1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 194 People are distracted
Zhou Huimin was in great pain.

I felt like I regretted not listening to my mother and letting Zhai Yuan take advantage of me.

Based on her previous personality, she would definitely leave the theater on the spot, never return to Jiuyi, and never pay attention to Zhai Yuan again.

But during this time they had been together to the point where they were invited to the theater to watch plays, and the girl's heart was somewhat moved.

At least before today, Zhai Yuan left a good impression on her.

Could it be that I have been too close to him recently, causing him to misunderstand me?
Zhou Huimin thought of this and looked up and said, "Don't ask me out in the future, and don't follow me into the recording studio."

Zhai Yuan said: "No problem."

Zhou Huimin didn't expect him to agree so readily: "Really?"

Not until Zhai Yuan nodded confidently again did she heave a sigh of relief, thinking that as long as she made her attitude clear, she could just suffer in silence this time. Alas!
She found some psychological comfort and said to Zhai Yuan: "Then I will go home by myself, you don't have to send me off."

Zhai Yuan said: "I really envy you for being able to go home?"

Zhou Huimin asked in confusion: "Can't you go home?"

Zhai Yuan sighed, "You are there at the home you return to, but you are not there at the home I return to."

Zhou Huimin blinked her big eyes: "What do you mean? I must not be in your family."

Zhai Yuan thought to himself that something was wrong and the magic didn't work.

The last time I used this trick on my cousin Haimei, she jumped up and hung on me like a koala. Why doesn't it work on you?

…………

When Zhai Yuan was flirting with girls, "Shaolin Kid" was being released in full swing.

The proprietress of Sanhe, Chen Lan, has also organized the first round of publicity and promotion for God of Gamblers.

If it weren't for the malicious marketing that Mr. Zhai usually uses, the promotion and publicity of the movie would usually be normal.

There are only a few ways, such as newspapers, magazines, television and door-to-door promotion.

The most important thing is the movie poster.

In the era without various mapping software, real-life posters were difficult to attract attention, so hand-painters needed to use their wild imagination to draw exquisite cartoon posters.

The hand-painter of "God of Gamblers" used real-life photos of the movie's leading actors as the base and made them into the style of playing cards on the poster. The leading actors, Anthony Wong, Leonard Leung, Anita Mui, and Michiko Nishiwaki each used stills to make cards of different suits, which directly established the style of the movie.

"We can make a deck of playing cards like this, and then ask the audience to redeem them with 1024 movie tickets."

After receiving the poster, Zhai Yuan made some suggestions.

A deck of playing cards costs only a few cents, but it is very effective in increasing the cohesion of theater audiences.

In addition to the poster, the title is equally important. These two things can usually determine the life or death of a movie.

Jet Li later made a movie called "A Letter to Dad", which was a huge box office failure because the audience thought it was an art film after seeing the title and were unwilling to watch it. When it was released to other places and sold on video tapes, the film company quickly changed the name to "Young and Dangerous" and "Father and Son", which barely made up for the loss.

"The God of Gamblers and the Gunners", "The God of Gamblers vs. the King of Gamblers", "The God of Gamblers", "Casino Tycoon"..."

Chen Lan handed a new list to Zhai Yuan and asked, "Do you want to change the name of the movie?"

Zhai Yuan took a quick glance and almost failed to recognize the word "gamble".

He shook his head and said, "Let's just call it 'God of Gamblers'. The style of gambling movies is not much different."

Chen Lan said, "Okay."

Zhai Yuan asked: "Are there any new movies coming out recently?"

Chen Lan thought for a moment and said, "Hong Xinbao's company produced a movie called "The Flag Soldiers of the Province and Hong Kong", and New One City released "Happy Ghost", both of which have good reputations."

According to the original timeline, there should have been two blockbuster films, "The Brave Twins" and "Twin Dragons", this year. However, after Zhai Yuan leased the four leading theaters of Zhao's family, Dickson Poon, Sammul Hung and Sammul Sham were unable to get theater chains, resulting in the fact that D&B Films has not yet been established.

Zhai Yuan was more familiar with the two movies "The Flag Soldiers" and "Happy Ghost", especially the latter. He originally wanted to intercept this movie and put together an all-female cast, but he was still one step behind Huang Boming.

Life is not what you want, nine times out of ten. -Shalonbas

…………

"The Flag Soldiers" was released on July 7 and was quickly taken off the screen on July 11.

The reason given by the Film Censorship Office this time is unquestionable, and it is forbidden to use the movie to discredit the surrounding areas.

But after only 14 days of release, this low-budget film, starring all amateurs, still grossed million yuan at the box office.

