Hong Kong: Rise of the Kings

Los Angeles---

Dihao Golf Course-——

As the leader of the five major gangs in the United States, "Gambi Kolobo" is 47 years old. He looks more like a Hollywood filmmaker than Carlos, the slightly tough-looking boss of Paramount Pictures.

Carlos is born with a big frame, and every time he attends a movie conference, he gives people the appearance of a gangster.

On the contrary, the real gangster Kolobo has a slim figure and a gentle face, and he looks like a scholar.

Speaking of this godfather figure, although the Kolobo family is relatively weak among the five major American gangster families, as the third generation godfather of the family, Gamby Kolobo was the first to use legal methods to negotiate with the FBI. The opposing "godfather".

He led Paramount Productions to launch the 1971 film "The Godfather," for which he won an Academy Award.

At the same time, he also forced the then-Ministry of Justice to ban the public use of the racially discriminatory term "Mafia."

It can be said that Gambi Kolobo is an "alien" among American gang godfathers. He is cultured, strategic, and very low-key.

And he is also the godfather-level figure who is most deeply involved in Hollywood movies. Almost half of the companies in Hollywood are related to him and are under his control.

At this moment, Kolobo was wearing a white polo shirt and pure cotton trousers with straight trousers, and a golf glove on his left hand. He was swinging the golf ball gracefully. As the golf ball was hit, it moved towards the slope of the turf. Roll to the entrance of the hole and enter the hole accurately.

"nice shot!"

Carlos chewed his cigar and gave a thumbs up to Colobo's beautiful shot and applauded.

He admired the "godfather" from the bottom of his heart. Not only was he rich in strategy, he was also a good golfer.

"Haha, dear Carlos, please don't praise me, I will be proud!"

As Kolobo spoke, he handed the club to the caddy, took off his gloves, and left the staff to repair the lawn.

Carlos hurried forward and accompanied him back to the nearby parasol with excitement. He took out a brown cigar from a cherry wood cigar box on the low table, skillfully cut off the cap and handed it to Colobo. .

Kolobo took it and bit it in his mouth.

Carlos then did not touch the gold-plated lighter on the table, but chose an old-fashioned long-handled match, stabbed it, and helped Kolobo light the cigar himself.

Colobo was very satisfied with Carlos's service. He nodded to him, bit his cigar, slowly exhaled a stream of silver-gray smoke, and said with a smile: "You are becoming more and more alert. Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Haha, as you know, I don't go to the Three Treasures Palace for anything now - about Fox..." Carlos hesitated to speak.

Kolobo looked at Carlos with a half-smile.

He knew very well what Carlos was thinking.

As one of the seven major film companies in Hollywood, Paramount has always been ambitious. Unfortunately, its ambition cannot keep up with its strength. In the end, it will always be at the bottom of the seven major film companies.

But now the opportunity has come.

Fox changed hands to someone else, and he was still Chinese, which gave Carlos a different taste.

Hollywood has always been very cooperative, and the authorities will never allow outsiders to control Hollywood. So if the so-called Chinese want to control Fox, they will have to spend some effort.

The above refers to Fox, and peers are not optimistic about Fox, so why can’t Paramount, which he controls, acquire Fox and become the largest film company in Hollywood?

When Carlos came up with this idea, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep for several days.

Of course, Carlos is not an arrogant man. He knows that he cannot compete with Fox on his own strength, so he has no choice but to turn to the Kolobo family, one of the five major gangs in the United States, which is the respected Gambi Kolobo in front of him.

Kolobo has worked with him before, and they filmed the box-office hit and Oscar-winning classic film "The Godfather" together. The two have a very close relationship.

So when Carlos revealed this idea to Colobo, Colobo later informed his subordinates to hinder Fox, relying on gang power to blackmail Hollywood actors not to take Fox's movies, leaving them without a chance to work. shoot.

"Dear Carlos, I am very grateful that you have worked with me to rewrite the history of Hollywood gangster movies, but I control tens of thousands of children, not just to win Fox for you." Colobo said lightly while biting his cigar.

