May is not a good time for movies to be released, not to mention that "Mulan" is mainly to make money for children, so it should be placed in the summer movie.
But animated movies are really not taken seriously in Hong Kong. Most people regard them as children's movies, and it is a waste to schedule them in prime time during the summer.
Fortunately, "Mulan" has received good box office results in North America, and it is very trouble-free to promote. Many parents choose to take their children to the theater on weekends.
Oriental Cinemas adjusted its screening plan in a timely manner, reducing the number of screenings of "Mulan" from Monday to Thursday and increasing the number of screenings from Friday to Sunday, maximizing the use of theater resources. It took three full weeks of screenings before the film was released.
"Mulan" took in a box office of 6.46 million in Hong Kong, which is a middling result in the off-season for movies.
However, as a local animated film, "Mulan" actually set a box office record - which shows that animated films are not popular in Hong Kong.
Kang Jianfei also felt very helpless after learning about the box office in the two places. Disney's version of "Mulan" had a box office of up to 120 million US dollars in North America, while his film only made a pitiful 20 million, but after it was released in Hong Kong,
The performance is also unsatisfactory.
Comparing the two versions, in addition to the more elegant animation style, the soundtrack of this version is actually better than that of Disney, thanks to the music master Hu Weili.
Although the box office was not very high, film critics gave "Mulan" high praise.
The famous film critic Roger Ebert praised it in The Hollywood Reporter: "The gorgeous oriental-style animation, the characters are elegant and smart, and the soundtrack is also very brilliant."
Chen Bosen said in "Film Fortnightly": "Animated films have always been a weak point of Hong Kong films. In the past ten years, there have been no more than 5 local animated films in Hong Kong. Regardless of its film quality, "Mulan" has only made money in the United States.
With a box office of more than 20 million US dollars, it is worthy of applause..."
"Mulan" was screened next to "The Anchor" produced by a Korean company. This drama starred Zhou Runfa and Lai Ming, and it was far more popular than cartoons like "Mulan".
The film was re-dubbed in Cantonese and became a hit once it was released at the end of May. Although it is the off-season for movies, "The Anchor" still earned 14.36 million at the box office. Korean actress Choi Jin-sil, as the heroine of the film, has also been praised by many for this.
Familiar to Hong Kong audiences.
The funniest thing is that Taiwanese film producers saw the hit theaters of "The Anchor" in Hong Kong, and the China Cinema Line immediately negotiated a film order agreement with Oriental Entertainment and Culture Group. After the Korean film was brought to Taiwan, it was dubbed in Mandarin.
In the end, it was promoted as a Hong Kong film.
…
Guangdong, Shaoguan.
Five or six cars came out of the city and headed straight to the suburbs in the northeast.
Kang Jianfei was sitting in the Hongqi car at the front. Next to him was Xiao Hongjun, deputy director of the business office of China Film Co-production Company. The co-pilots were Zhang, the local deputy mayor in charge of cultural and educational affairs, and Minister Nie of the Shaozhou Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department.
You can only take the second car.
Deputy Mayor Zhang, who is usually serious, was turning around to promote the scenic spots on his territory. Kang Jianfei and Xiao Hongjun said: "Mr. Kang, I am not bragging about myself. The scenery of our Danxia Mountain is the best in the world."
One of the best, perfect for filming movies. Our Danxia Mountain has rivers, lakes, and high mountains and dangerous peaks. If you are lucky, you can see the mist between the mountains and the lake, just like a fairyland on earth. Needless to say, these
, there is a professional term in geography called Danxia landform, and that Danxia refers to our Danxia Mountain..."
The deputy mayor couldn't stop as soon as he started speaking. He talked non-stop for more than ten minutes, from introducing natural scenery to human geography, with the purpose of keeping the "Tomb Robbers" crew in Danxia Mountain.
In mainland China, directors have an administrative level. Although Kang Jianfei comes from Hong Kong, mainland officials consciously give him a level. For an internationally renowned director like Kang Jianfei, it is not outrageous for the provincial governor to accompany him when he has dinner.
Vice Mayor Zhang thinks that he has made a profit, and can accompany the international director throughout the selection of location. Moreover, he has been assigned a task by his superiors, asking him to keep Kang Jianfei in Shaozhou. It would be better if he can attract investment to develop Danxia Mountain.
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Today's Danxia Mountain is just like the Shaolin Temple many years ago. Although it is a famous Taoist mountain and has beautiful scenery, it has not been developed and promoted as a scenic spot. It is basically left there as it is. The local government is still counting on Kang Jianfei to do some damage.
Money comes out.
Deputy Mayor Zhang probably felt thirsty after talking, so he picked up the kettle and took a sip. Only then did Kang Jianfei have the opportunity to interrupt. He smiled and said: "I have also heard about the reputation of Danxia Mountain for a long time, so this time I chose the location.
All I thought of was coming here to take a look.”
There were several alternative locations for "Tomb Robbers". Kang Jianfei chose Danxia Mountain as the first stop because it was the closest to Hong Kong.
Xiao Hongjun from the China Film Co-Production Company also laughed and said: "In the past few years, I have traveled around with overseas directors and seen all kinds of beautiful scenery. I have never been to Danxia Mountain. Mayor Zhang is going to be our tour guide today."
"
Vice Mayor Zhang smiled and said: "That's for sure. You two are originally guests, and I must fulfill my friendship as a landlord no matter what."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Hongqi car suddenly shook violently, and everyone in the car lost their balance and fell to the side.
