Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 466 Japanese Literature Research Association

Jokes aside, Li Hanxiang helped them solve their housing problem, so Lin Chaoyang and his wife were naturally grateful.

Zhang Cuiying smiled and said, "Don't say that. The Truman Show has made Lao Li rich for most of his life. We should thank you if anyone needs to be thanked."

"Sister-in-law, that's too polite." Lin Chaoyang said modestly.

Li Hanxiang added: "It would be even better if you could help me and that old bastard Zou Wenhuai get all the overseas dividends back."

When he said this, his face was full of resentment.

Boss Zou has always been unscrupulous in delaying dividends. Even his powerful star Sammo Hung was once short of funds due to his delay, so he had to cooperate with Cinema City, let alone Li Hanxiang.

New Kunlun Pictures accounted for 10% of the revenue from "The Truman Show", which theoretically should be equivalent to the revenue from Lin's Pictures.

But up to now, New Kunlun has only received box office revenue from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and the buyout dividends from overseas copyrights have not been paid yet.

Lin Chaoyang laughed, "Aren't you two old friends?"

"What old friend? It's the old friend that's being tricked!"

After saying a few bad things about Zou Wenhuai to Lin Chaoyang, and seeing that he didn't respond, Li Hanxiang had no choice but to ask, "Does your company have any plans to make a movie recently?"

"Yes, do you want to invest?"

Lin Chaoyang doesn't mind finding more partners. In Hong Kong, if Lin's Film Company wants to become bigger and stronger, it is impossible to just rely on making a few hit movies.

In the future, they will have to face competition from major film companies including Golden Harvest and Cinema City, the financiers and theater chains behind them, and possible suppression from Taiwan, so they have to make as many friends as possible.

How to make friends?
Money disperses, people gather.

If you can make money by following Lin, are you still worried about the theaters not cooperating? Are you still worried about the Freedom Federation banning your film?
Li Hanxiang said: "Of course it would be great if I could invest. I will invest 100 million."

Lin Chaoyang glanced at him sideways, meaning, it's just 100 million, who are you looking down on?
"You've made a lot of money in the past two years, right?"

Li Hanxiang was a little embarrassed. "I did make a lot of money, but I spent it all on real estate speculation. Otherwise, where do you think you got the luxury house in Mid-Levels to live in?"

It can be said that property speculation has run through the lives of several generations of people in Hong Kong.

Since the beginning of last spring, Hong Kong's real estate industry has ended its five-year downturn and resumed its growth momentum.

The number of newly completed residential units hit a record high since 1981, reaching 29875, while the vacancy rate was only 3.7%, which was almost fully absorbed.

As the enthusiasm for real estate speculation continues to grow, the prices of residential buildings have been rising. Even office buildings, shops and factory buildings are in short supply, and their selling prices and rents are higher than those of residential buildings.

"Take it easy and don't use leverage." Lin Chaoyang advised.

"Do not worry."

During the meal, Li Hanxiang talked about the film projects he was going to invest in. The film Lin Chaoyang wanted him to invest in was Chen Kaige's "The King of Children".

Making friends is one thing, but you can’t let your friends eat all the meat and only have the soup yourself.

Li Hanxiang has collaborated with the mainland a lot in the past two years, so he naturally knew Chen Kaige's name, but he had some doubts about whether this movie could make money.

“Kaige’s new film is still going through the film festival route. Yellow Earth won a few small awards in Europe, and he is considered to be somewhat well-known.

I plan to have him participate in the Cannes Film Festival next year. If he is shortlisted, he should be able to make a small fortune. If he wins a prize..."

Without Lin Chaoyang saying anything more, Li Hanxiang had already imagined the miracle created by "The King of Children" replicating "The Truman Show".

The pie was drawn well and there was no worry about making money. Li Hanxiang's 100 million Hong Kong dollars was pocketed by Lin Chaoyang.

Li Hanxiang asked again, "Chaoyang, I heard that The Truman Show is doing well at the overseas box office."

