"Midnight Show" and "Lunar New Year Stall" were two major phenomena in the heyday of the Hong Kong film market. In the 21st century, the "Chinese New Year stalls" are booming in the mainland, and all kinds of films are released in a bunch, which is the box office big of the year. The "Midnight Screening" has never been borrowed, and only the thin "Zero Premiere" supports the uncommon midnight screening.

"Midnight Show" and "Lunar New Year Stalls", in fact, there is an essential difference, "Lunar New Year Stalls", as a release schedule exclusive to the Chinese world, is the experience accumulated over many years of film market operation. The "midnight show" is the way for filmmakers to test the market, the audience and even the works. When a new film is released, it will be screened in theaters at midnight in advance, and the director and producer will listen to everyone's reactions, either backstage or in hiding from the audience.

The first consensus of the midnight show to the directors and producers is that shooting and production are for the audience, and they must strive to stand the test of the audience. Through the audience's reaction at midnight, before the official release, the structure of the film can be adjusted in time, the hard injuries can be modified, and even the director changes the ending according to the audience's wishes, which has also happened. The midnight show is not only a test of the quality of the film, but also convenient for the filmmaker to have a data support for the future release market, which can more effectively predict the box office and word of mouth.

Yang Lin has no illusions about the box office of "Assembly" in Hong Kong, and this kind of movie has never been the dish that Hong Kong audiences like. So Yindu organized a "midnight show" screening, and Yang Lin didn't go at all. In his opinion, it would be more comfortable to wait until an authentic "Hong Kong movie" is produced, and then make such a "midnight scene". This midnight show of "The Assembly", which is destined to be unpopular with Hong Kong audiences, didn't it add to its own blockage?

The tense filming process of "Assembly" made Yang Lin physically and mentally exhausted, but he did not take a vacation after returning to Hong Kong, and there were still many things to do. The mainland stuntmen of "Assembly" were invited by Yang Lin with a high salary, and there were many people who resigned and came over. These are the best stuntmen in the mainland, and to some extent, they also represent the highest level in Asia at present. Don't wonder and don't scoff, that's what it is. Even knowing that in the 21st century, the level of Chinese stunts is not much worse than that of Hollywood. In addition to the huge gap in computer special effects, the distance between Chinese stunts and the world's top is only the gap in concept and application.

Yang Lin didn't want to wait until a few years later, when filming a big production like "The Assembly", and he would have to run to ask those annoying sticks to make special effects, so he wanted to set up a "stunt team". Inherit the excellent achievements of the past, carry forward through sufficient funds and advanced technology, and create a new situation of Chinese special effects. Yang Lin believes that this is a kind of soft environment construction of infrastructure, which is more meaningful than making a few more movies.

Therefore, after he returned to Hong Kong, he immediately set about the formation of a "stunt team", which not only recruited a large number of people in the mainland, but also hoped to attract more Hong Kong super-talents to join.

When it comes to stuntmen in Hong Kong, Yang Lin is most familiar with Ke Shouliang and Luo Lixian. The former is a Taiwanese who became famous in Hong Kong and once drove over the Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River, known as "Asia's first flying man". And the latter even formed the "Raptors Stunt Group", it is said that more than seventy percent of Hong Kong's film stunt work is handled by him, and has served as a stand-in for Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat, and Leslie Cheung many times. "Martial arts look at Cheng Xiaodong, action looks at Luo Lixian", this is almost a recognized evaluation in the Asian film industry. These two people almost represent the highest achievement of Chinese stunts.

He contacted the two through various connections and made an appointment to meet. However, before he could meet the two of them, he was startled by a phone call from Mi Yiyuan, and then overjoyed.

The main business of the "Yindu Organization" is to produce films in Hong Kong and then distribute them in the mainland, but in fact, the overseas distribution capacity is quite average. It is a bit influential in Asia, and it is necessary to remove the most important Taiwanese market for Chinese films that cannot be entered due to political factors. As for Europe and the United States, they simply do not have that ability. In this era, if you want to talk about the ability to distribute films to Europe and the United States, it is estimated that only Zou Weihuai's Jiahe and Shao Yifu's Shaw brothers are still a little interesting. So when Mu Yiyuan called him to discuss the sale of ports with filmmakers from Asian countries, Yang Lin was happy and surprised at the same time. Because most of the films distributed overseas by Yindu institutions have obtained contracts through various film festivals and other channels, is it that those film companies have come to the door themselves this time?

As for overseas distribution, Yang Lin is a complete layman, he doesn't even understand the rules, and he has full authority to negotiate with the filmmakers as the manager of a distribution department of Yindu Agency. Bringing him in is a relationship between etiquette and legal procedures, after all, he, one of the producers, has to sign the contract.

