Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

May 2nd, today is the last day of the screening of "A Better Tomorrow".

From the end of March to the beginning of May, "A Better Tomorrow" was shown for a full thirty-five days. This film provided entertainment for the public for a month and completely outshone any other film released during that period.

After its third week of release, the film's attendance began to show signs of weakness.

Subsequently, Shaw Brothers cinemas began to gradually pull the film from theaters, and it has continued until today, when the film came to an end in Hong Kong.

the next day.

The entertainment section of the Time Daily featured a headline with the number highlighted in red: "A Better Tomorrow" local box office: 2374 million.

It broke the highest box office record since Hong Kong opened to foreign trade.

Li Jiangbo: From "a director of romance" to Hong Kong's first "20 million director".

The report devoted half a page to breaking down the meaning behind these numbers in detail—

It's nearly twice the 1240 million of "Happy Ghost";

It is more than double the 1100 million earned by Jackie Chan's "The Young Master".

It is the first film in Hong Kong film history to surpass 20 million.

What's even more frightening is its endurance: it was shown in 23 theaters for 23 days out of 35 days, with an average occupancy rate of 82%; even in the last week when only 4 theaters remained, the occupancy rate still remained at around 40%.

Chen Baisen wrote in his film review in "Film Biweekly":

"A Better Tomorrow" is not just a movie; it's a social movement. It made countless middle-aged men shed tears for the first time in a movie theater, and inspired countless young people to wear trench coats and sunglasses.

Li Jiangbo was fairly satisfied with the result.

It's worth noting that the later film "A Better Tomorrow" was released in 1986, and it grossed a whopping 34 million.

But at that time, movie ticket prices had increased many times over, and prices of goods had also increased many times over.

There's not much to say about the celebration banquet; it was just the same as last time.

After everyone gets together to discuss industry trends and collaborations, they all go their separate ways.

However, Li Jiangbo gained a lot from this celebration banquet.

Shaw Yi-fu first paid him the money for the overseas distribution of "Happy Ghost", and then made great concessions and provided support in order to compete with Golden Harvest and Golden Princess for the cooperation rights of Time Pictures.

Li Jiangbo is the highest-earning actor in Hong Kong's film and television industry these past two years, even surpassing Jackie Chan.

However, Li Jiangbo also falls short of Cheng Long in one area: box office performance in other cities.

Brother Long's fame in Southeast Asia has far surpassed that of Li Jiangbo. His film "Young Master" alone attracted more than 400,000 viewers in South Korea.

Although he didn't break his own record from last year, this data is enough to support him to dominate in South Korea.

......

In the general manager's office of Time Film & Television.

Li Jiangbo had just brewed the tea and hadn't even taken a few sips yet.

The receptionist knocked and came in, holding an invitation.

"Boss, this was delivered by Mr. Cai this morning."

Li Jiangbo nodded, indicating that she could leave after putting her things down.

After the secretary left, Li Jiangbo opened the invitation and took a look.

It turned out to be an invitation from Golden Harvest, inviting me to a celebration banquet tomorrow night for the huge success of Jackie Chan's "The Young Master" in another city.

Li Jiangbo was a little confused. Shouldn't Cheng Long have gone to the US to avoid the gangsters at this time? Why is he holding a high-profile celebration banquet now?

Without giving it much thought, Li Jiangbo tossed the invitation aside and began copying...writing the script.

As soon as "A Better Tomorrow" finished its run in theaters, a number of copycat films began to emerge, with many companies wanting to imitate it in hopes of making a quick buck.

Li Jiangbo really disliked this trend. So he planned to make a movie that would prevent these people from following suit.

In that case, his choices are fewer.

Either innovate the equipment, or embrace science fiction.

Currently, Li Jiangbo doesn't want to shoot a science fiction film too early, mainly because he lacks the equipment and has to rely on others for approval.

During this period, the United States had a precipitous lead over mainland China in computer equipment; if you wanted to create science fiction, you still had to go to the United States.

