It's not just the black and white images that are paying attention to the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight".
Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and even people from other film companies are also paying attention to this movie, not because of Hong Jinbao and Cheng Long, but because this is the first black and white film.
At this time, with the blessing of Shanhai Cinema, black and white imaging has become a force that cannot be ignored in the Hong Kong film industry. In addition, Chu Huan has previously integrated a number of small and medium-sized film companies.
No matter how you look at it, Black and White has become the third largest film company in Hong Kong.
How can such a situation not attract the attention of colleagues in the Hong Kong film industry?
Everyone wanted to see what the film would do with the black and white image.
Will it become an instant hit like Golden Harvest did with "One-Armed Sword Fighting the Blind Man", or will the movie be a hit and the company will continue to wait for Li Hanxiang's movie?
So tonight at the entrance of the theater, not only the staff of Black and White Video were asking about the company's situation, but also the staff of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest were asking... other film companies do not have this strength!
Tonight, neither Shao Yifu nor Zou Wenhuai slept. Last time, this pair of old enemies had a tacit understanding and issued a ban on black and white images at the same time.
As a result, it was destroyed by Chu Huan in less than a day, which made the two film industry bosses very angry but helpless. Chu Huan's counterattack was too fierce.
Just as Chu Huan said in Yong Kee's private room that night, if these people can unite, both Shaw Brothers and Jiahe will have to be careful.
The two of them did not react as quickly as Chu Huan and could think of counterattacks so quickly. In addition, the two of them were enemies. They were worried that if they went too far, it would easily lead to Chu Huan cooperating with the other party.
He ended up defending the enemy from both sides.
Therefore, the three parties have temporarily ceased their activities.
At that time, the two of them knew that this Chu Huan was not an easy person to deal with.
If nothing unexpected happens, these two people will become their biggest enemies in the Hong Kong film industry in the future besides each other.
How could they not pay attention to such a character?
At this time, both of them set their sights on "Dragon and Tiger Fight", the first film released in black and white.
After the movie ended, the two quickly received a call from their subordinates and learned about the feedback from the audience at the midnight screening of "Dragon and Tiger Fight."
After listening to the report, both of them looked quite complicated.
Fang Yihua knew what Shao Yifu was paying attention to today, so she rarely returned to her villa, but stayed at No. 8 Jiashu Road.
"What do the people below say?"
Fang Yihua saw Shao Yifu put down the phone and asked quickly.
At this time, Fang Yihua was not in a very good mood. In fact, Fang Yihua's current reputation in Shaw Brothers is not very good. If Shaw Brothers is compared to the ancient empire, Fang Yihua is now considered to be involved in the harem.
Fang Yihua's joining not only caused Zou Wenhuai and others to leave Shaw Brothers, but even Shao Yifu's children also left him.
Zou Wenhuai has worked at Shaw Brothers for more than ten years. Even though some people did not follow him to join Jiahe, they still respect Zou Wenhuai very much in their hearts.
After Zou Wenhuai left, Fang Yihua succeeded Zou Wenhuai and became the second-in-command of Shaw Brothers, even carrying forward Shao Yifu's stinginess.
Such behavior is naturally not liked by company employees.
Fang Yihua also understood this, although she said she didn't care about it externally, as long as Shao Yifu believed in her.
But in fact, Fang Yihua still cares about this matter very much.
Now, before Shaw Brothers can think of a good way to deal with Golden Harvest, another black and white image suddenly appears. Before anyone can react, it has become the most potential film company in Hong Kong.
Fang Yihua felt that her passing years were unlucky.
Shao Yifu's expression did not change at all. After so many years, what kind of storms has he not experienced? The situation he faced today was a bit tricky for him, but it would not make him panic.
"The audience's feedback is pretty good, but it's just an ordinary movie."
Fang Yihua breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "That's great. A few young people think they have some money and want to make a blockbuster movie. It's a joke!"
Chu Huan, Hong Jinbao, Cheng Long, and Miao Kexiu are not all young people.
If such a combination were to be seen in future generations, it would be the kind of movie with a young actor in the lead and a lot of bad movie elements.
No, Hong Jinbao and Cheng Long are not young talents at all. Only Miao Kexiu's appearance is definitely far superior to Xiaohua.
Shao Yifu glanced at his confidante and said calmly: "Things are not that simple. This young man, Chu Huan, was able to support the black and white image, Shanhai Cinema, and defeat me and me in such a short period of time.
Zou Wenhuai's joint suppression is not an ordinary person?"
Fang Yihua looked at Shao Yifu in confusion and asked, "Is there something going on?"