The later Jim Carrey version of "The Truman Show" set a global box office record of 1.3 million US dollars, which was inseparable from Paramount's strong distribution capabilities.

Hong Kong cannot compare with the United States, and Golden Harvest cannot compare with Paramount. The overseas copyrights of movies are all bought out at a price, and no matter how high the box office is, it has nothing to do with Lin Chaoyang.

However, after the film festival ended, "The Truman Show" was released in the United States, France, Britain, Italy and other countries, and set a box office record of 849 million US dollars in the United States.

This box office may not seem like much, but it is already the third highest box office achieved by a Chinese-language film in the United States in decades.

The top two are Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and Lo Lieh's "The King's Best Fist".

Today's Chinese-language films are a niche within a niche in the American market. Even if they are somewhat popular, they are basically action films.

It is not easy for "The Truman Show" to achieve a box office record of 849 million US dollars as a feature film.

In addition, the film also achieved good box office results in France, Britain, Italy and other countries. If the box office in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia is included, the cumulative box office has exceeded 3800 million US dollars.

The film is still being released in various countries around the world, and the cumulative box office still has room to increase. Those film producers who purchased the copyright at the film festival have paid out and made a fortune this time.

"Good box office also means overseas film distributors can make money," said Lin Chaoyang.

"You can't say that. They made money on this film, so it will be easier for you to sell films in the future, right?"

"That's true."

After having lunch at Li Hanxiang’s house, Zhang Cuiying took Lin Chaoyang and his wife to look at houses halfway up the mountain.

The later generations know about the luxury houses in Mid-Levels thanks to TVB dramas. In the vast majority of TVB’s family dramas, the main stories take place in the luxury house area in Mid-Levels.

Mid-Levels is located between The Peak and Central. It is called Mid-Levels because it is located in the hillside area on the north side of the central and western part of Hong Kong Island.

It is backed by mountains and faces the sea, with lush trees, beautiful environment and fresh air.

In the early years, only the British were qualified to build luxury houses here. Later, it gradually became the first choice for Hong Kong's upper class to buy property.

The “luxury” of Mid-Levels does not lie in the size and luxury of the houses, but in the fact that although it is located in the prime location of Hong Kong, it is quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle, with scenery and tranquility that ordinary citizens cannot achieve.

While being close to commercial districts such as Sheung Wan, Central and Admiralty, it also enjoys mountain and sea views.

Almost every house built here has the most unique scenery of Hong Kong outside its windows, which has been the dream of many successful people in Hong Kong for decades.

The property where Li Hanxiang and his wife bought is located at Jiahui Garden, No. 3, Mackay Gap Road, Zhongbanshan. It was built in 1971 and consists of 10 residential buildings and 120 residential units.

Each residential unit is over 3000 square feet, with a utility rate of 91%. It also has a private clubhouse and a platform swimming pool.

The house purchased by Li Hanxiang and his wife is the largest of all the units, with an area of ​​3366 square feet. It has four bedrooms and a living room connected to a large terrace with unparalleled mountain and sea views.

The down payment alone cost more than 200 million Hong Kong dollars, and almost emptied the family’s savings.

Looking into the distance, the scenery is picturesque.

Tao Yushu couldn't help but take a few more glances. Zhang Cuiying stood beside her and said, "The scenery is even more beautiful at night. The most expensive thing about a luxury house in the middle of the mountain is this scenery."

Tao Yushu smiled and nodded, there was indeed some truth in that.

Now that we have a house, the next step is to move.

The couple was busy moving when Lin Chaoyang received a call from Tao Yumo in Japan.

She just arrived in Japan yesterday and went to sign a contract with Kawaide Shobo today. It turned out that Kawaide Shobo suddenly had a new idea and said they wanted to publish it together with "The Truman Show".

It turned out that the movie "The Truman Show" was recently released in Japan, and the box office reached 1.65 million yen in one week, with a very good response.

This figure is nearly 800 million Hong Kong dollars when converted into Hong Kong dollars, which is almost as much as the first week box office in Hong Kong.

