China Entertainment special effects started in 1997

At the dinner table, everyone gathered around Jiang Heng and talked about the response and box office of "100 Million Years BC".

"Ah, I can't believe that few people watched movies in the mainland in the past few years, but now a box office of 100 million or 200 million seems to be very common!" Yuen Wah took a sip of wine and was filled with emotion.

After more than a month of screening, the box office of "100 Million Years BC" in the mainland exceeded the 200 million mark, set at 207 million yuan.

This news not only gave great confidence to mainland filmmakers, but also greatly shocked the Hong Kong film industry, allowing those Hong Kong filmmakers who were in confusion to see another way out.

The reason, of course, was that the Hong Kong film industry was too miserable at this time!

On March 17, 1999, two months later, a major event happened in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

On this day, all cinemas stopped showing movies, and radio stations stopped playing records and music all day. Nearly 2,000 film and television practitioners took to the streets to carry out a large-scale parade.

Cheng Long, Liu Dehua, Tan Yonglin and others led the team, shouting slogans to combat piracy.

There are many reasons for the decline of Hong Kong movies.

The conquest of Hollywood blockbusters and the prevalence of pirated discs are two very important reasons.

And these two points complement each other.

Hollywood blockbusters introduced to the mainland and Hong Kong often use shocking visual effects as a selling point. Such films are not satisfying to watch on pirated discs. You have to go to the cinema to see the essence of the film.

Just like when "Avatar" was released in 2010, the price of IMAX 3D tickets was sold to thousands of yuan. At that time, the number of IMAX screens in the country was limited, and many movie fans traveled long distances to other cities just to see the legendary shocking IMAX 3D visual effects.

Was there no piracy at that time? Of course there was!

But this movie is about super shocking visual effects. Even if you can't buy IMAX, you have to watch the ordinary 3D version!

And many films in the mainland and Hong Kong are sold on plots and lines. The picture quality is poor, and even pirated discs with shaking pictures are acceptable.

This is why Hollywood blockbusters that have entered the mainland and Hong Kong in recent years, once they are of excellent quality and properly promoted, often achieve extremely high box office results.

For example, "Titanic" has a box office record of 115 million yuan in Hong Kong. Even many years later, no Hong Kong film can surpass it.

"Jurassic Park 2" has a mediocre reputation, but it also got 58.23 million.

This is still a movie starring foreigners. If it is a special effects blockbuster starring Chinese, the sense of substitution will be doubled, and the box office results will definitely be higher!

Xiang Huaqi, Xu Ke and others are based on this understanding and plan to shoot "The Legend of Zu Mountain".

It can be said that Hong Kong filmmakers at this moment still have a clear understanding of future development.

It's nothing more than going to the mainland, making blockbusters, and fighting piracy.

Among them, Jiang Heng has taken the lead.

"The Matrix" and "100 Million Years BC" were released in the mainland, and the degree of impact of piracy on the two films was far less than that of other low-cost films.

At this moment, pirated videotapes of "100 Million Years BC" are already on sale in the Hong Kong market, but because the pirated recordings are so bad, not many people buy them.

After all, the shocking effects of the dinosaurs seen on TV and on the big screen are very different.

Especially many schoolchildren, after seeing the promotional posters of "100 Million Years BC", clamored for their parents to take them to the cinema.

Pirated discs, who are you fooling?

For example, the Tang Monk that your classmates watched was all in red cassock, but the one you watched was black and white, so there is no way to talk!

At this moment, everyone present has tacitly agreed that Jiang Heng's film will become the box office champion of this year's Spring Festival.

One by one, they surrounded him and praised him, hoping that they would have the opportunity to participate when Jiang Heng made a new film.

At Jiahe Company, Zou Wenhuai, Cai Yongchang, and Liang Feng gathered together again to discuss this year's Lunar New Year file.

"I never thought that a minor actor would become a big movie director!"

Zou Wenhuai's eyes were deep, and he kept smoking. Thinking about the global box office performance of "The Matrix" and the viewing craze of "100 Million Years BC" in various places, he always felt like he was dreaming.

Cai Yongchang smiled bitterly, "Who said it wasn't! Before, Aaron and Zhou Xingxing were suppressed by him, and this time it's hanging!"

They were still a little tough, but in their hearts, the three people in the room knew that this year's Spring Festival, whether it was "Glass Bottle" or "The King of Comedy", they were not the opponent of "100 Million Years BC".

"Glass Bottle" was just a hobby for Jackie Chan.

He had entered Hollywood before and filmed "Rush Hour", which achieved a box office of 141 million in North America and 244 million US dollars worldwide, making Jackie Chan a first-line star in Hollywood.

Returning to Hong Kong to shoot "Glass Bottle" was a return work for the big brother who did not forget the Hong Kong market. It was purely a hobby.

In this film, Cheng Long rarely uses action scenes as the main selling point, but talks about love with the heroine played by Shu Qi, and lets Zhou Huajian, who looks silly on the outside, play the villain. He also invites Stephen Chow, Richie Jen and others to make cameo appearances.

Zou Wenhuai and the other two know how much a movie like this can sell at the box office.

As for "The King of Comedy" shot by Stephen Chow, you don't need to know too much. From Stephen Chow's performance in recent years, you know that the box office performance will not be too high. How can it compete with Jiang Heng's Jurassic blockbuster?

Unless you get a high-definition, genuine film source, and put it on the market on a large scale, it will definitely reduce a lot of box office.

But doing this is too despicable.

There is no airtight wall in the world. As the overlord of the Hong Kong film industry, Jiahe also wants to save face.

The three of them were silent for a while, and Liang Feng suddenly said, "How about we talk to him?"

"How to talk?"

"Ask him to release it in advance!"

"in advance?"

Zou Wenhuai's eyes lit up and he roughly understood what Liang Feng was thinking.

""100 Million Years Before History" has been promoted for a long time, and some people who couldn't wait went to Shenzhen to watch it. In fact, it is not interesting because it is on the Spring Festival schedule. It is better to release it a week in advance to avoid three movies competing on the same day and competing with each other. Affect box office."

Liang Feng talked eloquently, and then said: "As a condition, we can let "One Hundred Million Years Before History" be released in Jiahe Cinemas. The first week will definitely be reserved for it. As for Aaron's "Glass Bottle" "After it is released, we will also arrange a certain number of performances."

Cai Yongchang said: "If it does well at the box office, it wouldn't be impossible to share the prime time slot with "Glass Bottle"!"

The Xiangjiang film market as a whole has shrunk in recent years, and the three theater chains are also having a hard time. Jiahe also needs blockbuster films!

However, Cheng Long's "Glass Bottle" doesn't seem to be a box office hit.

Zou Wenhuai and others were also very agitated.

There was silence in the room for dozens of seconds. Zou Wenhuai suddenly put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and exhaled: "Okay, let's invite Jiang Heng out and ask him to have dinner!"