HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 262 [262] Didn't we agree that it would flop? You call this box office a flop?

On May 21, the third day of its release, "Infernal Affairs" grossed HK$3.9 million in Hong Kong.

This result left the Hong Kong film industry and Hong Kong media somewhat dumbfounded.

What happened? On the second day, a large number of Qi Yuan's fans went to the cinema to support their idol. Logically, the number should have decreased or remained flat on the third day, so why did it increase so much?

Reporters interviewed real audience members who had seen "Infernal Affairs" at the entrances of various cinemas.

"I'm a big fan of Qi Yuan's movies. I brought my parents to see the movie, and it was fantastic! They told everyone who the undercover agent was right from the start, but the plot was still full of twists and turns! This is the best police and gangster movie in my heart, bar none."

"Putting myself in Chen Yongren's shoes, I feel utterly hopeless... It's truly heartbreaking."

A female audience member wiped away tears with a tissue and gave this comment.

"Their fates are completely different now, which is heartbreaking. If only they could switch places. Chen Yongren could live the life he wants, and Liu Jianming could live the life he wants. Perhaps this is destiny."

"This is the pinnacle of Hong Kong gangster and police films. It surpasses all previous police films. The acting is superb, and it's a very enjoyable watch. I will recommend it to my friends."

"Liu Jianming is so cool and handsome. I can't even hate Qi Yuan when he plays a villain. I just think his acting has improved a lot."

……

After conducting interviews, Hong Kong media outlets concluded that most viewers who had seen "Infernal Affairs" gave it very high marks.

Many people believe that this is the pinnacle of Hong Kong police and gangster films.

This was something that people in the Hong Kong film industry and the media had not expected.

Everyone thought this unconventional film would flop.

On May 22, the fourth day of its release, it grossed 4.4 million yuan, setting a new record once again.

The fame of "Infernal Affairs" spread like wildfire in Hong Kong.

Mr. Lin, the boss of Media Asia, finally realized what was happening and began to increase the film's promotional efforts, while inwardly cursing the film critics and industry experts.

Damn it! Those experts told him back then that this film subverted the traditional police and gangster movie setting, and the box office would definitely not be very good. You call this a box office failure?

Boss Lin personally called Qi Yuan and Liu Weiqiang to share the good news.

Mr. Lin attaches great importance to this because he and his father are passionate about investing in the film and television industry, but unfortunately, the results have been far from ideal in the past.

Investing in ATV resulted in huge losses, and later investing in some movies also led to significant losses.

This time I finally succeeded, and the sense of accomplishment is even greater than closing a deal worth hundreds of millions.

He's already decided that he'll give the main cast and crew a big red envelope later.

Qi Yuan chatted with Boss Lin for a few minutes, and it was clear that Boss Lin was in a good mood.

Mr. Lin could not get through to Liu Weiqiang by phone.

Liu Weiqiang has turned off his phone and hasn't left his house for several days.

However, this was no problem for Boss Lin, who sent someone to Liu Weiqiang's house to deliver the good news.

"It's a hit! Director Liu, our 'Infernal Affairs' has exploded at the box office! Yesterday, it grossed 440 million in a single day."

Representatives from Huanya knocked on Liu Weiqiang's door to share the good news.

Liu Weiqiang stood there stunned for half a minute before he came to his senses.

Hey!
The box office exploded? Over four million?
This is one of Boss Lin's men; Boss Lin wouldn't be so bored as to tease him.

Liu Weiqiang restarted his phone and found dozens of missed calls and hundreds of text messages.

He dialed a few numbers back, and the person on the other end immediately said that "Infernal Affairs" was a box office hit and that the call was just to inform Liu Weiqiang.

Alan Mak was even more outrageous; when he couldn't get through on the phone, he sent Liu Weiqiang countless text messages every day, asking about the box office performance, the word-of-mouth, and audience reviews...

After confirming with several people, Liu Weiqiang truly believed the box office would be a smash hit. He was overjoyed, his mood instantly lifted from the gloom of the past few days!
He said long ago that those film critics are idiots. Do they really know that much? Give them the director's chair and let them make a film and see what happens. They'll lose money hand over fist.

……

Qi Yuan was also bombarded with text messages and phone calls by Mai Zhaohui and others.

Lam Ka-tung and Alan Mak called him every day to tell him the latest box office figures, and they even called in the middle of the night.

Yesterday's box office data will only be available in the early hours of the morning.

On its fifth day of release in Hong Kong, the film's box office rose again, reaching 523.1 million in a single day.

Following the financial crisis, the Hong Kong film market remained sluggish, with many films failing to gross 500 million HKD on the day of their theatrical run.

Last year, Nicholas Tse's "Half a Cigarette" grossed 680 million, and "Infernal Affairs" grossed 523 million in one day, which hurt Nicholas Tse and Mani Fok a lot.

Are all the film critics in Hong Kong playing their roles? Didn't they say they'd lose money? Why are they getting more and more outrageous every day?
Even more outrageous things are yet to come.

Boss Lin met with Liu Weiqiang, who had "returned to the helm," and they were also shocked by yesterday's box office figures of over five million! Why was it so high? They hadn't inflated the box office numbers.

It wasn't until the Hong Kong media reported on it that Mr. Lin and Liu Weiqiang understood what had happened.

Jewelry heiress Chen Huilin booked an entire movie theater to show "Infernal Affairs" to her friend's jewelry store employees.

[The owner of a factory in XX took 200 employees to see a private screening of "Infernal Affairs." In an interview, she said that she used to like Li Ming the most, but now she likes Qi Yuan.]

A wealthy heiress bought 300 movie tickets and gave them away to strangers.

……

Mr. Lin and Liu Weiqiang looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had heard before that Qi Yuan's wealthy female fans were very crazy.

When Qi Yuan's records went on sale in Hong Kong, some wealthy women bought hundreds of genuine records at a time.

There was a spendthrift woman who bought so many records that her house couldn't hold them all, so she bought a new house specifically to store them, which made the news at the time.

Everyone thought it was just Warner Music creating hype, but now it's actually true? Qi Yuan's wealthy female fans are really willing to spend money on their idol.

Liu Weiqiang called Qi Yuan and told him about this phenomenon.

Qi Yuan glanced at the 'rich woman killer' trait, her mindset remaining perfectly calm.

With this characteristic, as long as his works score above 70 points, sales and box office revenue are guaranteed.

Liu Weiqiang stated that he, Alan Mak, and other key members of the production team are preparing to travel north to Beijing to hold the premiere.

This time, Mr. Lin was very generous: "The premiere in Beijing will be a grand affair, so we won't skimp on the money."

The Hong Kong box office for "Infernal Affairs" has taken off, and the mainland is Qi Yuan's home turf. With Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea added to the mix, Mr. Lam has already foreseen the future: this movie is bound to be a huge success!

……

Qi Yuan, who is currently in mainland China, has witnessed the intensity of the publicity campaign for "Infernal Affairs" over the past few days.

News of the film's upcoming release is everywhere.

On the one hand, Mr. Lin's investment had an effect, and on the other hand, China Film Group helped with publicity.

This is the first truly co-production film, with mainland Chinese and Hong Kong actors co-starring, which is of great significance.

As the saying goes, "spend a fortune to buy a horse's bones," China Film Group hopes that "Infernal Affairs" can be successful in mainland China, thereby attracting more Hong Kong film companies to cooperate with mainland companies.

In addition, the mainland film market has also been sluggish in the past two years, and a good film is needed to attract people back to the cinema.
It's no exaggeration to say that "Infernal Affairs" simultaneously possessed the three elements of favorable timing, location, and popular support in mainland China.

(End of this chapter)