Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

F4 debuted for less than two months and had only one album, but they dared to hold a concert.

When the news reached Hong Kong, the Hong Kong media were shocked. This was the kind of thing only Yang Ye had done sixteen years ago.

The story of Yang Ye's sudden emergence and the sensation in Hong Kong with the song "Under the Lion Rock" was dug up by the media and talked about again with relish.

Yi Nengjing lay on the bed, flipping through the newspaper, and praised: "Brother Ye, you were so handsome back then!"

Yang Ye was sitting at the desk, helping Yi Nengjing revise the lyrics. He said without even looking up, "Isn't he handsome now?"

"He's still handsome now! But it's different. Back then he was handsome with high spirits, but now he's handsome with maturity and stability!"

"So do you like me before or now?"

Yi Nengjing thought about it, climbed up from the bed, leaned over to Yang Ye's ear, and whispered softly: "I like... Dad!"

……

The popularity of "Meteor Garden" and F4 is even greater than that of Hong Kong Love Two Years Ago.

This is not to say that Meteor is better than Hong Kong Love, but that Hong Kong Love is closer to reality and more attractive to urban men and women, while Meteor is more attractive to young people.

As we all know, teenagers are ten times more crazy than adults when it comes to chasing stars.

As for some adults who are also crazy, they are not adults, they are giant babies.

Some TV stations in Asia analyzed the reasons why "Hong Kong Love" and "Shooting Star" became popular, and believed that they both used the model of famous actresses partnering with amateur handsome men.

Famous female stars can attract popularity at a low cost, while amateur handsome guys can easily attract the likes of young girls.

It's not just F4, the same applies to Leon Lai, Aaron Kwok and Little Tigers before.

As a result, Singapore's New Broadcasting Corporation and Taiwan's three major TV stations were also eager to try, and they tinkered with a few idol dramas and went to Yang Ji to invite female stars to star in them.

This actually brought a wave of business to Yangji.

"Meteor Garden" was also extremely popular in Japan and South Korea back then. F4's album "Meteor Shower" was released in Japan and once made it into the top ten of the Oricon charts.

Of course Yang Ye would not miss such a good business, and immediately set about selling "Meteor Garden" to Japan and South Korea to make some money.

The F4 created by Yang Ye is not comparable to the four rookies in the original time and space.

He was popular for only two years and then he retired.

Among these four, Cheng Yikin and Koo Tim-lok can be regarded as the last superstars of Hong Kong films.

Now, with this wave of popularity, there will be greater development prospects.

……

The popularity of "Meteor Garden" also led to the rapid expansion of Star TV.

Less than three months after its launch, the show has attracted more than three million viewers, half of whom are from Taiwan.

This is just a rough statistic, because we have no idea how many there are exactly.

Advertising fees naturally also rose sharply, and I counted the money until my hands cramped.

At the beginning, all the businesses that advertised were considering Yang Ye's reputation, such as Lindt and Citroen.

Or Yang Ye’s own business, such as Palm Elf and the promotion of Yang’s new movie.

Before long, advertisers from Taiwan came with money.

Advertising on Star TV is more effective than advertising on the old three channels because the old three channels are only broadcast in Taiwan.

As for Star TV, Chinese people across Asia can watch it.

Half a year after Star TV was launched, its director Zhong Jinghui excitedly told Yang Ye that the cumulative advertising revenue had exceeded 100 million US dollars.

Yang Ye was relatively calm. It was only 100 million. There was nothing to be happy about. This was just the beginning.
In just 3.6 months since its launch, the advertising revenue of the Chinese Satellite TV channel of Xiaogua has reached million US dollars.

However, advertising revenue has continued to grow as the TV station was launched. According to the current momentum, the revenue in two years will far exceed that of Cucumber.

This is all a story for later. After Yang Ye returned to Hong Kong, he continued to prepare for "The Myth" while filming "Crown Prince".

The costumes and makeup in the original "Myth" were pretty bad, the armor was all wrong, and the Koreans actually used high-quality steel swords.

Damn, with this weapon, wouldn’t we be able to dominate the world?

Yang Ye found Emi Wada from Japan, explained his intentions to her, and then asked her to go to Xi'an for an investigation and do the set design for "The Myth".

Some people may wonder, why do you find a Japanese styling designer to make a Chinese movie?

There is no way around it. The mainland has not started on assembly yet, and Hong Kong people like to mess around and are far less professional than the Japanese.

Sometimes I have to admit that the Japanese are more professional in their research on Chinese culture than many Chinese.

Emi Wada is one of Asia's top stylist. She won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for her collaboration with Akira Kurosawa on the 1985 film Ran.

Emi Wada also frequently collaborates with Chinese filmmakers and has twice won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

She designed the films of Zhang Yimou's "Hero", Ann Hui's "The Soong Dynasty", "The White-Haired Witch" starring Zhang Guorong and Lin Qingxia, and "The Storm Riders" starring Cheng Yikin and Aaron Kwok.