Although it cannot be compared with those popular commercial films, it has become the most popular foreign imported film in Japan in the past two months, and the subsequent cumulative box office is expected to exceed 7 million yen.

The film's success proved that the content was recognized by Japanese audiences, and Kawaide Shobo then came up with the idea of ​​introducing the novel.

It doesn't matter whether it's publishing one book or two books, Lin Chaoyang readily agreed to it.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, there is one more thing!" Tao Yumo hurriedly said when he heard Lin Chaoyang was about to hang up the phone.

"What else?"

"Ms. Kondo now has an idea."

"what idea?"

"She wants to set up a literary research group named after you."

Lin Chaoyang was a little confused. This thing... is it a fan club?

A research society is definitely not a fan club; it focuses on "research". Such organizations are not uncommon in modern times.

For example, in the 1920s, Mr. Mao Dun initiated the establishment of the Literary Research Association, a progressive literary group that pursued new literature.

The main members include Zhou Zuoren, Zheng Zhenduo, Guo Shaoyu, Zhu Xizu, Qu Shiying, Jiang Baili, Sun Fuyuan, Geng Jizhi, Wang Tongzhao, Ye Shengtao and many other famous artists.

Its purpose is to study and introduce world literature, organize old Chinese literature, and create new literature.

Lin Chaoyang is just a foreign writer who has only published a novel in Japan, but someone actually wants to set up a literary research association for him in Japan.

This is somewhat like the capitalists of later generations who praise their ugly sons and daughters.

Of course, Lin Chaoyang’s works and level are certainly not “ugly”, but the problem is that his previous work published in Japan was “Crossing Guandong”, and the later part of this novel describes the plot of the Japanese invasion of Northeast China.

This is why Japan's national confidence rose in the 1980s, and the literary world and the public were filled with Z-faction people.

If it were released 20 years later, even if it could be introduced into Japan, it would probably be criticized, not to mention any sales.

Lin Chaoyang asked Tao Yumo a few more questions in detail. He thought that this was just a small fight of Kondo Naoko, but after listening for a while, he found something was wrong.

More than 20 professors and associate professors participated? Also six writers and nine critics?

Lin Chaoyang was a little dazed for a moment. Am I so famous in Japan?
"Ms. Kondo said that Crossing the Guandong is quite popular in the Japanese literary world. Many critics believe that your work is much more profound than those Japanese long-distance novels and there is no comparison at all."

The river novel, originally a form of French literature, is also called the river novel, specifically referring to a long novel with multiple volumes and historical significance.

Romain Rolland's "Jean-Christophe", Jules Romain's "The Good Man", and Roger Martin du Gard's "The Thibauds" all belong to this category.

A major feature of Taiga novels is that they reflect the historical environment through human experiences, and are basically a reflection of real history.

But after being introduced to Japan, Taiga novels underwent a genetic mutation and basically became historical novels.

Moreover, the Japanese think this thing is very high-end and they praise both the works and the writers.

The most famous writer of Taiga novels in Japan is Ryotaro Shiba, who was once the most beloved writer among the Japanese and enjoyed an extremely high status.

Japan also evolved its own unique Taiga drama, which has been widely popular among the Japanese people since its appearance in the 1950s.

"Brother-in-law, why do I feel like you are more popular in Japan than in China?" Tao Yumo teased.

"It's all false enthusiasm. It's just a small group of people who are supporting me. Go ask on the street, how many Japanese know me?" Lin Chaoyang said very soberly.

He continued, "That's enough. If Ms. Kondo wants to hold a research group, then go ahead and do it. You don't need to get involved in this matter. Come back as soon as you're done."

"understood."

Tao Yumo's attitude was perfunctory. It was so hard to get a chance to go abroad, so how could he not have fun for two days?
"Ms. Kondo also asked you to help write a couple of words for the literary research group," she added.

Still writing?
A picture suddenly appeared in Lin Chaoyang's mind: in a Japanese-style house, on the wall hung the words "Lin Chaoyang (Japan) Literature Research Association" written by him. A group of Japanese people in kimonos were kneeling together with pious eyes.