It is worth mentioning that this movie was supposed to be Lin Guobing’s screen debut, but he was sent to play Gao Yi in "God of Gamblers" and missed the opportunity. This time, an unknown amateur replaced him.

On the day the movie was released, Zhai Yuan went to the theater to watch it.

Watching this movie with a strong Cut style on the big screen is completely different from the experience of watching it on a computer in the past. The clarity is not on the same level, and even the restored version cannot compare to the film quality.

There were audience members around discussing the plot.

"There are indeed more and more big circle gangs now. There will be robberies in the news soon. The police are useless."

"There's no plan! They brought AKs from above, and at worst they have Black Stars. The .38 rifles used by the police can't even kill a mosquito. Let's pick it!"

"This director's films are so realistic. Last time I went to the Walled City to eat dog meat hotpot, I passed by this alley."

"The location is great, and the actors' acting is great. When A-Tai was locked in the car and burned, it was so realistic."

Zhai Yuan laughed after hearing this and said, "You are right. It is indeed like the truth."

Realism is a major feature of "The Flag Soldiers" and is also the shooting style of director Mak Wing-hung. The screenwriter of this film is Chen Xinjian, a former superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department of the police force. The consultant and actor is Huang Jian, the "head girl" of the Big Circle Gang who has a close relationship with Hong Xinbao. The other Big Circle actors are also genuine Big Circle actors making friendly appearances.

The black and white worlds worked together to create this film, clearly presenting the process of the big tea meal to the audience. If the release period was longer, this low-cost movie might not be able to break 20 million at the box office.

It almost surpassed "Irresistible Passion", the download was great!

After watching "Provincial and Hong Kong Flag Soldiers", there was someone more beside Zhai Yuan.

Zhou Haimei climbed over the wall of the school again and ran out, and threw herself into his arms as soon as they met. My cousin is getting more and more lively now, especially after experiencing the love between a man and a woman with Zhai Yuan, she is very clingy.

Zhai Yuan helped her brush off the dirt on her white skirt and said in a blaming way, "You, if you really can't do it, then don't do it."

Zhou Haimei looked at her cousin who was bending down for her, and couldn't hide her joy in her eyes. She said, "No, I still need to go to college so that I can help you in the future. Cousin, do you think I should study finance or be a lawyer?"

The film industry has lost a Zhou Zhiruo, but President Zhai has gained a love-minded person.

After Zhai Yuan patted off the dirt, he pinched her thighs twice, which made Zhou Haimei tremble with joy.

He said unhappily, "Study child care education and take care of children at home in the future."

Zhou Haimei rubbed her belly with a silly smile, then jumped onto Zhai Yuan, hugged his neck, clamped her legs around his waist, and chuckled in Zhai Yuan's ear, "Then I won't go back to school tonight, let's go to the hotel to sow seeds together~"

There were people coming and going in front of the theater. She was no longer shy and clung to Zhai Yuan in an intimate manner, which was completely different from the way she looked before when she blushed when holding hands.

There is such a huge difference between this girl and women. No wonder I can't understand what they are thinking.

Zhai Yuan held Zhou Haimei's hips and asked, "Cousin, I have a friend who kissed a girl last time. She didn't get angry with him, but there was no other progress with him. Can you help my friend with some advice on what to do next?"

Zhou Haimei thought about it and said with a smile: "I don't know~ But if we didn't fall out, it shouldn't feel too bad, right?"

Then he asked curiously, "Is it Carlos Chan or Leung Chi Chiu? Let them seize the opportunity and don't give up~"

She didn't know much about Zhai Yuan's social circle, which basically focused on the two kings of the housing estate.

Zhai Yuan hummed: "Got it!"

…………

On August 8, New One City’s “Happy Ghost” was taken off the screen.

The first youth comedy film by the Happy Girls Group grossed 24 million at the domestic box office in days after its release.

On August 8, the Central Plains Film Studio's "Shaolin Kid" was taken off the screen.

As Zhai Yuan expected, the light comedy style of this film was still loved by the audience. After 37 days of release, the domestic box office reached million.

In just half a year, the box office of Hong Kong films has experienced another round of inflation.

Last year, three movies competed fiercely in the Lunar New Year box office. After the box office was diluted, "A Better Tomorrow", the Lunar New Year champion, only earned 18 million. As a result, this year it was overtaken by "Happy Ghost" and "Shaolin Kid" one after another.

Of course, the increase in ticket prices is one reason, but the increase in the average salary of citizens is another major reason.

In the Xinyicheng office.

Huang Baiming felt that he was making a whistling sound when he walked, and he walked with his head held high, looking invincible.

Major shareholder Mecca hugged him tightly and said, "Ah Huang, well done! We'll have a celebration banquet for you tonight."

