Chapter 334: The popular Calabash Movie
The time is coming soon, April 2nd.
Yang Wendong took Su Yiyi and his eldest son Yang Zhiwen to the door of the cinema inside Changxing Mall:
"Yang Sheng, Mrs. Yang." Zheng Zhijie from Changxing Real Estate and Zhang Zhiyuan from Changxing Comics , after knowing that the boss was coming, they naturally rushed over.
Yang Wendong smiled and said: "I just came over to watch a movie. "Calabash Brothers" has premiered. I want to accompany my son to come over and watch it."
"Calabash Brothers" is already a relatively famous comic story in Hong Kong, and even has some fame in Southeast Asia. The main reason is the super powers in it. It is so attractive in this era. Isn't this more interesting than the martial arts of He He Ha Ha?
After the production of the movie "Calabash Brothers" was completed, coupled with the publicity capabilities of Changxing Media, almost everyone in Hong Kong knew about it. Many families with children were ready to bring their children to the cinema. Yang The same goes for home.
This is also the first comic book movie in Hong Kong.
"There are still 20 minutes until the movie starts." Zheng Zhijie said with a smile: "Then we will wait for you to finish watching it here and then come to you."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded.
Then the two left, and the three members of the Yang family followed the team, giving tickets one by one and entering the theater.
"Brother Dong, there are many children about the same age as ours, all coming to watch the movie." Su Yiyi said with a smile.
Yang Wendong replied: "Yes, there are not many comics in Hong Kong, and many of them are not suitable for children. Our "Calabash Brothers" can be regarded as a very good school-age comic. I guess many adults are like us and read it. For children.”
Any comics, No matter how simple it is, the basic requirement for readers is to be literate, so the audience is limited. Many preschool or low-educated children cannot read it, but they can read comics. Out of curiosity, and with the help of adults, If they take the initiative, some adults will read to them.
The same is true for the Yang family. Yang Zhiwen is almost 2 years old and can already understand some comics. Su Yiyi has also read to him several times.
"Well, have you seen it before?" Su Yiyi asked.
Yang Wendong smiled and said: "No, I specially waited to watch it with you."
This is true, he did not watch this animated movie in advance, mainly because he I am not very professional, and the perspective of the times is different, so I cannot give blind opinions according to my own requirements.
The most important point is that if you give a lot of opinions, then many professionals may follow their own requirements and will not pursue higher quality, but only seek to make no mistakes. This is also the case for many companies. question.
If it is a physical factory, shipping, or real estate, Yang Wendong, as a time traveler, knows the future and dares to make a decision on the table. But for this kind of comics or future movies, he has no advantage.
Therefore, in this industry, he only needs to determine the content and direction, and let his subordinates decide all the details.
"Okay." Su Yiyi smiled.
Soon the two of them entered the theater. Naturally, their seat was in the middle and at the back. Anyone who has watched the movie knows that the location in this small area is the best.
Su Yiyi said: "This cinema is much better than the cinemas of Shaw Brothers and Cathay Pacific."
"The ticket prices are also more expensive." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
As a large capital, the core purpose of Changxing Group's participation in theater construction is to use this "reason" to hoard land, so the locations chosen are not bad, even on the Kowloon Peninsula, they are all in the center of the town.
And such a location naturally needs to be better decorated and better managed in terms of hygiene, so the price will naturally go up. It can be said that it is misplaced competition with Shaw Brothers Cathay's cinemas. .
But because the movies are different, including Su Yiyi and Yang Wendong, they often go to Shaw Brothers Cathay to watch movies.
Su Yiyi nodded: "Yes."
"It will start soon." Yang Wendong said again.
The beginning of a movie is not a program, but an advertisement. This is also the norm for Hong Kong movies. Many real estate companies are particularly keen to put movies in cinemas because they can reach hundreds of thousands of people with good economic conditions.
A few Minutes later, the movie officially started: starting with Grandpa Calabash going up the mountain.
Yang Wendong and Su Yiyi also watched the plot of the movie seriously. It was actually similar to the plot in the comic, but with sounds, movements, and even With special effects (painted), the visual impact is much stronger.
The giant gourd boy with infinite strength can lift huge stones and throw them at the enemy; the two gourd boys with clairvoyance and ears for the wind can see what’s going on thousands of miles away; the bronze-headed iron arms and steel-reinforced iron bones make them invulnerable. The three-gourd dolls move forward bravely;
The four-gourd dolls that breathe fire can burn all things; the five-gourd dolls that spit water can swallow water from rivers at will, and can spit lightning to produce rain; the six-gourd dolls can become invisible and come without a trace. Went without a trace and successfully rescued several trapped brothers;
The most magical thing is the little gourd baby, who has a magical treasure gourd, which is similar to the space ring in the fantasy novels of previous lives.
The seven of them got together and finally defeated the snake demon, and started a plain and happy life with their grandfather.
While the movie was playing, many children looked at the movie screen without blinking, and the same was true for Yang Zhiwen.
At the end of the movie, the screen went dark, the lights above were turned on, and many children on the scene began to chirp and say angry things.
"Brother Dong, it seems that this movie is very attractive to children." Su Yiyi said.
"Of course." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "It depends on how high the box office can be. The box office is the only criterion for testing quality."
This time, Yang Wendong's ambitions are relatively large. With this kind of publicity, coupled with the quality of his content, his own theater chain, and his long-standing comic reputation, he hopes to have a high box office.
One advantage of comic movies is that for a child, it will also bring a box office or two. Adults themselves don’t want to watch it, but in order to accompany their children, they have to pay more. In the past life, many animations in the mainland This is also the reason why the movie box office has hit record highs.
Of course, there are also disadvantages, that is, people without children will not come, including singles and unmarried couples, and even some couples whose children are older will not come.
