Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 975 South Korean Special Edition: Helping You Realize Your Dream of Becoming an Actor

Hideki Hanyu seemed somewhat surprised by Lee Young-ae's question.

In his opinion, this girl hadn't been through the entertainment industry yet, so she shouldn't have been too ambitious. Who would have thought she would take the initiative so quickly?

However, the other party was probably just curious and asked him a question without having any other intentions.

In any case, since Lee Young-ae took the initiative, it saved Hideki Yuzuru a lot of trouble.

After all, he must have had his own agenda in mind when he used Andy Lau's name to spend a "huge sum" to invite these people to dinner here.

A South Korean beauty like Lee Young-ae is naturally a target for scumbags who would rather kill the innocent than let her go, making her a member of their "collection list."

Hideki Hanyu is an expert at dealing with young, inexperienced girls like this.

With his looks, it wouldn't be difficult for him to feign a deep affection and use insincere tactics to deceive the other person's feelings.

However, besides being a huge waste of time, Hideki Hanyu himself doesn't like to deceive people with emotions.

Therefore, when dealing with girls from ordinary backgrounds, he prefers to focus on material things.

Let the girl see a world she has never seen before, experience the most luxurious life, and enjoy extravagance that ordinary people can hardly imagine.

Then, it becomes clear that it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Once you reach a certain height, you get used to the envy in other people's eyes and the flattery in other people's mouths. Why would you be willing to go back to the bottom and struggle?
Having experienced life in the "heavenly palace," a simple and unadorned life becomes a sin.

Once a weakness in human nature is exploited, it is extremely difficult to repair.

How many people in this world possess the great willpower to see through the illusions of the mundane world and regard extravagance as fleeting clouds?

Let alone others, even Hideki Hanyu himself couldn't do it.

The more successful and wealthy he is now, the less he wants to go back to the old days.

Of course, you can't rely solely on material things to win a girl's heart. You can also take advantage of her physical attributes, and by showing her a little tenderness and "affection," you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Therefore, when faced with Lee Young-ae's questions, he did not pretend to be aloof or deliberately lower his stance. Instead, he acted normally, just like chatting with Andy Lau, and casually talked to Lee Young-ae about things in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

His attitude satisfied Lee Young-ae's curiosity and also gave her a feeling that "So this is what Hideki Hanyu is like."

Despite her outstanding appearance and her status as a remarkable person, she was so gentle, approachable, and never acted condescendingly because of her ordinary background.

Clearly, Lee Young-ae, already bewitched by the scumbag, failed to notice the cautious and humble attitude of the others in the private room in front of Hideki Hanyu.

For example, when Hideki Hanyu was chatting with Lee Young-ae, some clueless guy tried to offer a toast, but was immediately silenced by a sharp look from Hanyu and didn't dare to move at all.

However, Lee Young-ae, who was listening to Hideki Hanyu recount stories about the Hong Kong entertainment industry, was completely unaware of what was happening.

When Hideki Hanyu finished speaking, Lee Young-ae immediately showed a look of longing, "Truly worthy of Hong Kong films, even the behind-the-scenes stories are so wonderful."

Hideki Hanyu deliberately asked, "Is Ms. Li also interested in movies?"

Lee Young-ae replied, "Yes, I enjoy watching movies and I also aspire to be an actress."

Hideki Hanyu asked, "So, this is also the reason for filming the commercial?"

Lee Young-ae said with expectant eyes, "Although I am still studying, I will try my best to work towards becoming an actress. Maybe after I graduate, I will participate in the TV station's actor selection."

Hideki Hanyu said, "I wish Ms. Li all her dreams come true. Perhaps one day in the future, I will be able to see a movie starring Ms. Li and Andy Lau in a South Korean cinema."

Upon hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Lee Young-ae was initially pleased, but after glancing at Andy Lau beside her, she quickly became dejected.

"Advertising is different from movies; I wouldn't dare to dream of that kind of future."

Lee Young-ae's reaction was not an exaggeration.

In the 1980s and 90s, Hong Kong films increasingly relied on box office revenue from other regions, and this proportion continued to grow over time.

Among these, apart from Taiwan, which is a market for Chinese-language films, South Korea is the most important, even more so than Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan.

