Literary Master 1978

Jokes aside, Li Hanxiang solved their housing problem, so Lin Chaoyang and his wife were naturally grateful.

Zhang Cuiying smiled and said, "Don't say these words. "The Truman Show" made Lao Li earn a lot of money for most of his life. We should thank you if we have to."

"Sister-in-law, that's too polite." Lin Chaoyang said modestly.

Li Hanxiang said again, "It would be even better if you could help me and that old man Zou Wenhuai get all the overseas dividends back."

When he said this, his face was full of resentment.

Boss Zou has always been crazy about delaying dividends. Even his powerful general Sammo Hung was once short of funds because of his delay, and he ran to cooperate with Cinema City, let alone Li Hanxiang.

New Kunlun Pictures accounted for 10% of the revenue of "The Truman Show", which theoretically should be equivalent to the revenue of Lin's Pictures.

But up to now, New Kunlun has only received box office revenue from Hong Kong, Taiwan Island and Southeast Asia, and the dividends for the buyout of overseas copyrights have not been paid.

Lin Chaoyang laughed, "Aren't you old friends?"

"What old friends? I'm the one who's being pitted!"

After saying a few bad things about Zou Wenhuai to Lin Chaoyang, and seeing that he didn't respond, Li Hanxiang had to say, "Does your company have any plans to make movies recently?"

"Yes, do you want to invest?"

Lin Chaoyang didn't mind finding more partners. In Hong Kong, if Lin's Pictures wants to become bigger and stronger, it's impossible to just make a few hit movies.

In the future, they will face competition from major film companies including Golden Harvest and Cinema City, face the financial backers and theaters behind them, and face possible suppression from Taiwan Island, so they have to make friends as much as possible.

How to make friends?

Money scatters people.

If you can make money by following Lin's, are you still afraid that the theaters won't cooperate? Are you still afraid that the Freedom Association will ban you?

Li Hanxiang said, "Of course it's good to be able to invest. I'll invest 1 million."

Lin Chaoyang glanced at him, meaning, it's just 1 million, who are you looking down on?

"You've made a lot of money in the past two years, haven't you?"

Li Hanxiang was a little embarrassed, "I've made a lot of money, but I've been speculating in real estate. Otherwise, where do you think you can live in a luxury house in Mid-Levels?"

It can be said that speculating in real estate has been a lifelong process for several generations of Hong Kong people.

Since the beginning of last spring, Hong Kong's real estate industry has ended its five-year downturn and resumed its growth momentum.

The number of newly completed residential units has reached 29,875, the highest since 1981, while the vacancy rate is only 3.7%, almost all of them have been absorbed.

As the enthusiasm for real estate speculation continues to heat up, the price of residential buildings has been rising all the way, and even office buildings, shops, and factory buildings are in short supply, and the selling price and rent are higher than residential buildings.

"Take it easy, don't use leverage." Lin Chaoyang advised.

"Don't worry."

During the meal, Li Hanxiang talked about the film project he was going to invest in. Lin Chaoyang wanted him to participate in the investment of Chen Kaige's "The King of Children".

Making friends is making friends, but you can't let your friends eat all the meat while you can only drink the soup.

Li Hanxiang has cooperated with the mainland for many years, so he naturally knows Chen Kaige's name, but he has some doubts about whether this movie can make money.

"Kaige's new movie still goes the film festival route. Yellow Earth won several small awards in Europe, and he is also somewhat well-known.

I plan to let him participate in the Cannes Film Festival next year. As long as he is shortlisted, he should be able to make a small profit. If he can win an award..."

Without Lin Chaoyang saying anything more, Li Hanxiang has already imagined the miracle created by King of Children copying The Truman Show.

The big pie is well drawn, and there is no worry about making money. Li Hanxiang's 1 million Hong Kong dollars was put into Lin Chaoyang's pocket.

Li Hanxiang asked again, "Chaoyang, I heard that The Truman Show sold well at the overseas box office."

