More than twenty years later, there was a Hong Kong film enthusiast and famous film critic Wei Junzi in mainland China, who wrote in his book "Thirty Years of DreamWorks":
"...When we talk about Oriental DreamWorks in 1982, we can only describe it as turbulent. It is true that in the more than two years before that, although Kang Jianfei's DreamWorks frequently won the annual box office championship, it had never caused such a situation.
Big influence.
That summer in Hong Kong, whether they were students, workers, hawkers, or young and Dangerous gangsters, they all had one more hobby, which was holding a toothpick in their mouth. According to incomplete statistics, in the summer of 1982, the number of people in Hong Kong was
The sales of toothpicks have increased by 40% compared with the previous year. Along with the increase in toothpick sales, sunglasses have also increased. I think if the weather had not been too hot, the windbreaker sellers would have made a lot of money.
A good film can have an amazing impact on society.
In the 1960s, the Shaw Brothers movie "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" was a hit in Taiwan. Ling Bo, a remake of Zhu Yingtai, visited Taipei for two days. At least 200,000 Taipei citizens surrounded Songshan Airport, Chang'an East Road, and Zhongshan North Road.
, near the Grand Hotel, waiting to see the true face of "Liang Shanbo" in Lushan, Taiwan's media published a total of 7,648 photos of Ling Bo, and wrote more than 230,000 words about Ling Bo.
In the 1980s, "Shaolin Temple" set off a movie-going craze in mainland China. At that time, the average ticket price was only 10 cents, but it actually accumulated over 100 million in box office. Countless teenagers even ran away from home after watching this movie, just to go to school.
Learned skills from Shaolin Temple.
These two unprecedented sensations caused by film works were more or less due to the low level of film development in Taiwan and Mainland China at that time. But "A Better Tomorrow" was different. When this film came out, Hong Kong films were already semi-mature.
stage. But it also stands out from the crowd and swept the Hong Kong box office.
Zhou Runfa has become an idol of all ages, and his clothes and lines in the film have been imitated. "I hate it when people point guns at my head", "I must get back what I lost" and other dialogues, not only
It only became a necessity for young people to be cool. In the following ten years, at least 20 Hong Kong films used these lines to pay tribute to "A Better Tomorrow".
Today, twenty-seven years later, there is no need to say anything more about the status of "A Better Tomorrow". How many times has it been selected on Hong Kong movie lists? It always tops the list. There is no need to say more about its historical significance. Since this film,
Gangster movies have become another eternal theme in Hong Kong movies besides kung fu movies. Later "Infernal Affairs", "Gangster", "Arms and Lakes", etc., all repeat the same gangster spirit from different angles.
Gratitude, hatred and male dignity.
Let's talk about the release of "A Better Tomorrow" that year. The movie released at the same time was Cheng Long's "Plan A". Cheng Long's breakthrough movie stayed on the screen for a total of 28 days. In fact,
The attendance rate was already very low in the last week, but it was not officially closed until the box office exceeded 20 million.
As for "A Better Tomorrow", it was screened for two months from July 8 to September 6. Such strong box office stamina completely disrupted the film schedule of Golden Princess Cinema, so much so that Xinyi
The premiere of "The Best of Us 2" in Chengdu has been postponed for as long as 21 days..."
…
Hong Kong in 1982. Naturally, it is impossible for anyone to have read Junzi Wei’s monograph.
Entertainment reporters are fixated on the box office of "A Better Tomorrow" because they want to compare this movie with "Plan A." Naturally, reporters hope that the two sides will compete so that they can write eye-catching reports.
Colleagues in the film industry are also eyeing the box office of "A Better Tomorrow". Because Kang Jianfei's movie box office is almost a benchmark, everyone will compare their own movies with Kang Jianfei's box office.
The two TV series "Chu Liuxiang" and "Celestial Silkworm Transformation" caused a sensation with thousands of people emptying out when they were released. Even the stores that did business had to close when the series started airing.
"A Better Tomorrow" does not yet have the energy to attract all Hong Kong citizens into the cinema. What it can do is to make queues of hundreds of meters long to buy tickets at the entrance of all theaters showing "A Better Tomorrow".
Audiences queue up to buy tickets from time to time, but "A Better Tomorrow" did so for several days in a row, with an average attendance rate of 96% in the first week of release.
The media who originally wanted to compare "A Better Tomorrow" with "Plan A" were collectively dumbfounded after witnessing the audience's madness.
It was not just the media that was dumbfounded. Golden Harvest stopped talking about "Plan A" to achieve another box office success, and even quietly canceled the celebration banquet originally prepared for "Plan A".
Zhou Run became red, as red as purple, and film offers from major companies flew in like snowflakes. Chen Huimin, who could only play supporting roles, suddenly became a first-line movie star, and his salary increased more than seven times.
As for Leslie Cheung, who was originally just a young actor on the TV station, his salary suddenly increased to 300,000. It can be said that the carp jumped over the dragon's gate, and I don't know how many young actors were jealous.
The one with the most complicated emotions is undoubtedly Ti Lung, because when Kang Jianfei personally came to ask him to play the role of Brother Hao, he directly rejected it. Although if Ti Lung was given the choice again, he would probably refuse, but he would inevitably feel entangled in his heart.
