The original "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard" was released in Hong Kong after only 14 days, with a box office of 11 million Hong Kong dollars, which was a disastrous failure.
However, the overseas performance is very good, with sales of NT$120 million in Taiwan alone.
Singapore also sold a good result of 2.6 million Singapore dollars, which is about 15 million Hong Kong dollars.
The total box office reached US$12 million, ranking 41st among the highest-grossing Chinese-language films in the 1990s.
It can be seen that this movie is still very popular, it is just a bit untimely.
1994 was a year full of masterpieces. "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" was mixed in and was not very conspicuous.
Moreover, piracy also began to take off in 1994, and Hong Kong was the hardest hit area.
Jet Li made too many films during that period, and this film is too similar to the Hollywood movie "The Bodyguard"...
Various factors led to the box office of "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" not meeting expectations in Hong Kong.
This version of Yang Ye is a year and a half earlier than the original time and space, and the situation he faces is much better than that of the original time and space.
He is engaging in hunger marketing, and no movie has been released in two years.
"The Bodyguard" was only released in North America two months ago, and Asian audiences haven't seen it yet.
There was no piracy, and there was no film centenary.
A great situation will naturally lead to great box office results.
Since its release, it has been a hit at the box office, and is inseparable from the family-friendly "Happy Events in the Flower Fields".
However, as the Spring Festival passed, the family-friendly effect of "Happy Events in the Flower Field" quickly diminished, leaving "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" behind.
At this time, another new film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was released.
The movie "A Little Mermaid" was seriously overdue for the filming of "Ashes of Time" by the Sunglasses King. The investors were very angry and wanted to kill him.
In desperation, gay friend Liu Zhenwei of Sunglasses took the original crew and spent 20 days to shoot this movie, preparing to make money during the Lunar New Year.
Sunglasses and Bo Ni's mother had a lot of plans, but unexpectedly they met Yang Ye.
Yang Ye called the people from the legal department over and ordered: "Prepare materials to sue "East and West" for infringement and ban it from being released."
Nowadays, Jin Yong's copyright is managed by Yang Ji. Yang Ji only authorized Sunglasses King to make one movie, and Liu Zhenwei made another one, which is an infringement.
In addition, since Yang Ye was preparing to develop VCD, he asked Xu Feng to purchase the film copyrights of major companies.
Nowadays, not only the film libraries of Shaw Brothers and New Arts City, but also the film libraries of many established companies in Hong Kong have been collected by Yang Ji.
Among them is the old movie from the 1960s, "Tathagata Palm".
The plot of "East and West" is copied from "Tathagata Palm".
For example, the protagonist group went to a cave to find the "Nine Yin Manual", and there were several silly monsters inside.
Long Jianfei and others who copied it went to the cave to find the "Tathagata Palm". There were several stupid monsters inside.
Several monsters in "East and West" are exactly the same as those in "Tathagata Palm".
That's it, even the camera position and camera movements are exactly the same, it's just pasting and copying.
Otherwise, how could Liu Zhenwei have made a movie so quickly and sold it at the box office?
Hong Kong movies have always been copied from the east to the west. For example, Wang Jing's character is completely weird.
It’s just that if you copy Hollywood or Japanese movies, there’s nothing others can do to you.
But after Yang Ye collected the copyrights of Hong Kong films, you would be in trouble if you copied old Hong Kong films.
To be honest, Yang Ye himself is a plagiarist and has no right to criticize others.
However, the current situation is that when copyright forms a monopoly, it will generate a lot of profits and cannot be ignored.
For example, in the later movie "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" by Zhou Xingchi, the character in the movie "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" has exactly the same camera position.
If someone holds the copyright to "Tathagata Palm", they can ask Zhou Xingchi for money.
After Yang Ji mastered a large amount of copyright, it was necessary to tell these Hong Kong filmmakers: From now on, those old films cannot be remade or plagiarized casually, and they must be paid.
The best way to spread the word is to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.
"East becomes West" is that chicken.
This movie is packed with stars and received a very good response after its midnight screening.
Unexpectedly, just before it was officially released, the producer received a summons from the court, banning the film from being released on the grounds of plagiarism and infringement.
They also demanded compensation and requested that the copyright of the film be owned by Yang Ji.
Sunglasses and Bo Ni's mother suddenly looked confused. They now accepted investment from scholar company Cai Songlin and established an independent production company, Zedong Pictures.
"East and West" is the first film produced by their company, but unexpectedly it hit Yang Ye's gun.
The two stared at each other, and asked Liu Zhenwei in sunglasses: "Is there any chance of winning this lawsuit?"
The movie was made by Liu Zhenwei, and he knew how much he had copied. Hearing this, he frowned and said, "If Yang Ye is more serious, we will definitely lose."
