Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Li Jiangbo was tidying his clothes. Tonight was the midnight showing of "Happy Ghost," and as the investor and director, he needed to go to the theater to see the audience's reaction.

Zhao Yazhi, wearing a beige long dress, walked up to Li Jiangbo and straightened his tie.

"Bo-zai, how's it going? Are you confident?"

Li Jiangbo smiled slightly, "Sister Zhi! I still have that much confidence."

Zhao Yazhi poked Li Jiangbo's head and said coquettishly, "I'm just afraid that even if you're confident, the audience won't buy it. By the way, if you run into the Sugarcane Biting Gang, don't get into a conflict. If they're not satisfied, they'll just curse at you at most."

Li Jiangbo hugged Zhao Yazhi and kissed her. "It's okay. Movies are for people to watch. If people don't like them, it's only natural for them to vent."

Zhao Yazhi gave a thumbs up, "Great job! Don't cry if you get hit by a bitten sugarcane leaf."

Li Jiangbo slapped Zhao Yazhi's plump buttocks hard, eliciting a series of playful complaints from the beauty.

"Let's go! I'll meet up with the others first."

Zhao Yazhi nodded and watched Li Jiangbo leave. As a supporting actress, she didn't need to attend the premiere, and besides, her voice was a little hoarse this morning, so she decided not to go.

After Zhao Yazhi and Li Jiangbo made a substantial breakthrough that time, Zhao Yazhi moved into Li Jiangbo's house.

When Zhao Yazhi first started living with Li Jiangbo, she wasn't used to it and had some minor health problems every morning.

For example: one day my voice is hoarse, one day my limbs feel weak, one day I'm almost dehydrated...

Li Jiangbo is good in every way—considerate, caring, and considerate of Zhao Yazhi's feelings—but he's a bit of a strain on Zhao Yazhi's back.

Zhao Yazhi is only 25 years old this year, and her back is already so weak at such a young age? That's unbelievable.

As soon as Li Jiangbo went downstairs, he ran into Cherie Chung and Rosamund Kwan waiting for a taxi.

When Chung Chor-hung and Rosamund Kwan saw Li Jiangbo come downstairs, they came to greet him.

"Director Li, why did it take you so long to come down? Ah Hong and I have been waiting for you for ages."

Li Jiangbo looked at his watch with a puzzled expression. It was only past dinner time; there was still plenty of time.

He looked at Rosamund Kwan curiously, "Didn't you say you didn't live in the dorms? How did you find your way here?"

Rosamund Kwan pouted and said, "Oh! I want to be with the group!"

Chung Chor-hung then asked, "Brother Li, should we wait for Director Wong Jing?"

Li Jiangbo shook his head. "Let's not wait any longer. This guy is busy writing the script for 'Chu Liuxiang' right now! Let's go first."

Rosamund Kwan then asked, "Is he coming again?"

"Never mind him."

While the group was talking, bodyguard Awei had already driven up to them.

Li Jiangbo gentlemanly gave the back seat to Rosamund Kwan and Cherie Chung, while he himself sat in the front passenger seat.

The midnight show is at the Jade Cinema on Nathan Road in Kowloon, which is the most famous and luxurious cinema under the Shaw Brothers.

Tomorrow, 10 Shaw Brothers theaters, including four of the flagship theaters, will screen the film together. 10 theaters is not a lot, but it's not a small number either.

Judging from the situation, it seems that Shao Daheng is preparing to adjust his policies based on the results!

However, Shaw Brothers did not make things difficult for Li Jiangbo regarding box office revenue sharing. The two parties agreed on a 60/40 split after deducting taxes. Shaw Brothers would receive 60%, and Li Jiangbo would receive 40%.

This revenue sharing is an unspoken rule in the Hong Kong film industry, except for Shaw Brothers.

The main reason is that Shaw Brothers cinemas have almost never cooperated with external companies. Li Jiangbo's cooperation with Shaw Brothers is like a scorpion dropping its poop in the film industry—it's unique!

Furthermore, Li Jiangbo also enjoyed a benefit: a change in revenue sharing. Since the establishment of the Lisheng Cinema Circuit, the circuit has abolished the system of exclusive distribution rights for films.

