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The movie gradually came to an end, and the laughter in the audience became sparse.

Wang Jing kept twisting his butt in his seat, looking around nervously.

Du Qifeng was puzzled, but based on the enthusiastic response at the premiere, it was obvious to the naked eye that "Baby Smart Star" would be a huge success.

Wang Jing rolled his eyes: "Of course I knew it would be successful. As soon as I saw the sample film, I guessed it would be a big hit."

Johnnie To said, "Then why are you so nervous?"

"The key is that I don't know how big the box office will be!"

Wang Jing spread his hands. It was not like he had not made a movie with a box office of over 1800 million Hong Kong dollars. However, with Shaw Brothers now in a terminal state, unless he could achieve a record-breaking box office result in Hong Kong like "Summer Lucky Stars" and "Best Partner".

"Today is Christmas Eve, not April Fools' Day."

Du Qifeng said unhappily.

"Best Partner" was the first movie to gross 2000 million in Hong Kong. It was a Hollywood-style commercial film produced with a huge investment in Hong Kong.

The salary for the male lead Xu Guanjie alone was 200 million Hong Kong dollars. In addition, there were also actors like Mecca, Sylvia Chang, Xu Ke, Wong Pak-ming, Shek Tin and others to help out. The cast was unprecedented, and the most advanced technology at the time was used to shoot many big scenes, such as car speeds, flying over high buildings, etc., which was comparable to the 007 series of the same period. The script was also very solid, and incorporated many Hong Kong comedy elements, suitable for all ages.

The combination of the right time, the right place and the right people enabled Cinema City to create a miracle in Chinese-language films at the very beginning of its establishment.

The same is true for "Summer Lucky Stars". In addition to the original cast of the Five Lucky Stars, including Sammo Hung and Chin Cheung-lin, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and others also joined in. Especially Jackie Chan was the undisputed number one in Asian films at the time. Although it did not use high technology like "Best Partner", the action scenes were the result of the joint efforts of the two major martial arts troupes, the Hung Clan and the Cheng Clan. The funding, lineup, scenes, stories and other aspects were the best of Hong Kong movies.

As a result, the film was able to set the first Hong Kong film box office record of 3000 million Hong Kong dollars during the Spring Festival at the beginning of this year.

As for "Baby Smart", Stephen Chow and Ng Man-tat are not even as popular as the child star Nicholas Tse.

It can't compare with the cast, it can't compare with the cost investment, and even the movie theme song sung by Teresa Teresa is just a highlight at best. The only thing that can be mentioned is that the script was written in the dialect of the Oscar-winning screenwriter and great writer.

"But some people say that the movie box office can exceed 3000 million in Hong Kong and hundreds of millions in other markets."

Wang Jing lowered his voice.

Du Qifeng curled his lips and said, "Who said that? No one with a sound mind would say such a thing."

"That's what Fang Sheng said."

Wang Jing confessed that he also learned about it during casual chats with Gong Xing and Wang Zuxian.

"Ah, yes, that's right. If someone else said that, I would definitely think he was crazy, but if it was Fang Sheng, then it's not surprising. He is an Oscar-winning screenwriter. How could he be so unconfident about a movie he made himself?"

Du Qifeng corrected hurriedly: "But I think few people really support it, right?"

Wang Jing said playfully: "Sixth Master and Fang Tai seem to be very supportive."

“That’s what they should do!”

Du Qifeng added: "After all, Fang Sheng's last movie, Once Upon a Time in China, was almost able to reach 3000 million."

"That's right. If it weren't for the great success of Once Upon a Time in China, which grossed over NT$2800 million in Hong Kong and is now sweeping the film markets in Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries, I don't believe that our film, which has no star power, Baby Smart, could have made NT$3000 million at the box office."

Wang Jing's palms were sweating, "But it was Fang Sheng who said that!"

While the two were talking, the two stupid thieves in the movie were almost dead after being pranked by Nicholas Tse. They were caught by the police who rushed to the scene and were taken into the police car. Wen Bixia and other family members also returned in time, and the family reconciled and lived happily together.

The picture is frozen on this "happy ending".

After the film ended, Wang Jing was the first to stand up, followed by the other main creators who left their seats.

As soon as they stood in a row at the front desk, several beams of light immediately fell from above their heads, illuminating where they were.

The audience didn't react much at first. Many people were still immersed in the funny plot. Even more people laughed too hard and it took them a while to recover. But these few minutes of silence made Stephen Chow, Ng Man-tat and others feel nervous.