Deputy Mayor Zhang said awkwardly: "The road condition in the suburbs is not good, and the roads are old for decades."
The further we walked toward the suburbs, the more the car shook. It was almost noon when we arrived at Danxia Mountain.
The convoy did not go directly into the mountainous area, but continued forward to the Renhua County Guest House.
County Magistrate Zhao of Renhua County personally went to the guest house to greet him, and naturally he had a feast afterward. Although the chef's skills were average, he couldn't stand the quality of the ingredients. It was absolutely pollution-free green food and tasted much better than the chicken and duck feed in Hong Kong.
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Since there were other arrangements in the afternoon, there was not much drinking at the table. It was after one o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone set off to Danxia Mountain again. This time, the head of Renhua County also followed the large troops.
Kang Jianfei was speechless. There was actually no road leading to Danxia Mountain in the local area. The car just drove on a dirt road. The journey of less than 10 kilometers was bumpy for a long time.
These days, all parts of the country are developing industry and commerce, but few people really care about the tourism industry. Danxia Mountain is still a virgin land that needs to be developed.
It was not until the 1990s that an upsurge in tourism development was launched across the country, causing devastating damage to natural and cultural relics resources. The construction of infrastructure in scenic spots will certainly damage the environment to a certain extent, but the destruction of cultural relics is purely the result of greed and ignorance.
I don’t know how many dilapidated ancient buildings in scenic spots across the country have been demolished, some of which were left over from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and replaced with various modern antique buildings. There are even complete Buddha statues that are hundreds of years old, just because they are too old and unsightly.
Then it was knocked down and used as firewood, and a new golden Buddha statue was built in its place.
It rained last night and the roads were muddy. The convoy stopped driving not far from Danxia Mountain, so everyone had to get off the car and walk.
Kang Jianfei put on a pair of rain boots that he had prepared early and walked into the mountainous area with everyone else.
Vice Mayor Zhang was worried that Kang Jianfei would leave a bad impression on Danxia Mountain due to road problems. He said: "The roads are usually easy to walk, but today is a special situation."
County Magistrate Zhao also helped: "Actually, if you come from the county, you can take a boat directly by waterway without walking at all. It's just that it rained two days ago and the water level of Jinjiang River has risen a lot. The county is worried about everyone's safety.
That’s why I canceled my plan to take the boat.”
Kang Jianfei felt that walking in rain boots was too tiring, so he simply took off his boots and went barefoot, strolling leisurely among the mountains and rivers with pristine beauty.
After walking for a while, it started to rain lightly in the sky. Everyone climbed to the top of a mountain and looked over from a distance. The mountains, rivers and lakes in the rain were surrounded by smoke and clouds, as if they were looking at an ink landscape painting.
After wandering around in the mountains for a long time, everyone went back with flashlights as night fell.
Kang Jianfei's clothes were soaked all over and he was very tired, but he was extremely satisfied with the results of this trip.
There is a river in the first story of "Tomb Robbers Notes". Jinjiang River and Xianglong Lake in Danxia Mountain are very suitable for filming. Even the valley with the bronze coffin has been selected by Kang Jianfei.
Back in the Hongqi limousine, all Kang Jianfei could think about was how to set up and shoot the scenery at the place he selected in the afternoon.
Just as he was starting to think, Vice Mayor Zhang's voice interrupted his train of thought: "Mr. Kang, I'm not lying to you. The scenery in our Danxia Mountain is beautiful."
"It's very good." Kang Jianfei affirmed. As strong as he was, he felt a little tired after walking on the muddy ground in the mountains for an afternoon, not to mention several officials. However, the performance of several local officials was very good.
Although they were almost exhausted, they followed Kang Jianfei and never left. Only when Kang Jianfei stopped to observe, they sat down on the pony they brought with them to rest.
Deputy Mayor Zhang's legs were numb from walking, but now was not the time to worry about his legs. He couldn't wait to ask: "Is Mr. Kang going to shoot in Danxia Mountain?"
Kang Jianfei didn't bother to go around with him and said, "If nothing else happens, I will choose Danxia Mountain as the location. In addition, I am going to see what other scenic spots there are in Shaozhou in the next few days."
"That's great!" Vice Mayor Zhang said happily.
Because of the relationship between political performance evaluation, Chinese officials actually have a diligent heart. Whether it is for the country and the people, or purely for their own promotion, if they have the opportunity to achieve political achievements, no matter they are corrupt or honest officials, they will work very hard.
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After everyone returned to the county guest house, they changed out of their wet clothes, took a hot bath, and started eating and drinking again.
Several officials kept giving Kang Jianfei wine, hoping to knock him out and discuss the investment and development of Danxia Mountain.
The local finance can only build the road from the urban area to the scenic spot. If you want to build the scenic spot, you can only rely on imported funds. What's more, Kang Jianfei has a successful case of operating the Shaolin Temple scenic spot, so he naturally became the local government's
First choice.
Before Kang Jianfei could lie down, several officials had already "lyed down", but their goal was achieved, and Kang Jianfei agreed to invest in Danxia Mountain.
When he first contracted the Shaolin Temple, Kang Jianfei had only registered one tourism company. In recent years, the Shaolin Temple scenic spot has been operated by the local tourism department and Kang Jianfei's tourism company.
A few days later, Hu Juncai received a phone call from Kang Jianfei, asking him to summon people from the tourism company to Shaozhou City to inspect investments. Kang Jianfei himself went back to Hong Kong. r1152