Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 456 Special Thanks to Shaolin Temple Film
Shaolin Temple was a groundbreaking film from the Zhou Dynasty.

The meaning of this epoch-making event is literal.

Before the Shaolin Temple, the main achievement of Zhou State's cultural export was "The People's Liberation Army in Paris".

Well, no joke... The reason the French were able to make this film is because they were influenced by the culture of the Zhou Dynasty.

However, this influence has gradually diminished as countries have actively rejected it.

It wasn't until the sudden emergence of the Shaolin Temple that this barrier was broken down once again.

If nothing changes, Shaolin Temple will receive 1.6 billion yen in rations in Japan, plus nearly 400 million yen in audio-visual revenue, bringing its total revenue in Japanese yen to 2 billion yen.

However, Zhou Guo didn't receive much money because even without Gu Ming's appearance, the copyright was directly licensed to overseas companies at a low price, so he didn't receive any of the allocated revenue.

But now, the situation is different.

The film's quality improved, and at the same time, ticket prices in Japan rose.

Gu Ming has no way of knowing the final outcome.

The only thing he did was to personally buy a batch of movie tickets and distribute them to everyone in the firm, which he considered a small team-building activity.

You can watch a movie without paying for your own ticket – why not go?
At the Shinjuku Cinema, Tani Akira saw the entire film.

The storyline and action design haven't changed much, but there's been an addition of content that Gu Ming is very familiar with.

For example, the changes in the fighting style, in addition to the actual combat moves, also include some clever ideas in Hong Kong-style action design, and it is no longer just a simple fight between the two sides.

Wire work is out of the question, and the film *Shaolin Temple* isn't suitable for wire work either. This action style is indeed an unprecedented experience for overseas audiences.

In particular, the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers within the Shaolin Temple is something that is rarely seen in current overseas films.

In most cases, people still use studio photography. Even if Gu Ming is willing to take the lead, most of the time it is urban landscapes, and there are few times when real mountains and rivers are used.

Hong Kong continued to use studio sets extensively until the 1990s.

The bright colors of the mountains and rivers are enough to make anyone yearn for them.

"Who is that male lead? His fighting skills are amazing!"

"That's only natural. This young man is the national martial arts champion of Zhou Guo for five consecutive terms. He was selected from 800 million people. His skills are top-notch. Moreover, apart from using some movement designs, overall, they are not performing routine movements, but fighting for real!"

Gu Ming was absolutely certain of this.

It's a real fight!

Although Hong Kong's action choreography was unique during this era, the action scenes in the films were never actually real, except when fighting actual soldiers.

As the film ended and the credits rolled, Gu Ming raised his hand and applauded first. This seemed to trigger a switch for all the audience members, and the applause filled the theater and lasted for a long time.

Subtitles kept flashing by, including the production team from Zhou's side, as well as the distributor from Japan.

Suddenly, the scene changed.

"Special thanks to our international friend Akira Furuya."

Special action choreography: Japan's 'Extreme Action Studio'.

Gu Ming stood up instantly.

I never expected he was involved!

"It wasn't a wasted trip."

Gu Ming chuckled, shook his head, and urged everyone to leave.

Gu Ming estimated the timing; the Japanese release was considered late. At the same time as its release in Japan, it should have been released in various overseas regions as well. The film even caused a minor but significant viewing frenzy in Europe.

This is absolutely a miracle for a film from Zhou Guo that has traveled across the ocean.

After returning home, Gu Ming wrote a letter to Jackie Chan in Hong Kong, asking him about his impressions of the film.

Two weeks later, Gu Ming received a reply.

The core idea can be summarized in just one word.

it is good!
……

……

After filming ended, Zhou Guo deliberately added a logo related to Gu Ming, which actually brought Gu Ming some hidden benefits. For example, recently, many people have called to inquire about various matters, but Gu Ming just smiled and ignored them.

He could only be considered an agent; the actual distribution was handled by Toei Foreign Film Distribution Company. So if someone approached Gu Ming to handle distribution, he couldn't do it; he could only act as an agent.

But even so.

