1979 Golden Age

This book was first published on the Internet by 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

The saying of the Four Heavenly Kings began in 1992.

The earliest measure was based on music performance, excluding movies, because in the early 1990s, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung faded out of the music scene, leaving a vacuum in the field of popular male singers.

Leon Lai became very popular with his two albums "Is Love or Fate" and "Will You Come Tonight?". Andy Lau has "Is It Possible?" and "Fate in the Next Life". Zhang Xueyou has "Love You More Every Day" and "Breakup Always Happens on a Rainy Day".

These three were the best at the time.

Aaron Kwok's route is rather strange. He first became famous in Taiwan, with his album "I Can't Stop Loving You" selling over one million copies, and then he returned to Hong Kong to develop his career.

At that time, radio stations, television stations, newspapers, and record companies worked together to hype up the concept of the "Four Heavenly Kings." Because they wanted to save the market and revitalize the music scene after Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung, they had to introduce a new generation of idol representatives.

Thus, the Four Heavenly Kings were born naturally.

This was the most successful hype in Hong Kong entertainment, with an influence that covered all of Asia and lasted for decades. After that, people would use the terms "king of heaven" or "little king of heaven" to describe someone, including the "Four Little Flowers" in mainland China.

But when it comes to achievements in the film industry, Andy Lau was the best at the time, with "As Tears Go By", "A Moment of Romance", "God of Gamblers", "Casino Tycoon", "The King's Avatar", etc., which were far better than the others.

Now, Chen Qi has accepted three.

He has no interest in Aaron Kwok. For some reason, he always feels that this guy is a worthless person.

Leon Lai and Sharla Cheung signed contracts with the company and became rookies. Chen Qi would indicate a general direction for their development. For example, Leon Lai would develop in both the music and film industries, while Sharla Cheung would just make movies...the specific operations would be handled by the company staff.

The total box office of leftist films has reached more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars for several consecutive years and the business is going well.

Together with Golden Harvest, they occupy two-thirds of the market, leaving the rest to other companies. The Hong Kong market is actually that big, and the super-high box office such as "Titanic" and "Avatar" are exceptions.

………………

“Huahuahua!”

“Huahuahua!”

At the 39th Cannes Film Festival, in a cinema showing participating films, the audience paid the simplest tribute to "Black Mask" by clapping, clapping hard.

When Tsui Hark, Li Lianjie and other main creators came on stage, the applause immediately rose by a decibel.

Many people have a misunderstanding about European audiences, that they like to watch art films.

Actually, no. The public never likes to watch art films. They just like to watch movies for fun! European films respect art. That is a stereotype created by those directors. It does not represent the opinions of the audience.

They have deviated from the principle of "serving the people".

"Jet Li!"

"Jet Li!"

Everyone shouted Li Lianjie's English name, and he bowed on the stage. With many overseas kung fu movies, he has accumulated a lot of fans. The sad thing is that only at this time did he feel like a superstar, not someone's little brother.

"Black Mask" participated in the exhibition at its own expense, showing it once and selling copyrights to warm up for its release in North America.

Chen Qi and Columbia Pictures President Price were sitting below. Price was very satisfied with the audience's reaction and said with a smile: "This gives me more confidence. I believe that Black Mask will also achieve good results in North America."

"Are you sure it's August?"

"Sure! There is no blockbuster competition in August. Americans love this kind of superhero movie, but unfortunately there are not many good examples except "Superman". I didn't expect it to be presented like this in your hands..."

Presley paused and described it as "smooth as ice cream."

"Haha! Then I hope I can make more and more ice cream and bring popular movies to the American people."

"Your descriptions are always so interesting. By the way, we have chosen the male lead for Con Air."

"Who?"

"Bruce Willis!"

Chen Qi had a subtle expression. This guy hadn't even played a small role in Die Hard yet. He asked, "Why did you choose him? He doesn't have any box office appeal at all."

"The tough guy scene in Hollywood has been dominated by Schwarzenegger and Stallone, and we wanted to do something fresh. Bruce Willis has a tough look and good acting skills, so we asked him to wear a military uniform and find out that he is perfect for playing an American soldier."

"It seems that "Con Air" will start before "Speed". When will my action team go there?"

"Let's get in touch then. You can give Bruce some training first."