Yang Lin listened to the content of the negotiation and watched the manager of the Yindu institution sweating all over, and at the same time pondered in his heart that he must have his own distribution channel. The people of Yindu Institution are obviously not very good at overseas issuance, and there do not seem to be many channels, which is by no means a long-term solution. Do you want to cooperate with Zou Weihuai? You must know that at this time in the Hong Kong film industry, Golden Harvest's overseas distribution capabilities, especially in North America, are absolutely second to none, while Shaw Brothers is stronger in Asia. This can't help but remind him of the cattle man in later generations, Zhang Yimou's overseas distributor Jiang Zhiqiang. That kid doesn't know what to do now?

The contract is not ideal, and there is nothing to lose, in short, it is lackluster, it is all in accordance with the rules, anyway, "Assembly" has appeared in cinemas in Asian countries, without fanfare and hype.

However, to everyone's expectations, after the release of "Assembly", the audience applauded, the box office was a hit, and the response from various countries was extremely enthusiastic. Among them, South Korea has the best word-of-mouth response at the box office, followed by countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in Southeast Asia. All of a sudden, the Asian countries sounded the horn of the "rallying call".

Three weeks after its release in South Korea, "The Assembly" reached 20,000 viewers per screen, causing an exclamation from the Korean media.

"While learning and imitating Hollywood, Hong Kong films also maintain their own characteristics, cleverly packaging them in the style of oriental culture, and promoting them to the whole of Asia, including South Korea, and successfully entering the whole Asian market, including Korea. Whether it is Cheng Long's movie or the current "Assembly", it is a strong box office and an enthusiastic response. Moreover, Hong Kong film newcomers are emerging in an endless stream, which is the foundation for Hong Kong films to be proud of Asia. "The Assembly" is so strong in South Korea, and all the domestic films have rushed to the impact, can our film practitioners get some reference or reflection? ”

This is a comment from the Korean media, and it is not difficult to see that although this nation has its shameless side, it is also worthy of admiration for the characteristics of being good at learning. They always seem to be able to find their own shortcomings in any one thing and put forward the slogan of learning. As a result, when Hong Kong films gradually declined, Korean films took advantage of the rise and completed a gorgeous counterattack.

And in Southeast Asian countries, the strength of "The Assembly" is not weak at all. The gorgeous and shocking visual effects, not inferior to Hollywood's sophisticated productions, have made the box office boom.

Of course, in Hong Kong, the war drama "The Assembly" cannot be compared with "The Queen's Secret Order of the Best Partner". And "Debao Company"'s "The Owl and Dumbo" is also a strong box office, which eclipses the Hong Kong box office of "The Assembly" and is willing to bow down.

Tsui Hark's "Best Partner 3 The Queen's Secret Order" is definitely a super tough work in the 80s, and since its release, the box office has been soaring, sweeping all opponents. However, no one can imagine that behind this infinite scenery, there are irreparable consequences. Because of the uneven distribution of interests, the contradictions between the three giants of the new art city have become irreconcilable, and falling apart is already a doomed ending.

Of course, no matter how serious the crisis behind it is, the film still swept the Hong Kong box office charts, occupying the top spot at the box office of the year with a box office of more than 29 million, and once again breaking the Hong Kong box office record.

When Yang Linmao was filming "Assembly" in the mainland, the newly established Debao had already produced two films, which shows the speed of Hong Kong movie horror production. The first "Waiting for Dawn" starring Wan Ziliang and Zhou Yunfa is starring, and the star lineup can be described as shining. However, at this time, the power of Zhou Runfa's "box office poison" began to be exerted, and all the seven million box office, after deducting the remuneration of these two leading actors, there is not much left, you must know that Zhou Runfa is famous at this time, and Wan Ziliang is already the "first brother" of TVB because of the success of "Rogue Tycoon", and his value has increased.

And "The Owl and Dumbo" is the second film produced by Debao, which follows the commercial style of urban comedy, combined with ingenious thousands of techniques, and the help of big names such as Hong Jinbao Lin Zixiang, plus the joining of the eye-catching kung fu actress Yang Ziqiong, which made the film very popular, with a box office of more than 20 million. While it was a great success, it also made the "Debao Film Company", which failed at the box office because of "Waiting for the Dawn", taste the sweetness and lift its spirits.

In the end, the Hong Kong and overseas box office of "The Assembly" reached 13 million Hong Kong dollars, which was able to recover the investment, and it did not even rank in the top ten of the Hong Kong box office list in 84. This made people in the Hong Kong film industry boo, but it is not necessarily, because there are still statistics of the mainland box office that have not been seen, and judging from the overseas box office alone, "The Assembly" is not lost to any film, even the "Fast Food Truck", the highest grossing overseas box, is only more than one million more than "The Assembly".

