The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 65 Conditions
Xu Guanwu was taken aback for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he said, "If Mr. Lei rents those four theaters to us, I can suggest that my elder brother take 10% of the company's profits every year to invest in projects for young filmmakers, so that art films, CULT films and new-theme films can have start-up funds, expand new film types, and promote the overall development of Hong Kong films."

Ten percent of the company's profits is not a small fortune.

Taking the profit of Xu Brothers Company in the first half of this year as the calculation, the box office revenue of the two films "Snake Shaped Hand" and "Fat Money Cold" alone exceeded 500 million Hong Kong dollars.

Ten percent of the profit is almost 150 million Hong Kong dollars, which can be used to invest in two or three niche-themed movies.

The mainstream movies in the Hong Kong film industry are kung fu movies and comedy movies.However, science fiction, horror, supernatural, history, magic, art, war, etc. are basically niche themes.

The films produced by Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest are basically kung fu films and comedies, because these are mainstream films and there is no need to worry about the market, which also makes the audience only interested in these two themes.

The zombie movies and gunfight movies that were all the rage in Hong Kong in later generations are actually just variants of kung fu movies.

Shooting movies with niche themes often means losing money.

Xu Guanwu dared to use [-]% of the company's annual profit to invest in niche-themed movies, which is already quite extravagant in the eyes of others.

"Oh?! Can you really convince your elder brother to invest in niche-themed movies?" Lei Juekun couldn't help being slightly taken aback when he heard Xu Guanwu's determination.

He didn't expect Xu Guanwu to have such an ambition that he would be willing to subsidize the shooting of niche films.You must know that even if Mr. Lei has a lot of money, he doesn't have the courage to invest, and throws money into the water for nothing.

"I can try it, Mr. Lei, if I can do it, can you rent the theater to me?" Xu Guanwu looked into Lei Juekun's eyes and asked.

"Young man, you are really courageous! You dare to invest [-]% of your profits, so I don't want to lose to you." Lei Juekun said with a smile, "If you can do it, the rent will be paid by Golden Harvest. I won’t ask you for a penny more.”

"Thank you, Mr. Lei! Once a gentleman says something, it's hard to catch a horse!" Xu Guanwu said happily, "I'll go back and discuss it with my elder brother right away!"

……

"Using [-]% of the company's profits to make niche movies? My God!" Xu Guanjie covered his head and exaggeratedly exclaimed, "Isn't that throwing money into the water for nothing? You can't even hear a sound. "

Xu Guanwen was silent when he heard this. Ten percent of the annual profit is nearly 200 million Hong Kong dollars.

Such a large amount of money invested in niche films is an unbearable burden for the Xu Brothers Company.

"Second brother, 5.00% is really too much. Why don't you discuss it with Mr. Lei and change it to [-]%?" Xu Guanwen said after thinking for a long time.

"Brother, this is not buying vegetables at the vegetable market, and you can bargain." Xu Guanwu waved his hand, "In my opinion, it is not much to invest with [-]% of the profit, and there is no fuss at all."

"Ten percent is not much, that's several million. With such a large amount of money, you can make several kung fu movies and earn multiple times the profit. If you make a niche movie, you can't even make a fraction of it." Come back." Seeing the second brother's understatement, Xu Guanjie couldn't help arguing.

"Brother, Ah Ying, Ah SAM, don't be impatient, let me explain to you slowly." Xu Guanwu smiled and said slowly.

"If we rent those four theaters and unite with a few independent movie theaters, we can establish a theater chain of our own. What is the most important thing after the theater chain is established? Of course it is movies. If there are no movies released, then the theater chain will Putting it there is a waste of money.”

"In order not to let him lose money in vain, we can only fill up the schedule and release good movies. But with just you and my brother, how many movies can we make in a year even if we don't sleep? So we have to recruit Other film companies. Although there are many independent film companies in Hong Kong, the homogenization is very serious.”

"The movies I make are not kung fu movies, but martial arts movies, romance movies, and comedy movies. Most of them are shoddy and imitated. Even if they are released, they can certainly attract a group of audiences in a short period of time, but in the long run, they will not only fail to support the entire theater chain, but will also be very difficult. It has the potential to drag us down together."

"However, there are still some independent film companies. Most of their founders have returned from studying abroad and have received the influence of foreign advanced concepts and technologies. They have a different understanding of films. The films they shoot are innovative, progressive, and connotative. , but because the subject matter is too trendy and the concept is too advanced, it is difficult for audiences who are used to watching kung fu movies and martial arts movies to understand. This also makes their movie box office addicted, and thus they cannot be allocated a good schedule and get better publicity."

"I think we can invest in this group of filmmakers, promote their films, and cultivate a new movie-watching taste for Hong Kong people." Xu Guanwu said, "Before us, who would have thought that ghostly comedies that satirize society would become popular? Before Cheng Long , who would have thought that kung fu comedy would become popular? These are all new types of movies, and they have been recognized and sought after by the audience. So I think that with the development of Hong Kong and the progress of society, the interests of the audience are gradually changing Now these so-called niche themes, after development and cultivation, may not become popular themes, mainstream themes."

After hearing Xu Guanwu's grand remarks, Xu Guanwen, Xu Guanying, and Xu Guanjie were a little enlightened.

After a long time, Xu Guanwen just nodded, "Second brother's statement also has some truth. Anyway, the matter has come to this point, and there is not much we can go. Instead of letting Jiahe completely seal us off, it is better to go all out and rent him It will take a year and a half. If I really can’t support it, I will take my ID card and go to the bankruptcy registry to fill out the form.”

Seeing that the elder brother made the decision, Xu Guanjie and Xu Guanying didn't say anything, and they all nodded.

……

Lisheng Cinema was soon sub-leased by Golden Harvest to Xu Brothers Company, and combined with other independent cinemas, it became the third largest cinema in Hong Kong comparable to Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. The news caused a sensation in the Hong Kong film industry.

At the moment when Golden Harvest issued the banning order, almost everyone thought that the Xu Brothers Company was doomed, and they were all watching how Golden Harvest swallowed it alive, but they didn't expect that the Xu Brothers Company survived the crisis.With the establishment of a new theater chain, it has become a new film giant in Hong Kong in one fell swoop.

The happiest people to hear this news are those independent film companies, because the establishment of a new theater chain means that there will be more schedules, and the chances of the film being released will be greatly increased, and the money will naturally be greatly increased up.

Some people are happy and others are sad. Zou Wenhuai immediately found the Xu Brothers Company.

But he didn't come to show off his might, nor did he come to ask questions, but to reconcile.

(End of this chapter)