This director loves making friends.

Hong Kong films of this era had already established a mature publicity and distribution system before their release.

The simplest, most practical, and commonly used method is to post posters.

Hand-painted or photographic posters are plastered on cinema exteriors, street bulletin boards, and bus bodies, with print runs often reaching thousands to tens of thousands of copies. This is the most crucial form of visual exposure at this time.

This is also the most suitable way to promote Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is only so big. If you put down tens of thousands of posters, you can cover almost every street and alley in Hong Kong. The cost won't be too high.

"A Bittersweet Life" is no exception.

Before the release of "A Bittersweet Life", Win's Entertainment had already invested heavily in printing posters in Hong Kong.

Qin Keqing did not participate in the design of the poster. Yongsheng did not consult him at all and designed the poster on its own before releasing it.

However, the content of the poster was somewhat beyond Qin Keqing's expectations.

He thought Win's Entertainment would promote "A Bittersweet Life" as a fast-paced action movie, a gangster revenge movie, or perhaps a Cannes award-winning film.

Little did they know that Yong Sheng would go even further.

"Huge investment! One year! Win's Entertainment creates its first high-quality art film."

"Cannes Film Festival Camera d'Or, Special Jury Prize, and Special Contribution to the Catholic Church!"

"Cannes' biggest winner."

"Qin Keqing, Golden Lion Award Assistant Director, Golden Bear Award for Best Director (with a Mouth), and Cannes Best Director (Newcomer)!"

"A masterpiece of art!"

"Destiny and Reincarnation!"

"June 10th, Oriental Cinemas, we're waiting for you!"

……

Win's Entertainment focused on "art" and didn't mention the film's fighting style. They probably felt that promoting martial arts action was unoriginal.

Qin Keqing had a lot to complain about regarding the content of the promotional posters on several different posters, but upon closer reflection, it was normal. Hong Kong film promotions are all about attracting attention.

The fact that they didn't promote "A Bittersweet Life" as a film that beat "Farewell My Concubine" at Cannes is already considered a sign of "restraint."

Of course, the phrase "the biggest winner at Cannes" seems to subtly imply that it overshadows "Farewell My Concubine".

Qin Keqing actually wanted to define a "style" through publicity, such as promoting a stylized reconstruction of violent aesthetics and promoting auteur experimental films that balance commerce and art.

However, Qin Keqing thought that this was Hong Kong, and he was not familiar with the Hong Kong film promotion at this time. Win's Entertainment, as the film company that dominated the box office in Hong Kong in recent years, probably had some considerations in its promotion.

Want to differentiate yourself from the competition?

According to the timeline, the summer movie season in Hong Kong doesn't start until the end of June.

However, almost all the movies that choose to be released in June are movies with stars, financial strength, and substantial investment.

Qin Keqing looked at the release information provided by Yong Sheng. There were three competitive movies scheduled to be released around June 10th.

The most competitive film is "Once Upon a Time in China IV," the fourth installment in the Wong Fei-hung series, co-produced by Tsui Hark and Golden Harvest. This film will also be released on June 10, but it will be shown in Golden Harvest theaters.

The first three films in this series were all directed by Tsui Hark and starred Li Lianjie, and they all did very well at the box office.

Especially overseas box office.

During this period, Li Lianjie was not considered a superstar in Hong Kong. His film salary was lower than that of "Two Chows and One Jackie," and even Xu Guanwen, Hong Jinbao, Zhang Guorong, and Liu Dehua all earned more than him.

but.

He is a double king of popularity and box office in Taiwan. With the "Once Upon a Time in China" series, he even surpassed Jackie Chan to become the male star with the highest ticket sales.

He was also a phenomenal star in South Korea, a box office king of Chinese-language films, and held a very high position in the hearts of the South Korean people. He was one of the most successful Chinese actors at the time.

In 1991, "Once Upon a Time in China" attracted 43.4 viewers in Seoul, making it the highest-grossing Chinese-language film of the year.

In 1992, "Swordsman II" attracted nearly 36 viewers in Seoul, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese-language film of the year and ranking 6th in Seoul's overall annual chart.

