new kung fu king

Chapter 274 Breaking free from the shadow of Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee's body was personally escorted to Seattle by Wing Chun warrior Huang Chunliang and others. After the plane departed from Kai Tak Airport, the major theaters in Hong Kong began to plan the release of the Mandarin version of "Enter the Dragon". At this time, there are still six days before the Spring Festival, because When Bruce Lee passed away suddenly, there were many doubts, and all Hong Kong citizens silently went to the theater to watch in memory of this international superstar.

The cinemas of Southeast Asian countries were co-screened with Hong Kong. After learning the news of Bruce Lee's death, they gave up their theaters one after another and arranged for the release of "Enter the Dragon" as soon as possible, mourning the Asian hero Bruce Lee in various ways.

The video was broadcast on the morning of January 1, the second day after Bruce Lee's body left Hong Kong. No one would accuse Wang Xiaohu of being so impatient. In fact, they were more anxious than anyone else. They desperately wanted to see Bruce Lee's legacy.

The title of the Mandarin version of "Enter the Dragon" begins like this: the subtitle "I would like to mourn a generation of martial artists and film and television superstar Mr. Bruce Lee with this film" appears on the big screen, and then the subtitles symbolize the Jeet Kune Do logo and the Concorde The Tai Chi Yin Yang pattern of the product company is rolling slowly.

The theme of the film is very different from that of the English version. The editing method and dubbing dialogue are all tailored to the tastes of Hong Kong citizens. The theater was quiet, and the audience watched the film silently. When Jiada showed a distraught expression, everyone should have jumped up and applauded, but no one did so. On the contrary, most of the audience bowed their heads and wept, because they thought of Bruce Lee who had just passed away.
"Master, yesterday's box office statistics are available. There are a total of 80 medium-sized theaters in Hong Kong, and 10 large-scale theaters screened "Enter the Dragon", with a total box office of 138 million. The box office results of various parts of Southeast Asia may not be released until tonight." Li Shaonan held The box office statistics knocked on the office door to report to Wang Xiaohu. He knew that Master was in a bad mood, so he said that his voice was very cautious, very soft but very clear.

Wang Xiaohu nodded, the box office of the first night's release exceeded 100 million, which is absolutely unique since the opening of Hong Kong. No one knows better than himself that the box office of "Enter the Dragon" was dismal in the previous life. Yes, it only ended at 330 million. , directly lost to "72 Tenants" produced by Shaw Brothers All-Stars.

Perhaps it was because the film was released within ten days of Bruce Lee's death that it achieved such a good box office. It may be a coincidence, but Wang Xiaohu would rather not want such a coincidence.

"You go down first." Wang Xiaohu said lightly, without the slightest surprise, "By the way, call me Brother Ping and Sanmao."

After a while, Yuan Heping and Sammo Hung knocked on the door and came in.

"Sit wherever you want." After Wang Xiaohu finished speaking, he took out two shooting proposals and sent them to the two respectively, saying: "This is the shooting proposal you submitted before I left Hong Kong. There are many problems in it. I have revised it now. , you take it back and take a good look, if there are no problems, then prepare to shoot after the next year."

Sammo Hung held "The Prodigal Boy" in his hand, and Yuan Heping held "The Snake-shaped Hand". When they opened the shooting plan, they found that it was densely annotated with petty words, from the script, actors, employees, There are so many shooting funds and props, almost every item has been modified, and there are also precautions.

Sammo Hung and Yuan Heping looked at each other, and then their faces turned red.They have been filming with Wang Xiaohu for more than a year. They thought they had learned the most among their peers, but they didn’t know that the proposal written after days and nights of hard work was revised beyond recognition. They felt ashamed. I am ashamed of Wang Xiaohu's hands-on teaching this year.

Wang Xiaohu saw the meaning of their expressions, and said, "Don't create any psychological burden. Since I let you each be in charge of the new film, I have full trust in you." As the producer, now I'm the only one busy with work, hey."

"Ahu, don't worry, we will do well." Seeing this, Sammo Hung hurriedly issued a military order: "If this "Prodigal Boy" does not get 500 million box office, I will cut off Sanmao's brains and let you be the ball." Kick."