"I know! In fact, I don't dare to ask for too much!" Carlos said hurriedly, "It's just that now there's something going on with Fox -"

"What's the noise?"

"I heard that the man named Du Yongxiao transferred a man named Bruce Lee from Hong Kong to prepare for the release of his movie "The Way of the Dragon"."

"So what?"

"I heard—" Carlos hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "I heard that this drama was very good, so I directly bought a copy from Asia and looked at it, and the result—"

"What's the result?"

“It’s really exciting!”

"Huh?" Colobo bit his cigar and glanced at Carlos in surprise. In his impression, Carlos was the kind of filmmaker who rarely praised others, unless the movie shot by Bruce Lee was really good.

"If this show is released in all Fox theaters, I'm afraid it will become a hit and save Fox from its current predicament." Carlos finished the sentence in one breath.

Kolobo narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Then what do you want me to do? I can't call that Du Yongxiao and tell him that your movie should not be released and that you should sell Fox at a low price..."

Carlos smiled bitterly and said: "I don't know, but I know you will help me, right? We are friends and best friends."

Kolob smiled and suddenly waved to the caddy next to him to bring the golf clubs.

Colobo took the club and stroked it: "Dear Carlos, do you know what class is? For example, the club in my hand now represents class - only rich people are qualified to learn golf. As for the poor people, forget about coming to this kind of golf course to practice their skills. Even if they practice in the open space outside their homes, they may not have the money to buy the cheapest golf club!"

"Uh, I don't quite understand what you mean?"

Kolobo's eyes shifted from the golf club to Carlos: "My point is very simple. I have always believed that opponents are not scary. What is scary is that you are afraid of him and do not have the courage to defeat him! Only by daring to face a powerful opponent can you defeat him. You become stronger by yourself! Yes, wait until you really can’t resist and come to me again!”

Kolobo confessed his feelings to Carlos, meaning that I will not help you now, and you have to deal with the powerful opponent on your own.

"In fact, I'm very curious, who is the Du Yongxiao that scares you? And will the Bruce Lee you mentioned really become famous in Hollywood?"

After a pause, Kolobo handed the golf club to Carlos, "Let me wait and see whether you can hit the ball as well as me!"

…

In fact, in addition to Paramount, MGM, Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, and Columbia among the seven major Hollywood film companies all received the news that Fox had to transfer a team from Hong Kong because there was no film to film or release. A play is being screened here.

Most movie bosses scoffed at this.

What is Hollywood?

It is the capital of the global film industry. For a film to be released here and become popular, it is as difficult as getting tickets for Chinese food.

What's more, Hong Kong movies have never been able to break into Hollywood. Their movies are too niche. They are just yellow-skinned pigs fighting and killing, without any attraction.

Therefore, most of them are full of ridicule and irony regarding Fox's decision this time.

"God, if their drama becomes popular, I will eat my toes!"

"Fox really has no choice but to release Hong Kong movies. It's sad and deplorable!"

"Hollywood studios released Hong Kong movies to save the situation. This is simply an insult to us in Hollywood!"

It can be said that this statement represents almost all of Hollywood.

Many people are not optimistic about Fox, Bruce Lee, or his film "The Way of the Dragon."

Du Yongxiao dismissed this and did whatever he had to do.

The first step is to buy the largest newspaper in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Daily News, to give a big advertisement for the upcoming film "The Dragon Crossing the River". The title is: "Iron Bridge is a tough horse, and the punches are to the flesh! The Dragon Crossing the River, watch the Chinese dragon punch and kick. Rome!"

At the back is a scene of "Bruce Lee and Royce" dueling in the Roman Arena.

Bruce Lee has a martial arts gym in the United States and is somewhat famous; Luo Lishi is the national karate champion. The dueling posture of the two is still very attractive.

Immediately afterwards, Du Yongxiao made another wave of tricks, spending 1.3 million US dollars to buy one minute of advertising time on TV stations in Los Angeles, New York and other places in the United States, and directly broadcast the highlights of "The Raptors", and broadcast it on a rolling basis. !

Americans were watching soap operas, and a clip from "Way of the Dragon" suddenly appeared.