In short, there are good things and bad things.” .
Su Yiyi said: "I remember that the highest box office in Hong Kong was Shaw Brothers' "The Legend of White Snake" last year, with a total of 790,000. Almost half of the people in Hong Kong who can afford to watch the movie have watched it. Do you think our "Calabash Brothers" can break the box office?" Record."
"The difficulty is relatively high." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "I don't expect to break the record in the first time, but I will try to be among the top ten in Hong Kong history." The resource preparation is very strong, but the quality of the film still depends on it. This is not an industrial product, and it is not something that can be instantly marketed by creativity. Generally speaking, there may be dark horses every year, but if a dark horse wants to get the first place, it is very difficult. Difficult.
“Then with our theater chains and media, it shouldn’t be too difficult.” Su Yiyi added: “Actually, it’s only a few hundred thousand, so it won’t be much even if you include profits, right? "
Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Not much, this profit is nothing, but the cultural industry is not a factory. What is produced can only be sold once, and profits can be repeated many times later. , and there are many derivatives;
As long as Hong Kong's animated movies become popular, it will drive sales of sticker toys again, and overseas theater companies will also use them to play them, so that derivatives can be sold. This is much simpler than sending comic books over there. ”
Although the filming costs of TV and movies are high, once they are filmed, as long as the content is good, it can be easily disseminated many times. To exaggerate, it is possible to be seen by 100 million people a year. .
But comic books? Even the most exciting Dragon Ball in history has only sold 260 million copies after 30 years of publication. Most people know Dragon Ball through cartoons;
Similarly, the same is true for other well-known novels, such as Jin Yong martial arts books, Harry Potter, etc. Most people know it through TV and movies Not many people have read the original work, rather than the book.
"Well, it can be seen that you really take comics seriously. "Su Yiyi said with a smile.
Yang Wendong said: "Yes, although the scale is small now, it has full potential. Once the copyright is created, you can reap dividends for a lifetime, and then there will be other copyrights later. You can really collect money even if you lie flat in the future."
After developing an IP, many cultural companies or individuals can make a lot of money even if they do nothing else. For example, Jay Chou, who has basically no new songs after the 2010s, still dominates the music revenue every year. The first place on the ranking list. Although it is also because the others are too bad.
Of course, cultural IP also needs to be maintained, which is a bit different from music. Disney’s Mickey Mouse is also constantly launching new animation story series.
Soon, the three of them followed the large army out and found Zheng Zhijie and Zhang Zhiyuan still at the door.
"You won't be waiting here forever, right?" Yang Wendong asked.
Zhang Zhiyuan said: "No, we just went back to work for a while and came back when we saw it was almost time."
"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, let's go upstairs."
Su Yiyi said: "Then I will take the children for a walk."
"Okay." After Yang Wendong agreed, he motioned to the assistant beside him and said: "Safety must be done well."
No matter where you are, even in Central, the core figures of the Yang family are always surrounded by bodyguards, one to prevent accidents, and the other to avoid possible interruptions from reporters, etc.
As the largest Chinese company in Hong Kong today, every move of many members of the Yang family is news.
After arriving upstairs, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "The first movie today was basically full, and the feedback was very good."
Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile: "This is more Thank you to Changxing Media for the promotion.”
“Yeah.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “It will take another week for the box office to come out, but I guess it won’t be bad. You should hurry up and add stickers. With the production capacity of toys, after the movie is broadcast, the sales of derivatives will inevitably increase greatly. "
It is too low-end to make money from movies. The real cultural giants make money from a series of follow-up products. Especially animation programs, movies or TV series, even if they don’t make money, as long as they are well-known, they can make a lot of money later.
Zhang Zhiyuan said: "Okay, Yang Sheng, I have already informed Wei Sheng and asked him to increase production capacity."
"Okay." Yang Wendong then asked: "What about the overseas film channels? "
Zhang Zhiyuan replied: "I have also contacted many theater companies in Southeast Asia, and they have agreed to introduce this movie, but the specific price still needs to wait until the box office is released. "
"This is normal. They must be cautious about the buyout price." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "For our own theater chain, let's play it a few more times and expand the data."
Hong Kong Movies have always relied on Waifu from the very beginning, otherwise they would not be able to develop at all. Waifu is also bought out with cash and is responsible for its own profits and losses after the purchase. Therefore, the local box office in Hong Kong is a touchstone.
"Okay." Zheng Zhijie smiled and said: "I will arrange more screens here."
Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "Now we have more than 20 theaters, right?"
"A total of 26." Zheng Zhijie replied.
Yang Wendong thought for a while and said: "Well, although there is some fabrication of data, Shaw Brothers are also fabricating it, and we are honestly losing money."
This is the case in shopping malls. Many times, looking at The data obtained may not be true, especially in the film and television industry. In a dozen years, Hong Kong will begin to focus on anti-corruption and anti-triad gangs, and a bunch of triads will squeeze in for the purpose of legal "money laundering" because it is very maneuverable.
Of course, the money you earn must be legal, just playing with data.
Zheng Zhijie also smiled and said: "Yes, we have our own theater chain. If we don't fake it, others will think it is fake. This is the reality."
"Then we will wait until the box office comes out. Let’s see what happens next,” Yang Wendong said.
The first animated film, even if it has made achievements in the animation field, it can be regarded as the beginning of entering the film field.
It is true that the current benefits in these two fields are very low, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you lay a solid foundation now, you can reach the top step by step in the future.
The next day, the first-day box office of the animated movie "Calabash Brothers" was released, with a total box office score of HK$67,000.
Ming Pao even directly declared on the cover: This is the rise of Chinese comic culture.
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
I had some personal matters the past two days, so I will update one, and I will start back to normal today with two updates
(End of this chapter)