Compared with the same period last year, the local box office in Hong Kong this year is even more sluggish, with the total box office falling by nearly one-third, and the number of moviegoers returning to the level of 1982.
Even if Kang Jianfei intervenes and Taiwanese film producers have not repeatedly asked the Taiwan authorities to fully liberalize the copying of American films, they still cannot stop the decline of Hong Kong films. The ultimate problem is that the Hong Kong film industry system is in chaos, and Hong Kong films have shown a
a disorderly state of development.
At the beginning of this year, insightful people in the Hong Kong film industry once again jointly petitioned the Hong Kong government to establish a film bureau to regulate the production and distribution of Hong Kong films. Then the Hong Kong government was busy making trouble with the Chinese government and ignored such trivial matters.
.
It's ridiculous to say that in the grand "Hollywood of the East", Hong Kong films are sold all over the world, but Hong Kong doesn't even have a film bureau.
This year’s Hong Kong movie summer season, the smoke of war is no longer visible. The enemy of major production companies and theater chains is not their competitors, but the dwindling audience.
The one that attracts the most attention is Media Asia Film Company established by Lin Jianyue and Johnson Johnson. As soon as its debut film "I Have a Date with Spring" was released, it attracted crazy praise from film critics and audiences, and the box office of this film also increased steadily.
Bullish.
"I Have a Date with Spring" did not invite celebrities. The actors were all newcomers who graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The main reason for its good results is that it was already famous throughout Hong Kong before it was released.
It is a stage play itself, telling a story in the 1960s. It was performed at the Hong Kong City Hall in Central two years ago and immediately became popular throughout Hong Kong. Now Media Asia has invited Ko Chi-sen as director to transform this stage play into a movie.
It also features the original cast, so it will naturally attract countless audiences to the cinema.
After "I Have a Date with Spring" was released in Yonggao Cinema, the box office was second only to "Golden Branches and Jade Leaves" starring Leslie Cheung and Yuen Yongyi, temporarily ranking second at the summer box office.
By the way, Luo Luo Cheng's Yong Gao Cinema Line has suffered a total loss of more than 100 million in the three years since its establishment. Just in June this year, Luo Luo Cheng sold Yong Gao Cinema Line to a car dealership owner and successfully found a successor.
As for the movie "Golden Leaves", produced by Huang Baiming's Metro Pictures, it topped the first round of this summer's summer season, with a local box office of more than 29 million.
Also released at the same time was "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" directed by Yuan Kui and starring Li Lianjie, Chung Liti and Zheng Zeshi.
The film's producer is nominally Golden Harvest, but the entire production team is Li Lianjie's Zhengdong Film Company.
The actor contract between Li Lianjie and Kang Jianfei expired long ago. In the past two years, he accepted investment from Taiwanese Yang Dengkui and established Zhengdong Film Company, which successively produced blockbuster movies such as "Fang Shiyu" and "Who Will Confront Me".
Unfortunately, since last year, Taiwanese film producers have reduced their investment in Hong Kong films, and Li Lianjie has been unable to obtain funding for filming. He was too embarrassed to go back to ask Kang Jianfei, so he simply accepted the olive branch offered by Jiahe and filmed "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" for Jiahe.
As early as when the filming of "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai" started, the executives of the Oriental Entertainment Agency had already regarded Li Lianjie as a traitor - it is okay for you to make a film for a Taiwanese film company, but it is unforgivable to make a film for Jiahe.
Both Li Lianjie and Jiahe's Zou Wenhuai had high expectations for "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai". However, the results after its release were shocking. Although this film has a good reputation, its box office is only that of "I"
Half of "A Date with Spring", only 11 million.
Oriental DreamWorks' "Love in the City" was a little underwhelming. It was directed by Liu Zhenwei and starred by Li Ming, Wu Mengda and Wu Qianlian. Although it is a small-budget urban romance film, the box office of 9.9 million is still a bit excessive. Among the works of several major film companies
Ranked last.
Even "Heaven and Earth" produced by Andy Lau's Tianmu Company had a box office more than 1 million higher than "Love in the City".
This is the situation of the first round of films in this summer's summer season. Among the major film companies in Hong Kong, Huang Baiming's Metro Pictures is first, Lam Kin-yue's Media Asia Pictures is second, Chou Wenhuai's Golden Harvest is third, and Kang Jianfei's Oriental DreamWorks is last.
Such a situation has caused some media that are hostile to Kang Jianfei to write that this is the worst performance of Oriental DreamWorks during an important period in more than ten years since its establishment.
There are also pessimistic industry insiders who believe that Hong Kong films are completely hopeless. Even Oriental DreamWorks' films are on the market, which is the most direct manifestation of the decline of Hong Kong films. This year's summer movie schedule is actually a bit deserted.
At this time (end of July, beginning of August), the second round of summer films began to be released one after another, including four main works——
First, "The Tigers of Wan Chai".
This is the last film invested by Roger from Wing Koh Company. The reality is that Chen Yiu Hing, one of the Five Tigers of San Ngee Ann, was one of the Tigers of Wan Chai. Chen Yiu Hing was killed at the end of last year, and Mui Yan-fong was also involved. Some people said that behind the scenes was Chen Yiu Hing.
Xiang Huaqiang was in control, and some people said he had something to do with Kang Jianfei, but anyway it caused a big fuss.
Luo Jiecheng made this movie just to make money from the popularity. This guy was still friends with Chen Yaoxing before.
Second, "The Overlord of Western Chu".
This film is funded by Taiwanese film producers, directed and produced by Hong Kong people, and is a three-place co-production filmed in mainland China. The starring cast is also very strong, including Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Guan Zhilin and Lu Liangwei, and it caters to both the mainland and Hong Kong markets.
Third, "A Splendid Future".
Xiang Huaqiang's "Voice" also produced. Directed by Chen Jiashang, starring Leslie Cheung, Leung Ka-fai, and Kwan Chi-lin, it is a small-budget urban comedy-romance film. The shooting budget was basically spent on the three leading actors.
Fourth, "Face Changing"!
The background of this movie is a bit cool.
Co-produced by Oriental DreamWorks, Oriental Film Company (USA) and Paramount Pictures, directed by Wu Yusen, written by Kang Jianfei, starring Zhou Runfa, Nicolas Cage, Yang Ziqiong, Zhou Jialing, Nakayama Shinobu (Japanese cute girl).
This is a blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, with weird face-changing technology, identity swapping between the good and the bad, an unconventional plot, and hot fighting scenes. It needs depth, depth, pictures, and plot.
There is a plot, but neither ordinary viewers nor professional film critics can find any flaws in it.
Most of the dialogues between the characters in "Face/Off" are in English, and only a few are in Cantonese. However, this cannot resist the public's enthusiasm for watching the movie, and the box office sales exceeded the 10 million mark in the first week.
The films released at the same time, "Tiger of Wan Chai" only had a box office of 3.8 million, "The Overlord of Western Chu" had a box office of 4.61 million, and "A Splendid Future" had a box office of 5.3 million, which were completely crushed by Wu Yusen's "Face/Off".
Many of the media who had just been badmouthing Oriental DreamWorks changed their opinions and praised Kang Jianfei.
And what is Kang Jianfei doing?
He is busy opening an Internet cafe. This thing is the first of its kind in the world, and many details require Kang Jianfei's personal guidance.
