The King of Directors 2000

A crescent moon climbed up the treetops, and stars adorned the night sky.

Pillars of light follow the bright moon from bottom to top.

The beep beep of the car cheered him up.

Cars are constantly passing by in front of a cinema in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong Island. The road here is narrow and there are many slopes.

There are many pedestrians in this area and accidents often happen.

It was already ten o'clock in the evening. A middle-aged man in his fifties was standing on the roadside. He was wearing blue jeans, a black and white plaid shirt, carrying a shoulder bag, and a pair of glasses. He had a thin face and left... She has short hair and looks quite elegant and energetic.

There is also a mechanical watch on his wrist.

The way he dresses is very common in Hong Kong Island.

Most Hong Kong men have this style.

At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing a blue casual suit, black jeans, and black sneakers came. This man also wore a pair of glasses. He had a better face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. It could be seen that he had been A big handsome guy.

"This way."

When Lin Delu saw Er Dongsheng, he waved and shouted.

Hearing this, Er Dongsheng nodded immediately.

"Sorry, there was a traffic jam just now."

Lin Delu, like Er Dongsheng, is a director, and compared to others, he entered this circle at a very young age.

He directed his first film at the age of twenty-five, and later filmed films such as "The Four Detectives", "Hong Kong Gigolo", "Orange Is the New Black" and more.

At the turn of the millennium, he suffered a serious illness, and due to the recession of Hong Kong movies at that time, he stopped making films.

It was not until last year that he came back to direct the "Anti-Corruption" starring Louis Koo and Zhang Chiling.

The film has been produced and a schedule has been set for release on the 19th of this month.

Lin Delu has been out of acting for almost fifteen years. He is not well-known in the mainland, but he does not need to promote it hard.

The focus of publicity is still Louis Koo, Zhang Chiling and the others.

"La La Land" was released today. My good friend Er Dongsheng invited Lin Delu to watch "La La Land" together.

"I invite you to watch Lee Sheng-yew's movies because I hope you will be prepared. This man is really talented. I faced him several times and died miserably.

And now the market is different. Mainland China no longer likes our Hong Kong-style movies. They like some novel or down-to-earth movies. "

This is what Er Dongsheng means.

Lin Delu knew that his good friend's real purpose was to relax him, so he did not refute. He immediately nodded and said with a smile: "I understand what you mean. Don't worry, I will watch Director Li's movies and learn more."

The two people walked and chatted. After entering the theater, the two people found a seat and sat down.

This is a small theater with a capacity of 100 people, but there are still many people in the audience, there are almost 30 people.

Lin Delu looked at it with a look of surprise on his face.

Er Dongsheng sighed, "Lee Shengyao is probably the director whose appeal in Hong Kong is second only to Stephen Chow. Previously, "Parasite" was filmed on Hong Kong Island, attracting a large number of Hong Kong fans, and he is also behind the scenes of TVB. boss.

When a movie comes out, TVB will do their best to promote it.

In Hong Kong today, me, Wang Jing, Tsui Hark, and Tang Jili are all no longer good, and young audiences don’t like to watch them. "

Lin Delu did not expect that the Hong Kong film market would undergo such huge changes.

“Currently, at least seven or eight of the top ten box office films in Hong Kong every year are Hollywood films, and only two or three are Chinese films, and they are at the bottom.

It would be a good thing if Li Shengyao's movies can attract young people, at least he is Chinese.

Just wait. According to my guess, "La La Land" will have a box office of more than 30 million, and your "Anti-Corruption" will have a box office of up to 15 million.

In a few days, Hollywood's "Transformers 4" will be released, and this movie may earn million.

This is the current situation of the Hong Kong film market, with Hollywood films dominating the market.

In the past, everyone would be jealous of Lee Sheng-yew's appeal in Hong Kong, but later they no longer had such thoughts. Hollywood is the real enemy. "

Er Dongsheng said sincerely, "I hope you are prepared and don't be discouraged just because the movie does not do well at the box office on Hong Kong Island. We have to accept this reality. Only if the movie sells well in the mainland can we survive."

Lin Delu nodded repeatedly, "I know, I understand."

"'La La Land' won Best Actress and Best Director at Cannes and has a very good reputation. Lu Guanting and Tang Shuchen scored the music. Both of them are very proud to participate in this movie. It should be a good movie."

Amid Ye Dongsheng's praise, the theater became quieter and the movie officially started.