According to Gu Ming's calculations based on the historical Shaolin Temple's rationed income, he could make several hundred million yuan for free.

"The Japanese yen is a unit of 'daha,' and several hundred million is roughly equivalent to ten million US dollars?"

Thinking about this, Gu Ming couldn't help but shake his head, marveling at the situation.

He no longer needed to worry about the Shaolin Temple; at the moment, Gu Ming was busy with the post-production editing of "The Violent Man".

After a busy day, I had only been out of the editing room for a short while when Tanaka came toward me, looking somewhat worried.

"Brother Gu, look at this." Gu Ming casually took it; it was a news report.

Beware of **** Invasion! Films from Zhou are poisoning the Japanese film market!

Sankei Shimbun.

"and this."

Tanaka handed over another newspaper.

Talented but immoral, a disgrace to the arts: A detailed account of the sins of the Furuya family!

Yomiuri Shimbun.

Gu Ming clicked his tongue.

Sankei Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun are both newspapers with extremely large circulations in Japan, and they also have a label.

A staunch right-wing newspaper.

"It's okay, there's no need to respond to this kind of topic. We're just agents. It's true that we make money, but what they say is none of our business."

Tanaka's assistant responded.

"That's what I think too. Making money is the best thing. As long as there's money, it doesn't matter where the movie is. But I think the Sankei Shimbun has something else in mind when it writes like this."

Just then, Koizumi jogged in.

"Brother Gugu, you've published a new column again today."

Gu Ming let out a soft "hmm," took the newspaper, and saw that it was still the Yomiuri Shimbun, which still severely criticized him.

"While what they said isn't wrong, isn't it a bit too much to publish two news articles criticizing me, their agent?"

Gu Ming closed his eyes and pondered, and a certain possibility came to mind.

"Does this mean they want us to pay for their travel expenses before they'll withdraw the news?"

Tanaka's assistant nodded solemnly.

What else could it mean!
Journalists are not necessarily ethical; for them, there's not much to uphold in such matters.

They scold you if you don't pay them, and praise you if you do. It's that simple.

Tanaka's assistant whispered, "Since film distribution can make a lot of money, why don't we give tens of millions to the Sankei Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun, and then we..."

"There's no need for that. Japan doesn't only have one newspaper, does it?"

Gu Ming casually picked up a few other newspapers.

"Scenery and Scenery: The Largest Overseas Investment in Film History!"

Asahi Shimbun.

With a keen eye, they secured contracts for major overseas productions.

Tokyo Shimbun.

The Greatest Buddha! The Positive Influence of Buddhist Culture on Film History.

Kyoto Daily News.

In fact, one can roughly discern the newspaper's bias by looking at its reviews of the film.

Although the Sankei Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun are the first and second ranked newspapers in Japan, the newspapers following them are not far behind. Moreover, in the 80s, the third ranked newspaper in Japan had a very straightforward name.

The newspaper was called 'Red Flag News'.

Red flag
As the name suggests, this is a publication established by the orthodox Japanese Communist Party in 1928, internally known as the 'JCP Central Committee Papers'.

Although Japan has various problems, is weak and incompetent, the influence of this newspaper is real.

Moreover, it still existed after the millennium, only its influence gradually declined.

By 2008, Akahata's circulation and influence in Japan had plummeted to 15th place, no longer the third most influential newspaper it had ever been.

Given Japan's small size, the fifteenth place ranking has virtually no influence.

But at least for now, this newspaper still wields considerable influence.

Therefore, Gu Ming doesn't care about the Sankei Shimbun or the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Regardless of what they say, at least the yen they earned is real.

"We currently have two sets of Japanese yen, one earned by ourselves and the other from distributing movies. Regardless of which country the movies were made in, let's just say, tell us which yen is noble and which is despicable?"

Seeing that both of them shook their heads, Gu Ming shrugged.

"It's all in yen. So don't pay attention to what those lousy newspapers say. Tanaka, if you have time, go over there again and see if there are any other films you can distribute. Don't be stingy with the distribution fee."

After all, even a small amount is still foreign exchange.

(End of this chapter)