Shao Yifu nodded and said: "The movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" was unique in that it played a behind-the-scenes clip of the filming at the end of the movie. The audience responded very well!"
Fang Yihua asked: "Isn't the tidbits the process of failure? What kind of reaction can this kind of thing cause?"
Shao Yifu shook his head and said: "I don't know very well. I just listened to the people below. These tidbits are very exciting, and the feedback from the audience is very good."
Although Fang Yihua still had no specific concept, she was still interested when she heard what Shao Yifu said and said: "I didn't expect that Hong Jinbao would think of such a way to attract the audience."
Yifu Shao chuckled lightly and said: "It is impossible that Hong Jinbao came up with the behind-the-scenes thing. He has been in the film industry for so many years and has never mentioned this kind of thing. How could he think of this when he went to Black and White Video?"
It was Chu Huan who proposed it."
If in the previous black and white images, Shao Yifu cared about Shanhai Cinema and Li Hanxiang, then after a series of events, Shao Yifu had already set his sights on Chu Huan.
All of this was caused by Chu Huan.
"Heroes emerge from youth. I didn't expect this young man to have such abilities. Zou Wenhuai is going to be in trouble!"
When he finished speaking, Shao Yifu actually had a proud smile on his face.
Fang Yihua looked at Shao Yifu's expression and did not expect that Shao Yifu, who had always been very wary of Chu Huan, would praise Chu Huan at this time, and even said that Zou Wenhuai was going to be unlucky!
Aren’t black and white images also a competitor of Shaw Brothers?
Yifu Shao did not wait for Fang Yihua to ask, and took the initiative to explain: "The strength of Golden Harvest lies in their theaters, studios, and overseas distribution channels. As for Li Xiaolong, he has now changed from a contracted actor of Golden Harvest to a partner, and both parties are no longer subordinate.
relation.
I have actually known about Hong Jinbao for a long time. This person is actually not important to us at Shaw Brothers. After all, we have Liu Jialiang, but for Jiahe, it is different.
The establishment of Jiahe was still too short and lacked sufficient foundation. He thought that catching Li Xiaolong would enable Jiahe to rise?
There is only one Li Xiaolong. If Golden Harvest really wants to compete with our Shaw Brothers, it should rely on the middle and lower films. However, in this regard, Golden Harvest has made few achievements in the past two years.
Originally, if Hong Jinbao had been cultivating this talent for a few years, he could have tried to push him out to take charge of his own business, but in the end, Jiahe gave him to Chu Huan for nothing.
Li Xiaolong has great ambitions, which is one of the reasons why I didn't choose to sign him at the beginning. This person just wants to rely on us or Jiahe to improve his reputation in Hong Kong.
You see, from now on, Li Xiaolong's movies will all be produced by his Xiehe Films. As for Jiahe, he can only be responsible for getting money and can't do anything else. A few years later, Li Xiaolong has full wings, and at that time Zou Wenhuai
It’s up to two people whether or not Li Xiaolong can be restrained.
The leading actor has been lost, there is no successor, and the middle and lower films are not competitive, what will be left for Golden Harvest by then?"
When he said this, Shao Yifu even smiled.
In the final analysis, Black and White Pictures may only develop into the third largest film company in Hong Kong in the future, but Golden Harvest is now the second largest film company in Hong Kong and is the real enemy of Shaw Brothers, plus Shao Yifu and Zou Wenhuai.
grudges between.
Compared to the black and white images, Shao Yifu prefers to see Zou Wenhuai being unlucky.
In fact, Yifu Shao's analysis was correct. After Li Xiaolong passed away next year, Jiahe instantly gave everyone the feeling that the building was about to collapse.
But Zou Wenhuai was lucky. At this time, he met the second noble man in his business career, Xu Guanwen!
Xu Guanwen's Hui's comedy, the perfect successor to Li Xiaolong's Kung Fu movie, supported another part of Golden Harvest. It was precisely with the existence of Xu Guanwen that Golden Harvest had time to bring out Hong Jinbao, and then signed Cheng Long to become Hong Kong.
One of the most important film companies in the 1970s and 1980s.
Therefore, when doing business, you cannot believe in luck, but you must not be without luck.
Think about it, without Xu Guanwen's appearance, without people like Hong Jinbao and Cheng Long, would Jiahe still be Jiahe?
Fang Yihua asked tentatively: "If that's the case, should Zhang Che's movie be released at the same time as Li Hanxiang's movie next month? We can totally sit back and watch the fight between the two, and watch them fight to the death."