Zhang Yimou found Wada Emi because he had watched "Ran". Many scenes in "Hero" were copied from "Ran".

In his previous life, Yang Ye knew about Wada Emi because he watched "Hero".

During the heyday of Hong Kong films, talents from all over the world served Hong Kong films.

For example, Tao Pai Pai is actually Korean, Christopher Doyle directly joined the Hong Kong film industry, and Kitaro composed the music for Like Water Flowing Years, which was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award...

The sea embraces all rivers and is vast because it is tolerant. If we want to be the Hollywood of the East, we must recruit talents from all over Asia.

……

Speaking of the three major stylists in Hong Kong, they each have their own characteristics, but Yang Ye feels that they are not suitable for "The Myth".

Zhang Shuping is known for his fashion dramas and period dramas, but he is often a mess when designing period costumes.

Because he likes to use primary colors and advocates simplicity, he usually just wraps himself with a few pieces of cloth.

His representative costume works include the TV series version of "Storm Warriors 2", the Zhong Hanliang version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", the movie version of "Zhu Xian"...you can go and watch them!

Of course, there were also times when he was extremely awesome. He also designed "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

In fact, the costumes of Xiaoqian and Dongfang Bubai are just a few pieces of cloth wrapped around the body, but they look good.

Maybe... a real beauty would look good wrapped in a piece of cloth!
It looks better without wrapping!
Ye Jintian is known for his gorgeous and complex styles, and he likes heavy colors, which makes him suitable for palace dramas. For example, "The Story of the Palace of Eternal Life" and "The Banquet" were both designed by him.

He was also the costume designer for the original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design.

In "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Zhang Ziyi's clothes are transparent and Nai Zi can be seen.

Wu Baoling is a female designer. Her designs are imaginative and her thoughts are reflected in every little detail.

Wu Baoling is particularly good at styling women. Zhao Yazhi's White Snake and Xiao Qiang's Lin Shiyin, tell me if they are beautiful or not!

Zhou Xun’s best-looking ancient costume look is probably Xiao Wei in “Painted Skin”, which was also created by Wu Baoling.

……

By the end of October, the filming of "Invincible in the East" was nearing completion.

Anderson Road, Quarry!

The final battle of "Invincible in the East" was filmed here.

This scene was extremely difficult to shoot. The crew worked on it for more than 20 days before finally reaching the last shot.

Cheng Xiaodong carried the camera himself, adjusting the focus while moving his feet, making the gravel rustle.

He wanted to capture Dongfang Bubai's last look before he fell off the cliff.

"Qingxia, you only have one chance!" Lin Qingxia nodded, adjusted her false eyelashes, put on eye drops, and said, "Come on!"

"ROLL machine!"

Dongfang Bubai pushed Linghu Chong up with one palm. She turned around in the air, tears in her eyes, and looked back with a smile, which was so beautiful and moving!

……

Cheng Xiaodong put down the camera and said loudly: "I declare that the filming of "Swordsman: Invincible in the East" has officially finished!"

"Clap, clap, clap!" There was a burst of warm applause.

Lin Qingxia was lowered down from the wire by the staff. She was exhausted, and Yang Ye quickly went over to help her up.

"Thank you for your hard work, Qingxia!"

Lin Qingxia was in high spirits and said, "I'm so happy, we've finally finished filming!"

Yang Ye said: "It's worth being happy!"

He announced loudly, "We're going to the wrap-up party at Lei Garden tonight!"

"Clap, clap, clap!" The applause became even louder!
The group drove to Lei Garden, and Lin Qingxia asked, "When will our movie be released?"

Yang Ye said: "We still need to do post-production, so let's put this one in the Spring Festival schedule!"

"You never seem to go to the Spring Festival period, do you?"

"I've been there before. Mainly because my movies are not comedies, and the Spring Festival period is more suitable for comedies."

"Then why are you going again this time?"

"Ah Xing went to the Christmas season, so Ah Long and Ah Jie couldn't make it in time for their movies, so I had to take part."

"I heard they are all filming a blockbuster?"

"Yeah, A-Long is working on Project Eagle, and A-Jie is working on Once Upon a Time in China with Xu Ke. Who knows when they'll be finished."

In the original time and space, accidents frequently occurred in Project Eagle, and the project was seriously overdue and overfunded.

The crew members were hospitalized due to acclimatization, and even the production manager went to jail, which made Golden Harvest very angry. From then on, they deprived Chen Long of his rights as a director because he was such a spendthrift that Golden Harvest was terrified.

However, the final box office was encouraging, with global sales of 4000 million US dollars.

Xu Ke had always wanted to start filming Wong Fei Hung, and now with Jet Li around, he started the filming plan a year in advance.

"Once Upon a Time in China" was filmed in the original time and space for eight months, but the film was not completed until the martial arts director Yuan Renxiang was out of schedule.

Yuan Renxiang had already signed a contract with someone else and had to leave.

Finally, Yuan Heping took over Yuan Renxiang's work and shot the final ladder-fighting part without being credited.

