Hong Kong 1990: From stuntman to King of Kung Fu

Chapter 105: Fourth Film Salary - A Huge Fortune

In the 1990s, Hong Kong cinema was very popular, but the real estate industry was even more booming.

The reason why movies are considered one of Hong Kong's three calling cards, alongside real estate and finance, is not because of their industry scale, but because of their inherent dissemination attributes.

Take 1992, the peak year, for example. The total box office of Hong Kong films was only HK$12.7 billion. Even if overseas revenue is added, the annual output value contributed by Hong Kong films would not exceed HK$3 billion.

The value of any commercial building in Central, Hong Kong, is more than 3 billion, and the real estate industry is worth more than 1 trillion.

The two are not comparable at all.

This explains why Lei Juekun's two sons left the booming film industry without any regrets.

No matter how hot the film industry is, Golden Princess Entertainment doesn't earn as much as they do from investing in real estate.

Ultimately, in the following year, Golden Princess Cinemas was sold to its former shareholders, Chen Rongmei and Feng Bingzhong.

With Golden Princess in one hand and New Treasure in the other, they control two mainstream cinema chains, becoming true cinema tycoons in Hong Kong.

Princess Jin's departure caused considerable hardship for many production teams.

Not only "The Bride with White Hair," but also "Justice, My Foot!" which just broke Hong Kong's box office record during the summer season.

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The story of "Justice, My Foot!" was originally proposed by Chow Yun-fat, who then approached Johnnie To with the project.

The two had previously collaborated on several box office hits, including "All About Ah-Long," "Lucky Stars," and "All's Well, Ends Well," demonstrating excellent teamwork.

But the plans couldn't keep up with the changes.

Just as Golden Princess was about to close down, Chow Yun-fat, who had a contract with Golden Princess, was naturally affected as well.

Dealing with contract issues was giving him a huge headache.

The film "Justice, My Foot!", which was almost completed, was forced to be shelved.

But Du Qifeng felt it would be a pity to give up like that, so he eventually went to his former employer, Shao Daheng.

Shao Daheng personally invited Stephen Chow, and upon hearing that Stephen Chow was there, Anita Mui was also invited.

Anita Mui took the initiative to request a collaboration with Stephen Chow.

In fact, this situation is quite common. Stephen Chow is currently the most popular star, and his nonsensical performances attract many actresses who want to collaborate with him in order to seek breakthroughs.

Besides Anita Mui, there was also Brigitte Lin, who actively joined the cast of "The Deer and the Cauldron".

However, Brigitte Lin was a bit too aloof and clearly not compatible with Stephen Chow.

On the contrary, Anita Mui gave a very outstanding performance as Song Li in "Justice, My Foot!"

She is feisty, witty, and skilled in both literature and martial arts. She can act alongside Stephen Chow and also has her own shining moments.

The banter between the two characters in the film was perfectly timed and paced, creating a wonderful chemistry.

She is not a typical "starlet" in the traditional sense, but a true partner who can compete with Stephen Chow.

Among the many actresses, only Anita Mui could do it, and Chingmy Yau could barely keep up.

However, although "Justice, My Foot!" was a box office hit, it caused a rift between Stephen Chow and Johnnie To.

Both of them are quite opinionated, and Stephen Chow's desire to direct is almost uncontrollable, so he often gives orders.

Although it turned out that Stephen Chow was right in the end, director Johnnie To obviously couldn't accept it.

He had a fiery temper to begin with, and if it weren't for Shao Daheng's mediation, the two would have fallen out long ago.

After filming wrapped, he publicly stated that he would never work with Stephen Chow again.

But the box office success of "Justice, My Foot!" made many people envious.

The following year, under pressure from capital, the two collaborated on another film, "Ji Gong".

This film became the catalyst for the collapse of Hong Kong cinema.

"Justice, My Foot!" had such good luck, but "The Bride with White Hair" did not.

Yu Rentai's relationship wasn't that strong. In the original timeline, he still fell out with Roger Cheng, and Huang Baiming, who had just established Oriental Film Company, helped them out.

With investment from Oriental Films, "The Bride with White Hair" was able to be restarted.

At present, Huang Baiming and Luo Jiecheng's conflict is only just beginning to emerge, and it has not yet escalated to the point of Huang leaving.

Yu Rentai approached Tangde Film & Television first.

"Sister Baozhu, including 'The Bride with White Hair,' we've invested in and produced four films. Do we have enough money in the company's account?"

"I am a little nervous."

After investing in "Swordsman II" last year, the company still had more than HK$14 million in its account.

Later, they spent two million to purchase the comic book rights and ten million to invest in "Sha Po Lang".