Shao Yifu waved his hand and said: "No, Jiahe has to deal with it, and the black and white images cannot be taken lightly. I always have a hunch that Chu Huan will become even more difficult to deal with than Zou Wenhuai in the future. Now continue to follow the previous plan
.
What we have to do now is to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances.”
Fang Yihua nodded, stood up and helped Shao Yifu up, and the two returned to the bedroom.
.......
Zou Wenhuai's residence.
Shao Yifu was accompanied by his confidante Fang Yihua, and Zou Wenhuai also had close partners like He Guanchang and Liang Feng.
"Everyone knows about "Dragon and Tiger Fight", please tell us what you think!"
Zou Wenhuan rubbed his eyebrows and said to He Guanchang and Liang Feng. Obviously he was not very satisfied with the result.
He Guanchang said immediately: "Chu Huan's idea of releasing the behind-the-scenes footage is definitely a genius idea. If only based on the feedback from the midnight audience, the box office of the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" is expected to exceed one million.
It’s almost impossible, but just one or two minutes of footage can increase the movie’s box office by RMB 200,000.”
Liang Feng also said: "But this thing is easy to imitate. We can definitely discuss it with Li Xiaolong and release some behind-the-scenes footage of his filming."
Zou Wenhuai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Don't you understand Aaron's character yet? He will not agree to what you are doing."
The reason why Zou Wenhuai was able to deal with Li Xiaolong had a lot to do with his understanding of Li Xiaolong's character.
Liang Feng thought about Li Xiaolong's character and smiled helplessly.
He Guanchang continued: "Actually, I am also responsible for this matter. When Chu Huan dragged Li Xiaolong to ask for Hong Jinbao, I agreed to the matter without thinking too much, but I did not expect that Hong Jinbao's ability is really good!"
Zou Wenhuai waved his hand and said: "I can't blame you for this matter. I was the one who made the final decision. I just didn't expect that he actually made a good movie."
He Guanchang said: "I'm going to find a cinema to check out this movie tomorrow. Now I only have feedback from the midnight screening, so I still can't fully understand the movie."
Zou Wenhuai said: "I'm sorry to trouble you. Now that things have happened, there is no point in regretting the decision we made before."
Having said this, Zou Wenhuai looked at He Guanchang seriously, and Liang Feng said: "Both of you, the black and white images must not appear, otherwise, we will be in danger!"
He Guanchang and Liang Feng instantly understood what Zou Wenhuai meant.
Jiahe's development mechanism is completely different from Shaw Brothers.
Shaw Brothers is a patriarchal system. All Shaw Brothers movies are directed, filmed and starred by Shaw Brothers actors, while Golden Harvest invests in more satellite companies to develop together.
Relying on the studios, theaters, and distribution channels they received from Cathay Pacific, Golden Harvest could easily invest in small and medium-sized film companies in Hong Kong, and even used these advantages to win over Li Xiaolong.
But this year is different. In order to deal with the joint suppression of Shaw Brothers and Jiahe, Chu Huan formed an alliance, which instantly reduced Jiahe's resources.
"Right now, Black and White Image doesn't have its own studio or distribution channels in other places. We can still rely on these to continue to have an advantage. But looking at what Chu Huan has done since entering the film industry, I believe he will take this step sooner or later.
Yes, if we just respond passively, this will be a very disadvantageous thing for us."
Zou Wenhuai continued to preach.
Like Shao Yifu, what he values is not the current "Dragon and Tiger Fight" of Black and White Video, but the possible development route of Black and White Video in the future and the threats it brings to them.
"Damn it, based on my understanding of that old fox Shao Laoliu, he must have the idea of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. Now we not only have to deal with the pursuit of black and white images, but also be careful of Shao's sudden attack."
Thinking of what Shao Yifu might do, Zou Wenhuai felt dizzy.
He Guanchang thought for a while and said: "I don't think Shao Laoliu will let black and white images become popular, so for us now, the most important thing is to introduce some new filmmakers in addition to Aaron.
movie."
Zou Wenhuai nodded and said, "I think so too."
After finishing speaking, He Guanchang looked at Zou Wenhuai and said seriously: "Achang, after you watch the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" tomorrow, you will be busy."
He Guanchang nodded and said: "No problem, I will strengthen contact with other film companies in Hong Kong, and I will also look for other film talents besides Aaron, and strive to continue to expand our company's talent pool and allies!"
Zou Wenhuai nodded and said: "Let's do this for now. From now on, we must pay more attention to black and white images, and at the same time, keep an eye on the box office of the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight"."
Liang Feng added: "I think what needs to be paid more attention to is the situation when the movie "Warlords" was released. This movie is the most important black and white movie this year!"
