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

Chapter 700: Methods of Stealing Keys

"I heard you turned down the offer for 'The Mermaid'?"

"As a Hong Kong filmmaker, I don't think he can grasp the comedic tastes of mainland audiences... Besides, I have a very good relationship with Ng Man-tat... Through him, I've learned a lot about Stephen Chow's character..."

During dinner, Shen Yan told Chen Yiyi the truth…

Chen Yiyi immediately asked, "His character? What's wrong with him?"

Shen Yan retorted directly, "Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

"I'm not really sure..."

"He's been blacklisted in Hong Kong... Back then, Lam Siu-ming of Universe Entertainment invested in 'Shaolin Soccer' despite the pressure. After the box office hit, Stephen Chow pocketed all the profits from the video game, animation, DVDs, and other derivative products. Later, when making 'Kung Fu Hustle,' he partnered with Columbia Pictures and Huayi Brothers Media, rejecting Lam Siu-ming's investment. After 'Kung Fu Hustle' became a box office sensation, everyone knew that 'Kung Fu Hustle 2' would be a huge success, but a dispute arose with Columbia Pictures over box office revenue sharing... 'Kung Fu Hustle 2' has never been made..."

"Enlight Media has placed its bet on 'The Mermaid' this time..."

"Let's not even talk about whether 'The Mermaid' will be a box office hit... If it is, he'll definitely kick out Enlight Media..."

"But I heard he's going to make 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2'?"

Oh, Huayi Brothers also owns half of the copyright to "Crossing the Demons".

Logically speaking, Stephen Chow had no right to skip Huayi Brothers and direct "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2"...

"The production company is Ali Pictures..."

Ma Yun had served as a director and investor in Huayi Brothers. "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2" was actually "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back," which was Alibaba Pictures' first project. Stephen Chow outsourced the project to Tsui Hark, and it was produced under a different name. Since they were all old acquaintances, Huayi Brothers gave them face and didn't make a fuss.

In the original timeline, "The Mermaid," invested in by Enlight Media, became a box office hit again, but a dispute arose over revenue sharing.

Later, the collaboration between Happy Twist and Guangming Entertainment on "The Mermaid 2" resulted in copyright issues preventing its release.

Then... in order to fulfill the betting agreement with the capital market at the time, they rushed to film "The New King of Comedy", but the box office was poor and the shoddy production led to bad word-of-mouth.

Stephen Chow is now finding it difficult to find decent investors to collaborate with on new films.

TikTok is a newly emerging platform in recent years, and Stephen Chow has been sticking to it.

So, I outsourced the filming to Yi Xiaoxing under my own name...

"I'm not going to cooperate with him!"

Chen Yiyi asked curiously, "Did he break up with Ng Man-tat?"

"It's definitely over..." After thinking for a moment, Shen Yan added, "I don't want things to look bad..."

……

There's a saying that since "CJ7," Stephen Chow has not only been obsessed with making money, but he's also trying to get the biggest returns with the least investment and effort.

He was the nominal producer and director for many films…

Especially with "The Mermaid," which was actually filmed by three assistant directors—Lu Zhengyu, Lam Chi-chung, and Chin Kwok-wai—many people say that watching "The Mermaid" feels disjointed…

Many of the jokes look like web movies produced by Lam Chi-chung!
Including his later appearance on "King of Comedy: Stand-up Comedy Season," it felt like he was simply recording a segment in his Hong Kong office to earn a "sponsorship fee"...

Anyway, the mainland market is big enough—the movie "The Mermaid" made hundreds of millions!

Why have we been making so many changes in recent years, including producing "Shaolin Women's Soccer"?
The bet failed!

The impression is that he no longer wants to make movies, but he desperately wants to make money, and the result is that he's now using his decades-old reputation to swindle money...

It's not so much a scam as authorization; to be precise, it's called granting permission!
By establishing yourself as a cultural icon, you can earn money by licensing your name...

The variety show "King of Comedy Stand-up Comedy Season" and the short drama "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" are both licensed works...

But... none of them are very good...

It just goes to show how fast times are changing. Less than a decade has passed, and the saying "One Best Actor a Year, Stephen Chow a Century" has become an ironic statement...

The main problem is that their subsequent works weren't good enough!
Then people started paying attention to his character…

Why is no one criticizing Michael Hui?

Michael Hui was the King of Comedy in Hong Kong before Stephen Chow… Michael Hui is a really good person, not greedy for money. When he asked Dayo Wong to write a script, he first took him on a trip to Egypt.
Don't accept high salaries for films. "Breaking Hell" grossed HK$1.46 million in Hong Kong, breaking records, and Michael Hui's salary was probably less than HK$100 million...

……

Shen Yan flew directly from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport...

Rao Xiaozhi, the B-team director of "Detective Chinatown", came to pick him up.

Seeing that Shen Yan was carrying only a shoulder bag and a small suitcase, she couldn't help but ask, "Where's Jinshi?"

"I'll definitely send it home..."

"Where's your luggage?"

"Chen Xu and the others will arrive this afternoon... and they'll bring my clothes and shoes..."

Rao Xiaozhi nodded: "I almost forgot, you also have an assistant!"

"I'm a big star, after all!"

"So what did you bring?"

Shen Yan didn't hide anything: "Underwear...and a computer."

"Come on, get in the car..."

The driver was a local from Bangkok who spoke a little Mandarin…

It's worth mentioning that the co-production team for "Detective Chinatown" was Anabo Films.
It is a film company that specializes in co-productions.

Thailand's film industry is actually quite mature, especially in terms of co-productions—in the early years, many Hollywood films were shot on location in Thailand.

The Hangover Part II, Nowhere to Run, Bridget Jones's Diary 2, and Leonardo DiCaprio's first film after Titanic, The Beach…

Through the development of these films, Thai cinema has become quite mature in terms of co-productions!
Moreover, the executive producer of "Detective Chinatown" was Chen Chexi – she had previously served as the producer of "Lost in Thailand" and was very good at dealing with the Thai side.

Rao Xiaozhi suddenly spoke up: "I watched La La Land...it's so dreamy!"

Shen Yan frowned: "...Where did you see that? From a pirated website?"

"...I saw the internal preview..."

"Oh... okay, let's not talk about this for now..."

A copy of La La Land will definitely be kept specifically for...some movie lovers!

Seeing that Shen Yan didn't seem too keen on talking about "La La Land," Rao Xiaozhi changed the subject: "...I've been thinking lately about whether to bring 'Hello, Crazy!' to the big screen?"

"Hello, Crazy? You mean that play about multiple personality disorder?"

"Correct!"

“I don’t recommend you do that… Because of the limitations of the stage, the stage version can have unrestrained imagination and incisive criticism of current affairs. The emotions in this process weaken the personality split setting and dilute the discomfort caused by logical flaws… But movies can’t do that…” After a pause, Shen Yan added, “Of course, if you really want to do it, then go ahead!”

Aren't you worried about losing money?

"How much money can you lose? The setting is fixed, and the actors will definitely be all seasoned performers... Seasoned performers are paid very little... I'll help you find funding!"

"it is good!"

"After that, you remade 'Key of Life'..."

"Huh? Another remake?"

"We'll get Andy Lau as the lead actor!"

Rao Xiaozhi nodded immediately and then asked, "What's the plot of 'The Method of Stealing Keys'?"

　I'm sorry about today...

　　One more chapter is being written.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)