1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 227 Spring Festival Eve
James Cameron said in a later interview that when he was directing his first real movie, "Piranha 2", he was kicked out of the crew by the investor in the middle of filming, and then he fell ill and had a strange dream. In the dream, a metal robot was crawling towards him with a kitchen knife.

So after waking up from the dream, the draft script of "Terminator" was born.

"The Great Patrol", which topped the North American box office in 1984, did not cause any fluctuations in Zhai Yuan's heart.

The main reason was that he was not familiar with the black protagonist Eddie Murphy.

But Zhai Yuan was deeply touched by the robot killer T-800 created by Cameron and Schwarzenegger.

Human power is ultimately limited.

1024 is developing rapidly in Hong Kong, but once its vision is broadened a little, its disadvantages are still obvious.

In the near future, Western films will be released in force. What position will my 91 Entertainment be placed in then?

Zhai Yuan sat in the car, biting the cigarette butt and puffing out smoke, his heart filled with complex emotions of unwillingness, contemplation, entanglement and loneliness.

Sitting next to her, Ye Yuqing's clothes were disheveled. She wiped the corners of her mouth with a tissue, spit out the mouthwash out of the window, and glanced at Zhai Yuan with a charming look: "You have so much~"

When driving back to the company.

Zhai Yuan's sage time gradually faded away, and the worried thoughts just now were swept away.

Cameron? What is that?
Zhai Yuan said: "Notify the heads of each department to come to the conference room in ten minutes for the year-end summary meeting."

Soon, the company leaders headed by Shi Nansheng took their seats one after another.

The Jiuyi and Sanhe film companies have not had much self-operated business this year and their film production volume is very low.

The work report mainly focuses on the 1024 and five theaters.

The five cinemas have currently attracted many independent production organizations in Hong Kong. No matter whether it is a director or a company, as long as they provide film sources to the cinemas, 1024 will accept them all.

Several typical Hong Kong producers, such as director Liang Puzhi who was fired by New One City, Wu Ma who became independent from Zhao's company, and Fat Cat Zheng Zeshi who ventured into the field of production for the first time, all tried to screen their new films on 1024 this year, and the box office results varied.

After listening to the reports from the theater managers, Zhai Yuan continued to say to everyone: "After the Spring Festival, the company has at least ten plays scheduled, so everyone will have a harder time next year. Miss Shi will announce the new year's salary reward system to everyone later."

The report on film and television related work has been completed.

He Jinhua, the director of Secret Garden and dubbing department, also took out a report.

This telephone company has been operating for more than a year and has reaped the benefits of its early monopoly. Now other companies that are following its lead are beginning to emerge, and its decline is inevitable.

Since September, Secret Garden's revenue has been declining continuously, and by the end of this year it has dropped by 20% year-on-year.

He Jinhua said with some shame: "I am communicating with Xiangjiang Telecom, hoping to reduce the phone bill of Secret Garden and reduce expenditure costs."

The employees who worked for the Secret Garden had given a lot of money to Zhai Yuan's film company before the gambling boat business started, and now all of them have higher salaries than white-collar workers.

He Jinhua went on to say: "Employees are now more worried about the decline in revenue. They don't have the impressive performance they once had, and you, the boss, will reduce the number of employees."

Zhai Yuan smiled and comforted her, saying it was not a big deal: "We still have a profit of over one million per month, which is already rare. I will tell everyone not to worry when we get back. When there is a real imbalance between income and expenditure in the future, I will transform Secret Garden. Don't worry, no one will lose their jobs."

The year-end summary meeting came to an end.

Zhai Yuan returned to the office and learned from Shi Nansheng that Xu Qi had returned from America and was currently autistic at home.

Schwarzenegger dealt a heavy blow to Xu Qi.

This man, who had only 18 lines in the whole film, overshadowed Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. Even the promotional posters only had his tough guy face, and all other actors were passed.

This is surprisingly consistent with the movie poster of "The Invisible Woman", which also only promotes Michelle Pfeiffer.

Zhai Yuan said to Shi Nansheng, "Let him rest for two days to adjust his mood. The company has signed a mainland actor named Li Lianjie. I have a script for him after the Chinese New Year."

Shi Nansheng asked curiously: "What type of movie is it?"

Zhai Yuan said: "Kung Fu movies, Huang Feihong."

Shi Nansheng's eyes showed surprise: "Ancient costume kung fu movie? It's outdated, right? And it's about Huang Feihong."

As early as 1949, Guan Dexing, a professional actor of Wong Fei-hung, Cao Dahua, a professional actor of Leung Kuan, and Liu Zhan, a professional actor of Lam Sai-wing, put on a stage to perform.

In almost 20 years, Hong Kong produced 80 films with Wong Fei-hung as the protagonist. Except for two films starring the famous Cantonese opera artist Bai Yutang, the remaining 78 films all starred Wong Fei-hung by Kwan Tak-hing.

The subject matter is all-encompassing.

