135 [Box Office Battle III]
Hong Kong Weiqing Publishing House is a long-established publishing house, like the works of the famous Liang Yusheng, which is basically published in this publishing house.
"Martial Soul" has not yet landed in Hong Kong, and most Hong Kong people have only heard of the two novels written by Wang Zijun, but have not read their texts. Originally, I discussed with Jin Yong, and when Gu Long's novel was serialized, "Sou Shen Ji" would be serialized in Ming Pao, but now it is too late.
Shaw Brothers has been operating in Hong Kong for many years, and it is not something that Wang Zijun can do by buying a few newspapers. Although the money collected by these newspapers in order to increase sales is not expensive, in terms of quantity, it is far from enough.
Wang Zijun can only find another way.
First of all, there are a lot of martial arts fans in Hong Kong, and unlike renting bookstores and piracy in Taiwan, martial arts fans here are more willing to spend money. However, this is not the point, the point is that Wang Zijun can use martial arts novels to increase his popularity and influence in Hong Kong. When he released the record in Hong Kong last year, although he became popular for a while, except for fans, after a year, most people forgot about him. Even if it is a fan, most of them will not associate him as a singer with him as a director.
In addition to publishing novels, there is also the release of Cantonese records, since he has become the pioneer of Taiwan's new music, why not be a leader in Cantonese songs again?
Wang Zijun was writing a song, and Zheng Zhenkun's phone called: "Hey, Zijun, how did you do this?" ”
Wang Zijun explained: "The Shaw Brothers wanted to mess with me, and deliberately advanced their screening schedule by half a month to suppress me. Moreover, some dishonorable means were used. ”
Zheng Zhenkun said: "I also have some friendship with Shao Daheng. Or otherwise? I'll be the host, and let's make an appointment to talk about it. ”
"There's no need to talk about it." Wang Zijun said, "Shaw Brothers never thought about talking about it from the beginning. Because my movie was decided to be released in July, it was agreed a long time ago, and it is impossible to reschedule, otherwise we will have to pay a large amount of liquidated money. If you want to reschedule, you can only discuss with those theaters, but among the theaters where "Bloody Lonely City" is released, Golden Harvest has the most. Zou Wenhuai couldn't agree, he just wanted to see me and the Shaw Brothers fight to the death, and it was best to lose both. And what about Shaw? He planned this drama for a year, filmed it for two years, and used almost all of his big-name stars, and he would not give way. Not only did he not give way, but he also took the initiative to release it in advance and bumped into it, just to kill me. ”
Zheng Zhenkun was silent for a moment, and instructed: "You'd better be careful over there, Shao Daheng is not an ordinary person." ”
Wang Zijun smiled: "Mr. Zheng, thank you for your concern." I, Wang Zijun, still have a temper, come to the light, come to the dark, I will accompany you. ”
Zheng Zhenkun also laughed on the other side of the phone, Wang Zijun sang and made movies so well, but he forgot his origin.
"Okay, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, if you want to fight Shao Daheng, it depends on whether your head is hard enough." Zheng Zhenkun said, "If there is anything you need help with, just say it, how can you say that you are also half an artist under my umbrella." ”
"Mr. Zheng, I have written down your favor." Wang Zijun asked, "When will Feng Naikai's concert be held?" ”
"Haven't been decided, is there anything wrong with you?" Zheng Zhenkun asked.
Wang Zijun said: "I wrote a few Cantonese songs here, and I want them to come over and record them together. Of course, the recording and distribution will be done by Haishan's Hong Kong branch. ”
Zheng Zhenkun was surprised: "Why do you remember to sing Cantonese songs?" ”
"Mr. Zheng, believe me." Wang Zijun said, "Cantonese songs have a popular base in Hong Kong, and most middle-class and upper-class people can speak a few words of Cantonese, and there are many people who like to listen to Cantonese songs. As long as there are good songs, Cantonese songs will definitely become popular in Hong Kong and sell well. ”
"Huh." Zheng Zhenkun was noncommittal, and he was a little disdainful of Wang Zijun to give up Chinese and take the risk of singing Cantonese songs. But thinking that Wang Zijun often surprises, he said, "Okay, I'll let the four of them go tomorrow." I'll also make a call at the branch, and you're solely responsible for the recording, and you don't have to worry about other distributions. ”
Wang Zijun hung up the phone, said a word to Teresa Teng, and went straight to Haishan Hong Kong Company.
I had just gone downstairs when I saw two men pounce on me.
Wang Zijun thought that he was attacked, and flew back, but saw the two men kneeling down with an ordinary sound, and one of them slapped himself while crying: "Brother Jun, you went around me." I didn't mean to, I didn't know it was you......"