In the South Korean film market, when it comes to the overall influence of Hong Kong stars, Jackie Chan is the most prominent, followed closely by Leslie Cheung.

Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung are roughly equal in stature.

Even in terms of box office revenue, Leslie Cheung couldn't match Andy Lau.

Since the late 1980s, Andy Lau has had seventeen films in South Korea that have entered the top ten at the annual box office, winning the annual box office champion once and the box office runner-up twice.

In Seoul alone, nine films attracted over 100,000 viewers, five films attracted over 200,000 viewers, three films attracted over 300,000 viewers, and the highest-grossing film attracted over 370,000 viewers.

In terms of South Korean box office performance during the same period, Jackie Chan was far ahead, completely outperforming all other Chinese-language stars.

However, Andy Lau stood out from Jackie Chan, far surpassing his predecessors and contemporaries.

This is why, although Andy Lau is not as popular as Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow, and Jackie Chan in the Hong Kong film market, film companies still prefer to cast him in their movies.

His strong overseas popularity and box office appeal are the capital that allows him to become a superstar.

Even though Andy Lau hasn't yet achieved the box office figures mentioned above, he still gained immense popularity in South Korea thanks to the success of films like "Casino Raiders," "A Moment of Romance," and "Modern Tathagata Palm."

In modern terms, they were top-tier celebrities.

So for Lee Young-ae, who was still unknown and had not yet become famous, being able to shoot an advertisement with Andy Lau was already an unexpected surprise.

Starring in a movie with Andy Lau? Let alone her, even for established South Korean actors, it would be extremely difficult.

After all, both now and in the future, the Chinese entertainment industry is quite exclusive, and film and television audiences lack recognition for overseas actors.

While external box office revenue is important for Hong Kong films, local box office revenue is fundamental. No production company would cast an actor without local appeal as the lead actor just to boost box office revenue in other regions.

Of course, Jackie Chan's movies are an exception. For movie fans, no matter how many people act in Jackie Chan's movies, no matter how important other people's roles are, the lead actor is always Jackie Chan.

Thinking of this, Hideki Yuzuru glanced at Andy Lau, but suddenly blurted out, "Actually, it's not like there's no chance?"

"what?"

Lee Young-ae didn't understand what Hideki Hanyu meant at all.

However, Hideki Hanyu did not explain to Lee Young-ae immediately, but instead turned to ask Florence Chan in Mandarin.

"Manager Chen, have you ever considered expanding into international business?"

Chen Shufen, who was already a shrewd person, immediately looked at Li Yingai after hearing what Yu Sheng Hideki said, and said after sizing her up.

"She has a really good foundation. Sir, do you want me to sign her?"

Hideki Hanyu said, "Although I am an investor in Hengxing Entertainment, I will not interfere with Hengxing Entertainment's business unless necessary. Whether to sign or not is entirely up to Manager Chen's choice."

Chan Suk-fan hesitated and said, "Although she has a good image, it will be difficult for her to establish herself in Hong Kong."

Hideki Hanyu reminded him, "I wonder if Manager Chen still remembers how the band Beyond debuted?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shufen's eyes lit up.

The band Beyond first gained fame overseas before returning to Hong Kong to further their careers. Leveraging their overseas influence, they directly elevated their status in Hong Kong.

Although there is no such thing as "exporting and then re-importing" in the entertainment industry at this stage, Hideki Hanyu's debut strategy for the band Beyond can be described as a stroke of genius.

Although countless industry professionals praised and imitated them afterward, no one could achieve the same level of success as Beyond.

This is partly due to the fact that later imitators were far inferior to Beyond in terms of ability.

But the main reason is that operators lack overseas resources from cloud-based companies.

After all, when Beyond debuted, Cloud Entertainment was able to help them win various awards from Europe and America to Asia, and to do a lot of public relations with musicians to promote and hype them up.

However, other companies simply do not have the strength of Cloud Entertainment, and naturally, they are powerless to create momentum overseas.

In fact, not to mention other companies, even Yunshang Group itself has not done this kind of operation since the Beyond band.

After all, to promote an artist, one needs to utilize resources worldwide, and only a handful of people within the entire Yunshang Group have that kind of power.

