Just when the crew of "Three Heroines of the East" was lurking in Macau for filming, Tsui Hark's "Swordsman of New Shu Mountain" quietly landed in North America.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is quiet, except for the promotion of Dragon and Tiger Film Company at the time of distribution, those theaters are not sure how much box office "New Shushan Swordsman" can have, so they did not seriously cooperate with the publicity at all, at most they hung a promotional poster at the door of the theater.

This is the second wave of Wang Zijun's attempt to hit the North American film market after returning to Asia to make films.

The first wave is naturally led by Wang Zijun's "ET", and a total of three Chinese films were released, but except for "ET", the other two films had few viewers.

"ET" has been painted in North America at the moment, and American film critics have given this film high praise, calling it a unique classic science fiction film, and even won three Saturn Awards awarded to science fiction films in the United States.

However, the enthusiasm of North American audiences for "ET" is obviously not as big as Wang's previous films, and the final box office of "ET" in the United States is only $41 million.

This is a result that is less than the previous and more than the lower.

Wang Zijun's movie only got this data, which is naturally disappointing, but if Tsui Hark's "New Shu Mountain Swordsman" can get more than 40 million box office in the United States, it will definitely shock the Asian film industry.

The second wave of Chinese film offensives is dominated by "The Swordsman of Xinshu Mountain", which was released from middle school in May to the end of October, with a total of four films, all of which have been carefully selected Chinese films.

The third Chinese film offensive will start on Halloween in November, with Lin Zhengying's "Mr. Zombie" as the main force, focusing on Chinese ghost films.

Wang Zijun is not the only one targeting the American market, Zou Wenhuai has already founded Pan Asia Film Company ten years ago, specializing in distributing Chinese films to Europe and the United States, but there has been no good effect.

A few years ago, Golden Harvest even invited Hollywood star Burt Reynolds to star in the movie with a sky-high salary of five million US dollars (definitely not worth the price), in order to break into the American film market. Since last year, many of Golden Harvest's commercial films have been Hollywood models, and their sales to Europe and the United States have really improved.

Today, Golden Harvest produces about 30 films a year, not including its satellite company, only in terms of scale and discussion, it is necessary to stabilize the new art city, but it is slightly inferior to the Wong Film Group, which produced 42 films a year in 1984, not including co-productions.

In the late 80s, the Hong Kong film industry was a triumph of New Arts City, Golden Harvest, and Debao (Lao Wang's memory is confused, and the front appearance seems to be written as Garbo). However, the current situation is that the old company Shaw Brothers has stopped production, and Yang Ziqiong's boyfriend's Debao company has only filmed a few films, and Hong Kong is now a situation where New Arts City and Golden Harvest are one mountain and two tigers.

Although Wang Zijun tried his best to be a peacemaker and asked Zou Wenhuai to come out for dinner a few times, the competition among the film companies below was still fierce.

In the United States, because the big studio system has been eliminated, the competition of film companies is more favorable. However, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, because production and marketing are not separated, the competition of film companies is actually deeper than the competition between theaters.

In order to deal with the old rival Shaw Brothers, Cathay's successor transferred its cinema chain and studio to Zou Wenhuai, which led to the later Golden Harvest.

When Wang Zijun collapsed in Cathay Pacific, he stupidly wanted to compete with Golden Harvest and buy Cathay Pacific's studio in Taiwan.

Wang Zijun's film was later able to sell well in Hong Kong, and it initially took advantage of the contradiction between Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers, relying on Golden Harvest's cinemas and retail cinemas to gain a foothold. It wasn't until Wang's own cinema line was established in Hong Kong that it finally gained a firm foothold, and now he cooperated with Xiang Huaqiang to buy the Shaw Brothers cinema line, which has overpowered Golden Harvest only in terms of the strength of the cinema chain.

Wang Zijun has two theaters in his hands, and Zou Wenhuai has one in his hand, usually grabbing film sources and audiences, if only from the perspective of the market, Wang Zijun and Zou Wenhuai will fight shirtless and fight directly.

If the internal contradictions want to be suppressed, they can only be transferred outward. Zou Wenhuai and Wang Zijun don't want to fight each other to the flesh and blood, last year due to the final suspension of production of Shaw Brothers, when the conflict between the two reached its peak, Wang Zijun and Zou Wenhuai invariably focused their attention on the European and American markets.

(By the way, Wang Zijun paid for the establishment of Xinyicheng, which should have been invested by the Golden Princess Cinemas, and bought the Shaw Brothers Cinemas from Huaqiang, which should have been bought by Debao Company, and the result is that the Golden Princess Cinemas and Debao are now united.) Once Debao sits on the throne, Hong Kong films will still stand on three legs. In order to open up the European and American markets, Golden Harvest released a total of three films to Europe and the United States last year, and the highest box office in Europe and the United States, the single box office reached more than 13 million US dollars, and after removing the share of cinema companies and movie theaters, it can also get millions. This year, Golden Harvest Company, which has tasted the sweetness, is preparing to release five Chinese-language films to Europe and the United States.