Wang Zijun was confused, and when he looked closely, he was at the gate of the golf course that day, and the security guard who attacked him first, and the other one looked very similar to him, but with a beard on his face, and it looked like two brothers.
"Get up, get up, it's all right." Wang Zijun has a lot of business, but he doesn't have time to worry about them.
"Boss Wang, just spare my brother." The bearded man hugged Wang Zijun's legs.
Wang Zijun said: "I didn't embarrass him. ”
The bearded man said: "Xin Yi'an sent a message over there, saying that my brother took the lead and couldn't get along with you, and if I can't get your forgiveness, let my brother cut off his hands." ”
New Ngee An is sick, right? Thinking that this bad idea came from the people below, Xiang Huayan was not so stingy.
"Okay, okay, I don't mind for a long time, you guys go." Wang Zijun waved his hand and said, "Kneel down for me at the door of this hotel, let people see what it looks like?" Stand up! ”
"Thank you, Brother Jun." The two brothers thanked with joy.
Wang Zijun was about to leave, but suddenly found that the two brothers were a little familiar, and asked, "What's your name?" ”
The bearded man said, "My name is Zhang Renyong, and this is my younger brother Zhang Renkui." ”
"What do you say your name is?" Wang Zijun looked at the beard with wide eyes.
"My name is Zhang Renyong." The bearded man said.
Wang Zijun showed a strange smile on his face and asked, "Are you willing to follow me?" ”
"Huh?" The two brothers were surprised at first, then surprised, and nodded busily and said, "Yes, yes." ”
One of the two brothers worked as a horse boy in the casino, and the other worked as a security guard in the stadium, which was a desolate mix. And Wang Zijun is a big guy who can play with Xiang Huayan, if he can mix with him, it will be a step to the sky.
"Remember, when you are my subordinate in the future, you can't be like that day. No matter what kind of person you are, you have to greet them with a smile, and you have to be careful about everything before you figure out the identity of the person. Don't cause trouble and lose face for me. Wang Zijun reminded.
"Yes, yes, we'll pay attention." The two brothers nodded and followed behind Wang Zijun.
The two never understood why Wang Zijun would take in their brother.
Wang Zijun smiled secretly in his heart: "Beard Yong, beard Yong, it's really a coincidence." Prince Long's ancestral mother is working under me, and now there is Cecilia Cheung's father again, I'm going to do it, do you want to pull Nicholas Tse's mother over. ”
After the two introduced themselves, Wang Zijun knew that Zhang Renyong was far from being as old as he looked, only 19 years old this year, and his younger brother Zhang Renkui was 18 years old. Because the two looked too similar, they were always mistaken, so Zhang Renyong grew a beard.
Wang Zijun sighed, the father of these two people is really a genius, he didn't let his wife rest, and gave birth to two sons in two years.
When I came to Haishan (Hong Kong) Company, I heard that the employees here were still discussing "Fourteen Heroines", and after seeing Wang Zijun coming, everyone suddenly shut up.
Wang Zijun found the general manager here and went to arrange the recording work together.
As soon as he left, the staff began to say again: "Isn't that Taiwan's Wang Zijun?" I can't see that this person is actually in the underworld. ”
"What do you know? Last time, I also saw Xiang Huayan, the leading boss of New Ngee An, who has a temperament similar to that of a university professor. ”
"Hey, I think that article is mostly fake, and someone is trying to mess with him."
"Who's him? Didn't Ming Pao do an interview with him last year? He used to be a gang thug. ”
"Gangsters must be bad like that? My dad was a gangster. ”
"You are all fools, did you scold Wang Zijun without reading the newspaper that praised Shao Tycoon? The newspaper that praised Wang Zijun scolded Shao Tycoon! These two are reporting a war, and I think that article must have been made by Shao Daheng. An old man who passed through the Republic of China said, "I have seen a lot of this kind of thing in Shanghai." It must be because of the movie of the two! ”
"Jiang is still old and spicy, Uncle Jiang is wise!" Everyone suddenly realized.
"But why did Shao Tycoon spend so much effort to get Wang Zijun? I heard from the newspaper that "Bloody Lonely City" had already been crushed into scum by "Fourteen Heroines". "Questions were raised.
Uncle Jiang smiled: "Hmph, you don't understand this." I went to watch "Bloody Lonely City" yesterday, and it is definitely not a point and a half better than the Shaw Brothers movie. may be suppressed by Shaw Brothers within half a month, but half a month later, as soon as the freshness of "Fourteen Heroes" passes, it will be time for "Bloody Lonely City" to exert its strength. ”
"Uncle Jiang, make you look like a professional."