Less than a week after the release of "A Better Tomorrow", overseas film producers who had previously been blocked by DreamWorks' marketing department came to visit again. After much talk, as the box office of "A Better Tomorrow" became higher and higher, film producers from various countries gritted their teeth and promised to give
DreamWorks' ultra-high box office share ranging from 42% to 45% spared no expense to buy back the screening rights of this incredible movie.
When a Hong Kong movie is screened in Europe and the United States, it is considered good if the producer can get more than 15% of the box office. In Asia, the limit is 40% of the box office. This time, "A Better Tomorrow" is a hit at the box office in Hong Kong.
Obviously, those overseas film producers were stimulated, and they actually offered unprecedented profit sharing conditions.
In the second week after "A Better Tomorrow" was released, Xiang Huaqiang personally called Kang Jianfei to invite Kang Jianfei out for dinner, and even specially brought Wang Jing over.
When Kang Jianfei walked into the private room, Xiang Huaqiang stood up and shook hands with him, his attitude was particularly enthusiastic: "Brother Kang is here, please take a seat!"
Kang Jianfei smiled and said, "Brother Qiang, you're welcome."
Before the food was all served, Wang Jing, with Xiang Huaqiang's signal, asked: "A Fei, the box office of "A Better Tomorrow" has reached 15 million, right?"
Kang Jianfei waved his hand and said: "How can it be so fast? It's only over 12 million."
After hearing this box office data, even a big boss like Xiang Huaqiang couldn't help but exclaim: "It's amazing. It's only been released for less than ten days, and the box office shouldn't exceed 30 million, right?"
The average ticket price in Hong Kong has now risen to 13 yuan, while the ticket price when Kang Jianfei first came to Hong Kong was only 7 yuan. In just over two years, movie ticket prices have almost doubled, which is enough to imagine that Hong Kong has spent the past two or three years
the speed of economic development.
As movie ticket prices rise, so does the overall movie box office. Two years ago, a box office of over 20 million was considered unbelievable, but now Xiang Huaqiang says that the box office of "A Better Tomorrow" can exceed 30 million, but he is not too flattering.
suspicion.
Kang Jianfei thought about it carefully and said without humility: "It's hard to get 30 million at the box office. After all, the audience base in Hong Kong is too small. But if "A Better Tomorrow" can be released for more than six weeks, maybe it can really be sold.
30 million box office."
Xiang Huaqiang asked seemingly casually: ""A Better Tomorrow" has sold so well, have you considered when to make a sequel?"
Hearing this, Kang Jianfei already understood Xiang Huaqiang's purpose of inviting him to dinner today. This guy was jealous of the box office of "A Better Tomorrow" and wanted to take the opportunity to follow suit and make a fortune.
Kang Jianfei did not express his attitude, but asked: "What, Brother Qiang has an idea?"
Xiang Huaqiang asked: "How about Yongsheng and DreamWorks co-produce a sequel?"
Kang Jianfei didn't want to mess around with the sequel to "A Better Tomorrow". Such continuous filming in a short period of time would simply kill the goose and lay the egg. He said with a smile: "I don't have the idea of a sequel for the time being, but if Brother Qiang wants to make a hero movie, the three of them, Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung and Chen Huimin, will
You take your pick."
What Xiang Huaqiang wants is this sentence. It doesn't matter whether he co-produces a movie with DreamWorks or not. The most important thing is that there are Zhou Runfa and other "A Better Tomorrow" starring actors.
After asking for the person, Xiang Hua forced a smile and said: "Then I'm welcome. It just so happens that Wang Jing has a script in his hand right now."
Kang Jianfei also smiled hypocritically and said: "Brother Qiang is making a movie, how can I not support it? I will let the three of them go to Yongsheng Company to report later."
After finishing the meal, Xiang Huaqiang left first, but Wang Jing followed Kang Jianfei in the car.
Kang Jianfei acted as a driver for Fatty Wang and asked: "The first two words of the film Yongsheng is going to make must be 'hero'."
Wang Jing smiled awkwardly and said, "A Fei, you guessed it right. The movie is called "The Brave Heroes"."
Kang Jianfei swung the steering wheel and turned the corner, complaining: "Do you even need to guess? With the stubbornness of those directors in Hong Kong, there will definitely be a lot of follow-up films titled "Hero" released in the second half of the year."
Wang Jing was quite cheeky and said, "It doesn't matter whether he follows the trend or not, as long as he can make money by filming it."
Kang Jianfei didn't bother to tease him about this kind of thing and asked, "Have you decided to work with Yongsheng from now on?"
Wang Jing was very tactful in his words and deeds, but there was no need for him to lie in front of Kang Jianfei. He nodded and said, "Although Mr. Xiang is a member of the club, as long as it can help him make money, the price he gives is still very fair."
Filming in Shaw Brothers is different. The director's remuneration I got from making three films in Shaw Brothers was not more than the director's remuneration I got from making one in Wing Shing."
Kang Jianfei asked funnyly: "Aren't you afraid that one day the movie you directed will hit the streets, and Xiang Huaqiang will have someone hack you to death?"
Wang Jing leaned on the backrest and moved his buttocks, and said angrily: "I heard that Mr. Xiang originally found Zeng Zhiwei to be the director. It was you who recommended me to Yongsheng, right? What if I get cut off one day?
Go to DreamWorks and hide, you can't just die without saving me." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.
