The normal process of making a movie also requires market research, but Wu Changyun could have skipped this step completely. Speaking of the two Hong Kong movies that dominated the box office in 1973, they were "72 Tenants", a drama about Hong Kong's petty bourgeoisie, and Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon". It is worth mentioning that five months after Bruce Lee's death, this movie, which can be regarded as Bruce Lee's swan song, only won the third place in the Hong Kong box office at the time, but reaped a lot of box office revenue overseas. As a representative of Hong Kong local films, "72 Tenants" crushed foreign films and won the first place in the box office.
It seems that Hong Kong people are very enthusiastic about authentic local films. Unfortunately, Wu Changyun did not have such an advantage in this regard. In the intervening period until the release of Jackie Chan's Drunken Master in 1978, and after entering the 1980s, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers. Not only did we have the popular Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, but we also had the humorous "Ghost Master", the unique "Shu Mountain", and the human-ghost theme "Happy Ghost", all kinds of genres flourished.
With this knowledge, how could Wu Changyun not know how unpopular his script was? After staying up all night, Wu Changyun made some preliminary changes to the script. The overall plot did not break away from the framework of the martial arts drama. He just changed the image of the protagonist from the son of a landlord to a thief with a strong sense of justice, and changed the insulted childhood sweetheart to be framed by the local tyrants and patrolmen and then imprisoned. He wanted to try to change the overall era background from martial arts to urban action, but such a change would require a complete change in the shooting location and costumes and props. It would be very difficult to push the new script forward. Wu Changyun was very clear in his mind that many martial arts films in Hong Kong during this period were some big IPs with both high-quality and well-known scripts. It would be a big pit for Wu Changyun to shoot a martial arts film in his current situation.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you sleeping so early in the morning?" Fushun rubbed his eyes and saw Wu Changyun sitting at the door with a lit candle.
They both washed their faces and went to the yard. Wu Changyun told Fushun about the movie, and the other party looked surprised.
"You really agreed?"
I thought Fushun would be against me, but I didn't expect him to change his attitude and actually start congratulating Wu Changyun.
"What? Don't you hate that director?" Wu Changyun was a little curious.
"That's what Zhou Huiting said. This is my brother's big deal. What does a girl like you know? Even if you're not very good at it, you're still the lead actor."
"You are right, but not entirely right." Wu Changyun did not continue to explain to him.
At Fu Shun's repeated request, Wu Changyun took him to the set in a taxi and finally found Liu Xiao in the crowd. There were many people around him and he looked very busy.
"What's going on?"
Liu Xiao glanced at Wu Changyun and replied perfunctorily, "It's okay, go inside and wait."
"Who are these people?" Wu Changyun asked the staff next to him.
"This is someone from the venue company. They came early this morning and said that another crew was planning to reserve this venue, and it would conflict with our schedule."
"Isn't it a first come, first served basis?" Wu Changyun realized as soon as he said this. Liu Xiao must have not paid the money in advance.
Now that things had developed to this point, Wu Changyun wasn't in a rush. His ideal location wasn't one for a martial arts film anyway, so he could see how Liu Xiao handled it and perhaps even use this opportunity to change locations. Before long, the two gangs were arguing fiercely, with the other crew surrounding the entrance. While this could have been resolved through a quick chat, Liu Xiao remained hidden inside, making phone calls and refusing to show up.
After a while, a group of thugs came in from outside the venue and had a conflict with the crew outside, and quickly dispersed the people outside.
"Liu Xiao, did you give the money for buying the venue to those gangsters outside?" Wu Changyun was getting a little restless. If the poor filming was a professional issue, then Liu Xiao's current behavior was suspected of defrauding the producer.
"What the hell are you yelling about?" Liu Xiao got angry after being yelled at by Wu Changyun. He straightened up and continued, "You're doing this to make money. Don't worry, your pay won't be reduced by a penny."
"You never intended to make money from making movies from the beginning, right? You were targeting the funds given to you by Zhuyouzi from the beginning."
"It doesn't matter what money you make. Do you really want to make a name for yourself as an actor? Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror? Are you worthy of it?" Liu Xiao also relied on the fact that he had contacted many people outside and did not take Wu Changyun, an unknown person, seriously at all.
"Do I deserve it? If I hadn't tried so hard to act like a double, would Zhuyouzai have given you the money? After all, aren't you using my reputation to cheat people?" Wu Changyun became more and more angry. He simply pushed the table in front of him over, pointed at Liu Xiao's nose and cursed, "Take your money and get out of here. Get as far away as you can."
Liu Xiao had a thought: if he parted ways with Wu Changyun now, Lei Luo would not let him go.
"Why are you being so stubborn? Without me, how can you continue making this movie? You have no money and no people."
Fu Shun had been trying to persuade them for the sake of the overall situation, but when he saw Wu Changyun's temper, he understood what was happening. He grabbed the broken stool leg and pointed at Liu Xiao, saying, "Don't think you have more people than them. If they dare to move, I'll kill you first."
"You also know that you can't run away? Lei Luo will eat you alive before the movie is finished. I will give you two choices now. One is that you take what you deserve, keep the rest of the money, and get out. The other is that you continue to stay here, but I have the final say on all matters related to the filming. The expenses will be paid from the funds that Zhuyouzai gave you. You can also get your dividends if the movie makes money." After Wu Changyun said this, he waited for Liu Xiao to give him an answer.
Wu Changyun was sure that Liu Xiao would not leave, and would not hand over the money easily.
Liu Xiao didn't expect Wu Changyun to be so tough. He had always looked down on this peasant who played a stuntman, but he didn't expect that he would cause him so much trouble at the critical moment.
A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him. Liu Xiao cannot break up with Wu Changyun completely at the moment, so he might as well agree to it first. Wu Changyun cannot shoot the film without him as the director, and he is not good at it. Wu Changyun has no loved ones or friends. As long as he can grasp Wu Changyun's weakness, he will have the final say when the time comes.
"You're joking. The conflict between us shouldn't involve the set. Since you have your own ideas, then you can try it first. However, if the filming schedule is delayed and the work cannot be delivered, everyone will be in trouble." Liu Xiao waved his hand and ignored the two people in front of him.
Wu Changyun had considered this before arriving. While 1970s Hong Kong was a place where professionals made films, the era before Wu Changyun's time travel meant everyone was filming dramas on the streets. Anyway, at this point, Wu Changyun wouldn't let Liu Xiao interfere in the filming at all; he could still make this movie himself.
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