", Lao Tzu used to make movie soundtracks for Cathay Pacific in Shanghai, what film haven't you seen?" Uncle Jiang said angrily.
On the second day of the release of the two films, "Fourteen Heroes" has a strong star cast, good publicity, huge investment, Shaw Brothers' credibility, and "magnificent" scenes...... It was full again, and the audience lined up to buy tickets.
And Wang Zijun's side, because of today's Yishu's film reviews, many people walked into the theater to watch the movie.
Taiwan has Qiong Yao, Hong Kong has Yishu, this sentence is not covered. Yishu has been writing books since he was a student, and now he has amassed a large number of die-hard fans. Every time as long as Yishu praises a movie in a movie review, most of these fans will buy tickets to watch it. Coupled with 20% of box office donations and unknown onlookers scolded by newspapers, as well as the recommendation of moviegoers yesterday, the average attendance rate of "Bloody Lonely City" today has reached 65%, and the highest attendance rate has reached 80%.
Today, Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, Liang Yusheng and others were also invited by Wang Zijun to watch the movie, and they each brought their families.
Booming artillery fire, brutal fighting, weddings on the battlefield...... Everything is a different kind of shock.
On the screen, between the debris and rubble, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, and there were corpses everywhere, and the second tiger played by Ke Shouliang shouted in tattered cotton clothes: "Are there still living people?" Is there anyone alive? ”
No one answered, the big-headed soldier Erhu stood up straight, stood alone on the street, and shouted: "The battalion commander is dead, the company commander is dead, the platoon commander is dead, the platoon commander is dead, and the squad leader is dead!" Now, listen to me, check the ammunition and get ready for battle! ”
"Woo woo woo ......" a whimper came from the theater.
An audience member scolded: "Fuck, Lao Tzu has never cried when he was cut, how can I look at this broken movie and want to shed fucking tears!" ”
The person next to him scolded: "Cry, damn, learn to do something, you have to do it when you cut people in the future." The brothers are all dead, and they have to resist Lao Tzu! ”
Wang Zijun's "Bloody Lonely City" shows Yu Chengwan completely differently, not like the movie of later generations, which portrays a [***] general as an abandoned resentful woman, but more shows the blood of a soldier.
The final big ** starts with the telegram sent by Yu Chengwan to the commander of the war zone:
"The bullets are exhausted, the aid is gone, there are no people, and the city is broken. The deputy division commander, commander, division attached, director of the political department, chief of staff, etc., held on to the central bank, and the regimental commanders divided the areas and held one room for the final resistance, swore to the death, and wished victory. Long live the 74th Army......"
Tense music sounded, making the audience's hearts tangled.
Until the remnants of the soldiers fought with the Yue army, the big guy watching the movie couldn't help but shout: "Fuck, kill him!" Yes, bite, bite...... Come on! is about to rush out, Lao Tzu was cut by more than 40 people back then, and he can rush out and kill ......"
Ni Kuang said that this young man was a little younger, and although he was emotional, he did not reach the point of shocking sadness. Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng saw it with tears in their eyes, they were people from that era, and they naturally knew that this movie almost restored the battlefield of that era.
Especially when Wang Zijun evacuated the people in [***], the people of Changde met the army on the road, many people hid in the grass on the side of the road and did not dare to be born, and the adults covered the mouths of the children, and finally suffocated the children to death. This kind of rendering is more direct and cruel than letting Yue Jun directly kill children.
Needless to say, the male audience was enthusiastic when they watched it, and they were moved to tears by the heroism and the pride between the men; The female audience watched the heroes who were portrayed die one after another, and they were so sad that they were in an uproar. Anyway, Wang Zijun's sensationalism once again achieved the effect.
Jin Yong wiped his tears and stood up, and sighed: "This is a good movie, this time Shao Tycoon hit a hard stone." ”
Ni Kuang exclaimed: "I didn't expect the movie to be made like this, this Wang Zijun is really a ghost, and everything makes him do it perfectly." ”
Liang Yusheng said: "I'll go back and notify a few old friends to come and watch it, if you don't watch this kind of film, you won't be able to do it, and you will regret it." ”
Out of the theater, similar to the day before, the audience of the two movies rushed to tell each other, telling relatives and friends how good the movie was, and regretting not watching it.
In addition to the increase in the attendance rate of "Bloody Lonely City", the reputation of the two movies among the audience is very good, and all audiences who have seen it highly recommend it.
It's just that in the eyes of special audiences like Jin Yong and Yishu, "Bloody Lonely City" completely compares "Fourteen Heroines".
But only from the box office, in the second round, Shaw Brothers is still the complete Wang.
(To be continued)