Jet Li was injured at a critical moment, so he had to use a stunt double to perform every move.

The three stand-ins, Xiong Xinxin, Ling Zhihua and Gu Xuanzhao, were there for three months. In order to avoid being exposed, it was really difficult for the photographer.

The ladder-climbing scene is truly a classic in film history, but if you look closely, it's very eye-catching, because except for the shot where Jet Li is posing, the rest are all stand-ins.

This is a pity. If Jet Li hadn't been injured, God knows how much better this scene would have been.

Although "Once Upon a Time in China" took a whole year to shoot, it almost caused Golden Harvest to collapse.

But in the end the global box office grossed 1700 million US dollars, Golden Harvest made a huge profit, and also made Jet Li popular again.

Today, Chen Long and Jet Li are more famous than in the original time and space, and there is also the mainland market. If nothing unexpected happens, the box office of these two movies will only be more explosive.

Yang Ye knew the outcome in advance, so he was naturally very generous. He let them do whatever they wanted and just sat back to collect the money.

……

As of November, "Mojin: The Last Dragon" has basically been released in Asia.

Yang Ye went to Japan and South Korea specifically to promote the film, and it was worth it. In these two countries, the box office surpassed that of "Indiana Jones and the Third".

"Indiana Jones and the Third" had 3 viewers in South Korea, while "Mojin: The Last Dragon" had over 49 viewers.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Airbender" grossed 3 billion yen in Japan, while "Mojin: The Last Dragon" grossed 44 billion yen.

Yang Ye’s Chinese adventure movies are more suitable for the physique of Asian babies.

In mainland China, the box office of "Mojin: The Last Dragon" was also very encouraging.

Three months after the film was screened with a 35mm projector, the number of viewers exceeded million and the box office revenue exceeded million RMB.

The other two models of projectors are used in towns and rural areas. It is extremely difficult to count them and no money can be collected, so Yang Ye simply does not care.

Driven by a series of industries, the mainland has developed rapidly in recent years. The per capita wage in the southeast coastal areas has increased by more than 100%, and movie ticket prices of less than one yuan are no longer appropriate.

After the reform and opening up, as people's income continued to increase, the prices of almost all commodities rose to varying degrees.

The very few commodities that have not been adjusted are squeezed by the entire price system, and movie tickets are one of them.

There is a saying in China these days: the three cheapest things in life are watching movies, taking the train, and eating noodles.

With rising filming costs and low ticket prices, the eight major domestic film studios are all unable to make ends meet and are on the verge of bankruptcy, and movie theaters are also struggling!
Faced with this situation, many people in the country have called for relaxing controls and allowing the market to set prices freely.

As a result, starting from the 1990s, ticket prices have skyrocketed, increasing twenty times in ten years.

Because prices are rising too fast, ticket prices are too high, and there aren't many good movies to watch, people stop going to the movies.

Film studios and cinemas should close down if they want to!

……

When Yang Ye wanted to shoot "The Myth", he not only cooperated with South Korea's CJ Entertainment, but also introduced a mainland partner, that is, Xi'an Film Studio.

With the support of Xi'an Film Studio and Yang Ye's fame, he could use his connections to get a chance to shoot at the Terracotta Warriors.

In addition to the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall, there is another ancient monument that is indispensable, that is the Desha Temple in India.

This thing is someone's cultural heritage. In the original time and space, it was only because of Jackie Chan's face that they allowed the filming.

Yang Ye thought to himself, I don’t know if my face is worth anything.

Find someone to try it first!
Oh, and I need to find an Indian chick.

Yang Ye was building the "Heavenly Palace" of the First Emperor on the Daguan Studio;
On the one hand, Xu Feng was sent to Xi'an to discuss co-production and borrowing the Terracotta Warriors;
At the same time, Jiang Zhiqiang was sent to India to discuss borrowing the Disha Temple to shoot a movie.

As for the Indian girl, after some thought, Yang Ye invited Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit.

Madhuri Dixit is known as the Queen of Dance in India. In 1988, she won the Indian box office championship with "Sour Girl, Spicy Boy" and is one of the top actresses in India today.

Not many people may know her name, but there must be many people who have watched "Bollywood Love Affair".

Yang Ye has never eaten Indian food, this time he must try the curry chicken!
……

After everything was arranged, Yang Ye set off for the capital to prepare for the premiere of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" at the Great Hall of the People.

A little-known fact is that the Great Hall of the People can be rented as long as you comply with the regulations and pay the money.

Many later films held press conferences and premieres in the Great Hall of the People.

However, this time, Yang Ye was the first to set a trend.

"Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" was Yang Ye's first time filming a red classic, so he chose Beijing as the location for the premiere.

"Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" could have been released earlier, but Yang Ye delayed it until December.

Because he didn't want to steal the limelight from "The Founding Ceremony".

"The Founding of a Nation" was a tribute film from Changchun Film Studio. It was released in September and grossed 1.7 million yuan, making it the most popular mainland film in the s. (End of this chapter)