Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

After sleeping with Gong Li, Yang Ye met Zhang Yimou the next day.

Congratulations on winning the grand prize at the Berlin Film Festival, a direct reward of US$100,000.

The copyright of "Red Sorghum" sold for more than one million US dollars at the Berlin Film Festival alone. Zhang Yimou deserves this prize.

Originally, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li were going to shoot a commercial film "Codename Jaguar" after returning from Berlin.

That was a film that Zhang Yimou was tricked into making by that idiot Wang Shuo. After the filming, he regretted it so much and has been too embarrassed to mention it.

At that time, Zhang Yimou looked down on commercial films and his mind was full of art.

Later, I went to Hong Kong to film "The Terracotta Warriors" not for the money.

Because the film pay in Hong Kong had not taken off at that time, the pay was very low.

He just wanted to make it easier for him to have an affair with Gong Li.

The situation is different now. Zhang Yimou has been following Yang Ye for a long time, and Gong Li has also been slept with by Yang Ye.

Zhang Yimou made a lot of money by filming with Yang Ye. The money he earned from one film was equivalent to what he would earn working in mainland China for ten years.

After shooting several movies, Zhang Yimou broadened his horizons and discovered that top commercial films could be so awesome.

Movies like "Terminator 2" not only have high box office and good reputation, but are also destined to go down in film history.

So his concept was changed.

He chose to shoot Red Sorghum because it was his first time as a director and he was afraid of making mistakes, so he started with the smaller ones that he was good at.

In fact, there are obvious differences between Zhang Yimou and directors like Kaizi Ge.

In the early 1990s, there was an interview program. At that time, Zhang Yimou did not have the high status he later had. He was just a relatively famous art film director.

The host asked them who their favorite director was?
Brother Kaizi and others all talk about art film masters such as Bergman, Fellini, and Godard.

Zhang Yimou's answer surprised everyone. He said... Spielberg.

Because he felt that Old Si's movies had grand scenes and magnificent scenery, which made people intoxicated.

Zhang Yimou does not pursue highbrow works that are not popular with the public. Unlike his classmates Kaizige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, or even Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang, who are immersed in their own aesthetic world and do not care whether the audience can accept it or not.

None of Zhang Yimou's films are boring. His films are all worth watching in terms of subject matter, content or narrative. He has never been out of touch with ordinary audiences.

Some people might criticize him for only knowing how to shoot rural scenes. In fact, in that era, the best subject matter to shoot in China was rural areas. There were only a few people in cities. So the fifth generation directors all liked to shoot rural scenes.

When it came to the sixth generation of directors, the country began to urbanize. Did you see these people filming the countryside? They all filmed towns.

Of course, they don’t shoot in big cities. They mainly choose the urban-rural fringe, shoot marginal characters, and focus on the historical changes of urbanization, because there are many things to explore there. Jia Zhangke is one of the representatives.

Yang Ye asked Zhang Yimou: "Does the new film have a theme?"

Zhang Yimou shook his head: "No!"

"If you have nothing else to do, come with me to the Soviet Union. I'm shooting a World War II movie. It will take about two or three months. I still hope you can direct the film."

When Zhang Yimou heard that a film about World War II was going to be made, he was quite interested.

Yang Ye gave a brief account of the plot, and when Zhang Yimou heard that he was going to play a sniper from Northeast China killing people indiscriminately in Stalingrad, he was really impressed.

He even couldn't understand how this movie could exist. Were those foreigners crazy?
Then he readily agreed.

……

The next day was the Academy Awards ceremony.

Although he missed the Golden Melody Awards, Yang Ye still decided to attend the Golden Image Awards and he returned on time.

Zhang Yimou and Gong Li arrived in Hong Kong early to vote.

Zhang Yimou was nominated for Best Cinematography for "Terminator 2" and automatically became a member of the Academy Awards.

Gong Li became the first Chinese international film queen and was quickly accepted as a member of the Academy Awards.

This time, they were also assigned the task of being award presenters.

Today, the number of permanent awards at the Academy Awards has increased to eighteen, and this year's Academy Awards shortlist is also very different from the original time and space.

For example, "An Autumn's Tale", which originally won the Best Film award, had already appeared at last year's Academy Awards.

There is also "The Sequel to the Hong Kong and Provincial Flag Soldiers", but because the copyright is in the hands of Baiyang Films, Mak Dang-hsung did not start filming at all.

There is also Ann Hui's "The Book and the Sword", which was filmed by Jet Li several years ago.

These three movies did not appear, but "Terminator 2", "Unforgettable" and "Swordsman" appeared on the shortlist.

Needless to say, "Terminator 2" swept the world last year and received twelve nominations at the Academy Awards this year.

He also received four nominations for the Academy Awards, which is really a double win!
"Unforgettable" was also very popular after its release, earning 1800 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, and also entering the Japanese and Korean markets, with overseas box office exceeding million US dollars.

It's a pity that it can't be released in Taiwan, otherwise it would definitely be a big hit. Taiwanese people like this kind of fresh and clean style.

"The Sword of Three Young Masters" stars Jet Li and Zhen Zidan, and this kind of martial arts movie has no problem selling.

Once the Hong Kong box office exploded, the overseas copyrights were sold out instantly, grossing 1500 million US dollars in one go, making a huge profit.

