Wang Jing silently calculated in his heart how many people would be able to become potential consumers of Hong Kong films when the mainland really developed, and the final figure surprised him.

If this market is really developed, it will be bigger than the entire East and South Asian markets combined, and in recent years, Hong Kong filmmakers have sharpened their heads and drilled into Hollywood, not because of the huge film market in North America.

If the mainland market can reach even half the size of the North American market, it will be a thick thigh.

Seeing Wang Jing's expression, Lin Xi poured a basin of cold water on him.

"Don't dream, if the mainland film market is going to develop, it will be at least 20 years later, you better concentrate on the present first!"

"Okay, then let's just talk about the fact that now, the post-editing of "The Frog Prince" has been completed, when will the release be arranged?"

Wang Jing is a very realistic guy, after knowing that the mainland market is still just a big cake that I don't know how many years it will take to become a reality, he decisively gave up his regrets and seriously talked to Lin Xi about the release of his movie.

"The last two months have been full, let's talk about it." It could be seen that Lin Xi didn't care about this matter, and dealt with it with a casual sentence or two.

Lin Xi was not in a hurry, but Wang Jing was in a hurry.

"Isn't it? I asked Manager Cen before, there don't seem to be any special films worth mentioning in the past two months, so it shouldn't be a problem to insert my movie into it! ”

"Who says there aren't blockbuster movies coming out? "Shaolin Temple" is set for this month. And then there is "Running to the Angry Sea" directed by Xu Anhua, and then put you in it, the three movies cannibalism is interesting? ”

"Are you sure these two movies will be a blockbuster when they are released?" Wang Jing looked at Lin Xi with a suspicious expression. "I put up with "Running to the Angry Sea", after all, it was invested and filmed by Jade Bird Pictures, and it can be regarded as my own person, but you also attach so much importance to "Shaolin Temple", it's a little too much, right? Although this movie is good, don't forget that it was made in the mainland, how many Hong Kong audiences do you think will buy it? ”

"On the contrary, you say that this question is precisely the strength of this film. Just think about it. A film of good quality in itself, plus such a gimmick as the first mainland film released in Hong Kong. Do you think Hong Kong audiences will be attracted? ”

Lin Xi's rhetorical question made Wang Jing a little speechless, although he also agreed with Lin Xi's words in his heart, he always felt that Lin Xi seemed to have other purposes in doing this.

"I don't believe we can make a bet, I bet that the box office of "Shaolin Temple" will exceed 15 million. If you lose, I will apologize to you, and you can choose the schedule of your movie in the future! ”

Such generous conditions frightened Wang Jingjing.

"And what if I lose?"

"If you lose, then I will have the final say on the schedule of all your movies in the future, and you are not allowed to have any opinions!" After Lin Xi finished speaking, he glanced at Wang Jing provocatively, "How about it, dare to bet?" ”

Wang Jing was so agitated by Lin Xi that he stood up from his seat without hesitation.

"Bet on it, I don't believe you can win this time!"

――

When I first made a bet. Wang Jing still felt that he could win this time, but a week later he found that things had completely deviated from the expected trajectory.

After arranging for its theater manager to see the sample film, the resistance to the next production of "Shaolin Temple" was immediately much less.

In order to create a false impression of "reluctance" to the outside world. The Oriental Cinema Line only arranged for the film to be released in sixteen theaters, and there was not much publicity before the release of the film.

This deliberate "low-key" also confused Golden Harvest and Golden Princess, who were competitors, both of whom felt that Lin Xi was out of helplessness to release this movie, so they simply added fuel to the flames in this matter and secretly bought the media to spread the news.

At a time when China and Britain are about to start negotiations on Hong Kong's future, any news about the mainland can touch the sensitive nerves of Hong Kong citizens. The upcoming "Shaolin Temple" is certainly no exception.

Most Hong Kong citizens have always had the impression of mainland movies on the model drama, and suddenly heard that the mainland had made a kung fu film to be released in Hong Kong. I can't help but be curious.

Although the media unanimously looked down on the box office of this movie, and some newspapers even directly predicted that the movie would hit the streets, it was such a movie that the media disdained very much, but it became a hot topic for many ordinary people after dinner.

Soon, Lin Shu also talked about "Shaolin Temple" in the column of "Ming Pao".