Hideki Hanyu is definitely one of them.

Now that Hideki Hanyu has brought this up again, Chen Shufen mistakenly believes that he intends to mobilize the resources of the Yunshang Group to pull off another "export-to-domestic" scheme. "Does the gentleman mean that we can first create momentum for her overseas, and then arrange for her to develop her career in Hong Kong?"

Chen Shufen tried asking.

Hideki Hanyu countered, "Since it's overseas business, why send her to Hong Kong?"

Seeing Chen Shufen's thoughtful expression, Yu Sheng Hideki simply explained directly.

"At present, the most influential films in the South Korean film market, besides Hollywood films, are Hong Kong films."

The fastest way to make her famous in South Korea is, of course, to cast her as the lead in a Hong Kong film. If that film is a huge hit in both Hong Kong and South Korea, how could she not become famous?

Chen Shufen asked in confusion, "But even we don't know which movie will be a big hit in South Korea."

Hideki Hanyu said, "As long as the lead actor of this film has box office appeal in Hong Kong and can also boost the box office in South Korea, there is a high chance that it will be a big hit."

As soon as Hideki Yuzuru finished speaking, he and Florence Chan exchanged a glance, as if they had reached some kind of consensus, and then looked at Andy Lau beside them with tacit understanding.

Andy Lau, who had been listening quietly to the discussion, suddenly felt a little uneasy when the two of them stared at him.

"Sir, Sister Chen, what happened?"

Chan Suk-fan laughed and said, "Yong Sheng invited Andy Lau and Stephen Chow to film a new movie. With Stephen Chow and Andy Lau teaming up, the box office in Hong Kong will definitely be a huge success."

If this movie were released in South Korea, given Andy Lau's box office appeal there, I believe the box office performance wouldn't be too bad.

If it's this movie...

At this point, Chen Shufen suddenly realized something was wrong and immediately spoke to Yu Sheng Hideki.

"But for Andy Lau and Stephen Chow's movies, the production company would never allow an unknown South Korean newcomer to play the lead role, especially since the production company is Yong Sung, the boss."

Unless you, sir, can…

Chen Shufen looked at Yuzuru Hideki, her meaning self-evident.

No one in Hong Kong's entertainment industry dares to mess with the Heung family's Yong Sheng, and they don't need to give face to anyone. But if Hideki Yuzuru is willing to step in, Yong Sheng will definitely not refuse.

Unexpectedly, after listening to Chen Shufen's words, Yu Sheng Hideki waved his hand and said, "Manager Chen, you're overcomplicating things."

"Please enlighten me, sir," Chen Shufen said modestly.

Anyone in the Yunshang Group knows that Hideki Hanyu, who personally built this vast entertainment and media empire, is a super marketing master.

Even though Hideki Hanyu rarely competes now, his past achievements alone are enough to make people look up to him with awe.

"Our goal is to make Miss Liu famous in South Korea; overseas methods are just supplementary."

Manager Chen believed that Yong Sheng would not use her in Andy Lau and Stephen Chow's movies because she lacked fame in Hong Kong and, due to her foreign status, would not gain the approval of Hong Kong movie fans.

To solve this problem while still getting her into the lead role in the film, the solution is actually quite simple: just don't make her the lead actress in a Hong Kong film.

"Becoming the lead actor in a movie, but not a lead actor in a Hong Kong film?"

Chen Shufen felt dizzy from being confused by Hideki Hanyu.

But Andy Lau, who was standing next to him, seemed to have thought of something and spoke up immediately.

“I know what you mean, sir.”

Last year, when my movie "Casino Raiders" was released in South Korea, the distributor re-edited the film because I was more popular than Alan Tam in South Korea, so that I had more screen time than Alan Tam in the South Korean version.

The gentleman wanted Ms. Li to participate in the filming as a major character, and then in the version shown in Hong Kong, only a small portion of her scenes would be retained, or she would be cut entirely.

"We can release the full version featuring Ms. Lee when the movie is shown in South Korea."

Hideki Hanyu gave Andy Lau an approving look, "Andy is right."

To put it bluntly, this is simply a special edition of a movie made for a specific market.

