Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

The cheers and applause continued, and the film continued to play.

But none of this could dampen the audience's enthusiasm.

The video shows Zhu Lin meeting singer Anita Mui and her teacher under the guidance of Yuan Hua.

The audience erupted in applause, with Hung Kin-po, Corey Yuen, Mai Jia, Wong Pak-ming, Shek Tin, and other New Wave directors all clapping.

Only Zou Wenhuai, He Guanchang, Shao Daheng, and Fang Yihua clapped while pondering something.

Yuen Biao clapped his hands and chuckled, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother Yuen Hua is so handsome..."

Yuan Kui laughed and said, "Do you even need to tell me? Look at all these people, isn't everyone applauding Yuan Hua?"

Mai Jia clapped his hands and muttered, "Damn! This movie was absolutely thrilling!"

Huang Baiming said, "Who says otherwise! Can we get our hands on that instrument you mentioned?"

Shi Tian didn't say anything, but kept clapping, his gaze fixed on Mai Jia.

Mai Jia touched his almost bald head and said in a low voice, "We can get our hands on it, but I can't guarantee how well it will turn out."

On the other side, a director from Great Wall Film Company was completely dumbfounded.

At that moment, Zhang Xinyan forgot to applaud and shout.

Those fast-paced edits combined with handheld camera shots gave him a tremendous sense of impact.

Zhang Xinyan's mind was filled with the images and scenes he had just seen. He was immersed in the scene of sharp and graceful movements, unable to pull himself away for a long time.

He genuinely didn't expect that action scenes could be filmed this way.

With the sounds of slapping and cheers, the film came to a close.

When Li Jiangbo led the main creative team onto the stage, the atmosphere in the cinema reached a new height.

The applause was interspersed with cheers.

"Yuan Hua! Yuan Hua! Yuan Hua!"

I don't know who started calling out the names.

Soon, the entire theater was filled with shouts, applause, and whistles.

Yuan Hua stood on the stage, somewhat at a loss.

When had he ever seen such a scene? As an extra who had been acting for almost ten years, all he received was neither applause nor criticism, but simply the means to make a living.

Yuan Hua subconsciously took a step forward, and the applause from the audience erupted once again.

Hong Jinbao stood below the stage, clapping as she looked at Yuan Hua on the stage, a bitter feeling rising in her heart.

He recalled that a few years ago, when Yuen Wah had just graduated from school, he followed behind Sammo Hung's stunt team, playing minor roles and stunt doubles.

Back then, he was very thin, earning only a few dozen yuan a day, either as an extra or a stuntman.

Hong Jinbao thought that this junior brother was just like that, good enough to make a living.

Later, Yuen Wah went to Shaw Brothers, where he continued to play minor roles and work as a stuntman, a job he still holds to this day.

Hong Jinbao sometimes runs into him on set, and the two exchange a few pleasantries.

At that time, Hung Kin-po thought that if he started his own company, he would definitely help this junior apprentice out.

If you let Yuen Wah join Sammo Hung's stunt team as a martial arts choreographer and play a major villain, wouldn't that easily make him a breakout star?

But now...

Looking at Yuan Hua on stage, who was being cheered by the entire audience, he suddenly realized that he was overthinking things.

They no longer need his help.

They've already overtaken us on the curve.

Zou Wenhuai and He Guanchang stood together, clapping, but their eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

He Guanchang said in a low voice, "This kid has succeeded again."

Zou Wenhuai nodded without saying anything.

He was thinking that although Golden Harvest had set a plan to make a gunfight film, they put the plan on hold after the success of "Modern Bodyguard".

The main reason is that John Woo's script was somewhat too idealistic.

Secondly, the success of "Modern Bodyguard" made him believe that comedy could also be successful.

Today, this young man's success has made him question his previous decisions.

He really wants to ask John Woo if it's too late to make "The Killer" now.

Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua stood on the other side, talking quietly.

"Sixth Brother, I didn't expect this movie to be..."

Shao Yifu waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to blame herself.

Although he handed over Shaw Brothers Studio to Fang Yihua, he was not unaware of Fang Yihua's actions.

He just wanted to try to put pressure on Li Jiangbo and see if his company could improve under Li Jiangbo's influence.

Now, everything is clear. Shaw Brothers Studio had become too big to handle, and even reform was proving difficult.

Fortunately, Li Jiangbo was working with me. Otherwise, I really can't imagine what would have happened.

Fang Yihua seemed to have read Shao Yifu's mind, "Sixth Brother, what about the theater scheduling..."

Shao Yifu nodded. "Give it your full support!"

On stage, Li Jiangbo had already picked up the microphone and begun to deal with the media.

However, Li Jiangbo was caught off guard this time, as he was only asked a few simple questions by the media.

Those people then directed all the questions at Yuen Wah, Rosamund Kwan, Cherie Chung, Chu Lam, Anita Mui, Ng Kai-wah, and others.

Li Jiangbo chuckled, quietly slipped off the stage, and then easily made his way off.

After the premiere, Hong Kong media began to report extensively on the news of "Taken".

Ming Pao's headline: Yuen Wah becomes an overnight legend, Li Jiangbo ushers in a new era of action films.

The Oriental Daily's headline read: "A different kind of action film, a different kind of touching movie."

.....

At Li Jiangbo's request, these newspapers did not leak the film's content; they only did publicity.

With three consecutive days of reports, Hong Kong movie fans were in awe and flocked to Shaw Brothers cinemas, demanding an early release of "Taken".

On the third day, amidst great anticipation, "Taken" officially premiered in Shaw Brothers theaters.

The box office on the first day was 1.1 million.

The next day, 1.27 million.

On the third day, 1.4 million.

A week later, the cumulative box office exceeded eight million.

The entire Hong Kong film industry was like water meeting a pot of oil, instantly boiling and exploding.

A few days ago, the media outlets that were still promoting the film suddenly started reviewing "Taken".

In his column, Chen Bosen, editor-in-chief of Film Biweekly, wrote: "Taken is not a movie, it's an earthquake. It shattered all preconceived notions about action films. Li Jiangbo used a film to tell everyone that action films can be made like this."

Ming Pao devoted an entire page to reporting on the film, discussing its highlights, details, and the role of the new style of cinema.

Oriental Daily News, on the other hand, focused on the box office: nine million in one week, "Taken" aims to break last year's box office record of "A Better Tomorrow"!

But the influence of Taken goes far beyond that.

First, there was the sales of Time Daily, thanks to its fair reviews and the support of its behind-the-scenes boss. Daily sales quickly reached an astonishing number.

Newspapers like Sing Tao Daily, which are considered top-tier, have been squeezed out of shape by Time Daily.

Only Ming Pao and Oriental Daily News remain standing.

Secondly, Bingfeng's business experienced a boom. The endorsement by Time Girl provided one layer of motivation, as did various lucky draw activities, and the warmer weather provided another layer of motivation.

Li Jiangbo has already ordered over three million units of Bingfeng beer from Chang'an.

On the other hand, Li Jiangbo convened the first senior management meeting of Time Pictures this year.