But in their impression, no matter what the box office in the mainland is, I am afraid it will not be able to surpass the top few of the box office list. And Yang Lin is a record investment, and he is engaged in some kind of co-production tricks, and he has used a lot of tricks, which is a bit worth the loss.

However, no one will despise this because of this, a director who directs a movie for the first time can get what kind of results is not bad, at least worthy of the name of "entertainment genius". And most of the people in the film industry have seen the movie "Assembly", and they have to admit that the shooting is really good, and the reason why the box office is not ideal is only because of the wrong selection of materials.

Pan Disheng was very depressed, although the box office of "The Owl and Dumbo" exceeded 20 million, but it was taken away by the theater chain and the distributor, and it was his turn to drink leftover soup. This made Pan Disheng, Cen Jianxun, and Hong Jinbao extremely unwilling, they worked hard to make a good film, and went to make wedding dresses for others, not to mention how depressed they were. Mr. Pan held the cigar and didn't light it, but poked it on the ashtray with a meaning, and his mouth was still broken: "Cinema, cinema, cinema"

Cen Jianxun scratched his head and his hair was like grass, and sighed: "Fortunately, Yang Lin's "Assembly Number" is a co-production, and the box office is not ideal, and the investment is large, so it is estimated that there is not much money." Otherwise, both of us are newly established film companies, and our 'Debao' swears to make a high-profile move, but it is not as good as a hairy boy, and this face will be lost. ”

This is because the communication between the mainland and Hong Kong is not very smooth, at least not so timely, so the mainland and "The Assembly", which has been released for a month and a half, Hong Kong still does not know how much the box office is.

Pan Disheng gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "Aren't we doing well at the box office?" Isn't it because there are no theaters? There is no cinema in Hong Kong, it is just a big piece of fat meat, everyone will take a bite, and you have to beg others to bite. I don't know the box office of Yang Lin's drama in the mainland, but it is estimated that it would be good if it was not lost. Both of us suffered losses in the theater, and the profits were given away in vain. Therefore, the cinema chain is king! Be sure to get the cinema! ”

With a "bang", the office was knocked open, and as soon as Pan Disheng frowned, he saw Hong Jinbao's tall and fat body walking in, carrying a newspaper in his hand, with a strange look on his face.

It is rare to see the expression of Hong Jinbao, who is very arrogant and magnanimous, Cen Jianxun said curiously: "Sanmao, what's the matter?" Pan Disheng also cast a puzzled look, not knowing what happened to make Hong Jinbao so out of shape.

Hong Jinbao swallowed his saliva, put the newspaper in his hand on the table, pointed to the newspaper and said, "Look at the latest news, the mainland box office of "Assembly" has come out. After saying that, he sat down on the sofa, poured a glass of water, and drank it cleanly.

Pan Disheng picked up the newspaper with his hand, and after just one glance, his eyes were as big as a brass bell. Cen Jianxun hurriedly leaned his head over, only to see an eye-catching line of headlines in the newspaper: "Assembly Number" is crazy at the box office, reproducing the myth of "Shaolin Temple"!

"A month and a half after its release, "The Assembly", co-produced by 'Red Star Pictures' and 'Yindu Organization', received an unprecedented response in the mainland, setting off a frenzy of movie-watching. According to the exact data, the box office of "The Assembly" in the mainland has reached 50 million, and the enthusiasm of the audience is undiminished, with thousands of people entering the cinema every day to watch the film. We have reason to believe that the movie "Assembly" meets or exceeds the mythological record of "Shaolin Temple", which is just around the corner. And according to the agreement, the box office share of the film will adopt the internationally accepted account-sharing model, and the producer will get about 35% of the share. This model is the first attempt by the mainland film industry to integrate with the world's advanced system. ”

Holy! 50 million in a month and a half? Is the box office still increasing?

Cen Jianxun gasped: "According to this calculation, in the end, Yang Lin's net profit alone can reach 20 million!" "What is this concept? Their "The Owl and Dumbo" deducts all kinds of messy shares and expenses, and the net profit is estimated to be not even five million.

Hong Jinbao shook his head and sighed, with a yearning expression: "The mainland is really a cornucopia, a few cents of ticket prices, how many people do you say to watch this movie?" Not to mention how much money I make, if one day my movie can be watched by so many people, I am happy to give away free tickets! What a sense of accomplishment, really."

Pan Disheng couldn't sit still, and said directly: "No, I have to go to Shao Yifu to have a good talk, there is no theater, there is a dead end!" ”

He was not stimulated by the box office of "The Assembly", but by the box office share of "The Assembly". As long as Pan Disheng thinks about it, one day if his film reaches 100 million at the box office, but he will give 50 million to the theater, he feels as if he has been slaughtered and bloody.

I have to say that Pan Disheng is really a bit of a "miser" surname. If he doesn't get Shaw Brothers Cinemas, he can't sleep at night and doesn't know how to eat. (To be continued.) )