The later Jim Carrey version of The Truman Show set a global box office of 130 million US dollars, which is inseparable from Paramount's strong distribution strength.

Hong Kong can't compare with the United States, and Golden Harvest can't compare with Paramount. The overseas copyrights of movies are all bought out at a price, so no matter how high the box office is, it has nothing to do with Lin Chaoyang.

However, after the film festival, "The Truman Show" was successively released in the United States, France, Britain, Italy and other countries, and set a box office of 8.49 million US dollars in the United States.

This box office may not seem much, but it is already the third highest box office of Chinese-language films in the United States in decades.

The top two are Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and Lo Lieh's "The Best Fist".

Today's Chinese-language films are a niche in the American market. Even if they can be popular, they are basically action films.

It is not easy for "The Truman Show" to set a box office record of 8.49 million US dollars as a feature film.

In addition, the film has also set good box office results in France, Britain, Italy and other countries. If the box office in Hong Kong, Taiwan Island and Southeast Asia is counted, the cumulative box office has exceeded 38 million US dollars.

The film is still being shown in various countries around the world, and the cumulative box office still has room to rise. Those film producers who bought the copyright at the film festival have made a lot of money this time.

"The good box office is also the reason why overseas film producers make money." Lin Chaoyang said.

"You can't say that. They made money from this film, and it will be easier for you to sell films in the future, right?"

"That's right."

After having lunch at Li Hanxiang's house, Zhang Cuiying took Lin Chaoyang and his wife to look at houses in Mid-Levels.

Later generations will know about the mansions in Mid-Levels, which is inseparable from the contribution of TVB TV series. In most TVB family dramas, the main story takes place in the mansion area of ​​Mid-Levels.

Mid-Levels is located between the top of Victoria Peak and Central. It is called Mid-Levels because it is located on the northern slopes of the central and western parts of Hong Kong Island.

It is backed by mountains and faces the sea, with lush trees, beautiful environment and fresh air.

In the early years, only British people were eligible to build luxury homes here. Later, it gradually became the first choice for Hong Kong's upper class to buy properties.

The "luxury" of Mid-Levels does not lie in the size and luxury of the house, but in that although it is located in a prime location in Xiangjiang, it is quiet in the bustle and has scenery and tranquility that ordinary citizens cannot reach.

While it is close to the business districts of Sheung Wan, Central and Admiralty, it also has mountain and sea views.

Almost every residential building built here has the most unique scenery in Hong Kong outside the window. It has been the dream of many successful people in Hong Kong for decades.

The property purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Li Hanxiang is located at Jiahui Garden, No. 3 Majestic Gap Road, Zhongpanshan. It was built in 1971 and consists of 10 residential buildings with 120 residential units.

Each residential unit has an area of ​​more than 3,000 square feet, with a usability rate of 91%. It also has a private club and a platform swimming pool.

The house bought by Mr. and Mrs. Li Hanxiang is the largest of all units at 3,366 square feet, with four bedrooms. The living room is connected to a large terrace with unparalleled mountain and sea views.

The down payment alone cost more than 2 million Hong Kong dollars, and the family's wealth was almost depleted.

Looking up into the distance, the scenery is picturesque.

Tao Yushu couldn't help but look at it a few more times. Zhang Cuiying stood beside her and said, "The scenery is even more beautiful at night. The most expensive views are the mansions in the middle of the mountain."

Tao Yushu smiled and nodded, it did make some sense.

Now that you have a house, you have to move.

The couple was busy moving when Lin Chaoyang received a call from Tao Yumo from Japan.

She just arrived in Japan yesterday and went to sign a contract with Kawade Shobo today. As a result, Kawade Shobo suddenly had a new idea and said that it would be published together with "The Truman Show".

It turns out that the movie "The Truman Show" was recently released in Japan. The box office reached 165 million yen in its first week of release, and the response was quite good.

If this figure is converted into Hong Kong dollars, it will be nearly 8 million Hong Kong dollars, which is almost as much as the box office in Hong Kong in the first week.

