Chapter 332 Making Money and Success (33)
Several directors in the Hong Kong directing circle saw the "My Hometown and Me" and "My Homeland and Me" series of films made by several directors from the Mainland. Just a few billion at the box office.
envious.
So, with Johnnie To leading seven Hong Kong directors to copy this approach, they made a whole movie called "The Seven"...
The box office of this thing in the Mainland was appalling, with only a few hundred thousand on the first day.
Not only was it not a hit in the mainland, but the box office in Hong Kong was also very poor—it didn’t even make the top ten in its first week!
Not only the first week, but also the total box office did not enter the top ten - ranking tenth was "Late Night Dodgeball" with a box office of 3.64 million Hong Kong dollars. (I haven’t found the total box office, but it’s true that it didn’t make the top ten.)
But this group of people will not think it is their fault, they will only blame the market and the system...
If it's really just the market, their movies should be selling well in Hong Kong or Taiwan...
Just curious, in the past, Hong Kong films were mainly sold to Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, in addition to being produced locally. They were also very prosperous.
You can continue to shoot for these markets, why do you have to talk about it in mainland China?
Moreover, Hong Kong movies have never been free. In the most glorious 1980s and 1990s, the main consumer markets for Hong Kong movies were the Chinese-speaking areas of East Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and other places. There were various restrictions and censorships in various regions. Especially the Taiwan market!
At that time, Taiwan, the largest consumer market for Hong Kong films, not only censored the content, but also censored the behind-the-scenes and actors!
Anyone who has any contact or cooperation with the mainland is not allowed. Liang Xiaolong, Liang Jiahui and Andy Lau have all been banned.
At that time, Hong Kong filmmakers did not stand up and publicly appeal to the Taiwan authorities. Instead, they persuaded Liang Jiahui to write a letter of repentance and ask for forgiveness...
Andy Lau also has "Black Bat Squadron".
But now...
The mainland has become the number one consumer market for Hong Kong films. It does not prevent you from making local films in Hong Kong, and it does not prevent you from cooperating with and distributing films from other countries. At most, you are not free to release them in the mainland.
Suddenly he has a backbone and artistic pursuits?
Shen Xudong kept away from such people.
So, for "Time Traveler", he withdrew the script.
Who to shoot with?
For this kind of pure romance film, the script comes first, and then the handsome guys and beauties are assembled. Does it matter who the director is?
…
In late March, "A World Without Thieves" moved to BJ, and Shen Xudong also returned to the capital with the crew.
After returning to the capital, he didn't stay on the set much.
On the one hand, the script has been perfected, but on the other hand, he is really bored staying on the set!
Chen Guofu went to produce "Waiting Alone", and Shen Xudong stayed on the crew of "A World Without Thieves" and had nothing to do.
I simply went back to school and stayed for a few days.
In the second semester of his junior year this year, the school has very few courses and basically allows students to join groups for practice...
But one good thing about Chinese dramas is that no reporters disturb him...
But it only lasted a week - "The Legend of the Xing'anling Hunter" was released on April 1, and he had to promote it!
In fact, "Mountain Village Fox Wife" preceded it, and "Legend of the Xing'anling Hunter" is very popular. The trailers posted on several major video platforms have received over 10 million views!
Moreover, the story of "The Legend of the Xing'anling Hunter" is more complicated than that of "The Fox Wife in the Mountain Village", with three lines intersecting.
But the same thing as "The Village Fox Wife" is that the narrator of each story will tell the story from his own point of view, beautifying the part involving himself without affecting the overall plot, and making all vested interests justifiable.
There is an ugly human nature hidden under the false stories of ghosts...
You can show horror while avoiding censorship!
According to estimates, the box office of "The Legend of the Xing'anling Hunter" should not be lower than that of "The Village Fox Wife". In the early stage, we will do a good job in preventing piracy...
A high-definition pirated copy of "The Village Fox Wife" appeared only a week after it was released. I guess the pirates didn't react.
This time is different, the reputation has been established!
The starring cast of "Mountain Village Fox Wife" continues...
Shen Xudong still has to attend several promotional activities.
He was all ready when something suddenly happened, which caught his attention and the media's attention - news of the first instance verdict in Guo Jingming's plagiarism case...
Why the first instance?
Because Guo Jingming expressed dissatisfaction and continued to appeal...
This has nothing to do with Shen Xudong, but... they are all post-80s writers!
Therefore, when reporters asked Guo Jingming's question, Shen Xudong responded directly: "The Court of Justice has ruled that it must be plagiarism!"
"There are only so many ways to write a book. Let's put it this way, what can be judged by the court as plagiarism is basically copying the original words and changing the name. Most people think that the outline and structure are plagiarized, but the courts rarely find plagiarism..."
"But Guo Jingming doesn't seem to be affected by this incident. The first printing of 500,000 copies of his new book "The Summer Solstice Is Not Here" sold out in two months. The sales volume of the magazine "Island" he edited was around 200,000. What do you think of this situation? ?”
"... Most literati have backbone, and businessmen only have absolute interests in their eyes. In his view, the definition of success is just making money. He is no longer a literati. Theft is justified and glory is taken. A small thief of baht and a big thief of literature. I despise such people!"
"Aren't you afraid that someone will say you are jealous of him?"
"Why am I jealous of him? Is he jealous that he can only make money by plagiarizing and laundering articles? Or am I jealous that even if he plagiarizes, his sales won't be as good as mine?"
I originally wanted to say, 'I'm jealous that he's less than 1.6 meters tall', but I thought it was too vicious, so I held back...
"Then what does success mean in your eyes?"
"Making money is only part of success. A person who only thinks about making money is definitely not a noble person! I think success includes not only making money, but also being a good person and doing things."
…
What Shen Xudong said was awe-inspiring...
In fact, his original idea was just to make money!
Without a system, the most convenient way is to copy documents from the public...
It's just that what Shen Xudong copied were unpublished scripts, real best-sellers, such as "Yi Zhongtian's Appreciation of the Three Kingdoms", "Ghost Blowing the Lamp", "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty", etc. He was just the publisher!
Never covet the author's name.
From this perspective, he can be regarded as a conscientious scholar.
Although it's not much - he won the film and television rights to "Ghost Blowing the Lamp" for 2 million and signed it directly for twenty years!
Guo Jingming’s matter was only a first-instance judgment, and he appealed unconvinced...
It stands to reason that the three major writers born in the 1980s can at least cause a stir, but... the media seems to turn a blind eye to this matter.
Except for a few media people, book reviewers, editors, readers and other groups who have publicly spoken out, most people in the literary circle have remained silent...
Some critics even openly said, ‘What does Guo Jingming count as plagiarism? In fact, in China, among the more serious plagiarism cases, has anyone ever said that they should apologize? Don’t those university professors who plagiarize still appear on campus sanctimoniously? This is a holistic issue of moral self-discipline. Our personality and style are actually facing a serious challenge. ’
Convinced…
But Shen Xudong is too lazy to worry about it, let's wait until the final judgment comes down next year!
First promote "The Legend of Xing'anling Hunter"...
He cares about this film very much - the last film "The Village Fox Wife" earned him 4.8 million yuan, and in addition, the company's shared income was 24 million yuan!