With the rise of the mainland market in later years, Hollywood production companies have produced many films specifically for the mainland market, either to please mainland audiences or to circumvent censorship.

Of course, this tactic is not original to Hollywood.

During the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, Hong Kong film producers often did this to meet the demands of overseas markets.

The most well-known is probably "All's Well, Ends Well" from 1992.

Leslie Cheung was deeply loved by South Korean audiences for starring in "A Better Tomorrow". Therefore, when the South Korean distributors bought the rights to "All's Well, Ends Well", they strongly requested that the film include gunfight scenes featuring Leslie Cheung.

However, as a Lunar New Year comedy, "All's Well, Ends Well" featured a character played by Leslie Cheung who was effeminate and lacked any plot elements suitable for gunfights. Therefore, the South Korean distributor's demands posed a significant challenge to the production team.

However, in order to satisfy the demands of the investors, director Clifton Ko ultimately had to add a scene after the Hong Kong version's storyline ended, in which the eldest sister-in-law is kidnapped, and the three brothers, wearing stockings, engage in a gunfight with the kidnappers.

Although this scene felt incredibly abrupt, it's because South Korean movie fans love it.

But Florence Chan still asked with doubt, "If we film it like this, how will the plot be handled? After all, one person's scenes will be cut?"

Hideki Hanyu countered, "Has Nagayoshi decided on a director yet?"

Chen Shufen replied, "It's confirmed that it's director Wang Jing."

Upon hearing this name, Hideki Yuzuru immediately slammed his fist on the table and said, "If it's Director Wang Jing, there's no need to worry about this kind of thing at all; he can definitely handle it."

Hideki Yuzuru was full of confidence in Wang Jing, this genius. How could a small, specially made version of a movie possibly stump him?

Chen Shufen asked, "But how can we persuade Yongsheng?"

"Persuade? This is clearly a win-win situation, why do we need to persuade?"

Seeing that Chen Shufen still seemed to have some questions, Yu Sheng Hideki explained in more detail.

"First of all, in terms of filming, Yong Sheng should just film the Hong Kong version as the main focus. Whether Miss Li's scenes are abrupt or reasonable is not important at all."

Miss Li's role could be one where she appears frequently but is ultimately dispensable, or she could have her own storyline, or even the film's ending could be split into two: one with Miss Li and one without.

If Yongsheng agrees, we also have film distribution business in South Korea. We can buy the South Korean rights at a high price before the film even starts shooting, thus guaranteeing Yongsheng's profits.

As for our profitability, in my opinion, a film like this simply cannot fail.

If you follow the South Korean film market, you'll know that they had a big hit movie recently called "The General's Son".

This movie is of very poor quality on its own, but it still managed to be a box office hit. It did so by claiming to be a rival to Hong Kong films and stirring up patriotic sentiments among moviegoers.

As the saying goes, "stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade," and we can certainly learn from that in our distribution.

When the film is being promoted and released in Hong Kong, we can take Ms. Li with us the whole time, and then forward the reports back to South Korea to tell South Korean movie fans how important Ms. Li is to the film and how popular she is in Hong Kong.

If the film becomes a box office hit in Hong Kong when it is released in South Korea, it can be touted as a testament to South Korean actresses conquering the Hong Kong market.

Even if the box office is bad, it doesn't matter. Just get the director and Andy Lau to promote it together and praise her to the media.

Then we'll bribe the media, and then...

Hideki Hanyu went on and on, and his remarks were a culmination of the propaganda of later special-edition films that were exported and then re-imported domestically.

Not only did it amaze the humble Chen Shufen, but it also inspired her to think of countless marketing and promotional strategies.

This also left Andy Lau completely stunned, thinking to himself that there was such a way to promote someone.

Lee Young-ae, still puzzled, had no idea what had happened because she couldn't understand Mandarin.

However, judging from the way the three men kept glancing at her, Lee Young-ae was certain that their discussion was related to her.

After a while, Hideki Yuzuru finished communicating with Florence Chan about how to make Lee Young-ae famous.

Having already decided to expand Hengxing Entertainment's international business, Chen Shufen wasted no time and directly asked Li Yingai in English.

"Ms. Li, sign with my agency and I'll help you realize your dream of becoming an actress."

(End of this chapter)