Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 332 Preparing the Company's Film

"Connected" grossed HK$7.8 million in Hong Kong in its first week of release.

This data is definitely quite good.

Even if it were set in Hong Kong in the 1990s, it would be a film that could compete for a place in the top ten of the annual box office.

If we consider it now in 2008, it would be even more amazing.

Unlike the mainland film market, which expands every year and whose box office rankings rise year after year.

Like the record market, Hong Kong's film market began to shrink significantly after the turn of the century.

This can be seen from the annual box office charts.

Last year, the top ten highest-grossing films in Hong Kong were: Lust, Caution (HK$4800 million) and The tenth highest-grossing film was The Changing Moon (HK$928 million).

In 1994, the champion was "God of Gamblers II", which grossed 52 million HKD. There were seven films that grossed over 30 million HKD, and the tenth place film grossed a whopping 20 million HKD.

It is clear that the difference in the champion position between 1994 and 2008 is not significant, but the difference lies in the bottom of the top ten.

Last year it was only 9 million. If this were in the 1990s, it wouldn't even be in the top 20.

There is no doubt that Hong Kong cinema is visibly declining, and it's not just a minor decline.

Furthermore, Wu Zhuo clearly remembers that in 2008, the Hong Kong film box office charts would decline again.

Of the top ten films in the annual box office rankings, only seven grossed over 10 million yuan, and only one, "CJ7," grossed over 30 million yuan.

The tenth-ranked film, "The Witness," only grossed a little over 700 million at the box office.

Under these circumstances, "Connected" achieving a box office of 7.8 million in its opening week is definitely a blockbuster film.

This can be seen from the news in Hong Kong's local newspapers.

"Wu Zhuo's new film 'Connected' grossed eight million in its opening week and is expected to surpass twenty million."

"The success of 'Connected' fully demonstrates Wu Zhuo's box office appeal, and Emperor Entertainment Group made a killing!"

"After surpassing Jay Chou in record sales last year, Wu Zhuo has made another strong showing this year, with his starring film achieving the same box office figures as Jay Chou's 'Kung Fu Dunk' in its opening week."

Articles about the film appeared in the supplements and even the headlines of major publishing houses.

This prompted netizens on the mainland to leave numerous comments on Wu Zhuo's blog.

"Connected looks really good, when will it be released in mainland China?"

"I heard Wu Zhuo looks incredibly handsome in this movie!"

"Upstairs, I'm in Hong Kong. Wu Zhuo isn't handsome at all in it, but he acts very well. It's a movie worth watching."

"I'm speechless. It's one thing for Jay Chou to not focus on releasing albums and making movies, but you've also tried to make movies like him."

Why can't you just stick to singing your songs? Can't you just be a proper singer?

Clearly, audiences in mainland China are eagerly anticipating the film's release there.

Especially Wu Zhuo's fans.

The same applies not only to mainland China, but also to Taiwan and Singapore.

As for Japan and South Korea, they have less contact with China, so there hasn't been much discussion about them yet.

However, once the film is acquired by the distributors, it will likely still generate some discussion.

……

After finishing his film promotion in Hong Kong, Wu Zhuo rushed to Beijing.

He wasn't there to promote "Connected".

Although the film will be released in mainland China in the next few days.

But publicity matters are basically no longer his concern.

He came back this time mainly for matters concerning Legendary Pictures.

His film company has been established for quite some time, and after several months of setup, it is now basically on the right track.

Now, everything is ready, except for a grand opening to make a name for themselves.

The issue of the artwork for the opening ceremony is very important.

If the opening ceremony is unsuccessful, his newly established company may face cash flow problems.

Therefore, deciding what to make for the first film requires careful consideration. After arriving at the company today, Wu Zhuo first met with several of the company's current senior executives.

Zheng Jianfeng, Zhang Xiaohui, and Ye Weimin, a relatively well-known director currently signed with the company.

The group discussed the issues related to the first project.

"These projects are all based on the novel copyrights I purchased. Let's see which one is the most suitable to film for the first project!"

Wu Zhuo had several of his novels, which he planned to adapt into film and television, brought out to everyone.

Just like his songs, Wu Zhuo has entrusted the copyrights of all the novels he purchased to a copyright management company he established for management.

Subsequently, these works that can be adapted into films and television series will be jointly developed by Legendary Films and a copyright management company called Excellence.

Yes, the left hand and the right hand work together.

After everyone received the issued documents, Wu Zhuo looked at Ye Weimin.

"Director Ye, how's the progress on that idea I asked you to expand on?"

After Ye Weimin joined the company, Wu Zhuo told him the idea for "Lost in Thailand" based on his memories from his previous life, and asked him to ask the screenwriter to expand the story.

The original box office of "Lost in Thailand" was around 4600 million, which seems like a small amount, but it was a low-budget film.

The total investment was only four million, but the profit was very considerable.

Most importantly, this film could kick off the "Lost in..." series.

Wu Zhuo himself is definitely not suitable for the role.

However, this project can serve as a long-term development project for the company.

"Mr. Wu, it's still a little short, but I should be able to deliver the script next week."

Ye Weimin stood up and replied.

"Okay, please do it as soon as possible. If it's suitable, we might be able to develop the two projects together."

It's not actually impossible to work on two projects together.

The investment in "Lost in Thailand" is not much, so the company can operate perfectly well.

However, the project he starred in himself, because of his involvement, must have had a high investment.

However, it's not a big problem.

Because this project may not be independently invested in by Legendary.

Wu Zhuo is now a hot commodity.

Especially after the initial success of "Keep Talking".

After the box office results for the first week of the project came out, several companies immediately contacted him, wanting to invest in his project.

This is actually not surprising.

Many film and television investments actually follow the lead of the artists.

As long as you have popularity and influence, there will be plenty of investors willing to invest in you.

Just like Tianxi.

The reason they agreed to let Wu Zhuo establish his own film and television company was on one condition: they would have certain investment rights in the projects of Wu Zhuo's company.

Wu Zhuo didn't mind.

The entertainment industry is never a place where one can have everything to themselves.

Jackie Chan is so awesome, and Shen Teng and Wu Jing will have such strong box office appeal in the future.

Their films also attract investment from multiple sources.

Sometimes, investing in many companies isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Each of these capital firms has its own channels and areas of expertise.

If we work together, things like publicity, theater scheduling, and even filming and release permits will be much easier to resolve.

Conversely, if you're alone, many things become more complicated.

(End of this chapter)