The King of Sunglasses said helplessly: "Everyone has been doing this for so many years, and he suddenly did something like this. What is he trying to do?"
Liu Zhenwei said: "You are collecting protection fees, what else can you do? He spent a lot of money to buy so many copyrights, of course he has to earn it back."
The Sunglasses King thought for a while and said: "Let's go find Xu Feng, say something nice, pay some money, and keep it secret!"
Liu Zhenwei shook his head: "I'm afraid there is no possibility of privacy."
The Sunglasses King's face suddenly changed: "You mean...he wants to make his reputation bigger?"
Liu Zhenwei sighed: "Yes, our movie is full of stars, which is perfect for surgery."
"Are these celebrities all from his family?"
"Silly boy, the celebrities have collected enough money, and they have nothing to lose."
The two discussed it for a long time. Although they understood Yang Ye's intention, they couldn't do anything about it.
……
At the beginning of the new year, Jinshan VCD's advertisements were overwhelming. In China, of course, they advertised on CCTV.
These days, advertising on CCTV has great credibility, and people believe it.
Kingsoft VCD also got its wish and became the standard king.
Soon, the advertisement of Yang Ye dancing sword on the Great Wall spread all over the country and became a household name.
When Zhao Wenzhuo later filmed this sword-kicking video, many people questioned that it was simply a special effect.
But now it is Yang Ye who plays, and no one questions it.
Because in people's minds, there is no doubt that Yang Ye is awesome.
So that amazing kick, the only thing people felt was... it was so awesome.
Many people even named Yang Ye the "Sword Master" because of this advertisement.
In the past, when TV commercials were interrupted, it was time for everyone to drink water and go to the toilet. Now, let's wait until the sword master finishes pretending to be cool before leaving.
Soon, Kingsoft VCD began to be sold in Hong Kong and landed in the Kingsoft store in Donglai Plaza. This store used to specialize in selling game products.
Advertisements for Kingsoft VCD appeared simultaneously on the two major TV stations, ATV and TVB.
Everyone knows that ATV and TVB are sworn enemies. They were all surprised that Yang Ye's advertisement actually appeared on Wireless. Kingsoft VCD advertisements are everywhere on buses and major supermarkets in Hong Kong. Many people are attracted by the advertisements and go to Kingsoft stores to experience it on-site.
This thing is really easy to use. It looks very high-end and full of technology.
The film effect is even clearer than the video tape, but the price of the CD is a bit expensive.
Damn, a movie, divided into two discs AB, priced at 98 yuan.
Movie tickets cost less than 30 yuan a piece.
Even so, buyers are still flocking to it.
Because movie tickets are one-time. And if you buy the CD, you can watch it over and over again, and you can ask a bunch of friends to watch it, which is a very cost-effective way.
At this point, the film companies in Hong Kong finally understood that Yang Ye had planned to wipe out all the copyrights of Hong Kong films.
However, the bosses of the film companies didn't think there was anything wrong. Instead, they admired Yang Ye very much.
Otherwise, they would do the same thing, and do it even better.
All in all, Kingsoft VCD is making a lot of money this time.
Because the progress is so fast, even if other companies want to follow up, they will first buy prototypes and go back to research, and then manufacture, promote and launch them. It will still take a year.
This year is enough to support Jinshan.
Unfortunately, it can only be sold in China and Southeast Asia.
In Europe, the United States and Japan, where video recorders are already popular, there is little market.
Unless a DVD can be made.
……
Jinshan VCD sales were booming, and the lawsuit between Yang Ji and Sunglasses was also very lively.
Yang Ji originally wanted to make the matter bigger so that he could collect protection money in the future, so it was impossible to keep it private. Instead, he promoted it in a big way.
This made the Sunglasses King very depressed, and "East and West" failed to be released as scheduled. Companies might be involved in this wave.
However, Yang Ye's "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" lacked a rival, and the box office exceeded 40 million. It defeated "Happy Events in the Flower Field" to become the 1993 Hong Kong Spring Festival champion, and got off to a good start.
This is just the appetizer. Yang Ye has three blockbuster films waiting to be released this year, and will even compete with Spielberg's Dinosaur in the summer season.
After "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai", Jet Li's "The Lion King" was released next and sold 30 million in local sales.
The Once Upon a Time series has become one of Jet Li's signatures. When "Men Should Be Strong" was released, the copyright fee in South Korea alone was US$2 million.
As a partner of Baiyang Pictures, CJ Entertainment launched a wave of promotions after receiving the film, selling a box office of eight million US dollars, making a lot of money.
CJ Entertainment has also begun to produce its own movies. Korean director Lim Kwon Taek's new film "Elegy" was produced by CJ Entertainment, and specially invited Cui Jinjin from Hong Kong to serve as the heroine.