After a long while, the audience finally burst into thunderous and long-lasting applause.

Wang Jing and others breathed a long sigh of relief, took out their handkerchiefs, and wiped the fine beads of sweat from their foreheads and temples.

They looked towards the box on the second floor and found that Run Run Shaw, Fang Yan, Fang Yihua, Gong Xing and others seemed to be applauding, and they became excited.

Suddenly, reporters gathered around, bombarding them with questions, not only to Wang Jing and Du Qifeng, but also to Deborah who was holding Nicholas Tse, and Ng Mang-tat and Stephen Chow who played the two stupid thieves.

"I want to thank Mr. Fang for writing such a great script, and thank him and Mrs. Fang for giving me the opportunity to make a movie!"

"Thank you..."

"Thank you directors for your great cultivation. If there is another opportunity next time, I will definitely work harder."

Zhou Xingchi took the opportunity of the interview to reveal everything he had experienced from casting to filming.

"So, Mr. Fang and his wife went against all odds and chose you from among countless TVB and Shaw artists to be the lead actor, right?"

The reporter from Ming Pao asked.

"That's right. They are not only my guides into the film industry, but also my benefactors!"

There was some excitement in Zhou Xingchi's tone.

"He's our benefactor!"

Wu Mengda put his arm around Zhou Xingchi's shoulders and said happily: "When we were drinking beer and watching the night view on the top of Victoria Peak, we vowed to work together to act in a movie after we became famous. Thanks to Mr. Fang, our wish has come true so quickly. I hope we can work together like this often in the future."

After hearing this, more and more reporters immediately swarmed to the major exits of the cinema, looking for Fang Yan everywhere. But apparently some colleagues had already thought of this and surrounded Fang Yan and Gong Xian early, and there was a huge unexpected gain -

Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua are also here!

"There are rumors that Shaw Brothers has been shrinking its business recently, reducing production and stopping work, and plans to sell off its assets and cinema chains."

A reporter claiming to be from the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po asked, "Mr. Shaw, is the rumor true? Will "Baby Smart Star" be the last movie that Shaw Brothers will release for the Hong Kong public?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar. No one had expected that someone would be so bold as to ask this question in front of Run Run Shaw!
Fang Yan and Fang Yihua looked at each other. It was obvious that only they, who were in the know, knew that these media were specially arranged by them.

Run Run Shaw was well prepared, with a hint of bitterness in his smile:

"of course not!"

"Since its establishment, Shaw Brothers has gone through so many ups and downs in Hong Kong, accompanying generations of Hong Kong movie fans. Many people in the 60s, 70s, and even the 80s grew up watching Shaw Brothers movies. Not only for me, but also for them, Shaw Brothers' movies carry their memories of their youth. If they still don't get tired of our movies, then Shaw Brothers will keep making them."

“Let Shaw Brothers films continue to bring laughter and excitement to the vast audiences in Hong Kong…”

Hearing this impassioned speech, Fangyan raised his eyebrows, very satisfied. It was worthwhile for him to ask his own people from the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po to cooperate with him.

The purpose of doing this is, of course, to play the emotional card, just like "We all owe Stephen Chow a movie ticket." Although we cannot copycat "We all owe Shaw Brothers a movie ticket," we can bundle Shaw Brothers with "Baby Smart Star" and engage in emotional marketing.

No one understands marketing better than Teacher Fang. Even Lei Jun has to pay the price!
…………

During the interview with Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua, the rest of the media were also busy, scrambling to ask questions to Fang Yan and Gong Xing.

"Mr. Fang, why did you choose to cooperate with Shaw Brothers?"

“It’s hard to refuse hospitality.”

Fang Yan said seriously that actually, when Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua approached him to make a movie together at the beginning, he had refused because Shaw Brothers did not want him to do it. He went to shoot it right away because he could not produce a shoddy movie or the audience would definitely scold him.

However, Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua finally convinced themselves, because no matter how hard and difficult the Shaw Brothers was, they still hoped to give a Christmas gift to all the citizens of Hong Kong, so he agreed, and he had to make a Christmas family-themed movie.

Watching him talking nonsense in a serious manner, Gong Xing pursed his lips. After all, he had received professional training and generally would not laugh.

"When we were writing the script, we adhered to several principles. It had to be watchable by people aged 3 to 80, it had to have a joyful and festive atmosphere, it had to have a happy ending, and the actors on screen had to offer Christmas greetings to the audience at the end."

