This director loves making friends.

While "A Bittersweet Life" was in preparation, "King of Beggars" was released on December 17.

This movie continued Stephen Chow's strong performance, sweeping... well, not exactly sweeping. Apart from "92 Inspector Wears Skirts" and "The God of Speed" which chose to be released at the same time, all the others avoided the limelight.

Stephen Chow has been so amazing this year, nobody wants to mess with him.

The film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes 92" was released at the same time, probably because it was considered a female-themed comedy action film, a different genre from "King of Beggars".

"The God of Speed" is different.

This film was spearheaded by Li Xiuxian, which meant he wouldn't avoid competing with Stephen Chow, and choosing to release it on the same day was to be expected.

Li Xiuxian is Stephen Chow's mentor and benefactor.

In 1988, Li Xiuxian recognized Zhou Xingxing's talent when he was still playing minor roles and cast him in the lead role of "Final Justice", which helped Zhou Xingxing win the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Stephen Chow has stated publicly on several occasions that without his mentor Li Xiuxian, he would not be who he is today.

He was signed to Li Xiuxian's Universal Film Company at the time and starred in several films, including "Heroes of Righteousness", "Descendants of the Dragon", and "The Saint of Love".

He won the Hong Kong box office champion that year with "The Saint of Gamblers", which made him a top star.

And so, the problem arose.

Zhou Xingxing initially signed a contract with Li Xiuxian for ten films at a price of 70 per film. At the time of signing, Zhou Xingxing was just a newcomer who had just begun to make a name for himself. Li Xiuxian treated Zhou Xingxing fairly and did not shortchange him.

But now and then.

After Stephen Chow became a huge star with "The Saint of Gamblers", his salary of 70 yuan was obviously too low.

However, at this time, many of the film companies and filmmakers in Hong Kong came from Shaw Brothers, so they inherited and developed Shaw Brothers' practices very well.

"I'm the one who made you famous, and you're still under contract. You want a raise before the contract expires? That's against the law and against industry rules. You want a raise? No way."

It was because of Shaw Brothers' practices that many filmmakers left the company, because at the time Shaw Brothers was even more ruthless—they didn't raise salaries after the contracts expired.

Most filmmakers' rebellion involves leaving without signing a new contract after it has been fulfilled.

Stephen Chow's approach was even more extreme.

Despite still having acting contracts, he contacted Wing Shing Entertainment, hoping they could help him get out of his contract.

Everyone knows what kind of company Win's Entertainment is. Stephen Chow is currently very popular, so isn't this a great bargain?

So, Win's Entertainment bought the remaining film contracts of Stephen Chow from Li Xiuxian for 70, and then signed a contract with Stephen Chow for 10 films at a price of 300 million per film.

What? Li Xiuxian isn't selling?

How could that be?

What does it mean that Li Xiuxian won't sell?

Was it Li Xiuxian who took the initiative to sell it?

If you don't believe me, go ask Li Xiuxian.

Well, that's how it happened. Li Xiuxian used the movie "God of Gamblers" to make Stephen Chow a superstar, and then "voluntarily" sold the remaining contract to Win's Entertainment for 70.

From then on, Li Xiuxian and Zhou Xingxing became enemies. Another apprentice of Li Xiuxian, Da Sha Cheng Kui, repeatedly mocked Zhou Xingxing in public for being heartless and treacherous to his mentor.

Because of this grudge, Li Xiuxian's "The God of Cars" cannot concede to avoid "King of Beggars," even if it affects the box office.

No matter what grudges or grudges there are, nothing can stop Stephen Chow this year. On the day "King of Beggars" is released, no matter what type of movie it is, whoever touches it will die.

The cast of "92 Inspector Wears Skirts" is actually quite strong, with the lead actresses being the famous martial arts actress Li Saifeng, the kung fu actress Yang Lijing who is known as the female version of Bruce Lee, and the comedic actress Wu Junru.

However, this lineup was almost powerless to fight back. Under the pressure of "King of Beggars", it only earned 32 yuan at the box office on its opening day. After a week of release, it only earned 110 million yuan and was subsequently pulled from theaters.

