The movie gradually came to an end, and the laughter in the audience became sparse.
Wang Jing kept swaying his buttocks in his seat, looking back and forth uneasily.
Du Qifeng was puzzled and responded to the enthusiastic response at the premiere. It was obvious to the naked eye that "Baby Stars" will definitely be a great success.
Wang Jing rolled his eyes: "Of course I knew it would be successful. As soon as I saw the sample, I guessed it would be a big hit."
Du Qifeng said: "Then why are you nervous?"
"The key point is that I don't know how big the box office will be!"
Wang Jing spread his hands. It's not like he has never made a movie with a box office of more than 18 million Hong Kong dollars, but with Shaw Brothers' current condition of terminal illness, unless Like "Summer Lucky Star" and "The Best of Us", it can set a box office record for Hong Kong movies.
"Today is Christmas Eve, not April Fool's Day."
Du Qifeng said angrily.
The first "The Best Partner" to hit the box office of Hong Kong's 20 million movie, it was a Hollywood-style commercial film produced by Hong Kong with a lot of money.
The salary for the leading actor Xu Guanjie alone was 2 million Hong Kong dollars. In addition, there were also other actors such as Mika, Sylvia Chang, Xu Ke, Huang Baiming, Shi Tian and others. The cast and cast were quite unprecedented, and they also used the latest technology at the time to shoot many big movies. The scenes, such as speeding cars, leaping from tall buildings, etc., are on par with the 007 series of the same period. The script is also very solid, with many Hong Kong-specific comedy elements added, making it suitable for all ages.
The combination of the right time, the right place, the right people, and the three factors allowed Xinyi City to create a miracle of Chinese films at the beginning of its establishment.
The same is true for "Summer Lucky Star". In addition to the original cast of the Five Lucky Stars such as Hong Jinbao and Qin Xianglin, Cheng Long, Yuan Biao and others also joined in with all their strength, especially Cheng Long was a veritable star of Asian movies at the time. Brother, although it is not as high-tech as "The Best Partner", the action scenes are the cooperation of the two martial arts groups of Hong Jia Ban and Cheng Jia Ban. The funds, lineup, scenes, stories, etc. are all top-notch in Hong Kong movies. .
This is why it set the first Hong Kong film box office record of HK$30 million during the Spring Festival at the beginning of this year.
As for "Baby Stars", Zhou Xingchi and Wu Mengda are not even as popular as Nicholas Tse, a child star.
It can’t compare to the actors and casts, nor can it compare to the cost investment. Even the movie theme song sung by Teresa Teng is just a highlight at best. The only thing that makes it stand out is that this script is written by the Oscar-winning best screenwriter and great writer. written in dialect.
“But some people say that the movie box office can exceed 30 million in Hong Kong and hundreds of millions in other markets.”
Wang Jing lowered his voice.
Du Qifeng curled his lips: "Who said that? No one with a sound mind would say such a thing."
"Fang Sheng said that."
Wang Jing confessed that he also learned about it through casual chats with Gong Zhen and Wang Zuxian.
“Ah, yes, that’s right. If someone else said it, I would definitely think he was crazy, but if it was Fang Sheng, it wouldn’t be surprising. He is the best screenwriter at the Oscar. How can you be so unsure of a movie that you have personally worked on? ”
< br>Du Qifeng corrected in a panic: "But I think few people really support it, right?"
Wang Jingwanwei: "Master Liu and Mrs. Fang seem to be very supportive."
< br>“This is what they should do too!”
Du Qifeng added: "After all, Fang Sheng's last movie, "Once Upon a Time in China" almost reached 30 million." , took over 28 million at the box office in Hong Kong, and now it has swept the film market in South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries. I don’t believe that our star-less "Baby Smart Stars" can hit the 3rd 0 million box office."
Wang Jing's hands were sweating, "But it was Fang Sheng who said this!"
While the two were talking, the person in the movie The two stupid thieves were beaten to death by Nicholas Tse's prank, and were caught by the police who arrived after hearing the news. They were taken into a police car. Wen Bixia and other family members also rushed back in time, and the family reconciled and enjoyed themselves happily.
The picture is fixed on this "happyend".
After the film ended, Wang Jing was the first to stand up, and the other creators also left their seats.
When they stood in a line at the front desk, several beams of lights immediately fell down from above their heads, illuminating their location.
The audience in the audience had no reaction at first. Many people were still stuck in the funny plot. Most of them laughed so hard just now that they couldn't calm down for a while, but in these few minutes The silence made Zhou Xingchi, Wu Mengda and others feel their hearts in their throats.
After a while, the audience finally burst into thunderous applause.
