new kung fu king

Chapter 279 The Hollywood Miracle Staged by the Oriental Director
There is still less than a week before the premiere of "Rocky" on February 2th. During this time, the distribution agency company of Discovery finally fully cooperated with Hong Kong Concord Film Company to carry out the promotion of "Rocky".Although there are only 13 searchlight medium-sized theaters and 50 small and medium-sized theaters, Wang Xiaohu still takes this promotion very seriously.

The posters of "Rocky" are divided into three categories. The first one is the picture of Rocky and Adrian embracing at the end, which is prepared to match the Valentine's Day schedule.The second type is the picture of Rocky standing in front of the morning sun and raising his hands, and the most common is the third type of poster, which is the most profound in Wang Xiaohu's memory: Rocky standing in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and shouting.

During the publicity period, Wang Xiaohu and Zhao Yazhi met, and the two had fully experienced the style of Hollywood this time. In Zhao Yazhi's words: "Accompanying you every year to shoot and release films all over the world is like traveling. It's a great experience."

In the evening, Jean-Claude Van Damme would ask Wang Xiaohu to learn the basics of Wing Chun boxing. Jean-Claude Van Damme showed considerable interest in it, and he learned every move and style so seriously, but the time left for him was still too little , Three days before the release of "Rocky", he reluctantly left Los Angeles with his father.

On February 2th, Wang Xiaohu, Zhao Yazhi and all Rocky's crew and main actors came to a theater in Los Angeles. This theater is the largest among all "Rocky" theaters, which can accommodate 13 people. A group of people came At that time, the video had already started playing, and the audience stared at the big screen without saying a word. The opening scene was boxing, which they were familiar with. Yellow, full of traces of the years, supplemented by the messy Philadelphia street scene in the lens, it makes people feel that Rocky has countless scars in his heart.

Everything is as real as the streets of America familiar to audiences. Rocky is frustrated in his professional field, and even he himself is very annoyed and helpless. Find the part that makes him happy.And Adrian's older brother Polly is his opposite.

The movie continued to play, and just as Wang Xiaohu expected, the audience became bored after watching the first half of the trivial life clips, and what's more, they started to leave the theater. When they left, they muttered in their mouths, as if In expressing their dissatisfaction, they think it is pointless to waste time on such a dull film.

"Boss, someone has left!" After looking around, Stallone said to Wang Xiaohu beside him in a very disappointed voice: "Did we fail?"

"Sylvester, you should have full confidence in yourself." Wang Xiaohu encouraged with a smile: "Don't worry, the good show is yet to come. Those who don't persevere to the end will regret their sloppy behavior today!"

Stallone sighed, he had no idea in his heart now, he could only crane his neck to observe the reaction of the audience around him, he was more nervous than anyone else now, because this was his first starring role, he had no idea whether his style was It will be loved by the audience, and sweat will gradually protrude from the palms of the hands without knowing it.

Just when Stallone suspected that the young boss was wrong in his judgment, he suddenly found the audience in the front row let out a little sigh, and then the most classic inspirational clip in the entire "Rocky" began to be staged.

Rocky ran from the slums of Philadelphia in a dirty Braggy gray sweatshirt, passed the train viaduct, and passed the country, sweating push-ups, sit-ups, and pounding frozen beef at the club The scenes edited by Wang Xiaohu himself deeply attracted the audience's attention. They were fully awake, and they finally found that after a long wait, what they wanted came!
Especially the shot of Rocky running fast, they were amazed that a person can run so fast, there has never been a movie that can shoot such a wonderful action, although it is just a run, the audience is immersed in that kind of running In the joy of the audience, when Rocky quickly climbed up the big steps of the art museum, the camera captured Rocky's ambitious and energetic expression from bottom to top, and many audience members stood halfway up from their seats with their fists clenched in excitement. stand up.

"Boss, quick look", Stallone, who discovered this abnormality, excitedly reported to Wang Xiaohu, but was interrupted by Wang Xiaohu: "Shut up, didn't anyone tell you the most basic etiquette when watching movies in Hollywood?"

The biggest difference between American audiences and Hong Kong audiences when watching movies is that they don’t make a particularly obvious sound, which is their respect for film art, while Hong Kong audiences clap their hands directly when they see something exciting. In contrast, Wang Xiaohu prefers the atmosphere of Hong Kong movies, because that will more directly reflect whether the audience likes the movie, and will not be as nervous as they are now.

Don't look at Wang Xiaohu's very calm appearance now, in fact he is more nervous than anyone else. He has fought for this goal for a long time and paid a lot. If "Rocky" is a movie that should have won the box office, because If he releases it 3 years ahead of schedule and hits the street, he will receive a double blow!

Soon the film entered the end stage, and Rocky, who cheered up, finally failed, but it was just a game, just one of countless games in life.Although his defeat is glorious, for him, the outcome of the game is not important, what he shows is a spirit of striving for the top, a persistent attitude towards love.He earned respect and happiness.When his girlfriend's "I-love-you" came, Wang Xiaohu noticed a few drops of liquid dripping from the hand holding Zhao Yazhi, turned around and found that she was pursing her lips and wiping tears. "Ahu, congratulations, you succeeded!"

Just at this time, thunderous applause erupted in the theater. Wang Xiaohu looked at the foreign audience clapping their hands excitedly, his fists were clenched tightly, and the corners of his eyes became moist. He hugged Zhao Yazhi and said excitedly: "Azhi, we finally It worked."

Only Zhao Yazhi can best understand Wang Xiaohu's mood at this time. In the past half a month, Wang Xiaohu has gone out happily and returned disappointed. Holding Wang Xiaohu's back, weeping uncontrollably.

