HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 268 [268] Victory Banquet: The Generous Boss Lin and the Triumphant Qi Yuan
To date, only a handful of people in China have achieved box office success of over 100 million yuan for a single film.

Examples include Li Lianjie's "Shaolin Temple" and Cheng Long's "Rumble in the Bronx".

Qi Yuan achieved this remarkable result at the young age of just over twenty, which is truly impressive.

This once again proves that Qi Yuan has a box office appeal in the country that far exceeds that of ordinary movie stars.

Of course, the fact that "Infernal Affairs" grossed over 100 million yuan at the domestic box office is largely due to Qi Yuan benefiting from the co-production bonus.

In the past, if Hong Kong films wanted to be released in mainland China, they had to compete with Hollywood blockbusters for a limited number of slots each year. Many films that were successful in Hong Kong couldn't compete with Hollywood blockbusters.

There was no underhanded dealing involved.

In the Taiwanese market, Hong Kong films are also suffering repeated defeats at the hands of Hollywood blockbusters.

Hollywood's big-budget productions have dealt a devastating blow to Hong Kong films.

Whether it's reaping the benefits or being lucky enough to encounter a good script, no one can deny Qi Yuan's current achievements.

This good fortune wasn't just in Qi Yuan's hands. Mak Siu-fai was promoting the script all over Hong Kong, but no investors or big stars were interested. It was Mr. Lam, a gambling addict, who gave him ten million.

The fact that Qi Yuan was able to take a liking to this script and invest in it shows that Qi Yuan has a good eye and knows how to pick scripts.

Qi Yuan looked radiant on the red carpet.

Li Bingbing and her sister, along with Qi Yuan, made a great appearance in front of Hong Kong media reporters.

As Qi Yuan entered the hotel, the eyes of celebrities, directors, and film industry bigwigs all focused on him.

Directors and film company executives, in particular, were very enthusiastic about Qi Yuan.

In the eyes of capital, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.

Hollywood was even more hostile to Chinese people. When Li Lianjie first entered Hollywood, he was humiliated by film company executives. After he achieved success, the situation changed. Film company executives knelt on the ground and begged Li Lianjie to help them make movies.

When a film directed by Qi Yuan can bring in tens of millions, or even more, profits, his status as a mainland Chinese becomes irrelevant.

From the perspective of investors, Qi Yuan is a mobile cash cow.

Fortunately, Hong Kong today is not the Hong Kong of ten years ago, otherwise the big shots might send their underlings with money and peanuts to ask Qi Yuan if he would give them face.

"Ah Yuan, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Xiang from Hua Guoxing."

Wang Jing had a rosy complexion.

"The Flawless Flower" made him a fortune, and he's been in a particularly good mood lately.

Qi Yuan looked over and saw that the person who came was Xiang Huaqiang. He shook hands with him and said politely, "Mr. Xiang, I grew up watching Yong Sheng's films."

Xiang Huaqiang smiled and said, "You're quite remarkable, young man. Fatty told me that you've been very successful in starting your own film and television company. If there's a chance, we can collaborate. We can pool our money, Fatty can be the director, and you can be the lead actor. It's sure to be a huge hit."

"There is a chance."

Mr. Yang, the boss of Yinghuang, also arrived. He patted Qi Yuan on the shoulder and praised him, saying, "You're quite capable, young man."

Jiang Zhiqiang of Anle Films.

This guy is a big shot; he's really good at overseas distribution.

He was responsible for the overseas distribution of Li An and Zhang Yingmou's films.

He also helped secure investment for the film "Hero".

When Jiang Zhiqiang heard that Zhang Yingmou was going to make a martial arts film, he took the initiative to contact Zhang Yingmou. It was Zhang Yingmou's first time tackling a commercial film, and he wasn't very confident. At first, he planned to make a film with a budget of 30 million RMB to test the waters.

Jiang Zhiqiang felt that 30 million RMB was too little, not enough to make a blockbuster, so he told Zhang Yingmou: "Keep the 30 million figure, but change the unit to US dollars."