The two directors said nothing and watched quietly.

One hundred and thirty minutes later, with several girls sobbing, the movie ended.

Er Dongsheng clapped his hands, "It's much better than "If Love". No wonder it won the award. This is the best musical that I have seen in the past few years. Even Hollywood musicals are not as good as it."

Lin Delu also nodded, "Excellent, both commercial and artistic. Director Li is very talented."

"Come on, let's go out and talk."

Soon after, they came to a Chaoshan beef noodle shop and each ordered a bowl of beef noodles and a bottle of soy milk.

"Old Lin, come and analyze it."

Er Dongsheng blinked, "What do you think of this movie's box office?"

Lin Delu thought for a while, "I think the box office will be very good. This is a very good commercial film."

"why would you say so?"

Lin Delu said while eating: "The first point is that the movie's costumes are very good, and the atmosphere is created very well. It seems that there really is such a dream-like world, and there are really people like the male and female protagonists.

Such excellent details make it easier for the audience to get involved.

The second is the excellent actors. I had heard of Li Lianhua before and knew that she was a first-line actress in the Mainland. I didn't expect that Yue Ming's performance was very good.

The two dance, sing, play the piano, act, and have very good lines. They are powerful actors.

The third point is that the pace of the movie is very good. "

Having said this, Lin Derulu paused and said with a smile: "The biggest problem of Hong Kong Island movies is not homogeneity, but the very poor rhythm of Hong Kong Island movies.

Nothing has changed even now. "

Hong Kong movies are notorious for poor pacing, just like TVB dramas, where there are often unnecessary and messy plots.

This group of Hong Kong Island film directors are no longer as good as Peninsula directors in terms of commercial film production.

Lin Delu thought for a while and then said: "The fourth point is also the most important point. This movie has an excellent story and discusses love and dreams, which can resonate with the audience.

The story is not new, but the overall story is very complete and almost impeccable.

Based on the above four points, I think this movie is a very good commercial film and will get good box office. "

Er Dongsheng listened to Lin Delu's words and nodded, "Old Lin, you are still as sharp as before. I believe your "Anti-Corruption Storm" will have a good box office." ...

Lin Delu and Er Dongsheng separated and went home to rest.

Because he watched "La La Land" and knew that "La La Land" and "Godzilla" were the biggest opponents of the upcoming "Anti-Corruption", he paid special attention to the box office of "La La Land".

The next day he met with the crew of "Anti-Corruption Storm" and inquired about the box office rankings of the previous day.

Yesterday, the daily box office champion in Hong Kong was "La La Land" with a box office of 3.8 million, and the runner-up was "Godzilla" with a box office of 3.5 million.

And both movies have very good reviews.

Many young people plan to go see it.

Both Louis Koo and Zhang Chiling were very envious. When chatting, they said that it would be good if "Anti-Corruption Storm" had two million on the first day.

Lin Delu has made many anti-corruption films, which have achieved good box office success in the past.

He watched "La La Land" yesterday and thought it was very good, but he believed that "Anti-Corruption" would not be bad at the box office.

In the next few days, at the Hong Kong Island Film Market, sometimes the Japanese crown belonged to "La La Land", and sometimes the Japanese crown belonged to "Godzilla". A week later, "La La Land" was available on Hong Kong Island. With a box office of 15.3 million, "Godzilla" has a box office of 14.6 million.

Lin Delu took the "Anti-Corruption Storm" crew to Wanwan and the mainland.

There is no surprise. In the Wanwan market, the top two box office hits are "La La Land" and "Godzilla."

And the audience likes "La La Land" very much. In just one week, it received 40 million in box office.

And "Godzilla" only had a box office of 25 million.

In the mainland market, the top two in the daily box office list are "La La Land" and "Godzilla".

The mainland market is huge, with tens of millions a day. A week later, "La La Land" already had a box office of 183 million, and "Godzilla" had a box office of 183 million.

If nothing else, the final box office of these two movies was around 400 million.

This makes Lin Delu very envious, and at the same time he is even more looking forward to "Anti-Corruption Storm".

When he was in Hong Kong Island, his box office was only 20 to 30 million yuan at most. Now that he has come to the mainland, he has the opportunity to make hundreds of millions in box office. He is very excited and imagines himself becoming a billionaire director.

