The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 135 A crushing defeat

From the first day of the first lunar month to the Lantern Festival, Hong Kong has always been very lively.

There are dragon and lion dance performances in the square every day, and there will be float parades on the street from time to time. Everyone is immersed in a happy and happy festive atmosphere.

And the Xu Brothers were also grinning from ear to ear. "Genius and Idiot" and "Laughing Fist Strange Move" were released simultaneously, and the Shaw Brothers and Jiahe were completely helpless to fight back.

Shaw Brothers' "Seven Golden Corpses" invested millions of Hong Kong dollars and completed the filming with manpower and material resources from Hong Kong and Britain. However, the box office was only 10,000+ in two weeks after its release. It can be said that it went to grandma's family.

Well, it's Spring Festival and not Halloween, everyone is happy, who would watch a horror movie and scare themselves?

What's more, this "Seven Golden Corpses" has too many mixed things, giving people a feeling of neither fish nor fowl, neither Chinese nor Western.It can be said that it is a double loss at the box office and word of mouth.

Although Golden Harvest's "Blood in Holland" is also a big production with an investment of tens of millions of dollars, and there are also big scenes such as speed car chases and explosions, but this kind of suspenseful action film in the style of 007 James Bond is not sought after by Hong Kong movie fans.What's more, the leading actors are all Hollywood actors, making it difficult for Hong Kong movie fans to have a sense of identity.

Two weeks after its release, the box office was less than one million Hong Kong dollars. Compared with the investment of tens of millions of dollars, it was a loss. I can only hope that the box office will be better when it is released in the United States.

During the Spring Festival, the big winner is naturally the Xu Brothers Company.

"Genius and Idiot" has a box office of more than 500 million Hong Kong dollars. Although it is slightly lower than "Ghost and Horse Twin Stars", compared to the hundreds of thousands of shooting costs, this film has already made a lot of money.

Moreover, the excessive black humor and the bitter satire of social reality in this film made the audience somewhat uncomfortable, but it won unanimous praise from film critics.

I think this work of his is like the work of comedy master Chaplin in his later years. Although it feels that there are a lot of jokes, it adds thinking about human nature.It proves that Xu Guanwen has climbed from a simple comedian to a comedy master.

And the movie "Laughing Fist and Strange Tricks" also won a box office of more than 400 million, which made Cheng Long's Kung Fu star hat more secure.

In this play, Cheng Long directed and acted for the first time, creating his own unique fighting style.For the first time, daily utensils are incorporated into martial arts movements.

The benches, tables, chairs, and fans that he picked up at random have become sharp weapons in Cheng Long's hands, and the different characteristics of these daily utensils have also brought many fresh changes to the fighting.

At the same time, at the end of the play, Cheng Long also exerted the spirit of stalking and successfully defeated the big villain, showing for the first time his invincible spirit.

……

The box office of "Seven Golden Corpses", which invested millions of Hong Kong dollars, was dismal, casting a shadow over Shaw Brothers Studios.And the box office failure of the masterpiece "Blood in Holland" with an investment of tens of millions of dollars also made Zou Wenhuai ten years old all of a sudden.

"Raymond, don't worry, "Blood in Holland" hasn't been released in the United States yet." He Guanchang persuaded, "The box office of Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" in Hong Kong was only more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars, but the box office in the United States is not much. Breaking through 3000 million US dollars. Therefore, movies that are suitable for Hollywood may not be suitable for the tastes of Hong Kong people. Conversely, although "Blood in Holland" is not suitable for the tastes of Hong Kong people, it is very suitable for the tastes of American audiences. So you don’t have to worry at all .”

"Yes, Raymond, Warner Bros. has decided that our movie will be screened this summer. I believe it will be a good box office." Cai Changyong, who is in charge of the distribution department, also advised.

"That's what I said, but we won't know until the summer vacation how the box office will be." Zou Wenhuai sighed. Hong Kong audience's taste, but the box office was so dismal that it didn't even reach a million Hong Kong dollars, which is also very unexpected.

"Ah Cai, no matter how poorly the filming of "Blood in Holland" is released, it will be shown in more than a dozen of our theaters, and the box office should exceed one million within two weeks. How could it be so few? Is there any theater below? Corruption?" Zou Wenhuai asked suspiciously.

"Raymond, I can assure you that there is no problem with the theaters below, but Xu's Brilliant Cinemas is too fierce. The newly renovated multiplex theater, the window movie advertisements are played in a loop, and the location in the bustling downtown area has caused a lot of damage to our theaters. Big impact." Cai Changyong said truthfully.

"That multiplex theater and that window movie advertisement are really so effective?" He Guanchang asked in disbelief.

"Brother Chang, there are basically multiplex theaters in the United States now. Multiple movies can be played at one time, so that audiences can have multiple choices without changing theaters." Cai Changyong explained, "And his window movie advertisement is even more interesting. Creativity. Edit out the essence of the movie and play it in a loop in the window to attract the attention of the audience. I don’t know what he thinks of this method, it just makes the advertisement work.”

"Since it's so good, why don't we also introduce multiplex theaters and window movie advertisements?" He Guanchang shouted.

"It's not that simple. The theaters under Brilliant Cinemas are all built in commercial buildings in the bustling downtown area, and there is enough space for them to use. Moreover, these buildings are all owned by Xu Guanwu, so he can let him mess around. But our Except for a few leading theaters in the theater chain, the rest of the theaters are leased. Spending money on decoration is basically making wedding clothes for others. The space of several leading theaters is small. A hundred seats is not worth it at all. As for the window movie advertisement, although it can be done, it also needs to install floor-to-ceiling windows and rolling doors, which also requires a large investment.” Cai Changyong explained.

"This won't work, and that won't work. Could it be that closing the door and waiting to die?" He Guanchang said angrily.

"Achang, don't be so excited. What is this little setback? When we first came out of Shaw Brothers, there were only seven or eight people in total, and the office was only about 100 square meters. Even when we walked, we had to worry about hitting the corner of the table. Even so, we Still daring to fight against Shaw Brothers, and broke box office miracles repeatedly. Could it be that we can’t do it now?” Zou Wenhuai slapped the table and said, “Ah Cai, say hello to Shao Brothers, and say that I’m going to pay New Year’s greetings to Boss Six. "

"Raymond, you are..." He Guanchang stood up suddenly.

Ever since they defected from Shao's a few years ago, they have been at odds with Shao's, not to mention meeting in private, even if they walk across the street, they have to pretend not to see each other.

Now that Zou Wenhuai is actually going to visit Shao Yifu, what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd?

"The Xu family is aggressive now. It is difficult for us Jiahe alone to compete with him. But as long as we unite with the Shaw Brothers, we will be fine." Zou Wenhuai said with a smile. It didn’t break the record, but when calculated together, it was nearly 3000 million Hong Kong dollars. Although Xu’s fanfare last year, recruiting troops, and repeatedly breaking box office records, the total box office was only [-] to [-] million Hong Kong dollars. In comparison, As long as the water flows, Shao Sixth Uncle is the real person who does not show his face."

"What do you mean, Raymond, to use Shaw's funds to develop our films?" He Guanchang asked suspiciously.

"Boss Six is ​​not that generous, but it's okay to share the theater. Our films can be shown in Shaw Brothers, and Shaw Brothers' films can also be shown in our theaters. If you can compete with each other, you don't believe that you can't cross the Xu Brothers Company." Zou Wenhuai said happily.

(End of this chapter)