Platform. Bay China Film Company.

Mr. Ming Ji, the general manager, carefully read the film shooting plan in his hand, looked up at Huang Hanzhuo, who was drinking tea across the desk, and asked, "Why does Boss Huang want to cooperate with China Film?" Wang's strength is stronger. ”

Huang Hanzhuo said with a smile: "Wang's film industry has a big business, and cooperating with them to make movies will suffer a lot of losses." ”

"But you didn't even write down what to shoot in this plan, but you are going to spend 80 million Taiwan dollars to make a movie, isn't this child's play?" Ming Ji shook his head again and again.

Huang Hanzhuo said: "If it is mainly 10 million investment, I will invest in the auction myself, why bother to cooperate with your company?" I'm going to shoot a sci-fi film, which requires a lot of the latest special effects technology. ”

"But the budget of 80 million is too much, and the risk is too great." Ming Ji did not let go and said that although Wang Zijun's "ET" cost 100 million Taiwan dollars to be auctioned, for Ming Ji, 10 million Taiwan dollars is already a big investment.

"80 million is not much," Huang Hanzhuo asked, "Ming Lao knows Wang Zijun's "ET", which is in Taiwan. What is the first box office of the bend? ”

Ming Ji shook his head, "ET" was only released for less than 48 hours, and he didn't deliberately inquire, so he didn't know the specific box office situation.

"9.25 million!" Huang Hanzhuo said.

"What?" Ming Ji's hand shook, and the pen he was holding fell directly on the desk, he thought he had heard it wrong, and confirmed to Huang Hanzhuo, "You mean that the box office is NT$8.16 million in the first place?" ”

Huang Hanzhuo nodded affirmatively, not to mention Huang Hanzhuo, he was also taken aback when he heard this data just now.

Mingji said, "You can't be mistaken, right? I remember that "ET" now only has 500 copies, and dozens of copies of them have been sent overseas for dubbing, even if all the movie theaters are full, they can't sell so much! ”

"I didn't believe it at first," Huang Hanzhuo said with a wry smile, "but the box office of 8.16 million is indeed true." There are not enough copies of the film, but if you take advantage of the time difference between the screenings, the same copy can be used for two screening rooms, and if you are not afraid of going wrong in the middle, you can even supply three or four screening rooms. On the first day of "ET", not only did multiplex cinemas do this, but even many single-hall cinemas shared the same copy in several stores. After a film is released, immediately send someone to ride a motorcycle to the next house, you don't see the scene, from the theater manager to the projectionists and delivery staff below are all busy. ”

"......" Mingji was extremely speechless when he heard it, what area does the movie have to be in demand, so that several theaters will be forced to share a copy.

Five hundred copies, placed ten years ago, were enough to supply the table. There are many cinemas in the bay. But now in Taiwan. The rapid economic development of the Gulf is one of the four Asian tigers, and it has even reached the point where the United States has forced the Taiwan dollar to appreciate. The development of the economy has brought about the development of the entertainment industry. After a period of recession around 1980 (the popularity of television), the box office rebounded rapidly after 1982, and the number of movie theaters soared by almost a third.

If there are enough copies, Wang Zijun's "ET" is likely to be in Taiwan. Bay set a miracle of breaking 10 million Taiwan dollars at the box office for the first time, although it was only converted into more than 200,000 US dollars...... Mingji was obviously stunned by Wang Zijun's terrifying box office data, and sighed after a long time: "No wonder the box office of a "Titanic" is comparable to the total box office of all movies in Hong Kong and Taiwan in a year. ”

What Ming Ji didn't know was that if it weren't for Wang Zijun's expansion of Wang's Films, it attracted many Hong Kong directors and stars to Taiwan. Bay to film, stage. At this time, the movie was already faceless.

The total box office of Hong Kong movies in 1984 should have been 100 million US dollars, but because Cheng Long, Chow Yun-fat and other movie stars were on stage. b. filming, as well as the stage. Investors in the Bay have not invested as much in Hong Kong as they did in parallel space, resulting in Taiwan. The total box office of Bay movies in 1984 exceeded 600 million US dollars, while the total box office of Hong Kong was only 100 million, which is less than half of the box office in parallel space.

"Yes, so we can't stand still, if First Pictures and China Film cooperate to make a high-quality blockbuster, if you want to operate properly, the box office is also guaranteed." Huang Hanzhuo said.