Although it cannot be compared with those popular commercial films, it has become the most popular imported foreign film in Japan in the past two months, and the cumulative box office is expected to exceed 700 million yen in the future.

The film's success proved that the content was recognized by Japanese audiences, so Kawade Shobo had the idea of ​​introducing the novel.

Publishing one book is also publishing, and publishing two books is also publishing. Lin Chaoyang readily agreed to this matter.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, there is something else!" Tao Yumo said quickly when he heard that Lin Chaoyang was about to hang up.

"What else?"

"Ms. Kondo, she has an idea now."

"What's the idea?"

"She wants to set up a literary research society named after you."

Lin Chaoyang's mind was a little confused. This thing... is a rice circle?

The research association is definitely not a fandom; it focuses on “research.” This kind of organization is not uncommon in modern times.

For example, in the 1920s of this century, Mr. Mao Dun initiated the establishment of the Literary Research Association, a progressive literary group pursuing new literature.

The main members include Zhou Zuoren, Zheng Zhenduo, Guo Shaoyu, Zhu Xizu, Qu Shiying, Jiang Baili, Sun Fuyuan, Geng Jizhi, Wang Tongzhao, Ye Shengtao and many other famous people.

Its purpose is: to study and introduce world literature, organize old Chinese literature, and create new literature.

It's just that Lin Chaoyang is a foreign writer who has just published a novel in Japan. Someone actually wants to establish a literary research association for him in Japan.

This feels a bit like the capitalists of later generations forcibly praising their ugly sons and daughters.

Of course, Lin Chaoyang's works and quality are definitely not "ugly", but the problem is that the one he published in Japan before was "Crossing Guandong". The later part of this novel dealt with the plot of the Japanese invasion of Northeast China.

This is also the time when Japan's national self-confidence increased in the 1980s, and the literary world and the public were filled with Z people.

If it were placed twenty years later, even if it could be introduced into Japan, it would probably be sprayed with blood, let alone any sales.

Lin Chaoyang asked Tao Yumo in detail. He thought this was just a little fight between Naoko Kondo, but after listening for a while, he realized that something was wrong.

More than 20 professors and associate professors participated? And six writers, nine critics?

Lin Chaoyang was in a daze for a moment. Am I so famous in Japan?

"Ms. Kondo said that "Enter Guandong" is quite popular in the Japanese literary world. Many critics believe that your work is much deeper than those Japanese Taiga novels and is completely incomparable."

The river novel was originally a form of French literature, also known as the river novel, which specifically refers to the long and continuous work with historical significance in multiple volumes.

Romain Rolland's "Johan Christophe", Jules Romain's "The Good Man", Roger Martin Dugar's "The Thibauts" all belong to this category of works.

A major feature of Dahe's novels is that they use human experience to reflect the historical environment, which is basically a reflection of real history.

But after being spread to Japan, Taiga's novels suffered a genetic mutation and basically turned into romance novels.

And the Japanese think this stuff is high-class, and they have praised the works and writers.

The most famous Taiga novel writer in Japan is Ryotaro Shiba, who was once the most beloved writer of the Japanese and had an extremely high status.

Japan has also evolved their unique Taiga drama, which has been widely welcomed by the Japanese people since its appearance in the 1950s.

"Brother-in-law, why do I feel that you are more popular in Japan than in China?" Tao Yumo teased.

"It's all false fire. It's just a small group of people who support it. Go ask on the street, how many Japanese know me?" Lin Chaoyang said very soberly.

He then said: "Okay. If Ms. Kondo wants to organize a research group, then do it. Don't get involved in this matter. Come back quickly after you finish your work."

"I know."

Tao Yumo's attitude was perfunctory. It was not easy to go abroad. How could he not have fun for two days?

"Ms. Kondo also asked you to help write a word for the literary research group." She said again.

Write a word?

A picture suddenly appeared in Lin Chaoyang's mind. In a Japanese-style house, on the wall hung the words "Lin Chaoyang (Japan) Literature Research Association" written by him. A group of Japanese people in kimonos knelt together with pious eyes.