Although his life wasn't as glamorous as Bruce Lee's or Jackie Chan's, he was still ranked third among Chinese-language superstars.

It can be said that outside of Hong Kong, in South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, Li Lianjie's fame and box office performance surpassed that of "Two Chows and One Jackie" (Chow Yun-fat, Chow Sun-chung, and Jackie Chan), and she could go toe-to-toe with Jackie Chan.

If Li Lianjie were still starring in the fourth installment of the Wong Fei-hung series, "Once Upon a Time in China IV: The King of Kings," it wouldn't have been released in June; it would definitely have been released during the better summer season.

After filming the third Wong Fei-hung movie, Li Lianjie's contract with Golden Harvest expired. Due to certain special reasons, he certainly dared not work with Golden Harvest again.

If it weren't for Win's Entertainment's guarantee and signing him to several film contracts, plus the investment from a Taiwanese tycoon in his East Coast Film Company, which provided him with double insurance, he probably wouldn't have dared to come to Hong Kong again after his manager was beaten to death last year.

Replacing Li Lianjie as the lead actress in "Once Upon a Time in China IV" is Zhao Wenzhuo, a martial arts champion also from mainland China. Tsui Hark no longer directs himself, but serves as producer.

Even so, this fourth installment in the Wong Fei-hung series is still considered by the media to be the most competitive film in June.

Another highly competitive film is "A Moment of Romance II: Forever and Ever," which will be released on June 11. As a sequel, it is directed by Chen Musheng, who made his name with "A Moment of Romance." The lead actor has changed from Liu Dehua to Guo Fucheng, while Wu Qianlian remains the same.

The last film that is considered promising is "The Real Wei Xiaobao: Ordered to Pick Up Girls," which will be released on June 12. The film stars Tony Leung, Cheung Wai-kin, and Ye Yu-ching.

Although the Hong Kong film market was doing very well during this period, the market size is limited. Apart from the summer and Lunar New Year seasons, it is difficult for two films to be box office hits at the same time.

The prosperity of Hong Kong films is mainly due to the strong overseas market, with Southeast Asia, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan being the main box office markets for Hong Kong films.

Amidst much anticipation, "A Bittersweet Life" and "Once Upon a Time in China IV" opened on the same day, setting up a fierce competition.

"Ah Zhen, which movie do you want to watch?"

Because the films are not shown in the same theater chain, viewers need to choose which theaters are under the chain's jurisdiction; otherwise, they will definitely not be able to see the movies they want to watch in different theaters.

"I want to see 'A Bittersweet Life'. Just from the title, it sounds like a wonderful movie. It also won so many awards at Cannes, so it must be great."

Ah Zhen, arm in arm with her boyfriend Ah Qiang, analyzed the situation with great pleasure.

But Ah-Qiang wanted to see Wong Fei-hung. He didn't like watching long-winded art films; he preferred the action movies in the Wong Fei-hung series.

However, considering his plan to watch the movie that evening, A-Qiang compromised.

For the sake of my second brother, there was no other way.

"Ah Zhen, we're on the same page! I love movies that have won European awards; they cultivate one's character and make you think more about the world."

"Hey, Qiang, that's what I was thinking too. Let's hurry up and go before there aren't any good seats left."

There are many similar conversations.

Generally speaking, office workers tend to watch "La Dolce Vita," especially couples in love, or young or middle-aged people with ulterior motives, because after watching "La Dolce Vita," they can talk about Cannes and art with others the next day.

Others, such as workers or hoodlums who want to watch movies, definitely want to see Wong Fei-hung.

After learning about this information, Qin Keqing couldn't help but agree with Yongsheng's marketing strategy.

If "A Bittersweet Life" is also promoted as an action film, even with lofty terms like stylized reconstruction of violent aesthetics, it certainly won't be able to compete with the three Wong Fei-hung films that have already been released, and it might even lose viewers who want to watch art films.

On the contrary, emphasizing elements such as major awards and art, creating a differentiated competition, can still be profitable.

The next day, when Xiang Huasheng and Xiang Huaqiang arrived at the company, they saw the latest movie box office statistics.