1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 63 Commission
Hong Kong.

As of today, "Cow," starring Chen Fusheng, has been showing here for exactly three weeks.

Over the past three weeks, the cumulative box office has exceeded 350 million.

According to market rules, the first week should see the highest box office revenue, followed by a gradual decline.

However, there is an exception: movies that are not well-received by audiences in the early stages but gain popularity through word of mouth later on.

For example, Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone" is such a film.

And right now, Chen Fusheng's version of "Cow" has also received the same script of a comeback in Hong Kong.

Of course, the two are also different.

Before its release, "Crazy Stone" was not a movie that people were optimistic about.

However, "Cow" had already won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice International Film Festival before its release, so it wasn't that Hong Kong audiences didn't have a good impression of the film, but rather that there weren't many viewers left who watched left-wing films.

This resulted in relatively few people coming to see the movie at the beginning, but as word of mouth grew, it attracted some people who don't usually watch left-wing films, which led to the box office in the second and third weeks surpassing that of the first week.

Currently, it is still maintaining a daily box office of over 10, which not only far surpasses the total box office of "Romance on Lushan Mountain" which only has a total box office of 167 million, but also has the potential to break into the top ten of Hong Kong's annual box office this year.

If it were last year, it might even have made it into the top two, because last year's second highest-grossing film in Hong Kong was Jackie Chan's "The Fearless Hyena," with a total box office of HK$544 million.

Although there is only one week left before "Cow" is released, and it can only gross up to 400 million in this last week, Hong Kong films nowadays do not have a release date. As long as the cinemas are willing, they can be shown for a year without any problem.

Of course, "Cow" can't be shown for that long, after all, the market has its limits and cinemas have their costs.

Based on past experience, if "Cow" could be released for another month, it should be able to reach 500 million in box office revenue, but this 500 million is probably the maximum potential that the film can achieve in the Hong Kong market.

However, this year, 5 million won't be enough to get into the top three of the annual box office chart, or even the top five, because four films have already grossed over 5 million this year. In the upcoming Lunar New Year season, Golden Harvest, New City, and Shaw Brothers all have films to be released, and these three are all very strong.

On the other hand, for left-wing film companies that are barely surviving, having even one film to show for themselves this year is something to celebrate.

"I never expected 'Cow' to have such a high box office appeal in Hong Kong. Next time I go back to the mainland, I will have to thank Xiao Han and Xiao Chen properly."

Shi Hui remarked to her husband at the dinner table.

Although they had been moved by the plot of "Cow" when they watched the movie in mainland China, they never expected that the film would achieve such a brilliant box office result in Hong Kong.

"I really didn't expect that." Fu Qi swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded to his wife. "I remember they said they were preparing for a new movie, right? It's called... 'The Blind Musician'?"

"What blind tone master? Theirs is called 'The Tuner'."

When their 10-year-old daughter, Fu Mingxian, heard this, she chimed in, "I know, I know, a piano tuner."

"My Zhizhi is so smart." Shi Hui put a piece of food on her daughter's plate, then looked at her husband with a half-smile and said, "You wouldn't already be eyeing their next movie, would you?"

"Haha, how can you call it being concerned? Their movie was made to generate foreign exchange for the country, and it was originally intended to be shown in Hong Kong. I was just showing some concern."

"That seems to make sense."

Shi Hui nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, didn't Xinlian plan to co-produce a martial arts film with China Film Group last year? Why has there been no news about it for so long?"

"It's not that there's been no movement. It's just that Chen Wen, whom we originally found, spent more than half a year traveling around the mainland, shooting a few scenic shots to fool the audience, and then he was replaced. This year, we found Zhang Xin to take over. I heard that Lao Zhang has been searching all over the sports schools and has found a bunch of extras, and he's training them."

"What exactly are they trying to film? Instead of finding professional actors from mainland film studios, they're going to look for them at a sports academy."

"I didn't ask around much, all I knew was the title, 'Shaolin Temple'."

Upon hearing this, Fu Mingxian interjected, "Dad, Uncle Zhang is making 'Shaolin Temple,' so shouldn't he find actors from within the temple?"

Children's innocent remarks made Fu Qi and Shi Hui burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at? Am I wrong?"

"Yes, yes, next time you see your Uncle Zhang, just ask him that."

"Okay, I'll ask."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Shi Hui stood up and said, "I'll go open the door."

When the door opened, standing outside were colleagues from the news agency's Hong Kong branch.

Since they were all acquaintances, they exchanged pleasantries first, and then the visitor took a fax from his briefcase and said:

"Excuse me, Shi Hui, we've disturbed your meal. This is a message from Comrade Chen Fusheng of the Film Bureau on the mainland, asking us to convey it to you and Mr. Fu Qi." "What message?"

Shi Hui took the fax from the other party with some surprise and immediately began to browse it out of curiosity.

The content wasn't long, and she finished reading it quickly.

But his expression was a little strange after watching it.

"What did Xiao Chen say?"

Fu Qi also came over, noticed the expression on his wife's face, and looked at the fax in his hand with curiosity, asking...

"Xiao Chen asked us to help him find an actress for his movie. Brother Qi, let me read his requirements to you. It's hilarious."

Shi Hui suppressed a laugh and began to read: "Lin Meifeng—Background: The second wife of Wang Yaozu, a Chinese director in the French Concession in 1930. 33 years old, she was once a very popular singer at the Paramount Ballroom. She was beautiful and charming, but also greedy and ruthless... Actress requirements: Actresses around thirty years old, with good proportions. Their looks don't necessarily have to be particularly stunning, but they must be able to portray a charming and alluring feeling..."

Fu Qi couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this.

But then he added, "However, given Xiao Chen's requirements, it seems that it would be difficult to find actresses like this in the conservative atmosphere of mainland China. Even if there were, I doubt they would be willing to act in such roles. No wonder Xiao Chen asked us for help."

"Haha, that's true."

After a pause, Shi Hui continued, "We were just talking about how to repay him and Director Han, and now they've brought us this favor on their own initiative."

“It’s quite a coincidence.” Fu Qi nodded, then frowned and said, “But according to Xiao Chen’s requirements in the fax, it seems that there aren’t many actresses in Hong Kong who meet the criteria, and even if there are, they’re not from our left wing.”

"If there were no difficulties at all, why would people need to ask us for help?"

"Haha, that's right."

……

At the same time that Fu Qi and his wife received Chen Fusheng's commission, Shanghai Film Studio also announced the results of the last audition for the film "The Tuner" today.

The results are as follows:

Su Manqing – played by Gong Xue.

Wang Yaozu – played by Cheng Zhi.

Detective Ma – played by Zhou Yao.

The doctor – played by He Wenbin.

Old Zhou – played by Li Weiguo.

……

The announcement had barely been posted when it spread throughout the entire Shanghai Film Studio.

However, to everyone's surprise, Zhang Yu and Chen Chong, who were previously considered the most promising candidates, both failed to get the lead role, and in the end, an "outsider" got the part.

However, Gong Xue probably won't be an outsider for long.

Because the leaders of Shanghai Film Studio had spoken with Gong Xue immediately after she was confirmed as the female lead in "The Tuner".

……

Has there been a reply from Hong Kong?

"Not yet, let's wait a little longer, it's only been two days."

"Why don't you revise Lin Meifeng's character design, Fusheng? Make it more conservative, otherwise I'm worried that even if we film it, it will be difficult to pass the censorship."

"Changing this character would ruin it; it can't be changed."

"What if it can't be released in the country?"

"Then we can just not go for it, or wait until the conditions are more relaxed before going for it, it's the same thing." Chen Fusheng was quite optimistic.

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(End of this chapter)