From burning down Bawangzhuang to playing three tricks on the female escort, from the iron chicken fighting the centipede to the husband and wife eliminating three evils.

Wong Fei-hung, played by Kwan Tak-hing, defeated countless villains and bullies. His opponents changed from one to many, and from humans to animals. In "The King of Ape vs. Wong Fei-hung", Wong Fei-hung blinded the gorilla's eyes with pepper powder and then stabbed it to death. Looking at the history of special effects films, this is also a very explosive scene.

When Kwan Tak-hing gradually left the Wong Fei-hung IP and opened a Po Chi Lam pharmacy in Hong Kong to do business, the production of Wong Fei-hung films dropped sharply.

Since the 9s, there have been only films on the market featuring Wong Fei-hung, of which Chen Shilong's "Drunken Master" is naturally the most famous. However, the success of this film does not rely on the three words "Wong Fei-hung".

Nowadays, martial arts films are declining, and even Chen Shilon has transformed from early Republic of China kung fu films to fashion films. Zhai Yuan has actually reversed course.

Needless to say, Shi Nansheng didn't understand. If the news got out, the entire film industry would think he was crazy.

Zhai Yuan explained to Shi Nansheng, "Kwan Tak-hing's Wong Fei-hung is like an ordinary citizen, while Chan Shih-lung's Wong Fei-hung is a humorous boy. But the screen lacks a handsome and stylish Wong Fei-hung right now. I think Jet Li is very suitable. He just starred in two Shaolin Temple movies, and the box office performance is obvious to all. This shows that the market still needs kung fu movies to fill the gap. If we promote him, the company will have another backbone for genre movies in the future, which will be a good choice."

After the boss said this, Shi Nansheng had no choice but to nod in agreement.

She said to Zhai Yuan, "Can you give me the script first so that Ah Xu can take a look at it?"

Zhai Yuan took out a half-finished draft and handed it to her: "It's still in the polishing stage, so it's a good opportunity to give it to Xu Qi and ask him to help revise and improve it."

The decision to shoot "Once Upon a Time in China" was made after he signed Jet Li. According to the original timeline, after shooting the Shaolin Temple series, the Kung Fu Emperor was silent for a while, then directed and starred in "Chinese Hero", and collaborated with Stephen Chow in "Dragon on the Edge of the World", neither of which had high quality or box office. It was not until the 1990s when he appeared in the image of Wong Fei-hung that he became truly famous.

Zhai Yuan couldn't wait that long for him to settle down. Although Shaolin Temple was a huge success, the name Jet Li was not well known, so he had to let Xu Qi train him first and use the Hong Kong team to help him make a name for himself in his hometown.

Ajie, Brother Yuan is so good to you, what will Lizhi say in the future?
A few years flashed through Zhai Yuan's mind, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Shi Nansheng frowned, thinking that her boss's smile was very strange. She lowered her head and glanced at the draft script. The plot was clear enough, but after all, kung fu movies were mainly based on fighting, and there was nothing outstanding about it from the script.

Zhai Yuan went on to say, "There is a director named Chen Xiaodong who has a very good style. I think we can have him work with Xu Qi. We can contact him after the New Year and recruit him into the company."

When Shi Nansheng heard this name, he recalled, "I only remember that he filmed a movie called "Life and Death".

Zhai Yuan hummed, "I used to make a living with Patrick Tam, and earlier I worked as a director at Rediffusion and TVB, and I participated in the creation of "Heavenly Silkworm Change" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

Jet Li needs Xu Kui's guidance, and Xu Kui and Chen Xiaodong need to guide each other, otherwise Xu Kui will definitely start to act wildly. Hollywood is still good at judging people, and it cannot delegate all power to the director.

Shi Nansheng silently memorized the name and reported to Zhai Yuan, "Speaking of recruiting people to join the company, a director and screenwriter came for an interview a few days ago. I think they can stay."

Zhai Yuan asked: "What's your name?"

"The director is Liu Zhenwei and the screenwriter is Wang Jiawei." Shi Nansheng said with a smile, "Wang Jiawei used to work at New One City, but was fired by Huang Boming because he was too slow in writing scripts. But I think he has good talent. In addition, he and Liu Zhenwei came to the interview this time and brought a script with them. Their attitude was very good."

Patriarch Bodhi and the two brothers King Sunglasses actually came to his own company?

Zhai Yuan was slightly surprised and asked Shi Nansheng: "What script did they bring?"

Shi Nansheng said, "Wait a moment," and then hurried out and went back to his office to look for the script.

Zhai Yuan was alone in thought.

I remembered.

After he sent Deng Guangrong to prison, his Dayong (Yingzhijie) Film Company disappeared, and the two brothers Liu Zhenwei and Wang Jiawei naturally became unemployed.

Originally, it was Wang Jiawei's "Ashes of Time" that made Deng Guangrong vomit blood, and now the cause and effect has shifted to me, President Zhai?
Zhai Yuan felt that there must be a divine will in all this, but in reality the Hong Kong film industry was too small, as Zhaoshi, Jiahe and Silver Princess had already established a sound system, making it difficult for newcomers to come to the fore, so of course the first choice for newcomers now was the younger 1024.