With the current production costs of Korean movies, it is impossible to afford a big star like Choi Jin-sil, so she starred at a friendly price.
……
It’s the annual awards season again.
Yang Ye has not participated in the Golden Melody Awards for two years.
If you are in Hong Kong this year, it would be shameful not to go.
At this year's Golden Melody Awards, Yang Ye basically sat down and clapped his hands, because he didn't have any works released last year.
Instead, he came on stage as an award presenter and handed out two awards.
"The winner of the best rock song is..."Broader Sea and Sky", Beyond, congratulations!"
The four sons cheered, stepped onto the stage together, bowed to the audience, and then bowed to Yang Ye.
As a representative, Huang Jiaju received the trophy from Yang Ye.
Yang Ye stepped aside and watched them give their acceptance speeches.
In this time and space, Beyond did not sign with Warner Bros., but still went to Japan to develop.
Because Japan is the largest music market in Asia, they signed a contract with Aihui Music in Japan.
Logically speaking, since the contracting company has changed, that terrible thing should not happen, but Yang Ye is not sure.
Yang Ye once wanted to save Sanmao, but he didn't want to interfere too much in her life, but Sanmao still died.
However, Jiaju's death is different from Sanmao's death. Sanmao committed suicide, while Jiaju's death was an accident.
This made Yang Ye understand that unless he goes there in person and deeply affects the target, what should happen will eventually happen.
He stood aside, looking at the four young people in high spirits, and thought: "If you want to save Ka Kui, the best way is to find something for them to do and let them stay in Hong Kong temporarily."
……
A few days later, the Academy Awards ceremony.
The biggest highlight of this year's Academy Awards is the battle between Gong Li and Maggie Cheung for Best Actress.
Because before this, Gong Li and Zhang Manyu won the Venice Best Actress and Berlin Best Actress respectively for "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" and "Ruan Lingyu".
This year, two international movie queens are nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Whoever has the last laugh will naturally attract much attention.
The other three shortlisted actresses Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen, and Anita Mui were ignored by many people, predicting that they would only be able to accompany them this year.
"Let us use warm applause to invite Sir Yang Ye to the stage to award the best newcomer."
Yang Ye didn't have a movie released last year, so he was idle. This year, in addition to slapping people down below, he was on stage as an award guest.
In the past, Yang Ye often presented awards to the best newcomers. Now that he was here this time, the emcee followed the old rules and invited him up again.
As soon as Yang Ye came on stage, he joked with the hosts Fei Fei and Curly Hair, and then invited everyone to watch the big screen.
At this time, the voice-over began to announce this year's shortlist: "The shortlisted for the Best Newcomer of the 13th Academy Awards are: Yuen Yongyi "Ya Fei and Yaji", Gu Minghua "Mong Kok Racecourse", Chu Yin "Truant Dragon" 2", Zheng Xiuwen's "Flying Tiger Elite: Love in the World", Xiong Xinxin's "Once Upon a Time in China: Two Men Should Be Strong"
Later, Yang Ye opened the list of winners and announced: "The winner of the Best Newcomer is...Yuan Yongyi's "Ya Fei and Ya Qi", congratulations to Liang Liang."
Yuan Yongyi happily came to the stage to receive the award. She took the statuette from Yang Ye's hand, waved it vigorously, and began to deliver her acceptance speech.
Zhu Yin and Zheng Xiuwen, who were sitting in the audience, could not hide their disappointment.
Zhu Yin is fine, her acting skills are basically non-existent, and this nomination for Best Newcomer is already her peak.
Zheng Xiuwen, who has good acting skills, has been nominated for Best Actress many times since this time and failed to win. She was ridiculed by the media as a resentful woman at the Academy Awards. In 2023, she was nominated for Best Actress for the tenth time. The protagonist finally aspires to become the best actress.
As the awards were handed out one by one, it finally came to the most anticipated showdown, Best Actress.
Scenes of classic scenes flashed on the big screen, and several heroines suddenly became nervous.
Although Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen and Anita Mui knew that their chances of winning the award were slim, they still couldn't help but retain their expectations.
What if there is a miracle?
On the contrary, Gong Li, who was very vocal, was relatively calm. She already has two Best Actress Awards in Berlin and Venice, so it doesn't matter whether she wins the Academy Award or not.
Moreover, she is from mainland China and does not think she can win the award.
Because of the weird rules set by the Hong Kong Film Awards, most of its members are Hong Kong filmmakers.
Of course, fellow villagers help fellow villagers, so the chances of mainland and Taiwanese actors winning awards are very slim.
On the stage, Chen Long, who was the award guest, opened the envelope and announced loudly: "The winner of the Best Actress is...Gong Li, "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit", congratulations!" (End of Chapter)