If it were released at the beginning of the year, they would receive a minimum guarantee fee before release, and then the revenue would be split. Based on this calculation, Li Jiangbo wouldn't get 30%.

After learning about the revenue-sharing mechanism of Hong Kong cinemas, Li Jiangbo couldn't help but think: I really chose the right time to travel back in time!

......

Nathan Road, a residential community.

Lin Shanshan was still waiting for her classmate downstairs.

After waiting for a while, she noticed seven or eight classmates she knew walking towards her.

Lin Shanshan waved excitedly at them, "Over here, over here!"

Several girls ran over quickly, led by Lin Shanshan's deskmate, Amei.

The group ran over, panting heavily. Once their breathing had caught up, they asked, "Shanshan! Why did you have to go so early?"

Another short-haired girl patted Amei on the shoulder, "Idiot! The midnight show doesn't start until midnight. Do you think your parents would let you out this late?"

Amei scratched her head, "You're right!!"

Lin Shanshan whispered, "Don't you want to see our school in a movie? And the lead role is played by Guan Jiahui, a student from our school. And..."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but after listening for a while without hearing Lin Shanshan continue, they started chattering amongst themselves:

"Shanshan, tell us quickly! We're so anxious!"

Lin Shanshan pouted and said stubbornly, "I won't!" Then she ran away without looking back.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly chased after Lin Shanshan, and it took them a while to catch up with the girl.

Lin Shanshan stood in the middle of the crowd with a smug expression on her face, "As far as I know, our PE teacher, Mr. Zhuang, is also in the cast."

"Is that the incredibly handsome gym teacher?"

"That gym teacher with the eight-pack abs?"

"That PE teacher who can lift up Xiaomei from our class?"

Lin Shanshan nodded frantically. Once the others stopped asking questions, she pulled several movie tickets from her backpack and waved them in front of everyone. "These are premiere tickets my uncle gave me, so we don't need to buy tickets today!"

"Yeh!"

"Long live Shanshan!"

Lin Shanshan was particularly pleased with this atmosphere, which briefly and greatly satisfied her vanity.

She waved her hand. "Let's go! To the Jade Theatre."

After meeting up with the others at the cinema entrance, Li Jiangbo received the movie tickets from Johnnie To.

Led by Li Jiangbo, the group entered the cinema in a grand procession.

The Jade Theatre was the largest Shaw Brothers theatre in terms of capacity, with nearly two thousand seats. When they entered, some people were already seated.

As soon as he entered the theater, Li Jiangbo carefully observed his surroundings and noticed that most of the audience members were young people.

Time ticked by, and by the time the movie was about to start, the theater was less than 40% full.

Li Jiangbo had no interest in watching the audience's reaction. He left the theater and headed straight for the Golden Harvest Theatre.

The Kai Shing Theatre is also on Nathan Road, only a few hundred meters away, just across two or three intersections.

When Li Jiangbo arrived at the entrance, the movie hadn't started yet. He bought his ticket and had it checked in one smooth motion.

He finally breathed a long sigh of relief after entering the movie theater.

The theater was not crowded, less than 30% full.

This number of people is reasonable. Golden Harvest did not pay much attention to the promotion of "The Deadly Sword and the Deadly Gun", but their film has Hung Kam-po and others starring.

In terms of the actors' fame, "Fight to the Death with a Single Blade and a Deadly Gun" is the clear winner.

However, in terms of marketing and distribution, "Happy Ghost" is the clear winner.

After watching the attendance figures for "The Fatal Fight" (also known as "The Fatal Fight"), Li Jiangbo returned to the Jade Theatre.

He should wait and see how the audience reacts to the film; the attendance on the first day doesn't mean anything.

While Li Jiangbo was shuttling between the Jade Theatre and the Kaisheng Theatre, Sir Shaw had already received a call from the theatre manager.

"Uncle Six, the attendance figures for tonight's midnight screenings are in. The Jade Theatre is less than 40% full, and the other three theatres are about the same."

Shaw Yifu frowned. "Less than 40%? How much is it from Golden Harvest?"

"I heard that less than 30% is there."

Shaw Yifu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "As long as it's more than Golden Harvest, that's fine. Contact me as soon as the results of the first run are out tomorrow."

"clear!"