Come to think of it, it seems quite exciting.

"Okay, got it, come back soon." He reminded again. "I got it, I got it, I'm not a child."

After ending the call, Lin Chaoyang always felt that he had forgotten something, and he couldn't remember it after thinking for a long time.

Forget it, I don't want to.

After finally moving, the couple rested for a night and the next day they went to the Cinema City company on the top floor of the Capital Building on Nathan Road in Mong Kok.

Before we knew it, "A Better Tomorrow" has been released in Hong Kong for two weeks. The box office was HK$1356 million in the first week and HK$1029 million in the second week. The cumulative box office is nearly HK$2400 million, and the box office decline is also very healthy.

It becomes another movie this year after "The Truman Show" that is expected to break 3000 million in local box office, and it is also the first movie of Cinema City this year that is expected to break 3000 million Hong Kong dollars in box office.

In today's Hong Kong film market, nearly 200 films are released each year, theaters are extremely crowded, and most films rarely last a full month.

After two weeks of release, the box office potential cannot be said to be exhausted, but the ending is basically locked in.

At present, there is basically no suspense that "A Better Tomorrow" will break 3000 million at the box office. The only uncertainty is whether it can surpass the box office record created by "The Truman Show".

If it can surpass that, it will basically lock in the title of annual box office champion.

This is undoubtedly another major victory for Cinema City.

The movie has been released for half a month now, and has achieved great success in both box office and word of mouth. Cinema City held a celebration banquet at the company today.

When the couple arrived, the interior of Cinema City was already decorated with a festive atmosphere and was filled with stars.

Not only were the main forces of Cinema City present, but also the main members of the "A Better Tomorrow" crew and many producers, directors, and movie stars who have collaborated with Cinema City were present.

"Mr. Lin! Mrs. Lin!"

Mai Jia is the one who has the most shares in the company among the three founding members of New Art City, and he also has the most say. When he saw Lin Chaoyang and his wife arriving, he immediately came forward to greet them warmly.

Not only was it his initiative, but as soon as Lin Chaoyang and his wife appeared, they became the focus of today's party.

The reason is simple: "A Better Tomorrow" has been successful again!
The only films that have grossed over HK$3000 million or are expected to gross over HK$3000 million in Hong Kong this year are "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow," both of which were written by Lin Chaoyang.

Looking at the works written by Lin Chaoyang since they were released in Hong Kong, all of them have been excellent works with both box office success and good reputation.

"Behind the Curtain", "The Chess Master", "The Truman Show", "A Better Tomorrow"...

If one movie is successful, you can say it is the credit of the director and actors. You can also say the same if two movies are successful, but what about three, four, or five?

Who dares to say that Lin Chaoyang did not contribute key forces in this?
Even if someone dared to say that, the bosses of the movie companies that made money would scold him.

If you can do it, then go ahead!
So even though screenwriters have not had a high status in the Hong Kong film industry, people cannot ignore Lin Chaoyang's dazzling talent.

What is dazzling is not only talent, but also money!

The sky is big, the earth is big, but money is the biggest!
Lin Chaoyang and his wife were surrounded by the crowd enthusiastically and chatted for a long time before they had a chance to catch their breath.

"Chaoyang!"

"Brother Long!"

Lin Chaoyang shook his fist with Dillon, then hugged Yue Hua beside him and asked jokingly, "How have you been feeling these past few days?"

Before Dillon said anything, he burst into laughter, and there was an indescribable joy in his laughter.

Yue Hua chuckled and said, "Don't talk about him. I'm already overwhelmed with film offers now!"

Dillon hugged Lin Chaoyang's shoulders tightly at this time, "I haven't felt so popular in many years. Chaoyang, thank you."

His tone was full of sincerity, and so was Yue Hua beside him.

The two have been in the film industry for twenty years and are used to the ups and downs, as well as the affairs of fame and fortune.

This time they were able to successfully become popular again with "A Better Tomorrow", and they became extremely popular, which was inseparable from Lin Chaoyang's support.

