Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 687 No Successor (33)

Golden Harvest did indeed try its hand at online films back then…

The Accidental Spy!
Back then, as the Hong Kong film industry entered a downturn, Golden Harvest's market value dropped to HK$3 million...

Peter Lam decides to acquire Golden Harvest…

Faced with Peter Lam's hostile takeover attempt, Golden Harvest did not sit idly by.

Raymond Chow approached Acer, a Taiwanese electronics giant, hoping to leverage Acer's strength to defeat Peter Lam.

It was a success!
Acer became a major shareholder of Golden Harvest, but Acer has always been committed to the research and development of electronic products, software and hardware, so it is very sensitive to the Internet market.

After investing in Golden Harvest, Acer saw the decline of the Hong Kong film industry and hoped to shift Golden Harvest's film market from theaters to the internet.

This film, "The Accidental Spy," also became an "experimental work" for Golden Harvest Films' shift to online platforms.

To allow viewers to watch "The Accidental Spy" on online platforms.

Golden Harvest split the original storyline of the film into two parts: "The Accidental Spy 2003" and "The Accidental Spy".

"The Accidental Spy 2003" is 30 minutes long and was first released on online platforms. "The Accidental Spy" is 108 minutes long and was later released simultaneously online and in theaters.

The production team cut some scenes from "The Accidental Spy" and put those stories in "The Accidental Spy 2003" in order to attract moviegoers to watch "The Accidental Spy 2003" through online platforms.

However, the internet video market around 2000 was not a mature system.

"The Accidental Spy" failed to open up a blue ocean in the internet market for Golden Harvest, and the theatrical version's story also left audiences confused because it lacked relevant content from "The Accidental Spy 2003".

In short, this movie is a failure!
This even indirectly led to Golden Harvest's decline—"The Accidental Spy" had a total cost of HK$1.7 million, but ultimately resulted in a loss of HK$1.5 million, which undoubtedly indirectly affected Golden Harvest's development plans. Many film critics also consider this film to be a key turning point in Golden Harvest's decline from its peak.

Wang Jing certainly knew about this history!

At that time, Wang Jing's best partner film company was still supplying films to Golden Harvest...

Of course, most importantly... Netflix has started producing streaming movies, and Wang Jing has always paid attention to the overseas film market, so of course he knows about these things!
"Can we use our behind-the-scenes staff?"

Shen Yan shook his head: "Impossible. Our initial investment is at most 500 million yuan per film... For online movies, no one can say for sure whether we can recoup our costs..."

"What about the actors?"

"...I took this job because I wanted to give newcomers opportunities to gain experience..."

Lok Yee-ling said, "We can offer a lower price!"

"Could Bosco Wong and Charmaine Sheh be cast in the roles?"

"...That's unlikely...but we can find some new talent..."

"Stop," Shen Yan laughed, "Since it's impossible for someone to become famous, we have plenty of newcomers. Why use newcomers from your TVB? Give me a reason!"

Virginia Lok shut up...

Wang Jingze talked about his film plans—"The New Six-Fingered Demon," "The Macau Hero," and "The New Crippled Ho"...

By the way, I would like to invite Shen Yan to join us.
Shen Yan shook his head decisively: "I have no interest in thieves or martial arts movies!"

Oh, "The Legend of the Macau Swordsman" tells the story of three notorious thieves...

Hong Kong directors' usual tactic: relying on past glories!

"Chasing the Dragon II," "Chasing the Tiger and Capturing the Dragon," "The Macau Hero," and later "Top Wanted," all revolved around the King of Thieves...

They probably think that mainland viewers are interested in this stuff?

Okay, I guess they were misled by all the positive reviews for "Trivisa"...

"You're not interested in 'To Be Number One'?"

Shen Yan shook his head: "I'm not interested in that period of history..."

Crippled Ho... The story of how an illegal immigrant transformed into a drug kingpin.

It's just a story about how the British left Hong Kong unchecked during their colonial period, which led to the emergence of triad groups!
As for *New Crippled Ho*, it's based on the story of *Chasing the Dragon*, plus the Kowloon Walled City setting. Clearly, Wong King is rehashing old ideas; these concepts all stem from an earlier film he wrote: *The Triad Bureau*, which tells the story of two best friends in Kowloon Walled City, one a policeman, the other a gangster. Does this correspond to Lui Lok and Crippled Ho?
……

The first film he produced was "Ainu".

Claimed to be Hong Kong's premier fantasy martial arts novel...

The director is Chu Yuan, Wang Jing's mentor!
The world of martial arts and chivalry is actually a complex tapestry of emotions…

The story is quite complicated. The female protagonist, Ai Nu, is sold into a brothel... and then her virginity is auctioned off to four old men...

He then wanted revenge.

Her method of revenge was almost exactly like *Basic Instinct*...

For "Love Slave," the director cast Feng Zhiqiang, who had passed the audition…

This is a Hong Kong director who used to work for Stephen Chow, serving as the screenwriter for films like "CJ7" and "The Mermaid." However, at Star Overseas, he was suppressed. In the original timeline, he made a film called "The Great Musician: Singing for Love," but the higher-ups prevented him from contacting the mainland!
Later, they joined Sun Entertainment, and "The Great Musician: Singing for Love" was shelved for three years before it was finally released!
He met Louis Koo at Sun Entertainment and directed "Crime Scene"...

As for the actors, of the eight actors signed by Ji Xiang, Meng Ziyi will play the female lead, and Chen Zihan will play the madam Chunyi!
……

In fact, Wang Jing's later films were basically plagiarisms of his earlier ideas...

Or they might be copying ideas from other colleagues.

For example, "The Great Shanghai" borrowed from "Shanghai Emperor";
The Legend of Demon Slayer is a rip-off of Ji Gong;
Later, they simply stopped acting altogether and directly started projects like "The New Six-Fingered Demon" and "The New Legend of the Condor Heroes"...

Shen Yan did not make any promises and rejected Le Yiling and Wang Jing's invitation to cooperate.

The latter two are probably a little unhappy, but... there's nothing they can do about it.

Virginia Lok probably still retains the elegance of the Hong Kong entertainment circle, while Wang Jing has long since knelt down!

Near the end, Wang Jing asked Shen Yan, "Do you have any favorite Hong Kong actors?"

Shen Yan shook his head: "I haven't paid attention to Hong Kong films for almost ten years. I don't know any of the newcomers!"

"Wen Yongshan has been quite popular lately... anyone else?"

The following sentence is from Lok Yee-ling…

Lok Yee-ling thought for a moment: "Do you know Tavia Yeung?"

Shen Yan nodded in agreement: "I read 'Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty' when I was in junior high school!"

"junior high school?"

"Yes, I was born in 88!"

Le Yiling and Wang Jing exchanged a glance...

Then they all shut up!
Shen Yan is too young; the woman who is suitable for him should be at least born in the 90s…

The problem is that the Hong Kong entertainment industry... has seen almost no post-90s generation figures in recent years!

Especially on terrestrial television, it's still mostly the older women born in the 80s fighting and bickering...

There are absolutely no new rising stars!
Including the four women that Chan Kwok-keung brought to the cocktail party on the first night—Natalie Tong, Mandy Wong, Priscilla Wong, and Sisley Choi.

They're already considered newcomers!

Natalie Tong and Priscilla Wong were both born in 81, while Mandy Wong was born in 82…

Only Sisley Choi is a post-90s!
But this girl had short hair, while Shen Yan preferred long, straight black hair…

Alas, Hong Kong entertainment industry truly has no successors!

Even the youngest daughter can't find any young men.

(End of this chapter)