Zou Wenhuai nodded and said: "That's right!"
...
All colleagues in the film industry in Hong Kong are watching the box office performance of the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight".
At one o'clock in the morning the next day, the first-day box office of "Dragon Tiger Fight" was released.
81,000 Hong Kong dollars!
It seems like there are very few seats, but what you need to look at is the current ticket price in Xiangjiang. At this time, there are five levels of seats in Xiangjiang Cinema, namely grand seats (also known as super class), special class, and back seats.
, middle seat, front seat.
The corresponding fares are HKD 3.5, HKD 3, HKD 2.4, HKD 1.8 and HKD 1.5 respectively.
At the same time, the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" was only released in 12 theaters of the Shanhai Cinema Line. It is already a pretty good box office to have such a box office.
At least for newcomers in the film industry such as Hong Jinbao, Cheng Long and Miao Kexiu.
"According to the news from the theater chain, the audience did not drop too much in the next few shows, and many viewers were very interested in the highlights released by our company."
Pang Haoyang, the manager of the distribution department, looked at Chu Huan with a happy face.
Although the first-day box office is a bit lower than those popular movies, for Black and White Video, this box office is enough to make them proud.
Hong Jinbao, Cheng Long, Miao Kexiu and others also expressed joy after hearing about the first-day box office. This already indicates that the film will definitely not lose money and will also bring a considerable profit to the company.
.
You must know that their investment in this movie is only 400,000 Hong Kong dollars!
Although the box office of this movie will definitely show an obvious downward trend when it is released later, most of the movies that can achieve this box office on the first day can exceed one million at the box office.
Hong Jinbao breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Finally, we have fulfilled our mission!"
Fang Jianhui reminded him loudly at this time: "Brother Sanmao, don't be arrogant in victory or defeat. Although the box office of "Dragon and Tiger Fight" on the first day was good, you should not forget that many viewers were attracted by the behind-the-scenes highlights.
, without this extra feature, the box office results on the first day would not have been the same, so when we prepare a new movie later, we must learn from the current audience's reaction."
Hong Jinbao nodded seriously and said: "I understand, I basically spent the whole day in the cinema, carefully recording the audience's reaction at each point in time of this movie. I believe that I will be more effective in the next movie.
successful."
Chu Huan glanced at Hong Jinbao appreciatively. It was not unreasonable for this person to be successful in the future. His current serious attitude alone had laid the foundation for success.
Now that Hong Jinbao has realized his problem, Chu Huan is not ready to say anything more.
However, he later said that when the movie's box office exceeds 500,000, a celebration party will be held for everyone. If the movie's box office exceeds 1 million, a big red envelope will be given to everyone.
This decision instantly caused a burst of cheers from everyone.
Movies continued to be released, and on the second day, the daily box office of the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" was HK$79,000, a negligible drop.
On the third day, 75,000 Hong Kong dollars.
On the fourth day, there was a significant decrease, with a box office of HK$66,000.
...
In the end, the movie "Dragon Tiger Fight" was released in Hong Kong for 23 days, and the total box office exceeded the 1 million mark, which was 1.0535 million Hong Kong dollars.
This has exceeded the HK$944,400 of "Naughty Girl", the tenth place in the top ten box office movies in Hong Kong last year, the HK$1,020,500 of "The One-Armed Boxer", the ninth place, and the HK$1,024,100 of "Ti Ying", the eighth place.
.
But it is more difficult for the movie "Dragon Tiger Fight" to enter the top ten at the box office in Hong Kong this year, because according to Hong Kong's film and television records, the box office of the tenth local movie in Hong Kong this year will reach HK$1.2239 million.
But this is no longer important. As far as black and white images are concerned, the first movie has a box office of more than 1 million, which has completed its task perfectly.
Excluding the cost of HK$400,000, the film brought in profits of HK$653,500 for black and white images.
Of course, some other expenses must be excluded from this.
The first is the division of Shanhai Cinema Line.
Although both companies are owned by Chu Huan, they are independent in terms of money.
According to the sharing plan signed by Shanhai Cinemas and Black and White Video, Shanhai Cinemas will share 20% of the box office of the movie "Dragon Tiger Fight".
That’s 210,700!
In fact, the real benefit from the black and white images is HK$442,800!
Time goes back to the days when "Dragon and Tiger Fight" was released just two days ago.
After paying attention to the box office of the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" for two days, Chu Huan no longer paid attention to the box office of the movie, but focused on another thing.
Chu Huan himself did not have high hopes for the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight". He has emphasized countless times before that this movie is experimental and flattering.