"Boss, we succeeded, we succeeded!" Stallone was very uncomfortable until the end of the film. When he wanted to hug the young boss, he found that the young couple was hugging him, so he raised his hands in embarrassment. Overwhelmed.

"Sylvester, don't you want to find someone to hug?" Talia Shire smiled and extended her hand to invite a hug.

"Can I?"

"Of course, you are the most dazzling star in this film. You can see that the audience is crazily hugging. As a couple in the film, we should celebrate it as a matter of course!" Talia Shire did not wait for this shy big boy When the screening came, he had already stepped forward and hugged her lightly.

Stallone froze for a moment, then hugged Talia Shire tightly, all this seemed to happen in a dream!
"What's the name of the music Rocky runs? Is it for sale?" A fan asked Wang Xiaohu, who stopped him to leave after watching "Rocky".

Wang Xiaohu said with a smile: "'gonna-fly-now', but it's not on the market yet, you may have to wait for a while before you can buy it."

"God, hurry up and release the record, I can't wait!" The fan urged anxiously.

Wang Xiaohu hugged Zhao Yazhi and left the theater with a smile. He saw many viewers coming out of the theater recommending "Rocky" to other people who bought movie tickets. He thought that this kind of scene would quickly spread throughout the United States, right?

The United States is a society that worships individual heroism, and it is especially for the little people who have risen from the bottom of society.Rocky is the epitome of American society, and there are too many such people.They have their own ideals and pursuits, as well as their desire for love, but they are pushed down to the bottom by the ruthless society.But America is such a place where dreams are created and dreams are destroyed at the same time. "Rocky" is an inspirational movie that inspires hope for every little person living in the bottom of the United States. The typical American spirit has no reason not to be popular.

"Los Angeles Times" film critic Joan Robert said: "This is not an impetuous movie. Every scene and every detail of it is so delicate, showing the skill of the screenwriter. It is unbelievable that so The classic script was actually written by an oriental director!"

"You can imagine how painful it is for a talented person to endure the loneliness that no one values ​​his talent for six years, and the helplessness of having to help people collect debts in order to live. Although the film wants to tell people , in the United States, you can succeed by seizing any opportunity, but without your own efforts, even if the opportunity comes, it is useless. Although Rocky's life is very mediocre, he has always had a dream in his heart. He does not want to succeed, he Just been waiting for an opportunity."

Some movie fans introduced to their friends: "The film is very close to life. Although I don't know if the director of the film has lived in the United States, at least it feels very real. It is so real that even small details such as catchphrases and slang are quite real. Either Stallone seriously experienced life in the slums, or the other possibility is that it is the real life experience he experienced. And I can find my own shadow from Rocky, so this film has become my favorite film. favorite movie."

A New York Daily News reporter who went to see "Rocky" said: "I originally watched it with my girlfriend, and what I want to say is that the film made me sleepy at first, and I was not used to the narrative of the film. The way, the general character background narrative made it difficult for me to get into the state. However, as the second half began, I was completely shocked that Rocky finally found himself, the Rocky with a fire in his heart. From him we We can see ourselves."

"What I admire the most is the narrative technique of the whole movie. Most of the time, the director is always explaining the plot calmly, without any emotion, and wants the audience to experience it for themselves, to experience Rocky's compromise with reality, and his pursuit of dreams. The longing, the frankness of love." --Thomas, Los Angeles News-Daily Reviewer.

With the release of "Rocky", many Los Angeles citizens praised the film "Rocky" to the sky through newspaper media or friends' recommendations on Valentine's Day, thinking that it is a must-see film this year , and the love story in the film is simple and unpretentious, it is the best holiday gift for lovers, so more people ran into the theater to experience the shock, touch, and encouragement.

"Hey Tiger, the box office results of theaters have been calculated. God, do you know what the figures are? It really surprised me! There are 20 US dollars, which is simply unbelievable!" George Wilson said on the phone screamed loudly.

"It looks pretty good." Wang Xiaohu looked a little upset. If it was shown directly in 100 theaters, it would definitely not be a small amount of 20.

George Wilson on the phone seemed to have heard Wang Xiaohu's displeasure, and immediately said: "Tiger, I have some good news for you. Fox executives called me this morning, and they asked me to give up before noon. 100 theaters showing Rocky, man, I'd love to say, here's our chance!"

That's right, an American film directed by an oriental director was not favored by anyone, and no one was willing to release it. George Wilson took this guy with the mood of giving it a try, and the film's box office performance was a mess. What, Do you think this box office is not very good?The total investment in this film was less than 50 US dollars, which means that it recovered one-fifth of the cost in just one night, and there were still 80 small and medium-sized theaters. It is definitely a miracle of small cost and big box office!

In short, George Wilson felt that he was lucky. He couldn't wait to use his plan to make the film more profitable at the box office, so he hung up the phone and acted immediately.Managers of the 100 theaters under Searchlight received calls from him, asking them to send someone over to pick up the "Rocky" promotional posters before noon, and to arrange the release of "Rocky" immediately.

When the staff told him that the copy of "Rocky" was far from meeting the conditions for 100 theaters, George Wilson was so angry that he wanted to smash the glass: "Damn it, immediately arrange for people to work overtime to make copies. A little problem with the box office impact, God, why didn't I think of this problem in the first place!"

Through the efforts of George Wilson, on February 2, all 15 theaters under Searchlight should have been replaced with "Rocky". It has reached 300 million, which is more than 450 times the investment of the film itself!
(End of this chapter)