"Stop talking about this."

Lin Chaoyang did not take credit for it, but instead asked what books the two of them were currently working on.

Ti Lung thought that he wanted to take advantage of the situation to invite them to make a movie, so he patted his chest and volunteered, and Yue Hua did the same.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and waved his hands, "Forget about the two of you, you are both veterans, if I am going to treat anyone, it will be Ah Fa!"

Of course, what he said was a joke, but it was not entirely a joke. Lam's new film "The Romance of the Condor Heroes" did invite Chow Yun-fat to star in it.

The three of them joked and ridiculed each other for a while, and then Lin Chaoyang started chatting with John Woo again.

"A Better Tomorrow" was a big hit, and everyone in the crew became famous again, including the director. Today, John Woo is particularly in high spirits.

While we were talking, Wong Jing asked everyone to take photos.

There were a lot of people coming today, so we took the photo in two groups.

One group was of several bosses from Cinema City and members of the crew of "A Better Tomorrow", and another group was of a group photo of everyone present.

No matter which photo was taken, Lin Chaoyang was always placed in the center, standing side by side with John Woo.

After the group photo, Tsui Hark and Mai Jia invited Lin Chaoyang to their office.

While "A Better Tomorrow" is selling well in Hong Kong, it has also begun to conquer other places. It is currently performing well in Taiwan and will be released in various countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The total investment of "A Better Tomorrow" is 800 million Hong Kong dollars. With the momentum shown by this movie, tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars should be easily pocketed, and the investment return rate may even exceed 1000%.

Even among the many hit films produced by Cinema City since its establishment, it is still a standout.

After arriving at the office, Tsui Hark directly said to Lin Chaoyang: "Mr. Lin, how about we shoot "A Better Tomorrow 2"?

Businessmen are profit-driven, so when a movie becomes popular, it is normal for them to want to take advantage of the popularity and make a second one.

Not to mention Cinema City, after the hit of "A Better Tomorrow", even Golden Harvest dug out the gun battle film that John Woo had failed to release two years ago from its film library.

I heard that it will be released soon, and even the name is trying to borrow from "A Better Tomorrow" and is called "Heroes Without Tears".

But Lin Chaoyang understood that the story of "A Better Tomorrow" was actually very complete. One of the key characters, Mark, died at the end at the hands of the villain. To have a second part would be a complete waste of time.

Later, Tsui Hark and John Woo did make a "A Better Tomorrow 2", the quality of which could only be described as acceptable, and it finally earned a box office of 2200 million Hong Kong dollars.

Based on the fact that the previous film won the annual box office championship with a box office of over 3000 million, the sequel made by the original team achieved a box office of 2200 million Hong Kong dollars, which has to be said to be a huge failure.

After that, after Tsui Hark broke up with John Woo, he tinkered with "A Better Tomorrow 3: A Sunset Song", but the box office was even worse than the previous one, and it only earned 1800 million Hong Kong dollars.

Tsui Hark and Mai Jia approached him, obviously wanting him to write the script so that they could make a fortune by using the original cast's gimmick.

Lin Chaoyang doesn't mind his company making some bad movies, but he won't use his own reputation to endorse them.

He never deliberately pursued the title of a so-called master screenwriter, but he also understood that he was able to make such a big name in the Hong Kong film industry in just three years, and even to protect Tao Yushu from the wind and rain, which was inseparable from the high quality of each of his works and the good reputation, box office and awards after their release.

Lin Chaoyang would not do such a self-destructive thing as to consume the reputation he has worked so hard to build in order to pursue immediate interests.

Even though he knew that even if he didn't participate, Tsui Hark and Mai Jia would probably insist on filming the sequel, Lin Chaoyang still politely declined their proposal.

The two of them couldn't help but feel disappointed after hearing Lin Chaoyang's answer. Tsui Hark was a little unwilling to give up. He said anxiously: "Mr. Lin, now we just need to announce the start of filming for the sequel. We can earn tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars just by shooting it casually."