The reason why the production cost of "SPL" was so high was mainly due to the high salaries of the actors.

Filmmaking is tiring, mainly because of its style, but it's much simpler than making a martial arts film. It doesn't require a lot of running around, so the production costs aren't high.

Tang Lung alone received three million in salary, while Sammo Hung, as a supporting actor, also received two million, which was a discount.

In addition, the Sammo Hung Stunt Team asked for one million, and then Tony Leung Ka-fai and Donnie Yen together got one million.

That cost seven million.

The remaining three million was barely enough to finish filming the movie, and the company had to pay for the final wrap party separately.

The film's marketing and distribution funding will require further allocations from Tangde Pictures and Yingzhijie.

However, the summer blockbuster "Swordsman II" was a huge success, and Tangde Pictures received a dividend of over 18 million yuan from both costs and profits.

After deducting the company's operating funds over the past six months, Tangde Film & Television now has approximately HK$20 million in its accounts.

Twenty million to produce four films is definitely far from enough.

After listening to Cui Baozhu's story, Tang Long said, "How about I inject another 15 million into the company?"

I won't take any salary for "Crime Story" and "Black Mask" at the moment, that should cover the funding.

"No need. Although we don't have enough money of our own, we can use other people's money to bid."

Tang Long suddenly realized that he had almost forgotten that Wanwan and Nanyang Film and Television Company were very willing to pay upfront to buy out the film's distribution rights.

"If you were the male lead in 'Crime Story' and 'Black Mask,' those theater owners would definitely be very willing to donate money."

"The Bride with White Hair" is produced by our Tangde Film & Television Company, so we won't have to worry about a lack of viewers. Besides, the male and female leads of the film are Zhang Guorong and Brigitte Lin.

Only "C'est la vie, mon chéri" has an unpopular subject matter, and its distribution rights might not sell well. However, this film had a low budget, so the impact will be minimal.

"In that case, Baozhu, you can arrange these things."

Then, Tang Long asked, "When is 'SPL' scheduled for release?"

It's mid-August now, and the summer movie season isn't over yet.

However, it's impossible for "SPL: Sha Po Lang" to squeeze into the summer season now, as major cinema chains have already arranged their screening schedules.

"It's not confirmed yet; we need your approval."

September wasn't a good month; after the summer movie season, audiences' enthusiasm for watching movies waned.

But for the next three months, movies starring Stephen Chow were released.

October: *Comic Book Dragon*; November: *Royal Tramp 2*; December: *King of Beggars*.

"Let's set it for October."

September was indeed not a good month, as both "The Deer and the Cauldron 2" and "King of Beggars" grossed over 36 million at the box office.

Only "Comic Dragon" flopped, only earning a little over 20 million.

"Fight Back to School" is Stephen Chow's only film this year that did not break the HK$30 million mark at the box office, but it still made it into the top 15 films of the year.

There are only so many slots available each year, it's impossible to avoid Stephen Chow every time.

Since there's no way to avoid it, then naturally we'll pick the easiest target.

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, it was September.

After many ups and downs, "Once Upon a Time in China II," starring Jet Li, was finally released in Golden Harvest theaters on August 18.

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This film, brimming with patriotism, once again ignited the film market upon its release.

It grossed HK$14 million in its opening week and received excellent reviews.

By mid-September, the film's box office had officially surpassed HK$30 million.

Li Lianjie recovered well. With no new movies being released, and given the current abundance of blockbuster films in Hong Kong, audiences will soon forget him.

"Once Upon a Time in China II" undoubtedly provided a perfect ending to this year's summer movie season.

From "Swordsman II" with 34 million, to "Justice, My Foot!" with 49 million, to "The Fortune Teller" with 36 million, interspersed with films like "92 Legendary La Rose Noire" and "Hard Boiled" with over 20 million, and finally "Once Upon a Time in China II" with 30 million, this year's summer box office has set a new record.

During this period, Tangde Pictures made steady progress on several projects.

First is Derek Yee's "C'est la vie, mon chéri".

The film's investment has been set at five million, with Liu Qingyun playing the male lead and Lan Jieying playing the second female lead.

As for the female lead, Derek Yee cast Yuen Wing-yee, a newcomer who had just debuted and was the 1990 Miss Hong Kong winner.

When it came to casting the female lead, Derek Yee initially preferred Cheung Man-yuk and Vivian Chow, but neither of them were available.

Finally, he boldly cast newcomer Anita Yuen, believing that her eyes could act.

Derek Yee has a very good eye; Anita Yuen has almost no film experience.

But her performance in "New Endless Love" was lively and natural, and every smile and frown was captivating.

This directly helped her win the Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards the following year.