The second largest shareholder, Shi Tian, also congratulated him, "Raymond, your film "Happy Ghost" will at least be among the top three in the summer box office charts."

Huang Boming pushed his glasses and smiled confidently, "It's as expected. Unfortunately, a movie called Shaolin Kid came out and was released together with 1024, stealing the limelight from Happy Ghost."

As one of the three largest shareholders of New One City, he is better at studying the market than Mecca and Shi Tian. He keeps up with the times and knows what today's young audiences like to watch.

Last year, Huang Boming, as a judge, participated in a middle school drama performance and inter-school stage play competition. He fell in love with a middle school student's script "Zhu Xiucai" at first sight. He bought it for 5,000 Hong Kong dollars and adapted it into "Happy Ghost" with a cast of beautiful girls.

The Happy Girls Group was called a borderline group in the words of later generations. It was a group of beautiful girls headed by Li Lizhen, who were all carefully selected by New One City scouts. With the help of a good script, they showed off their bodies in the film, which injected a shot in the arm for the New One City, which was originally somewhat sluggish.

The entire film cost only over two million to produce, which is comparable to the three pornographic films 1024 made.

Mecca reminded: "But you still have to be careful. Jiahe is going to release a movie called "Fast Food Trucks" this month, and there is a movie called "God of Gamblers" on 1024 that has been promoted very aggressively recently."

"God of Gamblers? Are there still people making gambling movies in this era?"

Shi Tian and Huang Baiming were stunned at first, then they both smiled indifferently.

The gambling film craze has been sweeping Hong Kong since the 1970s. From "The King of Gamblers" to "Mahjong Heroes", films have attempted to incorporate elements of passion, tragedy, comedy and more, with no less than twenty films and TV series of this type shot.

Nowadays everyone is innovating, even Chen Shilon has given up on making kung fu movies from the early Republic of China, but 1024 is still going down the old path, and no one is optimistic about it.

"People are saying that Zhai Yuan of 1024 wrote a sharp script, but in my opinion, Wu Yusen deserves the most credit for A Better Tomorrow."

Shi Tian pointed out Jiang Shan, "What kind of experience can a teenager have? He watched a few gambling movies when he was a child, and now he made a movie called Chasing Dreams? No wonder Wu Yusen refused to help him make it. He wanted to borrow Wang Jin from Zhao's. I know Wang Jin very well. He will do anything as long as he is paid."

Mecca laughed and said, "Movies should still be in line with the market. Gambling films are too outdated. 1024 made a bad move."

A low laugh was heard in the office, and a few people commented on the yet-to-be-released movie "God of Gamblers", and then the topic turned to other places.

"I heard that the investment in "Fast Food Trucks" is huge and Jiahe will continue to impact the Hollywood market."

Mecca looked at Huang Boming and said, "Ah Huang, your Happy Ghost was very successful this time. Why don't you take advantage of Boss Lei's good mood and ask him to continue filming the Best Partner series?"

After the box office of last year's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was diluted, the revenue was terrible, which directly led to the IP being shelved.

Among the three shareholders of New One City at this time, Mecca was the most unwilling, because his star luck in recent years was all due to the role of Bald Guy, so much so that he ignored what he had just said, "Movie making should be aligned with the market."

The Best Partner series is clearly no longer suitable for this market.

Huang Baiming took off his glasses and wiped them, then looked up and smiled at Mecca, "Okay, I'll talk to Mr. Lei about this later."

Having said that, Huang Baiming's heart was as clear as a mirror.

As the shareholder with the smallest shareholding among the trio, he never gets to eat the meat, but has to take the blame for Mecca every time. Currently, Lei Juekun has no hope for the best partner, and there is no point in making the big boss unhappy for the so-called interests of the company.

I, Happy Ghost, am planning to make a series, so why would I have time to care about your best partner?
Mecca didn't know that his little brother, who had always been treated like a slave, had already changed his mind. He turned around and asked Shi Tian, still acting like a boss: "A Tian, how do you like your movie called "Family Portrait"? "

"Boss Lei has seen it and thinks it's good. He plans to release it in the next few days."

Shi Tian said a little worriedly: "I'm not afraid of the gambling movie on 1024, but I will encounter "Fast Food Trucks" in August. God knows what the result will be."

Mecca consoled him, "Family Portrait spent a lot of money to invite Xu Guanjie and Jenny Tseng to support the show. At least the local market won't be much worse than Chen Shilong. I'll go to the theater to support you. If the results are good, you and Ah Huang will go find Boss Lei and ask him to restart the best partner."

Shi Tian smiled and nodded at him, then turned to look at Huang Baiming. Both of them saw helplessness in each other's eyes.

(End of this chapter)