Fang Yan said: "Fortunately, I have lived up to the trust of Uncle Six and Aunt Six, and I also hope that the Hong Kong audience will like this movie."

"This year's highest-grossing movie is 'Summer Lucky Stars'. Mr. Fang, do you plan to surpass this movie's box office record?"

A voice suddenly emerged from the crowd.

"As long as this movie can make money and entertain people, it doesn't matter how much."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Of course, if we are lucky enough to surpass the box office of 'Summer Lucky Stars', that would be great. This would prove that the movie 'Baby Smart Stars' is really to everyone's liking. I think Boss Zou and Golden Harvest would not mind being surpassed by then."

With the support of Shaw Brothers' sentimental marketing, the assistance of Teresa Teresa's tailor-made Christmas songs and the full-scale publicity of the media, "Baby Smart Star" won a box office of one million Hong Kong dollars on the premiere day with its excellent quality. Its hilarious plot, with the exaggeration of film critics and word of mouth from the first wave of moviegoers, has formed a word-of-mouth effect, attracting more and more people to the cinema.

Especially on Christmas Day, the next day, even the coldest weather could not stop the Hong Kong citizens’ enthusiasm for watching movies.

Long queues began to form in front of the cinemas under Shaw Cinemas, and audiences came in one after another to buy tickets. After discussing with Fang Yan, Fang Yihua decisively sent TVB reporters to interview the audience on site and report on the event before the prime movie-watching time in the evening.

At the same time, the exposure and publicity of Stephen Chow and Nicholas Tse were increased in programs such as "430 Shuttle".

More and more parents know that there is a family movie suitable for children released, and its reputation is no less than "Best Partner" and "Lucky Stars Series". So either the children actively request it, or the parents regard watching "Baby Smart Stars" as an extra Christmas gift for their children, the whole family goes to the cinema to watch it, and even invites friends to watch it, and a social phenomenon of "person-to-person spread" has emerged.

As a result, everyone in Hong Kong knew that the cinema was showing a very happy and funny movie.

If they have time, many people buy tickets in advance and go to see the movie with their family.

Taking into account the theater's capacity to accept the film, Shaw Brothers' cinema manager cooperated with old rivals such as Golden Harvest and Golden Princess in the name of "multi-line screening" to transfer the film to other theater chains for screening at the same time so that everyone could make money together.

In just 5 days, "Baby Smart Star" became a super dark horse and raked in 1000 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office.

Zhou Wenhuai's face changed again and again when he saw such results in the newspaper, and he sighed repeatedly:
"I remember that it took Aaron's "Young Master" 1000 or days to break the million box office mark, right?"

"To be exact, it was released 36 days later, and the box office was 1102 million."

Ho Kwun-chang recalled, "It not only broke the box office record in Hong Kong, but was also the first movie to raise the box office to over 10 million yuan. It was also the first movie that A-Long wrote, directed and starred in after joining Golden Harvest. It was really of great significance."

"Yeah, who would have thought that after only 5 years, a movie would only need 5 days to catch up with "Young Master"!"

Zhou Wenhuai said: "Mr. Fang's pen is really powerful. The previous one he wrote, "Once Upon a Time in China", just set the highest box office record for a Kung Fu movie. This time, "Baby Smart Star", has set a new record for the fastest time to reach 1000 million box office..."

"If the growth rate continues like this, I'm afraid that the box office record set by "Summer Lucky Stars" at the beginning of the year may not be maintained."

He Guanchang shook his head and laughed.

"According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the production cost of this film, excluding Fang Sheng's royalties, was less than two million Hong Kong dollars."

Zhou Wenhuai patted the newspaper and said, "Thinking back to the time when we invested so much manpower, material resources, financial resources, and effort in making "Summer Lucky Stars", I never thought that Fang Sheng would be able to eliminate so many disadvantages and such a big gap between the two films with just his pen!"

Ho Kwun-chang said: "If the series can be continued like the 'Five Lucky Stars' series, Shaw Brothers will really be able to survive and make a comeback."

"Fortunately, Fang Sheng's pen is not owned only by Shaw."

After seeing the box office performance of "Baby Smart", Zhou Wenhuai became more confident in "Police Stories", which was released during the Spring Festival. He also increasingly expected the follow-up "Die Hard" to become a springboard for Jackie Chan and Golden Harvest to enter the Hollywood and European and American film markets.

After all, the Hong Kong pie is too small. Instead of fighting among the locals, it is better to grab the vast overseas film market. (End of this chapter)