"It's easy to make money by making a sequel, but how can we ensure the quality of the sequel? In my opinion, the story of A Better Tomorrow is already complete. If I were asked to write a '2', I wouldn't be able to do it.

If we make a 'second' movie that's just a sequel, the box office may not be as good as the first one, so it's better to make a new movie, the profit may not be worse than making a sequel."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Mai Jia look unhappy. He said, "Mr. Lin, if we want to shoot a sequel, of course it's best to keep the original crew. If you don't come to take charge of the script, then we'll have to find someone else."

Tsui Hark hesitated to speak. He did not want to break up with Lin Chaoyang, but now that things had developed to this point, the balance in his heart would undoubtedly lean towards Cinema City.

How could Lin Chaoyang not hear the threat in Mai Jia's words? His face was as calm as a lake, without any ripples in his expression.

"The copyright of A Better Tomorrow belongs to Cinema City, you are free to do whatever you want with it.

But I would like to remind you two that you should think about why "A Better Tomorrow" was successful! "

Lin Chaoyang's tone was calm, but it sounded particularly harsh to Mai Jia.

He took it for granted that Lin Chaoyang was exaggerating his role and taking all the credit for the success of "A Better Tomorrow".

After saying this, Lin Chaoyang ignored Mai Jia and Tsui Hark's reactions and walked out of the office.

After he left, Mai Jia looked angry, "Who does he think he is? Can't we shoot "A Better Tomorrow" without him?"

Tsui Hark seemed to be thinking about something at this moment. At first, he thought that Lin Chaoyang's words just now were to flatter himself.

But for some reason, he suddenly thought of a sentence that Lin Chaoyang had mentioned when he was discussing the script with John Woo.

"In fact, compared with the plot and characters, the more important thing about our movie is the emotion."

Before, Tsui Hark didn't understand what this so-called "emotion" was, but now that "A Better Tomorrow" has been released, combined with Lin Chaoyang's reminder today, he finally understood.

"Bald, you may have misunderstood what Mr. Lin meant." Xu Ke said in a dark voice.

Mai Jia looked at him puzzledly, "What do you mean?"

Tsui Hark then repeated what Lin Chaoyang had said to John Woo, and Michael Hui frowned after listening.

He is one of the founders of Cinema City, an all-round talent who combines the roles of screenwriter, director and actor. He claims that he is no worse than anyone else in making movies, but the theory relayed by Tsui Hark touched his blind spot.

It's just a movie, how did it become metaphysics?
"Do you think he is right?" asked Mai Jia.

Tsui Hark slowly shook his head, "I don't know, but without him, I'm really unsure about making a sequel."

Mai Jia looked unhappy, "Don't encourage others and destroy your own prestige. We, Cinema City, have been in the Hong Kong film industry for so many years, can't we make a sequel to a movie?"

"I'm not trying to destroy my own prestige. It's just that Mr. Lin said something right. If the sequel doesn't receive a good response, the backlash to its reputation may be even greater."

Mai Jia's eyebrows twitched when he heard this, and he agreed in his heart that this made sense, but after thinking for a moment, he still couldn't resist the temptation of "making money while lying down".

"Shoot! Don't you want to make money?"

Seeing that Mai Jia was determined to do so, Tsui Hark said nothing more.

Yes, shouldn’t we make money if we have the chance?

While the two were discussing, Lin Chaoyang came out of the office and came to Wu Yusen, smiling and said:

"Director Wu, congratulations!"

Wu Yusen was confused, "Mr. Lin, where does your happiness come from?"

"Cinema City is going to invest in a sequel to A Better Tomorrow, and you're going to start a new movie."

John Woo looked surprised, as did several people around him. Leslie Cheung asked, "Mr. Lin, will you still write the script for the sequel?"

"I won't participate." Lin Chaoyang said lightly.

Everyone was puzzled. When they first heard the news, they were surprised and a little happy. But when they heard that Lin Chaoyang would not participate, everyone felt something was wrong.

Dillon asked anxiously, "Why?"

(End of this chapter)