Zhang Yingmou looked shocked. Thirty million US dollars, even bolder than a one-shot film.

He had never fought such a rich war before.

Jiang Zhiqiang was capable and knew the Hollywood model very well. He borrowed a large sum of money from a bank through an international insurance company guarantee for Zhang Yingmou.

Next year, Jiang Zhiqiang will accomplish something remarkable.

Before filming began for "Hero", he successfully pre-sold the North American rights for approximately $25 million.

The fact that "Hero" was able to attract so many big-name stars was also thanks to Jiang Zhiqiang's efforts; he helped find Zhang Manyu and Donnie Yen.

A while ago, a new version of the script came out. Jiang Zhiqiang recommended Liang Chaowei and Zhang Manyu to play the role of Broken Sword Flying Snow. Since they couldn't get Ken Takakura to play the role of Nameless, they invited Li Lianjie instead.

At the time, Zhang Yingmou replied that there were no problems with the actors for Feixue and Wuming. He said the role of Broken Sword needed to be changed, and he already had the best candidate in mind for the role.

When Jiang Zhiqiang heard that it was Qi Yuan, the king of the music scene, he was stunned.

He doesn't pay much attention to the music scene and doesn't understand why Zhang Yingmou chose to use a singer instead of Liang Chaowei.

"Infernal Affairs" was a box office hit in Hong Kong, becoming the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong this year. It was only then that Jiang Zhiqiang realized that Liu Jianming was actually Qi Yuan.

A few days ago, Jiang Zhiqiang went to the mainland, and Zhang Yingmou showed him a Wuliangye TV commercial.

At that time, Jiang Zhiqiang couldn't help but admire Zhang Yingmou's sharp eye. Wasn't Qi Yuan, dressed in green ancient costume, the real Broken Sword?

Upon meeting Master Qi Yuan today, Jiang Zhiqiang first sized him up for a few seconds, and finally nodded in approval: "Director Zhang has a keen eye for talent. No one is more suitable for Broken Sword than you."

With Li Lianjie and Qi Yuan working together to carry the domestic box office, the results are sure to be phenomenal. With Li Lianjie's support overseas, Jiang Zhiqiang has even more confidence in this film.

After Qi Yuan entered, one big shot after another surrounded him, and some Hong Kong actresses who wanted to talk to Qi Yuan couldn't get a turn.

For example, Yinghuang signed newcomers Cai Zhuoyan and Zhong Xintong this year.

They had previously helped Qi Yuan film a music video. Huo Wenxi brought them to tonight's celebration party and told them to find an opportunity to catch up with Qi Yuan, hoping that he might remember them.

As a result, Qi Yuan kept getting in touch with people, either high-ranking executives from the film company or directors. The little Karas didn't dare to get close to her at all.

Just as they were about to attack Qi Yuan, who was now alone, Liu Weiqiang and Boss Lin appeared at the same time, putting their arms around Qi Yuan's shoulders and smashing the ice sculpture together.

The ice sculpture was made to read "1.2 million".

"Three, two, one, smash!"

Qi Yuan, Boss Lin, Liu Weiqiang, Mai Zhaohui, Liang Jiahui, and others swung their hammers and successfully broke the ice, eliciting enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Boss Lin was in a particularly good mood tonight and gave each of the main creators a big red envelope, including Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming.

Mr. Lin had someone retrieve a bottle of French red wine worth over ten thousand yuan from his private wine cellar for everyone to taste.

These days, Mr. Lin is in a good mood. His father lost money investing in ATV to produce TV dramas a few years ago, and he has also lost a lot of money investing in "Flying Tiger", "Half a Cigarette" and "Heroic Spirit" in recent years. Hong Kong media call him a spendthrift.

This time, they finally won with "Infernal Affairs," gaining both substance and prestige.

Qi Yuan quickly sensed Boss Lin's generosity. He discovered that the check in the red envelope was a six-figure sum, a full 500,000 yuan. Boss Lin is truly generous!
(End of this chapter)