The cast of "The God of Cars" is also very strong, including Li Xiuxian, Ren Dahua, Liu Jialing, Wu Mengda, Cheng Kui'an, and others.

Unfortunately, "The God of Speed" only put up a slight resistance before being brutally beaten down – it grossed just over 100 million on its opening day, only 600 million in its first week, and nearly 900 million in two weeks before being pulled from theaters.

"King of Beggars" grossed over 2000 million HKD in its opening week and achieved over 3700 million HKD in 30 days, ranking 4th in the 92 Hong Kong box office charts, once again proving that Stephen Chow is invincible this year.

Thus, the top five highest-grossing films in Hong Kong in 92 were all starring Stephen Chow, leading the media to dub it the "Year of Stephen Chow."

Qin Keqing was the assistant director of "King of Beggars". Yong Sheng also gave him a red envelope with 5000 yuan in it. Although it was not much, it was a token of their goodwill.

Putting aside everything else, Win's Entertainment did a much better job than many Hong Kong film companies when it came to money. Perhaps their background made them more aware that if they wanted people to work hard, they had to pay them on time.

Just like with Stephen Chow, although Win's Entertainment signed him to 10 film contracts, and these 10 contracts would not increase his salary, Win's Entertainment did not prevent Stephen Chow from going out to film movies for other companies when his schedule became available.

For example, "Justice, My Foot!", which ranked first on the Hong Kong film charts in 92, was made by Stephen Chow with a salary of 500 million HKD from the Metropolitan Film Festival, and Win's Entertainment did not stop it.

……

"Click!"

Qin Keqing frowned as he looked at Lin Guobin. He was very dissatisfied with Lin Guobin's performance; this wasn't the first time he had called "cut."

"Bin, tone down your expression. You're a cold-blooded thug without any emotion. Don't use too much body language, and don't make such exaggerated expressions."

After saying this, Qin Keqing emphasized again, "You're just a henchman, a bad guy, but you're also the male lead. So, don't use the same formulaic acting techniques you use for playing a villain on the male lead, understand?"

It's formulaic!

This is what gives Qin Keqing the biggest headache.

Whether it's the male lead, Lin Guobin, or the other actors, they all seem to have been taught by the same teacher. They know exactly what expression to use in what situation, as if it's become muscle memory.

Moreover, many supporting actors exaggerate their facial expressions and body language, making slightly exaggerated movements, just like in model operas.

Qin Keqing could actually guess the reason.

Many of the mainstream actors in Hong Kong came from Shaw Brothers and TVB. They initially worked in television, where the mainstream projection equipment had low resolution and the television screens were small.

Subtle micro-expressions are difficult to discern at low resolutions, so actors must amplify their facial expressions to ensure that television viewers can clearly see the emotional changes.

Even after leaving TVB to make movies, they still habitually exaggerate their facial expressions.

That's one aspect.

On the other hand, many actors and directors are trained in drama, so their facial expressions and body language must be rich.

In addition, the filming cycle of Hong Kong movies is short and the pace is fast, so many actors simply don't have time to figure out their roles, which leads to a fixed set of formulaic and stereotyped performances.

Hong Kong films are primarily commercial films, so the requirements for actors are not high. As long as they can make money, commercial film directors generally don't care about the actors' performances.

Lin Guobin said he understood.

However, during the shoot, he still habitually makes some slightly exaggerated expressions.

If it were a purely commercial film, and they weren't trying their luck at the three major European film studios, Qin Keqing would have lowered his standards a bit, but that's clearly not the case now.

Qin Keqing even felt a little nostalgic for the young heartthrobs of later generations. No matter who came to play the male lead in "Sweet Life," at least their expressions would be fine.

Yes, it's that kind of cold, emotionless, and expressionless face, although they can't make any special expressions.

It seems we'll have to resort to some measures.

Qin Keqing thought for a while, then silently said sorry.

He beckoned Lin Guobin over, put his arm around him, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Ah Bin, do you know how you got this leading role?"

Lin Guobin's expression changed as he considered a possibility.

Qin Keqing nodded: "That's right, just as you think."

Instantly, Lin Guobin's face turned cold.

Very good, very good, that's it, keep it up.