Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 87 I'll pay five million to buy it out (Please subscribe)

Li Hanxiang has been having a tough time lately.

The main reason is that he only made two movies this year due to health reasons. Although the box office results were quite good, Shaw Brothers had some complaints.

Shao Yifu didn't say anything, but urged him to renew the contract as soon as possible.

Li Hanxiang reviewed the contract and found that it was not much different from before. Even though he had helped Shaw Brothers make a lot of money in the past few years, he only received a monthly salary increase of 200 yuan.

A mere two hundred yuan?

Li Hanxiang knew that this was the most generous Shao Laoliu had ever been; unless absolutely necessary, Shao's would not spend a single penny more.

Shaw Brothers treated movies like products; Shaw Brothers was a factory, actors were factory workers, and directors were just factory foremen.

Therefore, in Shao Yifu's view, making good products is simply your job.

No matter how well it sells, it's still Shao's product. Are we going to give the workshop director a share of the profits?

That's why many TVB actors have been earning a fixed salary of only a few thousand dollars for decades.

If you want to make money, you can only do extra work.

However, if you make too much money, Shao Yifu will fire you directly.

Why didn't the actors just leave Shaw Brothers?

It's because all the television stations that could compete with Shaw Brothers went bankrupt.

Many actors can only survive by relying on television stations. Not everyone can be like Andy Lau, who was blacklisted by Shaw Brothers and still made a name for himself in the film industry.

As for the film industry, Shaw Brothers was already considering giving up and officially announced the cessation of production in 1985 to focus on his television business!

Li Hanxiang is an ambitious man. He returned to Shaw Brothers because he had nowhere else to go in Taiwan.

Now that he has regained his footing in the film industry and has also caught the wave of the mainland market, there is no need for him to hang himself on Shaw Brothers.

However, completely rejecting Shaw Brothers wouldn't be a good idea, so Li Hanxiang decided to put it on hold for now.

As long as his movies continue to make money, he won't have to worry about finding a buyer.

The problem this time is actually with the film co-produced with mainland China. The first draft of the script had already been completed and approved.

However, Changchun Film Studio, the original partner, decided to terminate the co-production plan due to budget issues.

It seems that they received a script about espionage, which was of very high quality and had a high production cost. Changchun Film Studio could not afford two big productions, so after a meeting, they decided to cancel the plan to co-produce a Qing Dynasty film with Li Hanxiang.

Li Hanxiang really wanted to curse, but he knew he couldn't blame anyone else. Fortunately, the co-production company he established last year took over the project, helping him to continue advancing the film's progress.

However, the other party requested that the original first draft of the script be revised.

This request is not unreasonable.

Li Hanxiang was worried that this change would take several more months, and if a similar situation occurred again, then all his work for the year would have been in vain.

While negotiating with the mainland, he couldn't stop his other work.

At that moment, he was holding a script in his hand.

This was a young genius he had met in Yanjing last time. He wrote scripts quickly and well, and he directly set a price of HK$20,000 for one of his scripts.

At that time, he was actually appreciating talent, and there was also a sense of testing him.

He just didn't expect that the kid would actually send him a script, and raise the price to at least 50,000 yuan per script.

Li Hanxiang was somewhat displeased; this guy was really pushing his luck.

In Hong Kong, even the most expensive scripts by Ni Kuang only cost 100,000 HKD. How dare a newcomer ask for 50,000 HKD? They really don't know their own limitations.

This piqued his curiosity.

On the plane, Li Hanxiang took out the script and carefully read it.

Let's see what's so special about it. First, look at the title: "Traces of the Japanese Pirates"?

Talking about the Ming Dynasty?

Li Hanxiang frowned slightly. Although he had said he wanted a script set in the Ming Dynasty, he wasn't particularly interested in war-themed stories.

He knew of the famous general Qi Jiguang who fought against the Japanese pirates, but to film that war scene, the cost would probably be comparable to the cost of his film "Xi Shi" which he made in Taiwan years ago.

Putting aside his random thoughts, he opened the script.

After reading only a few pages, I suddenly realized that it was actually a martial arts story.

However, there aren't that many fight scenes; instead, the focus is on strategic battles, and there's a subtle artistic flair to it.

This kid really has something special to write a martial arts film script so poetically.

Li Hanxiang had already fallen in love with the script before even finishing reading it, but he had some doubts. He thought that Hong Kong audiences probably wouldn't like the film, but it might be popular in Taiwan or Japan, and even in Europe.

To be honest, this is actually a rather dull film, and there is a certain barrier to entry for watching it.

This script actually has a style very similar to that of his good friend and arch-rival, Hu Jinquan.

It's the kind of movie where the story isn't very rigorous, but it has a high level of sophistication and a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world).

If you can connect with the film, you'll find it very elegant and sophisticated.

However, if the granularity is uneven, you'll find it incredibly boring and incomprehensible.

Li Hanxiang recalled Huang Wenbin's previous scripts and realized that none of them had this characteristic.

There's only one explanation: that kid did it on purpose; the script was just a way to get the ball rolling.

What I'm really saying is, I have an even better script, and if you want it, you'll have to pay more!

After reading the script, Li Hanxiang breathed a sigh of relief. It was indeed an excellent script. Although it had some minor flaws, it was quite original and very interesting.

Li Hanxiang was pondering in his mind how to make this movie.

First of all, Shaw Brothers would definitely not like this kind of movie. Out of consideration for him, they might give him a few hundred thousand to test the waters, but that's not the result he wants.