Wang Jing and others breathed a long sigh of relief, took out their handkerchiefs, and wiped the fine beads of sweat from their foreheads and temples.
They glanced at the box on the second floor and found that Run Run Shaw, Fang Yan, Fang Yihua, Gong Cie and others seemed to be applauding, and they became excited.
Suddenly, reporters gathered around, not only towards Wang Jing and Du Qifeng, but also towards Di Bora holding Nicholas Tse and the actors Wu Mengda and Zhou Xingchi who played the two stupid thieves, throwing all kinds of questions. All kinds of questions, bombarded with questions, kept asking.
"I want to thank Fang Sheng for writing such a good script, and thank him and Mrs. Fang for giving me a chance to make a movie!"
"Thank you..."
"Thank you to the directors for their vigorous cultivation. If I have another chance next time, I will definitely work harder."
Zhou Xingchi took the opportunity of the interview to explain everything he had experienced from casting to filming.
"In that case, it was Fang Sheng and his wife who chose you to star among countless TVB and Shaw Brothers artists, right?"
"Ming Pao" reporter asked road.
"Yes, they are not only my guides into the film industry, but also my benefactors!"
There was a bit of excitement in Zhou Xingchi's tone.
"He is our benefactor!"
Wu Mengda put his arm around Zhou Xingchi's shoulders and said happily: "When the two of us were drinking beer and watching the night view at Victoria Peak, we vowed to act in a movie together when we became famous. Thanks to Fang Sheng, my wish came true so quickly. I hope we can continue to cooperate like this in the future."
After hearing this, more and more reporters immediately rushed to the major exits of the theater. Search everywhere for signs of dialect. But obviously some colleagues have thought of this and surrounded Fang Yan and Gong Qi early, and there was a huge unexpected harvest -
Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua were also there!
"There are rumors that Shaw Brothers Pictures has been shrinking its business recently, cutting production and suspending production, and plans to sell off its assets and theater chains."
A reporter who claimed to be "Xiangjiang Wenwei Po" asked: "Excuse me, Shao Sir, is the rumor true? Will "Baby" be the last film produced by Shaw Brothers for the general public in Hong Kong?"
As soon as these words came out, the whole room was in an uproar. No one expected that he would be so bold and dare to take it. Ask this question in front of Run Run Shaw!
Fang Yan and Fang Yihua looked at each other. It was obvious that only insiders like them knew that these media were specially arranged by them.
Shao Yifu was already prepared, with a hint of bitterness in his smile:
"Of course not!"
"Shaw Brothers Pictures has experienced so many years of ups and downs in Hong Kong since its establishment, accompanying generations of Hong Kong movie fans. Many people in the 1960s, 1970s, and even People in the 1980s grew up watching Shaw Brothers movies. Not only for me, but also for them, Shaw Brothers movies carry their Years of memories, if they still don’t get tired of watching our movies, then Shaw Brothers will keep making them.”
“Let Shaw Brothers’ movies continue to bring laughter and excitement to the broad audience in Hong Kong...”
Hearing this impassioned speech, Fang Yan raised his eyebrows and was very satisfied. It was not in vain that he invited his own people from "Xiangjiang Wenwei Po" to cooperate.
The purpose of doing this is naturally to play the emotional card, just like "We all owe Zhou Xingchi a movie ticket", although it cannot be repeated like "We all owe Shaw Brothers a movie ticket" "Ticket", but you can bundle Shaw Brothers with "Baby Wisdom and Stars" to engage in emotional marketing.
No one knows marketing better than Teacher Fang. Even Rebus has to pay tuition when he comes!
…………
During the interview with Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua, the rest of the media were not idle either, scrambling to ask questions to Fang Yan and Gong Qie.
“Mr. Fang, why did you choose to cooperate with Shaw Brothers?”
“It’s hard to deny hospitality.”
Fang Yan said with a serious face that in fact, when Run Run Shaw and Fang Yi Hua came to him to make a movie together, he refused because Shaw Brothers couldn't let him make a movie, so he went to shoot it immediately because he couldn't make a crude movie. It's a bad work, and the audience will definitely scold him when he comes out.
However, Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua finally convinced themselves, because no matter how difficult it was for Shaw Brothers Pictures, they still hoped to give a Christmas gift to all the citizens of Xiangjiang, so he agreed, And if we want to make a movie, we have to make a Christmas family-themed movie.
Seeing him talking nonsense seriously, Gong Qian pursed his lips. After all, he had received professional training and generally would not laugh.
“When writing the script, we adhered to several principles: it must be watchable by people from 3 to 80 years old, it must have a happy and festive atmosphere, it must have a happy ending, and the screen The actors on the film will definitely give Christmas blessings to the audience at the end."