So Chu Huan just chose to release it in Shanhai Cinema.
But the black-and-white film "Warlords" to be released next is different.
This is the most important movie of Black and White this year. Shanhai Cinema is still a bit small. Chu Huan found Fang Jianhui and asked him to immediately contact the independent cinema in Xiangjiang to discuss the release of "Warlords" next month.
This time, Chu Huan not only wants the movie to be released in his own Shanhai Cinema, but also wants to expand the scale of his release and choose more independent theaters to release it.
In fact, Golden Harvest has been doing this kind of thing. The only film company in Hong Kong that really has the confidence to not need independent theaters is Shaw Brothers.
Fang Jianhui said that when "Warlords" is released, the company will have at least five additional cinemas to show it.
...
"Brother Huan, do you have anything going on tonight?"
When Chu Huan walked out of the black and white image, Miao Kexiu also walked out, took the initiative to get into Chu Huan's car, and asked with some avoidance in her eyes.
Chu Huan thought for a moment and said: "It's okay, what happened?"
Miao Kexiu said in a low voice: "I want to thank you properly, so I want to invite you to my home and cook you a meal myself!"
The release of the movie "The Fight between Dragons and Tigers" brought Kam-po Hung from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and also made Cheng Long, an unknown person, an official movie star.
Nature also brought many benefits to Miao Kexiu.
In fact, before the movie was released, Miao Kexiu was under great psychological pressure.
Even now, some Hong Kong media are talking about her previous scandal with Chu Huan. The creation of the black and white image happened after the scandal between her and Chu Huan. At that time, everyone said that Chu Huan was a rusher.
Guan Yi was angry for beauty, so he founded Black and White Video.
A newcomer who had never entered the film industry founded a film company for a small star and invested more than 20 million yuan. At the time, this was a money-losing business no matter how you looked at it.
And Miao Kexiu has also become the scourge of contemporary beauty.
The assets that Chu Huan finally accumulated will cause a big setback for Miao Kexiu.
Well now, the movie "Dragon and Tiger Fight" has caused some sensation in Hong Kong and is about to become a movie with a box office of over one million. And because of the broadcast of the movie highlights, Miao Kexiu has also become a dedicated actress in the media.
Reputation has undergone earth-shaking changes at this time.
All of this made Miao Kexiu finally let go of the pressure in her heart.
Chu Huan smiled and said, "You cook yourself?"
Miao Kexiu nodded shyly, and Chu Huan said seriously: "Then I have to supervise. We have known each other for such a long time, and I have never really seen you cook. What if the thank you banquet turns into a fatal banquet?"
, then I’m really resentful.”
Being teased by Chu Huan, the shyness on Miao Kexiu's face disappeared and turned into dissatisfaction.
"I've been practicing for several days!"
Chu Huan laughed and said, "How about we buy ingredients now?"
Miao Kexiu looked at Chu Huan with some surprise and asked, "Brother Huan, do you want to buy ingredients with me?"
Chu Huan smiled and said: "Of course, otherwise how would you know what I like to eat?"
Miao Kexiu suddenly felt a little embarrassed and said softly: "But me, I only practiced those few dishes..."
Chu Huan smiled and rubbed Miao Kexiu's head. Such an intimate gesture made Miao Kexiu enjoy it, but at the same time, she was a little embarrassed.
But she didn't refuse.
"Don't worry, I like to eat whatever you cook!"
Miao Kexiu nodded gently.
So Chu Huan asked Ma Jizu to drive to the vegetable market. After a meal of shopping, Chu Huan and Miao Kexiu returned to Miao Kexiu's apartment together.
After putting the ingredients in the kitchen, Miao Kexiu pushed Chu Huan to the living room, picked up a stack of magazines on the table, and put them in Chu Huan's hand.
"Brother Huan, you read a magazine first, I'll go cook, don't disturb me!"
After saying that, he happily turned around to cook.
If Chu Huan were such an obedient person, he would no longer be Chu Huan.
He picked up a magazine and went to the kitchen. He leaned against the door and watched Miao Kexiu busying herself.
Perhaps because of Chu Huan's attention, Miao Kexiu would make some mistakes from time to time, which made her even more confused.
At this time, Chu Huan put down the magazine in his hand, walked to Miao Kexiu, hugged her slender waist from behind, and rested his head on her shoulder, feeling the trembling sensation of Miao Kexiu's body.
Whisper in her ear.
"I have a way so you don't have to be so nervous!"
When Miao Kexiu didn't know how to respond, Chu Huan directly hugged Miao Kexiu into a princess hug.