"I solemnly recommend this movie to everyone, not because the Oriental Cinema that released this movie is Lin Xi's industry, and as Lin Xi's father, I should have to help him advertise, which is not the case. In fact, before seeing the sample of this movie, I was hesitant like many people, worried that this was a movie with some kind of political purpose, but it turned out that I was overthinking, this is a very pure commercial film, and this movie has been released in the mainland before this, and it has achieved a sensational success. ”

"Some people say that the main reason why this film can achieve such success in the mainland is that the mainland film market has always lacked this kind of entertainment-oriented films, and Hong Kong has never lacked this type of film, which I do not deny. For mainland audiences, "Shaolin Temple" is a purely commercial film, but for Hong Kong audiences, "Shaolin Temple" is not just a simple commercial film. ”

"To observe the political and ideological changes of a country, cultural and artistic works are a good weather vane. In the era when the political atmosphere is tense and the mind is imprisoned, cultural and artistic works will take on a monotonous and unified form, while in the era when the political atmosphere is relaxed and the mind is emancipated, cultural and artistic works will show a posture of a hundred flowers blooming. ”

"Shaolin Temple" is the first mainland film to be introduced into Hong Kong for release, and Hong Kong audiences can actually understand this movie and experience some changes in the mainland in recent years. Because only when people's living standards have improved and the economy has developed to a certain extent, can movies like "Shaolin Temple" be filmed and become very popular. ”

"Some time ago, I mentioned many times in an article about what I saw and heard in the north, the mainland government is now paying more and more attention to the economic field, but due to the constraints of the system, the reform still needs to be carried out step by step, but the general direction is to work in the direction of economic development, and now "Shaolin Temple" can also provide you with reference in this regard."

"Under the premise that the central government of the mainland has made an unshakable decision to take back Hong Kong, the future fate of Hong Kong has actually been closely linked to that of the mainland. Just imagine, if there are more commercial films like "Shaolin Temple" in the mainland in the future, does it mean that the mainland's economy will become more dynamic, and the mainland government will become more determined to reform the economy? The further the mainland's economy develops, the less likely it is that Hong Kong's existing system will be changed after Hong Kong is recovered, and I think this is the outcome that most Hong Kong people expect. ”

Lin Shu's article has grasped the issues that Hong Kong people are most concerned about at the moment, and used "Shaolin Temple" to prove a relatively optimistic result to everyone, which is undoubtedly a booster for Hong Kong people who are in anxiety.

In order to verify the correctness of Lin Shu's views, or to find a reason to be confident and stable in the future, more and more people have begun to pay attention to the upcoming "Shaolin Temple", and some people have even begun to inquire about the date of advance tickets.

In the face of the audience's increasing enthusiasm for buying tickets, the Oriental Cinema Line only advanced the date of pre-sale movie tickets by one day, but the number and scale of screenings have not changed, and it is still released in 16 theaters.

Those theater managers who have not been assigned to the screening plan, for the sake of their own performance, have asked the headquarters to increase the scale of screenings, at least to arrange their own theater chains into the screening plan.

These requests were fed back to Lin Xi through Guò Cen Jianxun, and then all of them were rejected.

Cen Jianxun was tormented by these theater managers who called all day long, and he proposed to Lin Xi a proposal to expand the scale of the screening, but Lin Xi still refused.

Of course, in order to appease the feelings of his subordinates, Lin Xi also made some concessions this time, such as agreeing to let various theaters take turns to release "Shaolin Temple", but the total number of screenings is still sixteen, and no more than one will work.

Cen Jianxun was very puzzled by this, since the audience has a strong willingness to watch this movie, why do they have to control the number of zhì to turn away some audiences?

Lin Xi only replied with the words "strange goods can live", and left the rest to Cen Jianxun to ponder by himself.

In fact, the approach that Lin Xi adopted this time was exactly the same as that that was often adopted by merchants in later generations. Thirsty marketing.

Because of Lin Shu's article, everyone's interest in this movie "Shaolin Temple" is not only limited to hunting for curiosities, but more people are uncertain about the future and fate of Hong Kong, and regard this movie as a window to understand the mainland.

In this way, after the movie experienced the initial period of popularity, the subsequent box office will decline sharply like a roller coaster. And Lin Xi's restriction on the scale of the release is to make everyone's curiosity not be fully satisfied at once, so that they can always hang the appetite of those audiences who have not yet watched this movie, and continue to attract audiences to buy tickets to enter the theater.

As long as the attendance rate of a single show can be maintained at a high level, the film will never have to be lowered, and the loss caused by the reduction of the scale of the screening can be realized by increasing the screening cycle, and the box office will only be more in the end.

What's more, Lin Xi also wants to use this movie to let Hong Kong audiences establish a preliminary impression of the film's male protagonist, and the longer the film is released, the more beneficial it will be to the realization of this goal. (To be continued)