It seemed quite exciting to think about it.

"Okay, I know, you come back early." He reminded again.

"I know, I know, I'm not a child."

After ending the call, Lin Chaoyang always felt that he had forgotten something. He thought about it for a long time but couldn't remember it.

Forget it, don't think about it.

After finally moving, the couple rested for a night. The next day, they came to the Cinema City Company on the top floor of the Capital Building on Nathan Road in Mong Kok.

Unknowingly, "A Better Tomorrow" has been released in Hong Kong for two weeks. The box office in the first week was 13.56 million Hong Kong dollars, and the box office in the second week was 10.29 million. The cumulative box office was nearly 24 million Hong Kong dollars, and the box office decline was also very healthy.

It has become another movie that is expected to break 30 million Hong Kong dollars at the local box office this year after "The Truman Show", and it is also the first movie of Cinema City that is expected to break 30 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office this year.

In today's Hong Kong film market, nearly 200 movies are released a year, and the theaters are extremely crowded. Most movies rarely show for a full month.

After two weeks of release, the box office potential cannot be said to be exhausted, but the ending has basically been locked.

At present, there is basically no suspense that "A Better Tomorrow" will break 30 million at the box office. The only uncertainty is whether it can surpass the box office record created by "The Truman Show".

If it can surpass it, it will basically lock in the throne of the annual box office champion.

This is undoubtedly another major victory for Cinema City.

Now that the movie has been released for half a month, it has achieved a double harvest of box office and word of mouth. Cinema City held a celebration banquet at the company today.

When the couple came, the interior of Cinema City was already decorated with a festive atmosphere and many stars gathered.

Not only were the main forces of Cinema City present, but also the main members of the crew of "A Better Tomorrow" and many producers, directors, and movie stars who have cooperated with Cinema City were present.

"Mr. Lin! Mrs. Lin!"

Mai Jia was the one with the most shares in the company among the three founders of Cinema City, and he had the most say. When he saw Lin Chaoyang and his wife, he immediately came up to greet them warmly.

Not only was it his initiative, but as soon as Lin Chaoyang and his wife appeared, they became the focus of today's gathering.

The reason is simple, "A Better Tomorrow" has been successful again!

This year, the only movies that have broken the 30 million box office in Hong Kong or are expected to break the 30 million box office are "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow", and the scripts of both of them are written by Lin Chaoyang.

Looking at the works written by Lin Chaoyang since they landed in Hong Kong, they are all excellent works with both box office and word-of-mouth success.

"Behind the Curtain", "The Chess Master", "The Truman Show", "A Better Tomorrow"...

If a movie is successful, you can say it is the credit of the director and actors. If two movies are successful, you can say so, but what about three, four, and five movies?

Who dares to say that Lin Chaoyang did not contribute key strength?

Even if someone dares to say so, the bosses of the movie companies that made money will spray him in the face.

If you can do it, you can do it!

So even though the status of screenwriters in the Hong Kong film industry has always been not high, people cannot ignore Lin Chaoyang's dazzling talent.

What is dazzling is not only talent, but also money!

The world is big, and money is the biggest!

Lin Chaoyang and his wife were surrounded by everyone and chatted for a long time before they had a chance to breathe.

"Chaoyang!"

"Brother Long!"

Lin Chaoyang shook his fist with Ti Lung, hugged Yue Hua beside him, and teased: "How do you feel these days?"

Before Ti Lung spoke, he laughed first, and there was an indescribable pleasure in his laughter.

Yue Hua chuckled and said, "Don't talk about him. I'm so busy with film contracts now!"

Dillon hugged Lin Chaoyang's shoulders tightly at this time, "I haven't felt so popular in many years. Chaoyang, thank you."

His tone was full of sincerity, and even Yue Hua beside him felt the same.

The two have been in the film industry for 20 years and are used to ups and downs, and things like being famous but not famous.

This time, they were able to successfully become popular again with "A Better Tomorrow", and they were very popular, which was inseparable from Lin Chaoyang's support.