"Hehe, don't say these unlucky words, as long as you grasp the main points of my revised shooting plan and keep in mind the four words of kung fu comedy, it will be strange if the box office does not reach 500 million!" Wang Xiaohu said with a wry smile.

"Brother Xiaolong's personal hero era has passed, and now there will be a short-term hero vacuum in Hong Kong movies. I think Europe, America and Golden Harvest will launch a plan to find 'Bruce Lee II' all over Asia in the near future." Wang Xiaohu stood up from his seat Get up, walk to the window with your hands behind your back, point to the high-rise buildings outside the window and say, "Can you imagine what kind of situation that is?"

Both Yuan Heping and Sammo Hung shook their heads blankly and said, "I don't know."

"As long as you look a bit like Bruce Lee, you may be caught by their scouts while walking on the street, and they will throw you a long-term contract without saying a word: Come, let's sign!" Wang Xiaohu said in a sarcastic tone: "This is their exaggeration. When Brother Xiaolong was still alive, they didn't dare to do this, but now that Brother Xiaolong is gone, there will be Liang Xiaolong, Lu Xiaolong, or Zhu Xiaolong and Hou Xiaolong appearing on the stage one by one !"

"No way! Then we should sign them in advance!" Yuan Heping said anxiously with wide-eyed eyes: "If we let others act first, wouldn't we have lost the opportunity?"

"Brother Ping, don't you understand what I mean?" Wang Xiaohu turned his head and said in a slightly angry tone, "I asked you to start the kung fu comedy plan immediately, just to prevent our Xiehe Company from living in the shadow of Brother Xiaolong in the future." , although the trump card of our company is Brother Xiaolong, but he has already left! Have you heard the story of Dongxiaolongxiying? Let me ask you, how many years can we hold on to Brother Xiaolong’s old instincts? One year, okay, two years years, maybe even longer, but what about the future?"

Yuan Heping immediately shut his mouth and nodded to express his understanding.

Wang Xiaohu sighed, sat down on the sofa again, and said with a sigh: "So we should never follow in the footsteps of others, otherwise you will never learn anything, and you will never be able to capture market share. Hong Kong is a small place, and the future of making movies There will be more people, and at that time, they can only end up leaving the stage sadly!"

Bruce Lee left, and Hong Kong movies immediately fell into a period of dark exploration. Wang Xiaohu's words were like a bright light in the dark, and the lost people gradually found their sense of direction. Yuan Heping and Hong Jinbao sat there obediently listening to Wang Xiaohu's lecture, The content is not polite, although they may not understand the meaning now, but they know that as long as they follow Wang Xiaohu's butt, they will not lose their way, and they will always walk ahead of others.

"In the future, each of you will give me the martial arts action design of the new film. You can discuss with each other and encourage each other to learn. This will be of great benefit to you. This is your directorial debut, and you should know the weight!"

The two left the office silently. Wang Xiaohu sat there alone looking at the ceiling. After a long time, he sighed again and stroked his white hair. The smile on his face was so bitter and helpless.

Huang Chunliang called. He had safely transported Bruce Lee's body to Seattle Airport. Only Bruce Lee's wife Linda and mother He Jintang came to the airport to pick up the coffin. Said: "There are only two widowed mothers, what a pity!"

According to Huang Chunliang's phone call, Bruce Lee's funeral will be held at the Beederwood Funeral Home on East Pine Street in Seattle.Dozens of movie fans came spontaneously, and about 100 relatives, friends and colleagues paid tribute to Bruce Lee.Most of them came from Los Angeles, thousands of kilometers away, to comfort Linda in her grief.

Compared with the lively and spectacular scenes of funerals in Hong Kong, this place is much quieter.Quietness is another aspect of Bruce Lee's character.He once longed for a quiet life in meditation to escape the chaos of the world.Now that he's finally back in Seattle, he can finally calm down—probably not what he hoped for, but it has happened after all.

Bruce Lee's grave is on the green hillside of the cemetery, the tombstone overlooks the beautiful Lake Washington, and the environment is very quiet.

"Linda gave his final elegy when Xiaolong was buried, saying, 'When Xiaolong was alive, he created something every day, and his 32-year-old life was fulfilling.'" Huang Chunliang's voice was without any emotion, and Wang Xiaohu Listening to it has mixed feelings.

"Who else attended the funeral?" Wang Xiaohu asked after a long time.

