When the sales of "Tian Tian Daily" increased sharply, "The Dragon Back to School" starring Zhou Xingchi and Zhang Yan began to be released. Its box office growth rate was even more terrifying than that of the previous "The Swordsman: The Invincible". The box office in the first week directly exceeded
15 million.④⑦④⑦,
As far away as Taiwan, "The Truman Show" has also been completed, with a total box office of NT$43.88 million, temporarily ranking fourth in Taiwan's annual box office list.
At this time, Yu Kanping from the Taiwan branch received news that the Taiwan authorities had promulgated a new local film protection law.
The new law mainly targets Hollywood films that are making money in Taiwan. The stipulations are: a U.S. film can only import a maximum of eight copies in Taiwan. In other words, each Hollywood film can only be sold in a maximum of eight stores in Taiwan.
Showing in cinemas.
Although there are a lot of Hong Kong films released in Taiwan, the top ones on the box office list are all Hollywood blockbusters. Cheng Long's film only grossed NT$30 million in Taiwan, but films like "Terminator 2" and "Last Crusade"
The box office sales of these Hollywood movies in Taiwan often exceed 100 million yuan.
The top three in the box office list every year are Hollywood blockbusters. These three movies alone can bring in at least NT$200 million in box office from Taiwan. It is easy to understand why the Taiwanese authorities restrict the release of Hollywood movies.
The Taiwan authorities promulgated this decree. On the surface, it was to protect the Taiwan film market from dumping of Hollywood films, but in fact it was more motivated by interests. Once this decree was issued, large cinemas could monopolize the screening rights of Hollywood blockbusters and participate in Hong Kong
Taiwanese film producers who invest in and produce Hong Kong films are even more happy. Without the competitive pressure of Hollywood films, the Hong Kong films they invest in can sell more box office.
Kang Jianfei originally said that Paramount would be allowed to build theater chains in Taiwan in advance, but the introduction of new laws by the Taiwan authorities directly made it difficult to implement his idea.
In fact, this law did not have much effect on the boycott of Hollywood films. There were many cases of theater operators making illegal copies. The regulatory authorities also turned a blind eye. If nothing else, two years later, "Jurassic Park"
" has sold more than 200 million in box office in Taiwan. Even the box office of Cheng Long's "City Hunter" was only a fraction of that. How can I resist it?
Many of Taiwan's film and television laws are extremely weird. For example, in Taiwan's martial arts dramas at this time, the authorities stipulated that a fight should last up to 8 seconds - I don't know who came up with it.
After the promulgation of this law, Hong Kong film companies and directors were most happy. Because Taiwan originally banned the screening of Japanese films and allowed a small number of Korean films, and now it has stipulated the number of copies of American films, then in the end it was Hong Kong films that benefited the most.
.
There has already been an influx of Taiwanese hot money into the Hong Kong film industry, and this decree by the Taiwan authorities is nothing more than adding fuel to the fire. Now even many of Golden Harvest's films have investments from Taiwanese film companies. More than 80% of newly filmed Hong Kong films are funded
From Taiwan.
Of course, for the sake of good looks, many Hong Kong films are transformed into Taiwanese films when they are released in Taiwan - even though the actors and actresses are all Hong Kong people.
…
Thanks to the new law, Taiwan's Central Cinema Line, which had some disagreements with Kang Jianfei before, took the initiative to repair its relationship with DreamWorks. FireWire organized manpower to dub in Mandarin, hoping to release "The Swordsman: The Undefeated" at the end of the summer season.
This schedule was originally reserved for a Hollywood blockbuster. But now it is stipulated that each Hollywood film can only introduce 8 copies. The Chinese cinema chain cannot leave the remaining screening halls empty, right? It just so happens that "The Swordsman 2" is released at this time
It sold like crazy in Hong Kong, so the people from China Film Group shamefully apologized and begged Kang Jianfei for the film.
Although Kang Jianfei holds a grudge, he is not ignorant of current affairs. Since China Cinema Line has lowered its stature to purchase films from DreamWorks, it is naturally impossible for him not to give them face.
Not only did they give face, but they also gave them enough face. The protagonists Lin Qingxia and Li Lianjie of "The Swordsman 2" both came to Taipei to attend the Taipei premiere of the film.
Taiwan's film market is growing so fast. The total box office is rising every year, so much so that Kang Jianfei cannot ignore it.
Although Taiwan's stock market collapsed this year, it had no impact on the film market.
In the past, most of Taiwan's movie box office revenue came from the north, but in recent years, with the infrastructure development in the southern region, a large number of farmers have become rich overnight by relying on land expropriation compensation, causing Taiwan's movie audience base to double.
An example may be more intuitive: During the Spring Festival one year, a farmer pulled an ox cart and took a family with him: "No, I spent three hours just going out. I must watch Hong Kong movies." So the cinema had no choice but to add more movies.
seat.
At this time, Taiwanese cinemas, especially those in the southern region, may have only 1,000 rated seats in the screening hall, but there are often 2,000 people watching movies at the same time, and the cinema aisles are packed with audiences.
This time not only Lin Qingxia and Li Lianjie came to Taipei, but Kang Jianfei himself also came. The purpose of his coming was to cooperate with Yang Dengkui and invest in building movie theaters in southern Taiwan.