"Don't talk about these."

Lin Chaoyang didn't take credit for it, and instead asked what scripts the two had contacted with now.

Dillon thought he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to invite them to make a movie, so he patted his chest and volunteered, and Yue Hua did the same.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and waved his hand, "Forget it about you two, you are both old friends. If I want to treat you, I will also treat Ah Fa!"

What he said was a joke, of course, but it wasn't entirely a joke. Lam's new film "Girls in Hardcover" did hire Chow Yun-fat.

The three of them joked and sarcastic among themselves, and Lin Chaoyang started chatting with John Woo again.

"A Better Tomorrow" was a hit, and everyone on the crew became famous, including him as the director. Today, John Woo is particularly high-spirited.

While he was talking, Huang Baiming arranged for everyone to take photos.

There were so many people here today that we took photos in two batches.

One group is a group photo of several bosses from New Art City and the crew of "A Better Tomorrow", and the other group is a group photo of everyone present.

No matter which time the photo was taken, Lin Chaoyang was moved to the C position in the middle, alongside John Woo.

After the group photo was over, Tsui Hark and Mai Jia invited Lin Chaoyang to the office.

While "A Better Tomorrow" is a hit in Hong Kong, it has also begun to compete in other places. It is currently showing well in the Bay Island and will be released in various countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia in the future.

The total investment in "A Better Tomorrow" is 8 million Hong Kong dollars. With the momentum shown by this movie, tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars should be easily pocketed, and the return on investment may exceed 1,000%.

Even among the many blockbuster films produced by New Art City since its establishment, it is still the best.

After arriving at the office, Tsui Hark said directly to Lin Chaoyang: "Lin Sheng, how about we film "A Better Tomorrow 2"?"

Businessmen are chasing profits. If a movie becomes popular, it is normal for them to want to make a second movie to build on the popularity.

Not to mention New Art City, after the popularity of "A Better Tomorrow", even Golden Harvest took out the gunfight movie that John Woo had made the year before and failed to release in the film library.

I heard that it is going to be released soon, and even the name has to be copied from "A Better Tomorrow" and called "Heroes Without Tears".

But Lin Chaoyang understood that the story of "A Better Tomorrow" is actually very complete. One of the key characters, Xiao Ma, also died at the end of the villain's gun. If he wanted to make a second film, it would be a complete continuation of the story.

Later, Tsui Hark and John Woo did create a "A Better Tomorrow 2". The quality can only be said to be passable, and it finally earned 22 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office.

On the basis that the previous film won the annual box office championship with more than 30 million box office, the sequel with the original cast achieved a box office of 22 million Hong Kong dollars, which has to be said to be a huge failure.

Later, after Tsui Hark broke up with John Woo, he tinkered with a movie called "A Better Tomorrow: Sunset Song." The box office was even worse than Wang Xiaoer's Chinese New Year, and it was worse than the previous year, with a box office of only 18 million Hong Kong dollars.

Tsui Hark and Mai Jia came to him, obviously hoping that he would write the script and make a lot of money using the original cast's gimmick.

Lin Chaoyang doesn't mind if his company makes some bad movies, but he can't use his reputation to endorse them.

He has never deliberately pursued the title of a so-called master screenwriter, but he also understands that he can make a huge name in the Hong Kong film industry in just three years, and can even protect Tao Yushu from wind and rain. The high quality of each work and the good harvest of word-of-mouth, box office, and awards after its release.

Lin Chaoyang would not do such a thing that would destroy the Great Wall at the expense of his hard-earned reputation in pursuit of immediate interests.

Even if they knew that even if they did not participate, Tsui Hark and Mai Jia would probably insist on pursuing the filming of the sequel, Lin Chaoyang still politely declined their proposal.

The two of them couldn't help but feel disappointed when they heard Lin Chaoyang's answer. Tsui Hark was a little unwilling to give up. He said eagerly: "Lin Sheng, now we only need to announce the start of filming for the sequel. If we shoot casually, we can earn tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars."