At 6 pm on June 19, 2014, four new movies were released in the Mainland, namely "Anti-Corruption Storm", "Who Moved My Dream", "Fantasia", and "The Face-Based Man: The Dead" Facial mask".

Except for "Anti-Corruption Storm", the investment in the other three movies will not exceed 20 million.

"The Mask of the Dead" is a low-budget suspense film, with an investment of no more than five million.

There is no doubt that there is no ghost in such a suspense movie. In the end, either the protagonist has a schizophrenia, it is a dream, or it is the protagonist's fantasy before his death.

But bad movies like this are quite popular.

Just like in the previous batch of movies, "Youth" was defeated, but "Midnight Combing Hair" has a box office of more than 10 million.

Lin Delu was too lazy to pay attention to the other three movies. He only had "La La Land", "Godzilla" and "Anti-Corruption" in his mind.

However, he was met with a slap in the face at the premiere. He thought that his movie would be ranked first in the first day of the premiere with male stars like Louis Koo and Zhang Chiling.

However, the first film on the list is "La La Land", the second is "Godzilla", and the third is "Anti-Corruption".

Although the three movies all have more than 20% of the schedule, the difference is not big.

But there is no doubt that in the minds of theater managers, the most profitable movie is "La La Land", followed by "Godzilla", and the third one is "Anti-Corruption".

My new movie is actually not as good as the two old movies.

Lin Delu was dissatisfied. He, Louis Koo, Zhang Chiling and others worked hard to promote the movie, hoping that the movie would slap the theater managers in the face.

Soon after, the daily box office list came out.

The single-day box office of "Anti-Corruption" was only 15 million, while "La La Land" and "Godzilla" both had more than 20 million.

Moreover, the attendance rate of "Anti-Corruption" is not as good as "La La Land" and "Godzilla".

"Hong Kong movies are still the same old routine, either police and robbers, or the Independent Commission Against Corruption. I'm really tired of watching them."

"It's Louis Koo again. He makes five or six movies a year. Does he really have time to figure out the role?"

"The total box office of a movie with nothing new will not exceed 100 million."

After reading netizen comments, Lin Delu realized that mainland audiences could no longer tolerate the old routines of Hong Kong films.

He was helpless and could only look forward to attracting more viewers in the future.

However, Derek Lam obviously does not understand the mainland market. No Hong Kong film has ever made a counterattack in the mainland. It did not get a good reputation on the first day, and it is unlikely that it will have better box office results in the future.

In the following days, "La La Land" and "Godzilla" grossed more than 20 million at the box office every day.

And "Anti-Corruption Storm" quickly dropped to the five to six million level, which is not at the same level of money-attracting ability as the previous two movies.

This made Lin Deru helpless.

After the second week, "La La Land" and "Godzilla" both had a box office of 330 million.

"Anti-Corruption Storm" only had a box office of more than 50 million in its first week.

By June 4th, "Transformers : Extinction" was released, and all the old film schedules suffered a steep decline.

"Transformers 4" is attracting huge amounts of money, while other movies are on their last legs. Except for "La La Land" and "Godzilla", they can earn tens of millions.

For example, "Anti-Corruption Storm" only has about two million left.

Other people's movies can easily earn over 100 million, but my own movies will not reach 100 million in the end.

Only then did Lin Delu understand the fact that it was not easy for him to become a billionaire director.

The world has really changed, and Hong Kong movies have long ceased to be popular.

What makes Lin Delu even more sad is that "Anti-Corruption Storm" cannot work in Hong Kong Island.

Ye Dongsheng's prediction was right. Both "La La Land" and "Godzilla" had a box office of over 30 million in Hong Kong Island.

But Er Dongsheng was wrong about the box office prediction of "Anti-Corruption Storm".

A week has passed and "Anti-Corruption Storm" has only had a box office of more than 4 million. Now that "Transformers " is here, the final box office may only be around million, and it is impossible to reach million.

Lin Delu has long known that Hollywood movies are popular. In the 1990s, Hollywood movies crushed Hong Kong movies.

What he didn't expect was that the movie he carefully produced was not as good as Lee Sheng-yew's musical.

In the past, mainland movies have always been unpopular on Hong Kong Island. Even classic movies like "Farewell My Concubine" only had less than 10 million box office.

But Lee Sheng-yew seems to be an exception. His movies can make Hong Kong audiences willing to buy tickets.

Really beneficial, very powerful.

(End of this chapter)