Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

"Crackling~~~~" "Dong dong choking~~" "Dang Dang~~".

The sound of firecrackers, gongs, drums, and trumpets complement each other.

A long lion dance team was performing outside the Star Cinema. In addition to the crowd watching the excitement, there were also many reporters taking photos.

On Saturday, July 29, 1978, it was a good time to open for business. Star Cinema began to officially open for business and screen movies on this day.

This is Central, the largest cinema of Star Cinema, which is equivalent to a flagship store.

Many movie theaters in this era were converted from theaters, so sometimes they did other businesses when they were not showing movies. Take the famous Lee Stage as an example. It not only screens movies, but is also used as a performance stage for Cantonese opera, opera and concerts.

Star Cinema is different. Lin Baicheng asked Zuo Xiangqing to learn from his American counterparts from the beginning. It is only used for movie screening and has no other functions.

Each cinema is divided into several screening halls according to different sizes, each with 150 seats. Even the smallest cinema has four screening rooms with a total of 600 seats, which is more than most cinemas in Hong Kong.

This is still the smallest cinema. The largest cinema in Central has ten screening rooms with a total of 1,500 seats. It can be said to be the largest cinema in Hong Kong.

There are many seats, so the cinema area is of course large. This is Central, so this cinema alone costs tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. The main reason is that shops in shopping malls are too expensive.

Lin Baicheng asked Zuo Xiangqing to buy the shop directly to build a cinema. Otherwise, if he rented it, he wouldn't have to spend so much money. However, this is a one-time expense, and you will not be troubled by rent in the future. It will definitely be worth it in the long run, not to mention that as time goes by, the real estate of the cinema itself will continue to appreciate.

Today, Star Cinema has a total of ten cinemas open for business. Although they cannot cover the entire Xiangjiang, there are cinemas in the areas with the most developed economy and the largest flow of people in Xiangjiang. In addition, the cinema itself has many seats, so even though there are only ten cinemas, it is already a cinema chain that can show movies.

Lin Baicheng lives in Xiangjiang, so Xingchen Cinema has officially opened for business, and the first film to be screened is "The Snake" produced by Xingchen Pictures. Of course Lin Baicheng will come to attend the premiere.

Among the ten cinemas, Lin Baicheng naturally went to the cinema in Central.

As the manager of a theater company, Zuo Xiangqing was greeting guests outside the theater, while Lin Baicheng was already inside the theater.

As the first film released by Star Pictures, not only all the company's top executives came, but also several film companies that cooperated with Star Pictures also came to attend the premiere. In addition, the company also invited some bosses, directors and actors in the industry to come.

Lin Baicheng is the center of everyone, and everyone talks and talks around him.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Shao Yifu is here."

While Lin Baicheng was chatting with Lin Qingxia and Guan Zhilin, Qin Lan came over.

"It seems Sir Shao still gives me face."

Lin Baicheng raised his eyebrows, nodded to Lin Qingxia and Guan Zhilin, and walked outside.

"Sir Shao, welcome!"

Seeing Shao Yifu and Zuo Xiangqing chatting, Lin Baicheng walked over with a smile.

"Lin Sheng!"

The two shook hands.

"Who is this?"

Lin Baicheng looked at the woman next to Shao Yifu in confusion. In fact, he knew who this woman was, but he just pretended not to know.

Upon hearing this, Shao Yifu introduced someone to Lin Baicheng, and it turned out to be Fang Yihua. He was a very famous artist more than 20 years ago, and later he married Shao Yifu, but the two were not legally husband and wife.

"Sir Shao, please come inside."

Lin Baicheng just said hello to Fang Yihua. Anyway, he was unlikely to deal with this woman in the future, so he waved Shao Yifu in.

Several people walked into the cinema.

The layout of Star Cinema is different from traditional cinemas in Xiangjiang. The screening hall is inside and upstairs. Outside is a place for resting and waiting. In addition to the place to buy tickets and a few rows of seats, there are also several arcade machines. To pass the time for guests waiting for the movie screening.

Looking at the layout of the cinema, Shao Yifu said: "Lin Sheng, your cinema is different from other cinemas in Xiangjiang. It is large enough. Just this cinema alone will cost a lot of money."

"Including the money to buy the shop, the total cost is tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars."

Lin Baicheng did not hide anything when he heard this, and even said: "My cinema is modeled after the one in the United States. A cinema is divided into several screening rooms, each with 150 seats, so that even the audience in the back row can See the video clearly.”

"Ten million Hong Kong dollars are enough to buy several movie theaters in Hong Kong."

Shao Yifu was surprised when he heard this. Shaw Brothers theater chain is now only worth 50 to 60 million Hong Kong dollars. This is because it has benefited greatly from the increase in land prices. Unexpectedly, a movie theater in Star Cinema is worth one-fifth of a Shaw Brothers theater chain. Line.

"Ten cinemas of Star Cinema have opened today. Won't other cinemas also spend tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars?"

Fang Yihua was also very surprised. Although he knew that the young man in front of him was very rich, there was no need to spend like this. One theater chain cost hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

"Not that much."

Lin Baicheng waved his hand: "This is a leading cinema, so it has the largest area. In addition, this is Central, so it costs the most. Cinemas in other places are much cheaper, ranging from two to three million Hong Kong dollars, to four to five million Hong Kong dollars. All.”

"Even so, Lin Sheng, you have spent a lot of money on this theater chain."

Shao Yifu sighed with emotion, looked at Lin Baicheng and said: "Lin Sheng, you have invested so much, have you ever thought about when you can recover the cost? Or are you optimistic about the development of the Hong Kong film industry, so you do not hesitate to invest a lot of money?"

Lin Baicheng nodded: "You can say that, I believe that the total box office of the movie market will be higher and higher every year."

"It seems that Lin Sheng, your idea is completely opposite to mine. If the time is extended, I will not be optimistic about the future of Hong Kong's film industry."

Shao Yifu shook his head. It was precisely because he was not optimistic about the development of the film industry that Shaw Brothers Pictures began to slowly reduce the number of films produced over the years, and he himself also wanted to join the TVB TV station.

Lin Baicheng was not surprised by this, because Shao Yifu did this in his previous life. Shaw Brothers did not have a place in Hong Kong's film industry in the 1980s and 1990s. However, TVB TV Station was developing better and better under Shao Yifu's helm.

Lin Baicheng knew very well that the Xiangjiang film industry was about to enter a golden age, but Shaw Brothers' films could no longer keep up with the times. Therefore, even if Shao Yifu wanted to persist, it would be meaningless and he would not make much money at all. Choosing to let go would be the opposite. is a correct decision.