Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The original version of "Bodyguard from Beijing" was taken off the screen in Hong Kong after only 14 days, with a box office of HK$1100 million, which was a disastrous failure.

However, overseas performance was very good, with sales of NT$1.2 million in Taiwan alone.

Singapore also achieved a good result of 260 million Singapore dollars, which is about 1500 million Hong Kong dollars when converted.

The total box office reached 1200 million US dollars, ranking 41st among the best-selling Chinese-language films in the s.

It can be seen that this movie is still very popular, it's just a bit untimely.

1994 was a year full of masterpieces, but "Bodyguard from Beijing" was mixed in and not very conspicuous.

Moreover, piracy began to run rampant in 1994, with Hong Kong being the hardest hit area.

Jet Li released too many films during that period, and this film is too similar to the Hollywood movie "The Bodyguard"...

Due to various factors, the box office of "Bodyguard from Beijing" did not meet expectations in Hong Kong.

This version of Yang Ye is one and a half years earlier than the original time and space, and the situation he faces is much better than the original time and space.

He is using hunger marketing, and no movie has been released for two years.

"The Bodyguard" was only released in North America two months ago, and Asian audiences have not seen it yet.

There was no rampant piracy, and no centenary of film.

A good situation will naturally lead to good box office results.

Since its release, the box office has been booming, competing closely with the family-friendly film "All's Well, All's Well".

However, as the Spring Festival passed, the family-friendly effect of "A Happy Hour" quickly faded, and "Bodyguard from Beijing" left it behind.

At this time, another new film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: East is Red, West is West" was released.

The movie "A Chinese Odyssey" was made after King of Sunglasses overran the deadline for filming "Ashes of Time" and the investors were furious and wanted to fire him.

In desperation, Sunglasses' buddy Liu Zhenwei brought together the original crew and shot the film in 20 days, intending to make money during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Sunglasses and Pu Ni Lao Mu were planning something very well, but unexpectedly they met Yang Ye.

Yang Ye called the people from the legal department over and ordered them, “Prepare the materials and sue East is West for copyright infringement and ban it from being released.”

Nowadays, Jin Yong's copyrights are all managed by Yangji. Yangji only authorized King of Sunglasses to make one movie, and Liu Zhenwei made another one, which is an infringement.

In addition, since Yang Ye started to prepare for VCD, he asked Xu Feng to buy up the film copyrights of major companies.

Today, not only the film libraries of Shaw Brothers and Cinema City, but also the film libraries of many old-established companies in Hong Kong have all been acquired by Yang Kee.

Among them is an old movie from the 1960s, "Tathagata Palm".

The plot of "East is Red, West is West" was copied from "Tathagata Palm".

For example, the protagonists go to a cave to find the "Nine Yin Scriptures", and there are a few stupid monsters in it.

It was just a copy of the scene where Long Jianfei and others went to the cave to find the "Tathagata Palm", and there were a few stupid monsters in it.

The appearance of several monsters in "East is Red, West is West" is exactly the same as that in "Tathagata Palm".

That would be fine, even the camera positions and camera movements are exactly the same, it's a complete copy and paste.

Otherwise, how could Liu Zhenwei make a movie so quickly and make it a big hit at the box office?

Hong Kong films are always plagiarizing from here and there. For example, Wang Jing is just a patchwork monster.

It’s just that if you copy Hollywood and Japanese movies, no one can do anything to you.

But after Yang Ye collected the copyrights of Hong Kong films, you would be in trouble if you copied old Hong Kong films.

To be honest, Yang Ye himself is a plagiarist and has no right to criticize others.

However, the current situation is that when copyright forms a monopoly, a lot of profits will be generated, which cannot be ignored.

For example, in Stephen Chow’s later movie “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”, the character with the crippled foot is exactly the same, even the camera position is exactly the same.

If someone holds the copyright of "Tathagata Palm", they can ask Zhou Xingchi for money.

After Yang Ji acquired a large number of copyrights, it felt necessary for him to inform Hong Kong filmmakers: From now on, those old films cannot be remade or plagiarized casually, and you have to pay for it.

The best way to spread the word is to use one person as an example to scare the others.

"East is Red, West is West" is that chicken.

This movie stars many superstars and received very good response after its midnight screening.

Unexpectedly, just as the film was about to be officially released, the producers received a court summons, banning the film from being released on the grounds of plagiarism and copyright infringement.

They also demanded compensation and that the copyright of the film belong to Yang Ji.

Sunglasses and Pu Ni Lao Mu were immediately confused. They have now accepted the investment from Cai Songlin, a scholar company, and established an independent production company, Zedong Pictures.

"A Chinese Odyssey" was the first film produced by their company, but they didn't expect it to run into Yang Ye's target.

The two stared at each other, and Sunglasses asked Liu Zhenwei: "Do we have a chance of winning this lawsuit?"