Ming Ji is old, but he will not be fooled by Huang Hanzhuo's words to follow the investment, he picked up the pen and stroked the plan, changed the investment budget of 80 million to 50 million, and handed it to Huang Hanzhuo: "The family pays half of the money, and I am responsible for finding Wang Zijun and borrowing a few excellent special effects artists." ”

Huang Hanzhuo couldn't get 80 million US dollars, but he still had 80 million New Taiwan dollars. This time, I came to cooperate with China Film, but I just wanted to share the risk, and by the way, I just used the distribution channel of China Film, but I didn't expect Mingji to be a little too cautious, and he was only willing to invest 25 million.

"Well, I'll ask someone to write the script first." Huang Hanzhuo stood up and said.

"It's okay, it's not good to be blind in filming." Mingji nodded.

"Then I'll take my leave." Wong Hanzhuo withdrew his film planning plan.

As soon as Huang Hanzhuo left, Mingji asked his secretary to find Zhang Yongxiang, the gold medal screenwriter of China Film Company, and instructed: "Lao Zhang, assign you a task." ”

"Old leader, you just command." Zhang Yongxiang said.

"Have you seen Wang's Pictures' "ET"?" Mingji asked.

Zhang Yongxiang was full of praise and said: "I watched it, it's a very good movie, the balance between literary and commercial surnames is well grasped, Chengren and children love to watch it." I heard that Director Wang set up a studio in order to shoot a two- or three-second shot and spent millions of Taiwan dollars, and this kind of professionalism is worth learning from. ”

"The company is ready to shoot a blockbuster film after the Chinese New Year, just like 'ET'." Mingji said, "It doesn't have to be a sci-fi movie, but it must have a shocking picture, and we also have to try new special effects elements." The script will be handed over to you to write, don't be afraid to write a big scene, as long as the budget is not more than 100 million, I can make a decision. ”

"I'll write it?" Zhang Yongxiang was surprised. He is in his fifties, and he has written hundreds of popular and popular scripts such as "Duck Farmer", "Story of a Small Town", "My Land and My People", but most of them are literary films, and he is really not sure that he can write the scripts of commercial blockbusters.

"Don't be unconfident, I'm sure you can write well." Mingji said, "That's it, show me the script after the New Year." ”

"Okay." Zhang Yongxiang reluctantly agreed.

On the other hand, after Huang Hanzhuo returned to his first film industry, he dropped the film plan and called the planner and screenwriters: "Now there is a task, the company wants to make a commercial blockbuster after the Chinese New Year, you go down to discuss, I want a specific plan, don't be ambiguous like this." ”

Ming Ji and Huang Hanzhuo were obviously stimulated by the box office of "ET", and at the same time felt the advent of a new era of film, that is, big investment and big production. In the past, small fights were largely limited by the capacity of the film market and the economic environment, the bigger the investment, the greater the risk, not everyone can predict the future like Wang Zijun.

But now, after years of development, the Southeast Asian and Korean film markets have become mature enough, and even the European and American markets have a small share of Chinese-language films.

Now that the market has expanded, it will seem petty to make a small fuss, how can a large-scale film company like China Film and First Pictures have a commercial blockbuster a year, otherwise there is really no face to come out to meet people.

Ming Ji and Huang Hanzhuo decided to shoot commercial blockbusters based on the overall film market environment and the company's prospects. At the same time, many small and medium-sized film companies stimulated by the box office of "ET" are also planning to make sci-fi films, they don't think so much, just because "ET" is a big hit, and they want to follow the trend to get a vote.

A week passed quickly, and the station of "ET". The box office in the first week of the bay was newly released - 68 million Taiwan dollars, especially on the fourth day of release, the box office alone actually reached 11 million.

Lose your marbles!

Platform. The directors of the bay finally realized the feelings of their Hollywood counterparts in recent years, with Wang Zijun, a box office demon, they dare not compare their achievements.

On the streets of Taipei, the host of Taiwan TV said into the camera lens: "Today is the weekend, and I am standing outside the gate of the Golden Lion Cinema in Ximending. What you can see now is that the Golden Lion Cinema, where the average ticket price is two percent higher than other places, is now lined up to buy tickets on the street. Since "ET" is a science fiction children's film, the people who watch the film are often the whole family, not only the gray-haired elderly, but also the little pot friends who have just gone to school......"

