"Ritz Cinemas changed its name to Golden Princess, Hong Kong film industry changed color"
"The Spring of Independent Film Companies—Princess Kim Abolishes the Theater Subscription System"
"Kang Jianfei—writer, screenwriter, director?"
"Eighteen theaters are screening all together, what's so special about "Happy Ghost"?"
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The next day, all newspapers in Hong Kong, including the entertainment section, had headlines about the news that Ritz Cinemas was reorganized into Golden Princess. Because this news was so important, it directly changed the structure of the Hong Kong film industry, and some newspapers even included it.
Put it on the social media headlines.
Those who are particularly sensitive to this are the filmmakers. Many directors and screenwriters who are jealous of the huge profits from the movie are eager to make independent films on their own, and then make a fortune by releasing them in Golden Princess.
The second focus of the report is Kang Jianfei.
Because the ending of "Shanghai Beach" was too deceiving, Kang Jianfei's popularity as a screenwriter has not yet passed, and "Looking for Qin" is also being serialized, so Kang Jianfei's name is already resounding.
Now Kang Jianfei suddenly changed his career to become a director, and his first film won the support of Boss Lei and was screened in full theaters at Golden Princess Cinema. What happened in the middle is really curious, and speculation from the outside world has never stopped.
There are even rumors that Kang Jianfei is Lei Juekun's grandson left in the mainland, and that he came to Hong Kong this time to inherit the Lei family business.
On January 25, a full-page advertisement once again appeared in the supplement of Oriental Daily.
There is no mystery in this advertisement. It is a promotional poster for "Happy Ghost". The bright red color is quite flattering as the Spring Festival is approaching, and the slogan is also impressive: New Year's blockbuster "Happy Ghost"
"Ghost", a comedy movie for the whole family!
The advertisement on the first day aroused heated discussion, because these days, Kang Jianfei is the first to use a full page newspaper to promote a movie, and it is difficult not to attract attention.
It's not that other directors didn't think of this trick, but it's just that the input and output are too incongruous. With the circulation of "Oriental Daily", a full-page full-color advertisement for half a month is almost half the value of "Happy Ghost"
The cost of filming has been reduced. The local box office of Hong Kong movies is only a few million. Many movies can only recover their costs by relying on the box office of other places. There is no need to promote it so vigorously in Hong Kong.
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Jiahe's boss Zou Wenhuai took today's "Oriental Daily" and frowned when he saw the advertisement for "Happy Ghost". He couldn't figure out what Lei Juekun and Kang Jianfei wanted to do!
This is already the third day, and the slogan of "Happy Ghost" has changed again: The whole family will watch "Happy Ghost" together and be happy for a whole year.
Taking off his glasses, Zou Wenhuai asked He Guanchang in confusion: "Achang, what is Lei Juekun's idea? The full-page full-color advertisement in Oriental Daily for three consecutive days cost tens of thousands, right?"
!If the box office of this movie is only a million, and he does this for a month, the theater chain’s box office share will only be able to earn back the advertising fee.”
He Guanchang, like Zou Wenhuai, was a veteran of the Shaw Brothers. Later, he founded Golden Harvest Pictures with Zou Wenhuai. He can be regarded as a veteran in the film industry for decades. But he couldn't figure it out after reading the newspaper, and in the end he could only guess: "
Lei Juekun's family has a great business, and now he is entering the film industry with high spirits. He probably lost money this time and made a profit. If he can make a breakthrough this time with hundreds of thousands of advertising fees, it will be worth the money."
Zou Wenhuai kept frowning and said, "I always feel that something is not right this time."
He Guanchang said: "Advertising for "Happy Ghost" is not the focus. What we need to deal with now is Princess Jin. Once the theater subsidy system was cancelled, the owners of several movies planned to be released in Jiahe decided to use Princess Golden to release them."
Producers need theaters to release movies, and if the movies cannot be released, they will have to lose money; but theaters also need producers to provide film sources. Bare theaters have no movies to show, and they have to pay operating and management expenses every day.
Although there are not many movies currently planned to be screened at Golden Princess, this is not a good sign for Golden Harvest. Once the film source is taken away by Golden Princess, the income and influence of Golden Harvest Cinema Line will be greatly reduced.
However, Zou Wenhuai had some different ideas from He Guanchang. He believed that the top priority now was to kill "Happy Ghost" and gave Lei Juekun a blow, saying: "Although the cancellation of the theater subsidy system has an impact on us, it has not yet arrived.
It threatens the survival of Shaw Brothers Cinemas. After all, we still have an overseas distribution network, so there won’t be many companies that turn to Golden Princess."
The overseas distribution network is where Princess Jin cannot compete with Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.
Shaw Brothers Cinemas not only has 16 cinemas in Hong Kong, but also more than 100 cinemas in Nanyang. At its peak, Shaw Brothers Nanyang Cinemas had 139 cinemas. Although Golden Harvest does not have its own cinemas overseas,
But Cathay Cinemas in Southeast Asia and Taiwan wear the same pants as Golden Harvest.