"Takeyuki Kimura, Ilu Santo, Stephen McQueen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Coben, Yin Taolue, Winterdur, and Warner President Ted Eisley, basically everyone who has something to do with Xiaolong came here "Huang Chunliang said: "Xiaohu, you should rest assured now, Xiaolong has already fallen to the ground and is at peace, listen to the uncle's words and don't pursue some things anymore!"

"Uncle, what aspect are you referring to?"

"It's about the cause of Xiaolong's death. I don't think the underground Xiaolong wants you to continue to worry about this matter. You are his brother and you won't accept other people's accusations after he leaves, right?"

"Uncle." Wang Xiaohu's hand holding the phone began to tremble, "If I don't know the real reason why Brother Xiaolong died, I will have trouble sleeping and eating for the rest of my life."

Huang Chunliang sighed and said, "Hey! What can you do if you know?"

Wang Xiaohu gritted his teeth and said, "If I find out who killed Brother Xiaolong, I will tear his body to pieces!"

"Why do you bother? My child, listen to Master's advice, let's stop here!" Huang Chunliang said earnestly: "I have experienced three funerals in the past month, including Master's, Yan Jinghai's, and Xiaolong's. , there will always be a day when a person dies, no matter how he leaves, he is no longer alive, why do you bother to worry about it?"

Wang Xiaohu's voice was a little excited: "But Shigong and Yan Jinghai died of natural causes, but Brother Xiaolong died inexplicably. He was killed by someone! I really hate why I was so sleepy at that time. If I woke up a little more, maybe Things like this won't happen!"

"Do you have any evidence to prove that Xiaolong was killed by someone?"

"I'll check!"

"Check it out! Check it out, so what? Could it be that Xiaolong will come back from the dead!" Huang Chunliang was also anxious on the other end of the phone!

Silence, both sides kept silent, after a long time, Huang Chunliang sighed heavily and said: "Xiaohu, you still have a bright future, you can't waste your life because of Xiaolong's affairs, you have more than 1000 brothers working hard with you, don't you Think for yourself, always think for them, right?"

Huang Chunliang was not so much comforting, but begging. When he finished speaking, he was sobbing on the other end of the phone, as if he had aged a lot.

"Uncle. I. I'm not reconciled!" Wang Xiaohu gritted his teeth, and tears fell on the desk. In this world, no one can know how much he has paid to save Bruce Lee, and no one can understand the huge setbacks caused by falling short. feel.

"Uncle can understand your feelings. The most outstanding disciples of Wing Chun are all from Xiaolong. Now that Jinghai has left, I don't want to see you leave too. You just got married, and I don't even want to see Azhi Widowed at such a young age, sometimes you can't be too selfish, you have to think about others."

Huang Chunliang also burst into tears when he said this, and said choked with sobs: "Xiaohu, I beg you, please stop! Do you want to live in the shadow of Xiaolong for the rest of your life? Then what is the difference between your life and a machine? Wait After you have a child, can you consider the child's mood?"

Wang Xiaohu didn't talk on the other end of the phone. He closed his eyes and thought about Huang Chunliang's words. After a long time, he said with difficulty: "Master, I know what I should do."

"Okay, okay! You just agree, and you don't want to interfere in the investigation of Xiaolong's death in the future. It's fine for me, Deng Sheng, and the masters and uncles of Wing Chun School to do it. You have to take over Xiaolong's mantle. Come here and make it big!"

"Okay! I promise you!"

Huang Chunliang hung up the phone and walked out of the phone booth, and said to the person who was waiting in the car not far away: "You still know him, this kid is too stubborn."

"He agreed?"

"Agreed!" Huang Chunliang shook his head and got into the car, wiped the tears all over his face and said, "Don't ask me to do such things in the future, I'm already old, and I can't bear too many joys and sorrows."

"I know, I hope he can really listen to it, otherwise Xiaolong won't feel at ease."

Almost all Hong Kong filmmakers have this idea: Concorde has lost its soul, Bruce Lee, and will continue to gnaw its money under the banner of Bruce Lee for a few years, and then announce its withdrawal from the film industry when Jiang Lang's talent is exhausted, so some interested people immediately show up. The activity started, preparing to recruit several potential stocks from Xiehe, and Yuen Biao was the first to be recruited.

(End of this chapter)