The reporter walked to a nearby restaurant and interviewed a waiter: "May I ask, do you pay attention to "ET"? ”

"I don't have time to see it." The waiter at the restaurant complained, "There are so many people watching movies these days, and the business of our restaurant is good when there are more people, and we can't be busy." ”

"Are there a lot of people watching movies every day?" The reporter asked.

The waiter said: "A lot, many people can't buy tickets in the morning, so they directly call for takeout in our restaurant, and eat while queuing." ”

"Wow, that's crazy?" The journalist exaggerated.

The waiter said: "That's it, I really want to go and see what kind of movie is so good." ”

The reporter left the restaurant, squeezed into the manager's room of the movie theater, and waited for more than ten minutes before the manager returned. The reporter asked: "Manager Hu, how popular is "ET"?" Now the whole city of Taipei is talking about the film. ”

Manager Hu gestured his fingers and said: "In our Wang Cinema Line, the filming rate of "ET" has reached 60%, and more than half of the movies on the market have given the canvas to "ET". How popular "ET" is, it can be said to be a sweep. b. Box office. It's a box office miracle, and Titanic is on stage. Bay's first-week box office was only a little over 50 million, while the first-week box office of "ET" was NT$68 million. ”

"ET" is in Taiwan. Bay's box office performance frightened many people, and those who were frightened even included Wang Zijun himself.

Although "ET" has received high praise over the years, its box office appeal is obviously far less than that of "Titanic". But now the box office of "ET" in the first week is far beyond the situation when "Titanic" was released, which is definitely beyond Wang Zijun's expectations.

The reason why "ET" was a box office hit was also staged. The colleagues in the bay analyzed layer by layer and came to the following conclusions: the box office of "ET" in the first week was higher than that of the god film "Titanic", first of all, because of the growth of social economy and prices, which made the ticket price of the movie in December higher than that of more than half a year ago; Secondly, this is Wang Zijun's first Chinese-language film after returning to the United States after making films for many years, and it has also greatly increased its box office appeal with the aftermath of the $1 billion director; Also, this is the first real Chinese sci-fi blockbuster, and the story takes place in Taiwan. b, to Taiwan. For the people of the bay, the natural attraction is greater than that of "Titanic"; Finally, "Titanic" is mostly watched by couples in pairs, while "ET" is often a family into the cinema together.

"The Return of the King! 》

"Wang Zijun's sci-fi blockbuster, box office 68 million in the first week"

……

The reports of major newspapers and magazines are overwhelming, a group of young actors in the film such as Lin Zhiying have become stars, major companies have thrown olive branches, and even film companies want to sign long-term contracts with them.

In addition to these young actors, even Xiao Yan, the role of playing soy sauce in the movie, has won the favor of film companies and advertisers because of her stunning appearance, and people come to her door from time to time to ask her to shoot things.

And Zhen Zhen is a farewell stage. The older generation of jade female stars in the Bay film industry for more than ten years actually rejuvenated because of their appearance in "ET" for a few minutes, and was once again sought after by fans.

As for Ke Junxiong, a handsome old guy, he used to play a white-faced boy, and later he used to play a gangster boss, but now that the drama has opened, the people who are looking for him to film are actually given roles such as agent killers, just because he played the leader of the agents in "ET".

The media have called Wang Zijun the first Chinese-speaking director, if this arrogant title is placed on other directors, even if the qualifications are old, there will definitely be people who are not convinced. But who dares to disagree now? Platform. The box office in the first week of the bay was continuously broken by others, and the use of high-tech special effects is unmatched in the entire Chinese world, even Tsui Hark, who filmed "The Swordsman of Xinshu Mountain", also admitted that his movie special effects were greatly helped by Wang Zijun.

"ET" is in Taiwan. A week after its release, it began to land in Hong Kong, and it got a box office of 1.1 million Hong Kong dollars on the first day of release, and the box office was as high as 12 million in the first week. Hong Kong directors want to cry without tears, in 1984, there were only 20 Hong Kong local box office of more than 10 million, that is to say, in addition to these 20, the local box office of other Hong Kong films is not as much as Wang Zijun's income in a week.

Hong Kong's "Film Fortnightly" commented: "This is Wang Zijun's film era, and no one can compare with him. Not only in Hong Kong, but also in Asia, but also in the world, he is a film genius that has not been seen in a century. ”

(To be continued)