In her third year, she won the Best Actress award again for "He's a Woman, She's a Man," becoming the first actress in the history of the Hong Kong Film Awards to win the Best Actress award twice in a row.

She has a really good acting talent, but she also has a really bad temper, which angered Jackie Chan so much that he said he would blacklist her.

Because Derek Yee was very well prepared, the film's preparation progressed very quickly after Tangde Film Studio got involved.

Filming for the movie began in Temple Street in early September.

For another film, "Crime Story," Tangde Pictures and the film studio officially signed an investment contract after three days of negotiations.

The film's total cost was ten million, with Tangde Film Industry investing seven million, accounting for 70%, and the film studio accounting for the remaining 30%.

The male lead is naturally Tang Long, whose salary is four million, which is his "friendship price".

Since the release of "Swordsman II", Cui Mingzhu has quoted a price of five million.

This salary amount is second only to Jackie Chan's 12 million, Stephen Chow's 10 million, and Chow Yun-fat's 8 million, ranking fourth alongside Andy Lau.

Stephen Chow's salary has increased the fastest; at this time last year, his salary was only five million.

Then Huang Baiming invited him to film "All's Well, Ends Well," and the price went up to seven million. Now it has gone up to ten million.

Despite this, many people still asked him to act in movies.

For Jackie Chan, however, his salary is not a very meaningful reference point.

He co-invested in almost all of his films with Golden Harvest, without involving any outsiders.

He earns a share of the profits; he makes at least 20 to 30 million from each movie.

Golden Harvest quoted Jackie Chan a fee of 12 million to maintain his status as Hong Kong's top movie star.

For the rest of the film's cast, Christine Ng played the female lead Jiajia, Kent Cheng played the corrupt cop Hung, and Law Kar-ying played the kidnapped tycoon Wang Yifei.

These are all original actors. Cui Baozhu did not interfere with Huang Zhiqiang's selection of actors and gave him enough respect.

The movie hasn't even started filming yet, but it has already recouped its costs and is even making a profit.

Upon hearing that Tang Long had launched two films in succession, Cai Songlin of Scholar Films immediately sent people over.

After only two days of negotiations, Cai Songlin spent HK$25 million to buy the Taiwanese distribution rights for "Crime Story" and "Black Mask".

The former is in the planning stages, while the latter is still just an idea.

The current film market is just that crazy.

Not only that, when Cai Songlin heard that Tangde Films was also producing a martial arts film starring Brigitte Lin and Zhang Guorong, he immediately took out HK$11 million to buy the Taiwanese rights to "The Bride with White Hair".

Upon hearing this news, Yu Rentai was speechless.

He begged and pleaded with everyone to invest in this project, but to no avail. However, as soon as Tangde Film & Television took over the project, people immediately rushed to offer him money.

Although he was incredibly envious, he understood that it was because Tangde Film Industry had a prestigious brand.

At the time, he was preparing for "The Bride with White Hair," but when Golden Princess withdrew its investment, Brigitte Lin explicitly refused to sign the contract, and the attitude of Cheung Kwok-wing, with whom she had reached an agreement, was also ambiguous.

So even if he wanted to approach investment firms in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, no one would invest in him; he didn't have that kind of influence with Ren Tai.

Lin Qingxia and Zhang Guorong have now successfully signed acting contracts because Tangde Film & Television took over the project.

Tangde Film & Television successfully sold the distribution rights for Taiwan using the names of the two individuals.

Each link is interconnected, so ultimately, the most important factor is Tangde Film & Television.

Despite this, Yu Rentai still felt very uncomfortable.

Cai Songlin's generosity surprised both Tang Long and Cui Baozhu.

The three films cost 36 million, which is 6 million higher than the 30 million that Yang Dengkui will offer Li Lianjie for the three films next year.

But considering that Tang Long's influence is now greater than Li Lianjie's, the extra six million doesn't seem incomprehensible.

As expected of the bigwig who brought Scholar Films to the top of Taiwan's cinema industry, his moves are truly extraordinary.

This money directly solved the investment problem for these three films, and there was even a surplus.

Because Cai Songlin bundled "Crime Story" and "Black Mask" for 25 million, Xu Ke felt he got a great deal and offered to refer to "The Bride with White Hair" as a reference for the copyright, priced at 11 million.

Tang Long didn't argue with Xu Ke over the one or two million yuan. Seeing Xu Ke's firm attitude, he agreed.

Ten million was allocated as production funding for "Major Crime Squad," with the remaining one million set as reserve funds.

Finally, if it's not used, use it all for publicity and promotion.

The remaining 14 million, along with 11 million from "The Bride with White Hair," totaling 25 million, went into Tangde Film & Television's account.

The investment for the next two films will be disbursed gradually.

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