Rebirth of Xiangjiang - 1978

Standing in front of the window, Run Run Shaw looked at the scenery of Victoria Harbor in the distance.

Behind him, Fang Yihua was standing there with a cup of ginseng tea, talking nonstop about his meeting with Lin Daoqiu today.

"When he opened his mouth, it was 8 million. At first I thought it was Hong Kong dollars, but guess what he said, he actually said, oh, I forgot to mention, it was U.S. dollars. Look at his smug look, as if he was so amazing."

Fang Yihua was really angry with Lin Daoqiu. Even thinking about it now, she felt very angry.

After hearing what Fang Yihua said, Run Run Shao just smiled, then turned around and walked over, taking the ginseng tea from the other person's hand.

"It's normal for young people to feel arrogant for a while after they have achieved some results."

Run Run Shaw was not frightened by the eight million budget requested by Lin Daoqiu.

Because in 1976, Run Run Shaw invested 60 million Hong Kong dollars in filming the movie version of James Clare's best-selling novel "Taipan".

And just this year, he even invested a generous US$16 million to participate in the Hollywood blockbuster "Earth" starring Sean Connery.

But it's a pity that "Taipan" didn't even make a splash, and the box office of "Havoc on Earth" was also very average.

Even when it was released in Hong Kong in 1980, it only took in a box office of HK$1.66 million.

However, Run Run Shaw still doesn't know that his huge investment in "Earth" will suffer a huge loss.

He is now full of confidence in that drama, thinking that he might be able to make a lot of money in Hollywood by then.

"But he wants too much. In total, it costs 40 million Hong Kong dollars. Shaw Bros. shoots so many movies a year and they can't even spend 40 million."

Fang Yihua is still worried about the issue of getting back his capital. After all, investing such a large amount of money is no joke.

Run Run Shaw knew that Fang Yihua was still worried about money, but it was no wonder, after all, she was sent to Shaw Brothers to take charge of the purchasing department in order to reduce costs.

At this time, Lin Daoqiu suddenly asked her to spend 40 million to film a movie, but Fang Yihua would not agree to it under any circumstances.

"Let's wait until we read the script."

Run Run Shaw was not in a hurry to reject Lin Daoqiu, he wanted to read what the script said first.

The next day, Lin Daoqiu was invited out by Run Run Shaw for afternoon tea, and the location was the Peninsula Hotel.

"Why does Mr. Lin want to make a movie with a female protagonist? You must know that not only in Hong Kong, but also in other places, all movies have male protagonists."

Run Run Shao felt very puzzled. Lin Daoqiu's choice really made him confused.

As for Run Run Shaw's question, Lin Daoqiu had already thought of the answer.

"I remember that in those days, there was an actress named Ling Bo from Shaw Brothers. Her Huangmei opera was very popular. When she first visited Baodao, the streets were packed with people. At that time, Beicheng was still called the 'Madman City'."

Of course Run Run Shaw remembers Ling Bo, and this is something he has been proud of over the years.

"Since Ling Bo caused such a sensation more than ten years ago, why can't we make a movie with a female protagonist today more than ten years later?"

Run Run Shaw nodded while listening, but if Lin Daoqiu wanted to convince him to invest eight million US dollars in making a movie, it would not be enough.

"Mr. Lin, eight million US dollars is definitely an astronomical figure in Hong Kong, but when it comes to Hollywood, it's only considered a low-level production. I'm not doubting Mr. Lin's ability, but I have to read the script first.

"

In business, Run Run Shaw is not like Chow Wenhuai, who can impress the other party just by what he says. He has to read the script first and feel satisfied before he considers whether to invest money.

But as soon as Run Run Shaw finished speaking, Lin Daoqiu suddenly shook his head.

"Uncle Six may have misunderstood what I meant. The budget for this drama does need to be around eight million US dollars, but Shaw Brothers only needs four million US dollars."

After all, Lin Daoqiu is very sure that this drama will make money. If Run Run Shaw is allowed to fully invest in the filming, what kind of money will he get by then.

So what he initially thought was to let Run Run Shaw contribute half of it and make up the rest by himself.

When Run Run Shao heard Lin Daoqiu say this, he immediately frowned.

He didn't expect that Lin Daoqiu would be so courageous and willing to spend four million US dollars. It seemed that he was very confident in this drama.

"Is Mr. Lin really so sure?"

"How will you know if you don't give it a try? Besides, I'm still young. Even if I lose this time, I still have a lot of chances to make a comeback."

Naturally, Lin Daoqiu would not guarantee in front of Shaw that this drama would be a hit, because that would only make him look like an idiot.

"Just to give Mr. Lin a try, I have to invest four million U.S. dollars to take risks. The price is too high."

Run Run Shaw's words sounded like he wanted to reject Lin Daoqiu.

But he suddenly changed the subject: "But I believe in Mr. Lin's ability, so I invested the four million US dollars."

In fact, if Run Run Shaw was really confident, he could have swallowed the 8 million investment on his own, but since he chose to only invest half, it means that he still has concerns.

And just after Lin Daoqiu and Run Run Shaw finished talking about the budget, the topic would inevitably shift to the starring role.

"Does Mr. Lin still plan to let Ah Hua play the leading role this time?"

Run Run Shaw had already learned about Lin Daoqiu and Guo Youhua from Fang Yihua.

Although I don't know how far the two of them have developed, in Shaw's opinion, the heroine of this drama should be Guo Yuhua, because she is now the leading actress of Shaw Brothers.

But Run Run Shaw didn't expect that Lin Daoqiu suddenly shook his head.

"I plan to use Brigitte Lin to play the heroine of this drama."

As soon as these words came out, the corners of Shao Yifu's mouth suddenly twitched several times unconsciously.

Let's not mention that Brigitte Lin is not a Shaw Brothers actress. Let's just say that she has been shooting literary films in Baodao all year round. Can she suddenly change her mind to make an action movie? Is this possible?

"Qingxia is indeed an excellent actor, but isn't it inappropriate for her to act in this drama?"

"Uncle Liu asked Qingxia to act in "A Dream of Red Mansions" last year. Since you had confidence in her at the beginning, you should trust her again now."

If it had been anyone else, Run Run Shaw would have been angry.

However, Brigitte Lin is an exception. She is an actor that Run Run Shaw admires very much.

Otherwise, Run Run Shaw would not have taken the initiative to invite him to come to Hong Kong to film Dream of Red Mansions last year.

If this drama was solely owned by Shaw Brothers, I'm afraid Run Run Shaw would reject Lin Daoqiu's decision now.

But at this time, Run Run Shaw suddenly began to waver. He felt that he should follow Lin Daoqiu's suggestion and let Brigitte Lin give it a try.

After all, compared to Guo Yuhua and Brigitte Lin, there is still a big gap in popularity between the two. Perhaps letting Brigitte Lin play the leading role is the right approach.