So Li Jiangbo chose to experiment with equipment innovation and teach these people in Hong Kong a lesson.

A short while later, Pan Yingzi and Zhao Yazhi walked in.

As Zhao Yazhi flipped through the documents, she said, "Director Wang has already written the script and budget. Boss, please take a look."

After saying that, she put the folder on the table and added, "Xu Ke has finished his work and is now preparing for the production of 'Dao Ma Dan'."

Li Jiangbo asked, "How are Jia Hui, A Mei, A Zhu, and A Hong's practice going?"

Pan Yingzi replied, "We've practiced enough and are ready to join the crew anytime."

Li Jiangbo nodded and then asked, "How's the contact with Taiwan going?"

Pan Yingzi yawned. "It's all arranged. When the crew goes over, we'll treat Mr. Ma to a meal and have a chat."

"Okay, once Lao Xu has finished preparing the crew, we'll fly to Taiwan."

Pan Yingzi nodded. "The shell company in Australia is already set up, and we've found two white people to manage it."

Li Jiangbo's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Great! Sister Zhi, tell Zhao Dong to put all the profits there. Let him see if there's anything in the mainland that needs it, and find some ways to make money."

Zhao Yazhi was a little confused. She didn't quite understand why Bozai would put the money into a shell company. Although she didn't understand, she still nodded in agreement.

In fact, Li Jiangbo did this because he wanted to directly acquire the shares of Rediffusion Television from Kangaroo.

If he remembers correctly, next year, Rediffusion's parent company will sell its shares in Rediffusion Television to the Kangaroo Group due to investment failures.

Li Jiangbo clearly remembered the results of the previous simulation: he wanted to acquire shares of RTV, but was maliciously competed for by those small-time tycoons in Hong Kong, which led to the failure of the acquisition.

To ensure the success of the acquisition, he turned his attention overseas.

Suddenly, Li Jiangbo thought of something, sighed, and said, "Forget it, it's better to let him come back and eat steamed buns than to let him find a way to make money! Here's what you'll do: tell him to see if he can make a living selling waste paper."

"Okay, boss, I'll arrange it right away."

After finishing his business, Li Jiangbo put down his pen and began his life as a secretary, doing whatever he needed to do when there was nothing to do.

Eight o'clock the next evening.

Li Jiangbo took Guan, Mei, Zhu, and Zhong to Jiahe's celebration banquet. The reason for bringing them was simple: since it was a celebration banquet, there would definitely be reporters.

This is the group's first public appearance since its formation. They're just showing their faces in the newspaper to make it easier for future promotion.

The entrance to the Furama Hotel was already crowded with reporters who had rushed there after hearing the news.

Li Jiangbo and the four women arrived at the hotel entrance in their cars, one after the other.

Li Jiangbo and the four women got out of the car one by one and were immediately surrounded by a group of reporters with their long lenses and microphones.

Although Anita Mui had never seen anything like this before, she was not intimidated at all. She greeted the reporters with a smile.

Upon seeing that a newcomer had suddenly joined Time Films, the reporters quickly handed the microphone and recorder to Anita Mui.

Anita Mui's team calmly handled the reporters' interviews, with Kwan, Chu, and Chung providing supplementary information from the side.

From Anita Mui, the reporters learned that she was a newly signed singer by Time Film & Television, and the third singer signed by Time Records...

After answering a few questions, the four women wasted no time and followed Li Jiangbo inside.

The reporters were not about to give up and swarmed towards Li Jiangbo.

"Director Li! 'A Better Tomorrow' breaks records with 2374 million, what are your thoughts?"

"Mr. Li! Are these four your newly launched group? What's their name?"

"Are there plans to make a sequel?"

Li Jiangbo gestured for everyone to be quiet. "Today's main character is Cheng Long, not me. These four are indeed newly signed artists of my company. As for their names... we'll tell you when they officially debut."