Hong Kong movies only make the most of their box office in other places. Independent companies must rely on Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest to successfully distribute in Nanyang and Taiwan. Especially Nanyang, which is simply the back garden of Shaw Brothers. At that time, the boss of Cathay Pacific, Luk Yuntao, was the richest man in Singapore.
His son can only tie with Shao Daheng in Nanyang.
The cancellation of the theater guarantee system by Golden Princess Cinemas can only attract film sources from some small companies. Those companies that have ambitions to sell movies overseas really dare not offend Golden Harvest for the small theater guarantee fee.
Zou Wenhuai couldn't come up with a clue after thinking for a long time, so he could only order: "Continue to keep an eye on Princess Golden Cinema, and find someone to find out what happened to Kang Jianfei and the advertisement in the newspaper! By the way, ask Xu Ke out
Come out, he also participated in this movie, ask him how he is doing."
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In Fang Yihua's office in the TVB building, Shen Tianxia told the original story of her guest appearance in "Happy Ghost", and then said: "The three heroines of this movie are all students, and none of them have acting experience. The cost seems to be only 50
About Wan, I only acted for Qiuguan’s sake."
Fang Yihua asked: "What do you think of the filming of "Happy Ghost"?"
Shen Tianxia tilted her head and recalled for a while, then said: "I think the filming was average. They were all ordinary comedies, but there was an extra ghost in them."
"I understand." Fang Yihua nodded and said, "You said you would go to Taiwan with Qiu Guan to develop. I have already agreed. Remember to tie Qiu Guan tightly. He is a good man."
Shen Tianxia looked happy and bowed quickly: "Thank you Aunt Fang, thank you Aunt Fang!"
Fang Yihua smiled and said: "Don't thank me, just treat me to a wedding drink when you get married."
"Absolutely," Shen Dianxia said carefully, "Aunt Fang, should I leave first?"
Fang Yihua nodded, put away her smile after Shen Tianxia left, got up and walked to Shao Yifu's office.
After listening to Fang Yihua's report, Shao Yifu knocked on the table and said: "New director, new actors, full-page advertisements, full-line screenings, no matter how you look at it, it is just for the public. Is it true that Lei Juekun is losing money and making money?"
Fang Yihua said: "I think the key lies in Kang Jianfei. Azhi once approached me and offered to renew the contract in exchange for the release of "Happy Ghost". Wang Tianlin also admired this person very much, and now Lei Juekun is optimistic about him. This There must be something extraordinary about Kang Jianfei that makes Lei Juekun look at him with admiration!"
"Don't think so much," Shao Yifu suddenly laughed, "Even if Princess Jin gets up this time, she will still fight to the death with Jiahe. We, Shao Family, are just sitting on the mountain watching the fight between tigers!"
Obviously, Shao Yifu underestimated Princess Jin's potential. How could he have expected that in the future, Xinyi City, supported by Princess Jin, would not only kill Jiahe but also force Shaw Brothers and Jiahe to join forces to win?
Another time and space is Xinyi City. In this time and space, I don’t know how much disturbance Kang Jianfei can create.
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Day by day, the full-page advertisements in "Oriental Daily" for half a month made experienced people feel numb. But they didn't know that Kang Jianfei's advertisements were all free, and they never expected that Ma Chengkun would be so generous as to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements. Give away for free.
Countless ordinary readers are deeply impressed by "Happy Ghost", and many families have even made the decision in advance to watch this movie with the whole family during the annual vacation.
A few days before the release of "Happy Ghost", Golden Princess Cinema has already released several low-cost movies, which can be regarded as a warm-up for the opening of "Happy Ghost".
The eighteen cinemas under the Golden Princess Cinemas took turns inviting people to perform lion dances to celebrate. They beat gongs and drums every day and were filled with joy. Many passers-by who had not planned to watch the movie also came to watch. For a while, the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest Cinemas All the limelight was stolen.
Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest quickly reacted and invited various performance teams to celebrate, and red lanterns were hung at the entrance of the theater. Princess Jin was crazy about promoting "Happy Ghost", while Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest promoted "Modern Country Guy" ” and “Junior Brother Takes Action”.
The fierce competition between the three cinema lines immediately attracted media coverage. The three movies "Happy Ghost", "Modern Countryman" and "Junior Brother" were even more popular, and some private associations even offered handicaps. , bet on the final box office of three movies.
Kang Jianfei was so happy in his heart. He didn't care whether he could win "Junior Brother". What he was happy about was that dozens of media in Hong Kong helped him promote it for free.
The release date of "Happy Ghost" is getting closer and closer. I wonder if Jiahe did it intentionally, but Cheng Long's "Junior Brother Goes Out" actually chose to be released on the same day as "Happy Ghost".
Shao Yifu was not interested in joining in the fun and arranged the premiere date of "Modern Countryman" one week after "Happy Ghost" and "Junior Brother".
1980, February 9, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little Year.
In the fifth month since Kang Jianfei came to Hong Kong, his first movie will finally be released!