Fang Yan said: "Thankfully, it has lived up to Six Uncles and Six Aunts' trust, and I hope the Hong Kong audience will like this movie."< br>
"The movie with the highest box office this year is "Summer Fortune". Does Mr. Fang have any plans to surpass the box office record of this movie?"
A voice suddenly emerged from the crowd.
"As long as this movie can make money and make everyone happy, it doesn't matter how much it is."
Fang Yan smiled, "Of course, if I'm lucky enough to surpass "Summer Lucky Star" The box office couldn't be better, which proves that the movie "Baby Wisdom" is really to everyone's taste. I think Boss Zou and Jiahe will not mind being surpassed by then."
With the support of Shaw Brothers’ emotional marketing, with the assistance of Teresa Teng’s tailor-made Christmas songs, and with the media’s full-scale promotion, “Baby and the Stars” relied on its excellent quality to win awards on the day of its premiere. It has grossed one million Hong Kong dollars at the box office. Its hilarious plot, praised by film critics and spread by word of mouth among the first wave of moviegoers, has created a word-of-mouth effect, attracting more and more people to the cinema.
Especially on the second day of Christmas, even if it is a very cold day, it is difficult to stop the people of Xiangjiang from watching movies.
Long queues began to form at the cinemas under Shaw Brothers Cinemas, and there was an endless stream of audiences buying tickets to enter. After discussing with Fang Yan, Fang Yihua decisively sent TVB reporters to interview the audience. Get the coverage before the prime movie viewing time in the evening.
At the same time, they also increased the exposure and promotion of Zhou Xingchi and Nicholas Tse in programs such as "430 Shuttle".
More and more parents know that there is a family movie suitable for children to watch, and its reputation is not inferior to "The Best Partner" and "The Lucky Star Series", so either at the children's initiative request , or parents regard watching "Baby" as an extra Christmas gift for their children, and the whole family goes to the theater to watch it, or even invite friends, and a social phenomenon of "human-to-human transmission" appears.
As a result, everyone in Hong Kong knew that a very happy and funny movie was being shown in the cinema.
As soon as they have time, many people buy tickets in advance and go to see it with the whole family.
Shaw Brothers theater managers considered the theaters’ reception capacity, so they cooperated with old rivals such as Golden Harvest and Golden Princess in the name of “multi-line screening” to transfer the film to other theaters at the same time. Show online, everyone can make money together.
In just 5 days, "Baby" has become a super dark horse, grossing 10 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office.
After seeing such achievements in the newspaper, Wu Wenhuai’s face changed again and again, and he sighed repeatedly:
“I remember Aaron’s “Junior Brother Goes Out” back then, which took three or four days to complete. It only took ten days to break the 10 million box office mark, right?”
"To be precise, it was released in 36 days, and the box office at that time was 11.02 million."
He Guanchang recalled, "Not only did it break the box office record of Hong Kong movies, but it was also the first film to increase the box office to 10 million. Yuan and above The movie is also Aaron’s first self-written, directed and starred movie in Golden Harvest. It is really meaningful.”
“Yes, who would have thought that only five years later, a movie would only be released. It only takes 5 days to catch up with "Junior Brother Goes Out" ”
Wrinkle Wenhuai said: “Fang Sheng’s pen is so powerful. The previous one he wrote, “Once Upon a Time in China” has just set the highest box office record for a kung fu movie. Just one stroke of "Baby Wisdom Stars" It has set a new record for the fastest time to reach 10 million box office..."
"If this trend continues, I am afraid that the box office record set by "Summer Star" at the beginning of the year may not be maintained."
He Guanchang shook his head and laughed.
“The Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reported that the production cost of this film, excluding Fang Sheng’s royalties, was less than two million Hong Kong dollars.”
Wu Wenhuai took a photo of the newspaper, "Thinking back on how much manpower, material, financial and effort we invested in filming "Summer Lucky Star", I never expected that Fang Sheng would be able to do it with his own pen , it smoothed out so many disadvantages and such a big gap between the two movies!"
He Guanchang said: "If it can be filmed like the "Five Lucky Stars" series, Shaw Brothers will do it! I really have to make a comeback from a desperate situation.”
“Fortunately, Fang Sheng’s pen is not owned by Shaw Brothers alone.”
After seeing the box office results of "Baby", Wan Wenhuai became more and more confident in "Police Story", which was moved to the Spring Festival period. He also looked forward to the follow-up "Die Hard" to become the star of Cheng Long and Jiahe A springboard to break into the Hollywood and European and American film markets.
After all, the piece of cake in Hong Kong is too small. Instead of staying in the domestic competition, it is better to seize the vast overseas film market. (End of this chapter)