Long's novels are very good, and it is hard to say which one is better or worse based on the plot descriptions, but it is precisely because Jin Yong's novels contain patriotic sentiments that they have become even more popular.
In his previous life, Yang Wendong read online novels and also liked to read military novels from the Republic of China period, but later he stopped for some reasons...
When Li Xiaolong heard this, his eyes lit up: "Mr. Yang, this is a great idea. I will start preparing the plot right away."
Yang Wendong said: "Don't worry about it. Let's wait and see what the audience thinks of your movie after it's over."
……
After the movie ended, countless people came out of the theater and the toilets were immediately crowded. The reason was simple, because there was no peeing moment throughout the whole movie, and many people were holding it in to see the end, so they naturally needed to release it.
"It was so good, I want to watch it again"
"Me too. The bad guy was defeated with just one move. This is what real fighting is. What the hell was that in the movies before?"
"Yeah, I've been in a fight. Not to mention being slashed by a weapon, even if I was hit by a punch, I basically couldn't stand up. This movie is real. He lost blood all over his body and didn't fight back. He was just stupid~"
At the entrance of the cinema, many people were commenting.
Yang Wendong and Li Xiaolong wore masks, looked at the crowd coming out and listened to their conversation.
Finally, after a few minutes, the crowd dispersed, and Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Okay, let's go back too. In addition, I have arranged a few bodyguards for you to protect your safety."
"Bodyguard? I don't need one!" Li Xiaolong felt that having a bodyguard was an insult.
Yang Wendong explained: “This bodyguard is not there to fight you, but to prevent you from being surrounded by ordinary people or reporters, they will help you get out of trouble.
No matter how good you are at fighting, can you throw punches in this situation? These people have a lot of experience in dealing with this."
"Oh, okay." Li Xiaolong also felt that he seemed unable to cope with it.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "As an international superstar, it will be difficult for you to live the normal life you had before."
To become a celebrity, a politician, or a wealthy person, one must pay a certain cost of freedom.
……
In the following days, "Fist of Fury" also spread from person to person in Hong Kong. This is a publicity model that is more efficient than any advertising investment. It cannot be controlled by capital, only good quality can control it.
The box office of "Fist of Fury" also gradually increased.
100 million, 200 million, 300 million, the numbers gradually increased. Changxing Film Company arranged for almost all theaters to show the film, and all other types of films were severely impacted.
By the end of July, when the film had been seen by almost everyone who wanted to see it, it ended its run with a total box office of HK$7 million, directly breaking the previous record.
Li Xiaolong also became very popular in Hong Kong.
PS: Last day to ask for monthly tickets, just a little bit left
(End of this chapter)