The movie was made by Liu Zhenwei, and he knew how much he had plagiarized. Hearing this, he frowned and said, "If Yang Ye is serious, we will definitely lose."

The King in Sunglasses said helplessly, "For so many years, everyone has been doing this. Why is he suddenly doing this? What's his purpose?"

Liu Zhenwei said: "He's collecting protection money. What else can he want? He spent a lot of money to buy so many copyrights, so of course he has to make money back."

The King of Sunglasses thought for a moment and said, "Let's go find Xu Feng, say something nice, pay some money, and settle it privately!"

Liu Zhenwei shook his head: "I'm afraid there's no possibility of a private settlement."

The King in Sunglasses' face suddenly changed: "You mean... he wants to make a big fuss?"

Liu Zhenwei sighed: "Yes, our movie is full of stars, it's a good opportunity to make a movie like this."

“These stars belong to his family, right?”

"Silly boy, the stars have received enough money, they have nothing to lose."

The two discussed for a long time, and although they understood Yang Ye's intention, they had no idea what to do.

……

At the beginning of the new year, Kingsoft VCD advertisements were everywhere, and in China, of course, they were advertised on CCTV.

These days, advertising on CCTV has great credibility, and people believe in it.

Kingsoft VCD also won the bid as it wished.

Soon, the advertisement of Yang Ye dancing with a sword on the Great Wall spread throughout the country and became a household name.

When Zhao Wenzhuo later filmed this sword-kicking video, many people questioned whether it was just a special effect.

But now that Yang Ye was the one kicking the ball, no one questioned it.

Because in people's minds, Yang Ye's awesomeness is unquestionable.

So the only feeling people had about that amazing kick was... it was so awesome.

Many people even named Yang Ye the "Sword Saint" because of this advertisement.

In the past, when the TV commercials were on, it was time for everyone to drink water or go to the toilet. Now, we waited until the sword master finished showing off before leaving.

Soon, Kingsoft VCD began to be sold in Hong Kong, landing in the Kingsoft store in Donglai Plaza, which used to specialize in selling game products.

Advertisements for Kingsoft VCD appeared on both ATV and TVB television stations.

Everyone knows that ATV and TVB are sworn enemies. No one expected Yang Ye's advertisement to appear on TVB, and everyone was very surprised. Hong Kong buses and major supermarkets are full of Kingsoft VCD advertisements. Many people were attracted by the advertisements and went to Kingsoft's stores to experience them on site.

This thing is really easy to use, looks very high-end and full of technology.

The film quality is even clearer than that of a videotape, but the price of the CD is a bit expensive.

Damn, one movie, divided into two discs, A and B, priced at 98 yuan.

Movie tickets are less than 30 yuan each.

Despite this, buyers are still flocking to it.

Because movie tickets are one-time purchases, but you can buy a disc and watch it over and over again, and you can invite a bunch of friends to watch it, which is very cost-effective.

At this point, the Hong Kong film companies finally realized that Yang Ye’s acquisition of all the copyrights of Hong Kong films was a premeditated plan.

However, the bosses of those film companies did not think there was anything wrong with it. Instead, they admired Yang Ye very much.

They would do the same thing if they were in their shoes, and would do it even more ruthlessly.

All in all, Kingsoft VCD made a lot of money this time.

Due to the rapid progress, even if other companies want to follow up, they have to buy prototypes to study, manufacture, promote and launch them, which will take at least a year.

This year is enough for Jinshan to survive.

Unfortunately, it can only be sold in China and Southeast Asia.

In places like Europe, America and Japan where VCRs are already popular, there is not much market for them.

Unless it can be made into a DVD.

……

Kingsoft VCDs were selling like hot cakes, and the lawsuit between Yang Ji and the Sunglasses Brothers was also going on vigorously.

Yang Ji originally wanted to make the matter bigger so that he could collect protection fees in the future, so a private settlement was impossible. Instead, he publicized it widely.

This made King of Sunglasses very depressed, and "A Chinese Odyssey" failed to be released as scheduled. If things go wrong, the company might also suffer the consequences.

Yang Ye's "Bodyguard from Beijing" had one less rival and its box office revenue exceeded 4000 million, defeating "All's Well That Ends Well" to become the champion of the 1993 Hong Kong Spring Festival, making a good start.

This is just an appetizer. Yang Ye has three more blockbuster films waiting to be released this year, and will even go head-to-head with Spielberg's The Big Dinosaur during the summer season.

After "Bodyguard from Beijing", Jet Li's "The Lion King" was released and sold 3000 million in the local market.

The Wong Fei-hung series has become Jet Li's signature brand. When A Man Should Be Strong was released, the copyright fee in South Korea alone was sold for two million US dollars.

As a partner of Baiyang Pictures, CJ Entertainment launched a wave of publicity after acquiring the film and sold $8 million at the box office, making a lot of money.

