The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 426 His eyes were red! (Seeking monthly votes)
Just kidding, American moviegoers may not be the brightest, but they're definitely not idiots.

An action movie that features a handsome Chinese man as the main villain, getting brutally beaten up by a Chinese protagonist, won't necessarily have a high box office return, no matter how good it is.

Not to mention, at this moment, the confidence of the beautiful Chinese people is about to explode!
When did the American businessmen, who have always played the role of the virtuous and righteous, bringing civilization to the world, in foreign films and television works, become so disliked?

If this were a casual occasion, American audiences would probably applaud.

All I can say is that Tsui Hark is Tsui Hark; he makes all the decisions about what movies he makes. Of course, if the box office is poor, he has to bear the consequences himself.

that's the truth!
This enhanced version of "Once Upon a Time in China" grossed just over 25 million at the Hong Kong box office.

In the normal timeline, the number is over 29 million, but with Wu Feng in the present, his Fengrui Film and Television has produced many action films of various types.

Although no "Once Upon a Time in China" series has been filmed, there are quite a few similar films. For example, there have been many films about the masters of internal martial arts in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and they have all been well received.

This is why the box office of the first "Once Upon a Time in China" film was not as high as the original box office figures.

However, the influence of Hong Kong films at this time was incomparable to that of films from the same period in normal times.

With distribution by Fengrui Films, it's not a problem to release films in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, or even mainland China, let alone in Europe and America.

The difference in profits could amount to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars!
In normal times, the first "Once Upon a Time in China" film was only shown in Germany and a small number of American countries, and its box office performance was negligible!

Currently, there's also the possibility of adapting novels, comics, and possibly animated films or TV series, not to mention the highly profitable arcade game adaptation.

If managed well, it's not difficult for a movie to earn more than HK$50 million in profit.

This is also the main reason why powerful film companies in Hong Kong Island are not short of funds; they are simply making too much money.

Of course, this is also why Wu Feng did not hold Wu Feng hostage.

They connected with foreign film companies early on, allowing them to enjoy the huge benefits of overseas distribution.

Otherwise, given the inconsistent pace of Hong Kong film companies expanding into overseas markets, it's hard to imagine whether they could have persevered.

The main point is that film companies must continuously produce high-quality films in order to have the confidence to penetrate overseas markets.

On Hong Kong Island, however, business acumen dominates everything, with an extreme emphasis on short-term profits.

When a movie becomes a hit, the goal isn't to explore the potential of the entire franchise.

My immediate thought was to replicate and imitate this blockbuster movie extensively, squeezing out every last bit of profit from the viewing trend it sparked.

The Mr. Vampire series is the best proof of this!
Not only did other film companies follow suit, but Golden Harvest itself also followed suit, ultimately destroying a gold mine.

In other words, Cheng Shilong's films were difficult to imitate, and they gradually became Golden Harvest's absolute trump card, but unfortunately, Cheng Shilong's output decreased.

Originally, Hong Xinbao and his Hong Family Troupe, along with the Seven Little Fortunes and their fellow disciples, could have filled the vacancies.

Unfortunately, Hong Xinbao also encountered a creative block, and his popularity quickly waned.

If it weren't for the rapid rise of arcade and cartridge games in Hong Kong, which provided filmmakers with another lucrative source of income...

It seems Hong Xinbao is about to fall into another financial crisis, one that occurs in a normal timeline. If he weren't short of money, would Hong Xinbao, already in his sixties or seventies, still need to struggle in the film and television industry?
It's important to know that action actors often have hidden injuries.

Once health problems arise, it's no laughing matter.

With the substantial revenue from the arcade and cartridge games adapted from the movie of the same name, Hong Xinbao was able to leisurely consider the matter of transformation.

In fact, Hung Sin-po and Lam Ching-ying's group had already planned to restart the filming of "Mr. Vampire".

Not long ago, Golden Harvest Company collaborated with Hong Xinbao's Baohe Company to jointly launch the "Mr. Zombie" series of arcade games and cartridge games, which received a very enthusiastic response upon their release.

That's a complete Maoshan Taoist system, which is quite friendly to game development.

Seeing the promising situation, Jiahe and Baohe naturally decided to increase their investment in game promotion.

In particular, to curb piracy in Taiwan, the two companies spent a considerable amount of Hong Kong dollars, enlisting the help of many top-tier Hong Kong triads.

At the same time, a sizable legal team was temporarily assembled and stationed in Taiwan year-round to keep an eye on things.

Putting everything else aside, as long as there isn't widespread piracy, Taiwan alone could easily absorb at least 30,000 legitimate arcade machines.

What is that concept?
After deducting all expenses, the two production companies can expect to earn at least HK$200 million. Who would be willing to give up such a profit so easily?
Let alone asking a triad to help resolve the matter, both companies are capable of doing even more outrageous things.

Furthermore, the arcade market in Southeast Asia, the United States, and other countries represents another huge source of revenue, measured in hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

The mainland side doesn't expect to make much money, but it's the most important production base for genuine arcade games, so they have to give the local bigwigs some face.

It's fair to say that, even excluding Golden Harvest, Hung Sin-po and his Hung Clan, anyone involved in the production of the "Mr. Vampire" film series, have made a fortune.

That’s not all!

Some mainland Chinese novelists have come up with a wild idea: to use the world of "Mr. Vampire" as the core and create a time-travel story.

Such a novel would naturally not be serialized in the Mong Kok News.

After receiving written approval from both Golden Harvest and Bo Ho, this rather interesting fan fiction was scheduled to be published in "Fiction Monthly," clearly stating at the beginning that it had obtained authorization from the copyright holders.

To avoid future trouble, they even made a copy of the entire contract as an appendix.

Ahem, Wu Feng certainly knows about fan fiction; it has quite a bit of potential.

He instructed the editorial department of "Fiction Monthly" to sign a comprehensive copyright open agreement with the two copyright-owning companies, rather than just targeting one fan fiction novel, which would be making a mountain out of a molehill.

Of course, the copyright openness only applies to authors who contribute to "Fiction Monthly," and Wu Feng is not being generous enough to benefit others.

Who knew that once the novel was published in the newspaper, it immediately sparked a craze for following the story?

The novel itself was incredibly popular.

The two companies, Golden Harvest and Bo Ho, were overjoyed at this and spent a fortune to buy the film, television, and game adaptation rights to the novel. They were truly rolling in money at this point.

(End of this chapter)