The film market in southern Taiwan has emerged, but the basic theater construction has not kept up. Many times, audiences have to squeeze in the cinema aisles to watch movies. Yang Dengkui is good at both black and white in the south, while Kang Jianfei has a source of high-quality Hong Kong films.
Cooperation between people is a matter of mutual benefit.
…
The plane landed at Taoyuan Airport.
Kang Jianfei was the first to get off the plane. Lin Qingxia walked side by side with him, followed closely by Li Lianjie, followed by more than ten bodyguards, assistants and other entourage.
Before he even left the airport, Kang Jianfei knew that the whereabouts of his people had been leaked, and it was most likely leaked intentionally by China Cinema Line to promote the upcoming release of "The Swordsman: The Undefeated."
There were piles of reporters outside, as well as at least hundreds of fans who had heard the news and came here. It was so noisy and chaotic that the airport had to send security personnel to maintain order.
"I'm all waiting for you." Kang Jianfei took Lin Qingxia's hand and smiled.
Lin Qingxia has not returned to Taipei for several years, and it is still a bit uncertain to return to her hometown now."
Li Lianjie came to Taiwan for the first time. Looking at the crowd of people outside, his first impression was that Taiwanese movie fans are so enthusiastic.
However, several bodyguards were walking on thin ice and cautiously stepped forward to protect Kang Jianfei and others, fearing that there might be dangerous elements hidden among the people outside, or that movie fans might be too enthusiastic and cause an accident.
With the popularity of the "Once Upon a Time" series of movies, Li Lianjie is still very famous in Taiwan, but it all depends on who he is compared to.
Reporters and fans swarmed up and surrounded Kang Jianfei and his party. The focus of interviews and attention was surprisingly Kang Jianfei and Lin Qingxia. Li Lianjie was a big star, but he was ignored by these people.
"Qingxia, have you ever considered returning to Taiwan to make a movie?"
"It is rumored that you and Mr. Kang have a son. Is it true?"
"Mr. Kang, have you ever considered marrying Miss Lin?"
"..."
Well, the reporter's questions were initially about the movie, but soon turned to the scandal between the two. The most frequently asked question was about the illegitimate child between the two.
Although these reporters asked questions very politely, Lin Qingxia still looked angry and remained silent after answering a few questions.
With the help of bodyguards, Kang Jianfei protected Lin Qingxia and squeezed out. At the same time, he talked nonsense to the reporters with a smile on his face. He talked a lot of nonsense without touching the main point.
At the same time, a large number of movie fans also squeezed in, and from time to time someone handed over pens and papers to ask for autographs.
After a lot of effort, Kang Jianfei and the others were squeezing into the car outside. Seeing that Lin Qingxia was unhappy, he held her hand and comforted her: "Don't think too much, let those people talk."
Lin Qingxia rolled her eyes at him complainingly: "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have the shame to go back to Taiwan."
Kang Jianfei was at a loss for words and could only respond in silence.
…
The next day, Lin Qingxia and Li Lianjie went to the TV station to record a program for promotion, while Kang Jianfei went to inspect Oriental Culture and Entertainment Group (Taiwan) Company.
The Taiwanese company has developed for several years since the ban was lifted, and has produced a total of 9 Taiwanese films. It has signed more than ten Taiwanese actors such as Sun Yue, Shao Xin, Su Mingming, Tuo Zonghua, Ge Weiru, etc.
"Lao Yu, you have worked hard these past few years!" Kang Jianfei said, holding Yu Kanping's hand.
Yu Kanping is not only in charge of the Taiwan branch, but also the Taiwan distribution affairs of Oriental DreamWorks. It is difficult for local films in Taiwan to survive, but with Yu Kanping's efforts, the Taiwan branch can still maintain a meager profit every year.
And he won two trophies at the Panama and Venice Film Festivals, which is enough to affirm his work.
Yu Kanping smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Kang, please don't bury me. The company's net profit last year was only more than NT$6 million. I am embarrassed to show off such performance."
"The general environment is like this, so there is no need to blame yourself." Kang Jianfei said.
Yu Kanping asked: "Mr. Kang came to Taiwan this time to build a theater chain in the south?"
Kang Jianfei said: "I have made an appointment with Yang Dengkui for an interview the day after tomorrow."
Yu Kanping nodded and said: "It is indeed necessary to cooperate with local snakes. Yang Dengkui still has means. He has made a lot of money investing in Hong Kong films in the past two years and is known as Taiwan's number one producer. It is ridiculous to say that Taiwanese films have already
It didn’t get to this point, and the so-called first producer turned out to be a gang member who had killed people and been in jail.”
"It doesn't matter what his background is, as long as he can cooperate," Kang Jianfei said.
Yu Kanping reminded: "Mr. Kang, I heard that Yang Dengkui seems to be a generous person, but in fact he likes to eat alone. You must be careful when discussing business with him. This person will definitely talk like a lion."
"I will pay attention." Kang Jianfei said.
"Maybe I'm over-worrying," Yu Kanping said with a smile, leading Kang Jian to fly inside. "I didn't expect that Mr. Kang, you would arrive a day early, and most of the company's artists are not here. I have already informed them to go back."
Kang Jianfei said: "There is no need to bother people, I just take a look and leave. I have to go to UFO Records in the afternoon." (To be continued...) u