CJ Entertainment has also started producing its own movies. Korean director Im Kwon-taek's new film "A Song of Elegy" was produced by CJ Entertainment, and Choi Jin-sil was specially invited back from Hong Kong to play the leading female role.

With the current production costs of Korean films, they cannot afford a big star like Choi Jin-sil, so she performed at a friendly price.

……

It's the annual awards season again.

Yang Ye hasn't participated in the Golden Melody Awards for two years.

I'm in Hong Kong this year, it would be awkward not to go.

At this year's Golden Melody Awards, Yang Ye basically sat there clapping his hands because he didn't have many works released last year.

However, he went on stage as an award presenter and gave out two awards.

"The winner of the Best Rock Song is... "Farmer" from the Beyond band. Congratulations!"

The four of them cheered, went on stage together, bowed to the audience, and then bowed to Yang Ye.

As a representative, Huang Jiaju received the trophy from Yang Ye.

Yang Ye stepped aside and watched them give their acceptance speeches.

Although Beyond in this time and space did not sign with Warner, they still went to Japan to develop.

Because Japan is the largest music market in Asia, they signed Avex Music in Japan.

Logically speaking, since the contracted company had changed, that terrible thing should not have happened, but Yang Ye was not sure.

Yang Ye once wanted to save Sanmao, but didn't want to interfere too much in her life, and in the end Sanmao died.

However, Ka Kui’s death was different from Sanmao’s. Sanmao committed suicide, while Ka Kui’s death was an accident.

This made Yang Ye understand that unless he went there in person and deeply influenced the target, what was supposed to happen would eventually happen.

He stood aside, watching the four young people in high spirits, and thought: "If we want to save Ka Kui, the best way is to find them something to do and let them stay in Hong Kong temporarily."

……

A few days later, the Academy Awards ceremony.

The biggest highlight of this year's Academy Awards is the competition between Gong Li and Maggie Cheung for Best Actress.

Because before that, Gong Li and Zhang Manyu won the Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival awards for "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" and "Ruan Lingyu" respectively.

This year, two international film queens were nominated for the Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Naturally, who will have the last laugh has attracted much attention.

The other three nominated actresses, Sharon Chang, Chingmy Yau and Anita Mui, were ignored by many people, who predicted that they would only be runners-up this year.

"Let's give a warm round of applause and invite Sir Yang Ye to the stage to present the award for Best Newcomer."

Yang Ye didn't have any movies released last year, so there was a gap in his schedule. This year, apart from clapping in the audience, he either went on stage to present awards.

In the past, Yang Ye often presented awards for the best newcomer. Since he was here this time, the emcee followed the old rules and invited him up again.

As soon as Yang Ye came on stage, he joked with the emcees Fei Fei and Juanmao, and then asked everyone to look at the big screen.

At this time, the voiceover began to announce this year's shortlist: "The nominees for the 2th Academy Awards for Best Newcomer are: Yuen Wing-yee (A Fei and Ah Kee), Koo Ming-wah (Mong Kok Racecourse), Chu Yin (Fight Back to School ), Sammi Cheng (Flying Tiger Elite: Human Love), and Xiong Xinxin (Once Upon a Time in China II)."

Afterwards, Yang Ye opened the list of winners and announced, "The winner of the Best Newcomer award is... Yuan Yongyi for "A Fei and A Ji". Congratulations, Jing Jing."

Yuan Yongyi happily went on stage to receive the award. She took the little golden man from Yang Ye's hand, waved it vigorously, and began to give her acceptance speech.

Zhu Yin and Zheng Xiuwen, who were sitting in the audience, could not hide their disappointment.

Zhu Yin is fine, her acting skills are almost non-existent, and this nomination for Best Newcomer is already her peak.

Zheng Xiuwen, who has good acting skills, has been nominated for Best Actress many times since she was nominated for Best Newcomer this time. She was ridiculed by the media as a shrew at the Academy Awards. It was not until 2023, when she was nominated for Best Actress for the tenth time, that she finally won the title.

As the awards were handed out one by one, it finally came to the most anticipated showdown, Best Actress.

Classic scenes flashed across the big screen, and the heroines suddenly became nervous.

Although Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen and Anita Mui knew that their chances of winning the award were slim, they still couldn't help but retain a sense of expectation.

What if there is a miracle?

Gong Li, who was highly favored, was relatively calm. She had already won two Best Actress awards, Berlin and Venice, so it didn't matter whether she won the Academy Award or not.

Moreover, she is from mainland China and does not think she can win the award.

Because of the strange rules set by the Academy Awards, most of the members of the Academy Awards are Hong Kong filmmakers.

Of course, fellow countrymen will help fellow countrymen, so the chances of actors from mainland China and Taiwan winning awards are very slim.

On the stage, Chen Long, the award presenter, opened the envelope and announced loudly: "The winner of the Best Actress award is... Gong Li, "Qiu Ju Goes to Court". Congratulations!" (End of this chapter)