Rebirth of Hong Kong - 1978

Chapter 191

Standing in front of the window, Run Run Shaw overlooked the scenery of Victoria Harbour.

Behind him, Fang Yihua was standing there holding a cup of ginseng tea, talking endlessly about how he met Lin Daoqiu today.

"He said it was 800 million. At first I thought it was Hong Kong dollars, but guess what he said, he actually said, oh, I forgot to mention, it was US dollars. Seeing his smug look, it seems that he is so amazing."

Fang Yihua was really angry at Lin Daoqiu, even when she thinks about it now, she still feels angry.

After hearing what Fang Yat-hua said, Run Run Shaw just smiled, then turned around and walked over, taking the ginseng tea from the other party's hand.

"It's normal for young people to be arrogant for a while after they have made some achievements."

Run Run Shaw was not intimidated by the 800 million budget requested by Lin Daoqiu.

Because in 1976, Run Run Shaw spent 6000 million Hong Kong dollars to invest in the film version of James Clare's best-selling novel "The Big Class".

And just this year, he even invested a large sum of 1600 million US dollars to participate in the investment in the Hollywood blockbuster "Earth Havoc" starring Sean Connery.

But it's a pity that "The Taipan" didn't even make a splash, and the box office of "Earth Havoc" is also very mediocre.

Even when it was screened in Xiangjiang in 1980, it only took a box office of 166 million Hong Kong dollars.

But now Run Run Shaw still doesn't know that "Havoc on Earth", which he invested huge sums of money in, will suffer a huge loss.

He is full of confidence in that movie now, thinking that he might be able to make a fortune in Hollywood by then.

"But what he wants is too much, right? It costs 4000 million Hong Kong dollars. Shaw Brothers makes so many films a year, and they can't spend 4000 million."

Fang Yihua was still worried about getting back his capital, after all, investing such a large amount of money was not a joke.

Run Run Shaw knew that Fang Yat Hua was still worried about money, but it was no wonder, after all, she was sent by him to Shaw Brothers to take charge of the purchasing department in order to reduce costs.

At this time, Lin Daoqiu suddenly asked her to spend 4000 million yuan to make a movie, Fang Yathua would never agree no matter what.

"Let's wait until we read the script."

Run Run Shaw was not in a hurry to reject Lin Daoqiu, he wanted to read the script first.

The next day, Lin Daoqiu was invited by Run Run Shaw to have afternoon tea, and the place was still chosen at the Peninsula Hotel.

"Why does Mr. Lin want to make a movie with a female protagonist? You must know that not only in Hong Kong, but also in other places, the movies are male protagonists."

Run Run Shaw felt very puzzled, Lin Daoqiu's choice really confuses him.

As for Run Run Shaw's question, Lin Daoqiu had already thought of the answer.

"I remember that there was an actress named Ling Bo in Shaw Brothers. Her Huangmei opera was all the rage. When she visited Baodao for the first time, it was full of crowds. At that time, Beishi was also known as the 'City of Madmen'."

Of course Run Run Shaw remembered Ling Bo, and this was something he was proud of all these years.

"Since Ling Bo was able to cause such a sensation more than ten years ago, why can't a film be made with a woman as the protagonist today, more than ten years later?"

Run Run Shaw nodded as he listened, but if Lin Daoqiu wanted to persuade him to invest 800 million US dollars to make a movie, it would not be enough.

"Mr. Lin, 800 million US dollars is definitely an astronomical figure for Xiangjiang, but it is only a low-level production in Hollywood. I don't doubt Mr. Lin's ability, but I have to read the script first."

In business, talk and business, Run Run Shaw is not like Zou Wenhuai, who can impress the other party just by talking. He has to read the script first, and only after he is satisfied will he consider whether to invest money.

But just as Run Run Shaw finished speaking, Lin Daoqiu shook his head suddenly.

"Uncle Liu may have misunderstood what I meant. The budget of this film is indeed about 800 million US dollars, but Shaw Brothers only needs to pay 400 million US dollars."

After all, Lin Daoqiu is very sure that this film will make money. If Run Run Shaw is allowed to fully invest in the filming, what money will he get at that time.

So what he thought at the beginning was to ask Run Run Shaw to pay half of the money, and make up the rest by himself.

When Run Run Shaw heard what Lin Daoqiu said, he immediately frowned.

He didn't expect Lin Daoqiu to have such courage and willingness to spend 400 million US dollars. It seems that he is very confident in this drama.

"Is Mr. Lin really so sure?"

"How do you know if you don't try it, and I'm still young, even if I lose this time, I still have a lot of chances to turn around."

Naturally, Lin Daoqiu would not promise in front of Run Run Shaw, saying that this movie would be a hit, because that would only be treated by Run Run Shaw as an idiot.

"Just to give Mr. Lin a try, I have to invest 400 million US dollars to take risks. This price is too high."

Run Run Shaw's words sounded like he wanted to reject Lin Daoqiu.

But he suddenly changed the subject: "But I believe in Mr. Lin's ability, and I voted for the $400 million."

In fact, if Run Run Shaw was really confident, he could swallow the 800 million investment by himself, but since he chose to pay only half, it meant that he still had concerns.

And just after Lin Daoqiu and Run Run Shaw finished talking about the budget, it was inevitable that the topic would shift to the leading actor.

"Is Mr. Lin still planning to let Ah Hua play the leading role this time?"

Run Run Shaw had already learned about Lin Daoqiu and Guo Youhua from Fang Yathua.

Although I don't know how far the two of them have developed, but in Shaw's view, Guo Youhua should be the heroine of this play, because she is now Shaw Brothers' leading actress.

But Run Run Shaw did not expect that Lin Daoqiu shook his head suddenly.

"I plan to use Brigitte Lin to play the heroine of this play."

As soon as these words came out, the corners of Run Run Shaw's mouth suddenly twitched a few times unconsciously.

Leaving aside the fact that Brigitte Lin is not a Shaw Brothers actress, let’s just say that she has been filming literary and artistic films in Taiwan all year round, and she suddenly switched to making an action film. Is this okay?

"Qingxia is indeed a very good actress, but is it not suitable for her to act in this play?"

"Sixth Uncle asked Qingxia to act in "A Dream of Red Mansions" last year. Since you had confidence in her back then, you should trust her again now."

If it were someone else, Run Run Shaw would have been angry.

But Brigitte Lin was an exception, she was regarded as an actor that Run Run Shaw admired very much.

Otherwise, Run Run Shaw would not have taken the initiative to invite him to Xiangjiang to shoot Dream of the Red Chamber last year.

If this film is wholly owned by Shaw Brothers, I am afraid Run Run Shaw will reject Lin Daoqiu's decision now.

But at this time, Run Run Shaw suddenly began to waver. He felt that he should follow Lin Daoqiu's suggestion, so he asked Brigitte Lin to try it.

After all, compared to Guo Youhua and Brigitte Lin, there is still a big gap in popularity between the two. Perhaps letting Brigitte Lin play the leading role is the correct approach.

(End of this chapter)