This is the power of action movies. Although Stephen Chow’s “God of Gamblers” was a big hit in Hong Kong, its sales overseas were not very good.

It was only sold in Singapore, Malaysia and other countries, and was not allowed to enter the mainland market because this film promotes special abilities.

Master Yan, in a small building 2,000 kilometers away, pretended for a long time that "the fire will surely ease in three days."

Damn it, thanks to the desperate efforts of the firefighters, the fire was actually alleviated a little after three days. As a result, many people believed it and actually thought that it was Master Yan who put out the fire.

The poor firefighters worked so hard to make a living for this grandson.

Yan Xin couldn't stop and boasted even more: "After using the power, intercepting an atomic bomb is not a problem!"

This...then why don't you go and destroy America by yourself?
……

The overseas rights to "God of Gamblers" were sold for only one million U.S. dollars.

On the one hand, Zhou Xingchi is a newcomer and cannot be sold at a high price.

On the other hand, comedy films do not sell as well as action films overseas.

However, the Nanyang film producers have tasted the sweetness this time, and Yang Kee will have to raise the price next time.

Stephen Chow's best overseas box office movie in the 3300s was "The Deer and the Cauldron", and the combined box office of the two films was million US dollars.

This is taking advantage of Jin Yong's popularity. Without Jin Yong, the profit would be several million dollars less.

This is why “Two Mondays and One Ten” is just a name used in Hong Kong. Outside of Hong Kong, it only means one tenth.

The reason why Stephen Chow’s overseas box office is not good is that his comedy films don’t sell well in Japan and South Korea. This is due to cultural differences and there is no solution.

There is a saying in Hollywood that "drama never moves". When the cultures of both sides are different, many jokes disappear.

Even in China, when Stephen Chow's movies are translated into Mandarin, a lot of funny moments are lost.

Some people may cite "Kung Fu" as an example. "Kung Fu" is indeed awesome, with a global box office of up to 1 million US dollars.

But this is a credit to Hollywood's massive distribution, which actually lost money on the film.

Miramax spent $1700 million on distribution in North America alone, but the box office revenue was only $ million.

Yang Ye asked Zhou Xingchi to start filming "The Mermaid" just to see if he could help him open up the Japanese and Korean markets.

Because "The Mermaid" is not only a comedy, it also involves the mermaid legend that is familiar to people all over the world, incorporates environmental protection themes, and adds computer special effects.

This is built entirely according to the style of a commercial blockbuster.

Some people think that "The Mermaid" is full of old-fashioned cliches.

Damn, it was released in 2016, and it's all old jokes. It was released in 1988, and it's all new jokes, okay?

Yang Ye tasted the sweetness from the movie "The Sword of the Third Young Master".

It was obviously a bad movie, but because real action stars like Jet Li and Donnie Yen were cast in the roles, it was immediately turned into something magical and made a huge profit.

In that case, then replacing Deng Chao, Luo Zhixiang and Lin Yun from "The Mermaid" with Stephen Chow, Ng Mengda and a big beauty would definitely be a good idea!
……

Yang Ye's red carpet companion this time was Lin Qingxia, who was also nominated for the Best Actress award.

Yang Ye hugged the beautiful Lin and walked onto the red carpet with the "Terminator" crew. Media reporters immediately surrounded them and started taking pictures.

"Young Master Yang, will there be a third Terminator movie?"

"meeting!"

"when will it be published?"

Yang Ye touched Xiao Wu Jing's head and said, "Terminator 3 is the story of Yang Han's adulthood. Xiao Wu Jing is only fourteen years old this year, so just wait and see!"

Everyone thought, that’s going to be a long wait!
"Young Master Yang, the sequel to The Terminator has already been released. When will the sequel to Swordsman be released?"

Yang Ye answered directly: "Next year!"

"Wow!" everyone exclaimed.

The reporter asked for new information and then continued, "Who is the lead actor?"

"Original crew!"

……

After Yang Ye and Lin Qingxia each answered a bunch of questions, they finally entered the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Lin Qingxia asked, "Are you really going to film "Swordsman"?"

Yang Ye nodded and said, "Yes!"

"I really play the role of Dongfang Bubai?"

"if not!"

"I feel like Jin Yong will scold you to death!"

"In recent years, due to the high-quality Jin Yong dramas produced by ATV, Jin Yong's novels have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Malay and Indonesian versions, and "Swordsman" has also been translated into English. The film and television works I produced have extended Jin Yong's influence beyond the Chinese world. How can he have the nerve to scold me!"

Lin Qingxia thought, that’s true!
"Also, Blue Bird Pictorial is planning to make the Legend of the Condor Heroes trilogy into a comic book. As you know, Blue Bird Pictorial will be published in Japan. If the effect is good, it will be animated next. I will increase the influence of the old man again!"

There was one thing in later life that Yang Ye felt very sorry about.

As the leading actress of "classical martial arts", Huang Rong has always lacked a comic image.

This is obviously missing a lot of points!
If Huang Rong has a comic image that is accepted by the public, then Tifa may have to stand aside in the indescribable video area.

Yang Ye decided to make up for this regret, so that the young men in the future will have something to do! (End of this chapter)