"Okay!"

According to the agreement, all the action scenes of the film, including the early training of the actors, will also be contracted by Chen Qi's team.

He had already drawn up a team, led by Yuen Woo-ping and Yuen Kwai, and with Yuen Wah, Tung Wei, Mars, Collin Chou, Chin Kar-lok, Ji Chun-hua, Xiong Xinxin and others, the team was extremely strong.

The remuneration was US$400,000, about HK$3 million, and he didn't want a penny.

“Huahuahua!”

There was another round of applause, but the question-and-answer session was over. Chen Qi and Price then went on stage and took a group photo with everyone.

…

There are no Chinese-language films participating in this year's Cannes.

They were all great art directors from various countries, and Chen Qi didn't recognize any of them except Martin Scorsese.

Black Mask is a participating film. It has not received as much attention as the participating films, but it has still attracted a lot of comments from the media. We don't like to swim in the ocean of art all the time, we have to allow for the existence of vulgar people.

"A brilliant modern action film!"

“It uses the concept of American comic book superheroes, but it’s presented so beautifully!”

"Hollywood's industrial films are second to none, except for action films, which are inferior to Hong Kong's! Including last year's "The Transporter" and this year's "Black Mask", those hearty action designs make Hollywood macho men look like gorillas!"

Such praise attracted overseas film producers to come.

The North American market was handed over to the Colombian agent, and others were competing for Europe, Australia, South America, Southeast Asia, and even Africa.

A few years ago, Chen Qi was still a rookie, and he took Tai Chi to Berlin with great difficulty, doing everything himself. Now he doesn't need to do that, as his company staff will handle it. Sometimes, he doesn't need to do it himself, he just wants to take the opportunity to go abroad and travel at his own expense.

"Black Mask" had a good pre-production in Cannes, which boosted everyone's confidence and made them look forward to its release in the United States.

…………

Chen Qi stayed for a few days and left before the closing ceremony. He returned to Hong Kong without stopping and immediately went to Guangzhou.

Ling Mei sent a car to pick him up and deliberately circled in front of several cinemas. There were big posters of "The Millionaire's Train" and "The Story of Rose" posted outside, and Sammo Hung and Maggie Cheung were particularly conspicuous.

After settling down in White Swan, he bought a ticket and went to the cinema to see the movie in person.

The movie was "The Rich Train", which had been on screen for more than a week, and was still about 70% full. Chen Qi and Xiao Mo sat quietly in a corner, listening to everyone's discussion:

"Who is better, this fat guy or Cheng Long? I heard he is Cheng Long's senior brother."

"What's wrong with Big Brother? Cheng Long is number one in the world!"

"Not necessarily! I've seen Sammo Hung's videotapes, he's quite skilled. I've never seen such a nimble fat man!"

When Chen Qi heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "Hey, handsome boy! Has Sammo Hung come to Guangzhou to promote the event?"

"Of course, it was a big event. It's a pity that I didn't get a ticket. I heard there was a beauty named Guan Zhilin, who was extremely beautiful..."

As he spoke, he also looked at Chen Qi and said, "You look very handsome and a rare good-looking guy. Are you an actor?"

"I dare not, it's just a small business!"

He saluted, stopped talking, and waited for another two minutes before saying, "Xiao Yang, why are you taking so long to buy a drink?"

“Here it comes!”

Xiao Yang hurried back with a few bottles of drinks and snacks, handed him a bottle, and said, "A lot of people have to line up to drink this, it's very famous."

"Jianlibao?"

Chen Qi took a look and found that it was the famous Oriental Magic Water, and it was in a bottle.

He had seen many cans of Jianlibao, but this was the first time he had seen a bottled one. It was orange-yellow, like orange soda, and it might only be available locally. He opened it and took a sip, tasting it. It seemed to have the same taste, but it was a little strange.

At this time, the lights dimmed and the screen lit up.

The Rich Train has begun.

The audience cheered and laughed along with the rhythm of the film, and were immersed in it. It was obvious that they liked the film very much.

Just like it.

There are still more than a dozen that have not been selected.

Chen Qi was drinking Jianlibao and watching Sammo Hung in a movie theater in Guangzhou. He suddenly felt a strange sense of confusion in time and space, as well as a sense of accomplishment. This was all the result of his own career.