Wang Zijun released three Chinese-language films to the United States as soon as he came up at the beginning of this year, which made Zou Wenhuai very happy. The two are competitors in Hong Kong, but they are partners in Yueben, and Zou Wenhuai in Taiwan still relies on Wang Zijun's help, and in the United States, they have become entrepreneurial partners.

Because the Chinese film market in the United States is extremely immature, most American audiences are very unfamiliar with Chinese films.

………………

United States.

In a small screening room of Carmichael Cinema Company, swords and swords flew around on the screen, and the screening was "The Swordsman of Xinshu Mountain".

Michael Patrick and his father Karl Patrick have watched this film for the fifth time, and when the movie finished again, Patrick Sr. shook his head and said: "I don't agree with the full release of this Chinese film in theaters." Although its picture is really good, and the Chinese in the movie fly around like Superman, I think it is difficult for American audiences to accept this setting, and it is also difficult to understand the oriental culture inside. ”

Michael Patrick said, "No, trust me, father! The plot, picture, and soundtrack of this movie are all fantastic, and it will definitely set off a craze. ”

"Your idea is too risky. Mike, you have to know that we are a theater chain that takes the route of a small community, and we can't make big mistakes when selecting films, otherwise we will lose months of profits. "Of course, I'm not saying that this film is useless. So, how about we let the next third of the theaters be released in the secondary slots? If the box office is good, immediately increase the canvas? ”

Michael Patrick said, "What about propaganda? ”

Kalpatrick spread his hands and said: "This is a matter for the distribution company, do you think a small theater chain like ours needs to spend this kind of money?" ”

Michael Patrick said: "How to make a box office without publicity, I think we should try to cooperate with the publicity work of Dragon Tiger Films." "Okay, then I'll ask the people below to print a few more promotional posters. That's it. Karl Patrick clapped.

Michael Patrick rolled his eyes and left the screening room, complaining that his father was stubborn.

On May 20, "The Swordsman of Xinshu Mountain" was finally released in the United States, and there were only more than 300 canvases screened, and it was not the prime time.

It was afternoon, in front of a movie theater in New York, Carter walked over holding his girlfriend Winnie's hand.

"Sweetheart, isn't it too early to watch a movie?" Carter looked at the time, it was only four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Honey, you haven't seen a movie with me in three months," Winnie said, biting on an ice cream, "I'm afraid you'll say you don't have time in the evening." ”

"Okay, what's that to watch? Take your pick. Carter said helplessly, the most important thing to watch a movie is the atmosphere, and now when I watch the movie, there are few people in the screening room, what atmosphere can I speak of.

Winnie complained: "People wanted to see Zachary's "ET", and you said you didn't have time, and now "ET" is all down, so you have to go home and watch the video. ”

"Sorry, sweetheart, it's my fault." Carter apologized vigorously, as an introverted and busy IT worker, he finally found a girlfriend, but he couldn't easily run away. However, while apologizing, Carter also scolded Wang Zijun, this Zachary, who is not doing well in the computer and game console industry, has to make movies without doing business, and he also fascinated his girlfriend.

Carter ran to the ticket office with his girlfriend, and Winnie asked almost habitually, "Is there a new movie from Zachary?" ”

The ticket seller said: "There is no new film, but there is a Chinese-language film produced by Zachary." ”

Produced by Wang Zijun, this is the most powerful promotional content of "New Shushan Swordsman" in the United States, as for the promotional words such as special effects blockbusters, they are not much use at all.

"Isn't the director Zachary?" Winnie asked.

"No, Zachary is the chief planner and executive producer in this film, and I heard that he also participated in the revision of the script." The ticket clerk was clearly skilled in their homework.

"Well, let's have two of them...... What's the name? Winnie remembered the title of the film, which she didn't even know yet.

The ticket seller said: "The Swordsman from Shushan." ”

"Yes, I want two copies of "The Swordsman from Shushan". Winnie said as she took out her wallet, and Carter on the side hurriedly paid the money.

The two walked into the screening hall back and forth, and waited until the movie began to be screened, and there were only 26 audience members in the entire screening hall.

Carter, who was going to sleep, was fascinated by the picture not long after the movie began.

"Evenly, those who buy cakes, the Chinese can actually fly above the clouds."

"What kind of monsters are those, are they vampires?"

"Wow, those magic items are amazing."

“……”

A group of American spectators who have never seen the world exclaim from time to time.

(To be continued)