"It's easy to make money by making a sequel, but how do you ensure the quality of the sequel? In my opinion, the story of "A Better Tomorrow" is already complete. If I were asked to write another "2", I wouldn't be able to write it.

If you make a sequel to "Miao Tail", the box office may not be as good as the first one, so it is better to make a new movie, and the profit may not be worse than making a sequel. "

Lin Chaoyang's words made Mai Jia's face look a little ugly. He said: "Lin Sheng, if you want to make a sequel, of course the original cast is the best. If you don't come to write this script, then we will have to hire someone else."

Tsui Hark hesitated to speak. He didn't want to break up with Lin Chaoyang just like that, but now that things have developed to this point, the balance in his heart will undoubtedly tilt towards Xinyi City.

How could Lin Chaoyang not hear the threat in Mai Jia's words? His face was as calm as a flat lake.

"The copyright of "A Better Tomorrow" belongs to New Art City, and you are free to operate it how you want.

However, I would like to remind you two, you have to think about why "A Better Tomorrow" is successful! "

Lin Chaoyang's tone was very calm, but it sounded particularly harsh to Mai Jia.

He took it for granted that Lin Chaoyang was exaggerating his role and taking all the success of "A Better Tomorrow" on himself.

After saying this, Lin Chaoyang ignored the reactions of Mai Jia and Tsui Hark and walked out of the office.

After he left, Maijia looked angry, "Who does he think he is? Can't we film "A Better Tomorrow" without him?"

Tsui Hark was thoughtful at this moment. He initially thought that Lin Chaoyang's words just now were to express his merit for himself.

But for some reason, he suddenly thought of something Lin Chaoyang mentioned when discussing the script with John Woo.

"In fact, in our movie, the emotion is more important than the plot and characters."

Before, Tsui Hark did not understand what this so-called "emotion" was, but now that "A Better Tomorrow" was released, combined with Lin Chaoyang's reminder today, he finally understood.

"Bald, you may have misunderstood what Mr. Lin meant." Tsui Hark said in a faint tone.

Mai Jia looked at him with doubt, "What do you mean?"

Tsui Hark repeated what Lin Chaoyang said to John Woo, and Mai Jia frowned after listening.

He is one of the founders of Xinyicheng, an all-round talent who combines scriptwriting and directing. He claims to be no less than anyone in making movies, but the theory that Tsui Hark relayed touched his blind spot.

It's just making a movie, how did it become metaphysics?

"Do you think he is right?" Mai Jia asked.

Tsui Hark shook his head slowly, "I don't know, but without him, I'm really unsure about making a sequel."

Mai Jia looked uneasy, "Don't boost others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige. Our Cinema City has been in the Hong Kong film industry for so many years, can't we handle a sequel to a movie?"

"I'm not destroying my prestige. It's just that Mr. Lin said something right. If the sequel doesn't receive a good response, the backlash to word of mouth may be even worse."

Mai Jia's eyebrows moved slightly when he heard this, and he also agreed in his heart that this was not unreasonable, but after thinking for a moment, he still couldn't resist the temptation of "lying down and making money".

"Shoot! Isn't it profitable?"

Seeing that Mai Jia was determined to do so, Tsui Hark said nothing more.

Yes, isn't it profitable?

While the two were discussing, Lin Chaoyang came out of the office and came to John Woo, smiling and saying:

"Director Wu, congratulations!"

John Woo was confused, "Mr. Lin, why are you so happy?"

"Cinema City is going to invest in the sequel of "A Better Tomorrow", and you are going to start a new movie."

John Woo was surprised, as were the people around him. Leslie Cheung asked: "Mr. Lin, will you still write the script for the sequel?"

"I won't participate." Lin Chaoyang said lightly.

Everyone was puzzled. When they first heard the news, they were surprised and happy, but when they heard that Lin Chaoyang would not participate, everyone felt something was wrong.

Ti Lung asked anxiously: "Why?"