"Found it. Let me take a look... The script they sent is called "The Haunted Cop Shop."

Shi Nansheng quickly sat down opposite Zhai Yuan again, with a neatly bound script in his hand, and handed it to Zhai Yuan.

When Zhai Yuan heard the title of the film, he felt there was no need to watch the content.

Zhang Xueyou's Jin Makki, Xu Guanying's Meng Chao, Lou Languang's She Zai Ming, Zuo Songsheng's Issey Miyake...

This is Liu Zhenwei's first directorial debut and Wang Jiawei's screenplay. This is the first film the two have collaborated on.

Zhai Yuan pretended to look through the script, and had already made a decision in his mind:

Wang Jiawei can choose to stay or not, but Liu Zhenwei has to stay.

Both Bodhi Patriarch and Wang Jin are famous for being the kings of bad movies, and they are also the kings of commercial movies, and their peak periods were comparable.

After "God of Gamblers" became a huge hit, Wang Jin quickly started filming the sequel.

But at the same time, a number of copycat works have appeared on the market, including "God of Gamblers", "The King of Gamblers", "The Gambler" and so on. These movies received mediocre responses in Hong Kong, but were sold to Taiwan under the guise of being the legitimate sequels to "God of Gamblers", allowing several independent production companies to make a small profit.

After signing Liu Zhenwei, a truly authentic sequel to "God of Gamblers" can be produced this year, squeezing out the surplus value of this genre of films.

Although Liang Jiahui’s Chen Daozai is not as handsome as Andy Lau’s, his acting skills are definitely good enough.

As for the Gambler Zhou Xingchi, he is still working as a children's program host on TVB and is a frequent visitor to the Xinji Boxing Gym, so he can be invited to film at any time.

Thinking of this, Zhai Yuan said to Shi Nansheng, "Tell Liu Zhenwei to come to the company to work after the New Year. As for Wang Jiawei... it doesn't matter. If you like him, just keep a position for him."

Shi Nansheng left with the draft of "Huang Feihong".

After Zhai Yuan finished the big meeting and the small meeting, he stretched tiredly and prepared to notify his new apprentice Zhou Huimin to come in and massage his shoulders.

A voice came from outside the door.

"Brother Yuan, I'll bring my secretary to report to you."

Arrive before anyone arrives.

Liang Zhichao pushed the door open and walked in.

He was wearing a flashy snow-white suit with a linen handkerchief in his chest pocket, his leather shoes were polished to a shine, his slicked-back hair was so waxed that even a fly couldn't stand on it, and he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose.

Four words: looks like a human but acts like a dog.

Following behind Liang Zhichao was a big-breasted young woman wearing a low-cut top and a miniskirt, with an unsatisfied look on her face.

Brother Chao walked in with great style, flopped down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and took out a cigar from his arms.

With a snap of his fingers, the busty young woman next to him immediately leaned over to help him light the fire.

With another snap of her fingers, the young woman took out a financial report from her bag and spread it out on Zhai Yuan's desk.

"Hello Mr. Zhai, I am Helen, Mr. Liang's secretary. I am reporting to you the revenue of the 21 video rooms in Sau Mau Ping Estate this year..."

Zhai Yuan is not interested in the revenue of the video hall.

But looking at Liang Zhichao's elegant manners, every move seemed to have been rehearsed, as if he was in a play, he couldn't help but sigh.

Brother Chao, I wish I could be as cool and carefree as you.

…………

After the Little New Year in the South, Zhai Yuan celebrated his 20th birthday on Valentine's Day.

The age from small to middle.

Even though he didn't have the habit of celebrating his birthday, he still had no control over it after his business grew.

Many people came to congratulate him. Even acquaintances like Chen Shilong in the film industry, who were just nodding acquaintances, had gifts sent to his home even if they didn't come.

They received seven cakes alone, and even Zhai Yao, a foodie, grimaced when she smelled the cream.

Zhao Meizhen asked Zhai Yao to bring paper and pen to record all the gifts and make a gift list.

Zhai Yuan asked curiously: "What is this for?"

Zhao Meizhen said: "People are willing to give gifts to you because they are giving you face. I will write down their names and remember to return the gifts next time."

Zhou Haimei came early and helped Zhao Meizhen in the kitchen. She also volunteered to clean the room, running around with her small body.

After moving to this garden villa in Deep Water Bay in the South District, Zhai Yuan hired two Filipino maids, but they were fired by Zhao Meizhen within a few days. Zhai Yuan felt that he had to take some time to let her take a look at his current property so that she would not always worry about spending too much money.

Good friends like Liang Zhichao and Chen Jiale also came to visit.

Ye Zhiming and Ye Yuqing, brother and sister, also wanted to visit the house, but Zhai Yuan glanced at Zhou Haimei and politely declined.

(End of this chapter)