Secondly, Golden Harvest wouldn't want him either, because Raymond Chow didn't want to be like Shaw Brothers. Golden Harvest was just a distribution department; if he wanted to make films, he would have to set up his own company and then approach Raymond Chow for investment. However, this would mean he would have to bear all the profits and losses himself, and he didn't want to take that risk.

As for Taiwan, forget about it. Those people are so ungrateful; he hates them so much that he never wants to have anything to do with them again.

Li Hanxiang could only think of attracting investment from abroad. Perhaps Japan was a good choice. He could attract Japanese investment and make a movie with elements of Japanese pirates. Just thinking about it was quite exciting.

Li Heizi has always loved the kind of thing that involves directly attacking the enemy's face.

Don't worry about him not being able to attract investment there. At this time, although Japan had not yet entered the bubble era, it already had so much money that it was almost too hot to handle, and it was willing to invest in any field.

For a renowned director like Li Hanxiang, who is famous internationally, it wouldn't be difficult to attract investment there; it's just that he couldn't bring himself to do it before.

After a flight of several hours, we arrived in Yanjing at noon.

Li Hanxiang, accompanied by his assistant, arrived at the Yanjing Hotel and checked into his usual room.

Not long after they arrived, someone came to visit them.

The visitors were Xiao Weiming, a leader from the Film Bureau, and Li Mo, the manager of the co-production company.

They came to discuss the details of the co-production of the film "The Empress Dowager" with Li Hanxiang.

Li Hanxiang had just gotten off the plane and was exhausted, so he told them to talk about it tomorrow.

Xiao Weiming explained that he has to review a film tomorrow and may not have time.

"It takes a whole day to review a film?" Li Hanxiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The situation with that film is quite complicated. After the review is completed, we may need to hold a meeting to discuss it."

Xiao Weiming frowned slightly and said with a dry laugh, "The main problem is that this film has been quite controversial recently, and many veteran filmmakers are dissatisfied. We've already received hundreds of complaint letters. So tomorrow we've arranged for several departments to review the film together, and then we'll have a meeting to discuss it. If we still can't make a decision, we'll vote on it."

"What movie is so amazing?" Li Hanxiang immediately became interested.

Li Mo casually replied, "The movie is called 'Let the Bullets Fly,' directed by Chen Huaikai and Zhou Zhi, and written by Huang Wenbin."

"Oh, I want to see this movie!" Li Hanxiang immediately rubbed his hands together and said, "I'm going to the screening tomorrow too."

Xiao Weiming and Li Mo exchanged a glance, both feeling that things were somewhat difficult.

"What, can't I watch?" Li Hanxiang noticed their predicament and asked in return.

"Of course not," Xiao Weiming immediately said. "Perfect! Comrade Li Hanxiang can serve as a representative of Hong Kong filmmakers, providing other comrades with another perspective!"

The next day, in Dongcheng District, Lishi Hutong.

Li Hanxiang participated in the second round of screenings for "Let the Bullets Fly".

After watching it, it indeed caused a huge reaction. Some people felt that the film had too many metaphors, and it was already outrageous that the script could pass the review, let alone be allowed to be filmed. This was simply a major mistake in the work of the Film Bureau.

"This film is full of petty-bourgeois fantasy and completely misunderstands the revolutionary cause. The protagonist is actually a bandit; how are we supposed to explain this to the people and expect them to learn from a bandit?"

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill, trying to escalate the conflict again? The protagonist is a bandit, that's true, but he's also part of the democratic revolution. His goal is to liberate the people of Goose City. What's wrong with that? Why can't we learn from him? Even the old folks have seen this movie and said there's nothing wrong with it. Who do you think you are?"

"The old man only read the first half, not the rest. I think you're just making empty promises and spreading falsehoods; your thinking is very dangerous!"

"...

'

It's really just that some veteran filmmakers are afraid of losing their voice, so they have to show their presence.

"Let the Bullets Fly" happened to be a very new movie, so new that they felt they might be quickly eliminated by the times if they didn't step in to stop it.

Xiao Weiming was at his wit's end and could only turn to Li Hanxiang, asking for help, "Comrade Li Hanxiang, you are a compatriot from Hong Kong. The film industry is very prosperous there. What do you think of this movie?"

Everyone else looked over too.

Li Hanxiang slowly stood up and said seriously, "I find it strange. What's there to discuss about such a good movie? If Hong Kong released a movie like this, I guarantee the major theater chains would be scrambling to get it. Even foreign distributors would be begging to let them distribute it. I don't understand what you're thinking, insisting on preventing the release of a good movie. What good does it do you?"

One of the old men couldn't help but retort, "That's not how it works. Whether a movie is good or not is still debatable, and a good movie isn't necessarily suitable for the general public. People are still very naive and don't understand much. They'll believe whatever they see, so we have to help them choose."

"Do you want to listen to the nonsense you're spouting?!" Li Hanxiang retorted without any politeness. "You're supposed to be watching the movies for the people, who the hell do you think you are? Why don't you let the people watch the movies themselves? This movie hasn't committed any fundamental errors."

"How about this, if you don't want the movie 'Let the Bullets Fly' anymore, I'll buy it out myself for five million Hong Kong dollars."

Li Hanxiang held out his hand to Xiao Weiming and said earnestly, "If you find Hong Kong dollars inconvenient, I can exchange them for the equivalent value of US dollars."

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Foreign exchange is like a father.

Anyone who dares to oppose it is committing a heinous crime.

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