I don't know if the effect was good or not, but the TV station received hundreds of phone calls and complaints. One of them was a white woman who complained that she was shaving her husband's beard because Bruce Lee said "Ada" and she was so frightened that she almost cut the old man's throat.

Faced with Du Yongxiao’s propaganda in newspapers and television, all Americans should know two pieces of news——

First, the Chinese owner of Fox is simply "inhumane". I have never seen anyone spending money so heavily to promote and advertise a movie.

Secondly, the drama "The Way of the Dragon" seems to be quite exciting, especially when you can see the American karate champion and Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee fighting. It's a feast for the eyes, it's great!

These reactions from the American people surprised Hollywood bosses.

how so?

Are these guys so easily brainwashed?

But when they saw those wonderful clips, they began to murmur in their hearts, it was so exciting!

For a moment, these big bosses became worried. Could this drama really be a hit?

impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

They collectively shook their heads again.

Because in the history of Hollywood movies, there has never been a movie starring a Chinese person that became popular!

Yes, absolutely impossible!

In the words of some big shots: "If this drama becomes popular, I will lick the mule's ass!"

Amid the arrogant and arrogant ridicule of Hollywood, Du Yongxiao once again made a move -——

Let Bruce Lee, Luo Lishi, Miao Kexiu and other actors participate in the "road show"!

Whether it's rolling movie highlights on TV or running road shows, they were all common "methods" used by many film companies in the previous generation.

But now in the 1970s, this kind of operation is absolutely "unprecedented".

…

The first road show————

Fox Theater in Los Angeles.

As the largest theater under Fox, this cinema can accommodate 500 audiences. The ticket price per audience is 3 US dollars, which is 1,500 US dollars for one show. With ten shows a day, the box office can reach 15,000 US dollars.

Of course, because the movie premiered tonight, the number of spectators who came to support the show was not "a lot", only 300, but this has also exceeded the highest attendance rate for a Chinese-language movie in Hollywood.

It is "unprecedented" that a Chinese-language film can be watched by hundreds of people when it is released in Hollywood.

Before the premiere, according to Du Yongxiao's arrangement, Bruce Lee, Luo Lishi and others collectively dressed in Tang suits and interacted with the audience.

First, the host introduces the actors, then introduces the video, and finally the actors interact with the audience. This is also the most important part of the road show.

First, a Chinese female fan loudly confessed her love to Bruce Lee in the audience, saying: "Bruce Lee, I love you! For you, I even bought a real estate. Look, this is the real estate I prepared for you. It's so big. It can be Let you play football and practice!"

The female fan held up a red notebook.

The host joked: "Aaron, your fans are so sincere to you. They even bought a house for you. Come, let's all see how big this house is!"

The host went over to take the "real estate certificate" held by the female fan, then walked to Bruce Lee and handed it to Bruce Lee personally.

After all, Bruce Lee had opened a martial arts gym and made movies, so he didn't look surprised. After taking the red book and flipping through it, his expression suddenly became surprised.

The host joked: "Why, the area is too big, are you scared?"

"Yes, it's too big!"

As Bruce Lee spoke, he showed the opened red book to everyone——

I saw it written in Chinese and English: "Please live in my heart!"

There was an uproar!

They all find this kind of interaction really interesting.

Some white audience members also let go and began to interact with Bruce Lee, Luo Lishi and others.

Some boxing fans even took the initiative to come on stage to "spar" with the two.

For a time, the entire premiere was extremely lively.

Looking at the scene in front of me——

Fox President Ryder, who was hiding behind the scenes, praised Du Yongxiao next to him: "Boss, you are really amazing! I have never seen such a road show! Yes, God, it is so interesting! I believe that many film companies will follow suit in the future. "

Du Yongxiao smiled lightly: "Some things can be imitated, but some things cannot be imitated by others in their lifetime."

"for example?"

"For example -" Du Yongxiao pinched his chin, "Our drama is all about real kung fu!"

"so what?"

"So this drama -" Du Yongxiao looked at the audience with a look of no doubt in his eyes, "It's bound to be a hit!"