After a night of drinking, Wu Changyun woke up at around five o'clock the next day. He didn't see Fushun on the ground floor. Wu Changyun found Fushun in the corridor on the first-floor platform.
"woke up?"
"Yeah, I can't sleep well."
"Me too." Fushun took a deep breath and said.
"What are you pretending for?" Wu Changyun couldn't help but hit Fushun on the back. The movie "New Wusheng" they shot a few days ago was submitted for review, and today happened to be the day it was released in theaters. How many rounds of screenings this "New Wusheng" could last and how much success it could achieve all depended on this one-month test.
"It should be fine to last a week."
Wu Changyun glanced at Fushun. Many unsuccessful movies might be withdrawn from the shelves within a week of their release due to poor sales. At that time, there was an unwritten custom that for movies that were withdrawn early due to poor box office performance, the film producers would arrange for some dancers to perform in the theaters. Many lecherous old men would go to watch them so that they could earn more ticket revenue to make up for the loss.
Wu Changyun thought carefully and replied, "No, if it really doesn't sell, we two brothers will go on stage and dance."
"Fuck you, with our figures, if we stand on it, we will look like two baguettes." Fushun joked with a smile.
At noon, the two could not wait any longer and went to the cinema. The current cinema camp is quite complicated. In addition to being released locally, Hong Kong films are also screened in Singapore, Japan and other neighboring countries. Shaw Brothers' former competitor in cinemas, International Motion Picture Mauve, was founded by Singaporeans. Its earliest main business was to introduce Hong Kong films to the Nanyang market. Later, after making money, it opened many cinemas in Hong Kong, and then transferred its cinemas to Golden Harvest in 1970.
The Hollywood Cinema Wu Changyun visited this time is one of Shaw Brothers' cinemas. Profits from films are distributed among the cinema chain, distributors, producers, as well as taxes and foundations. In other words, 60% of ticket sales at Hollywood Cinemas go to Shaw Brothers. Whether in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Japan, profits from film production are distributed among various stakeholders.
"I worked so hard to make a movie, but all the money I earned was taken away by the cinema." Wu Changyun was unwilling to accept this, but the money Shaw Brothers invested in the cinema was not a small amount.
"The decoration here is really nice, and there's air conditioning." Fushun looked around. The walls were covered with various movie posters, and the floor was covered with marble tiles.
Along the way, Wu Changyun saw posters of "Master Wu" everywhere. When he looked closer, he saw that the characters on them were Gao Wu and the girl in leather jacket.
"Damn, what's with this? I was wondering what those flyers handing out at the door were just now. Turns out they were for this guy's movie. Not to mention, his waist is quite thin." Fushun smacked his lips. Although the painting style of the characters in the poster was far from realistic, it was eye-catching enough in the eyes of contemporary people.
Wu Changyun chuckled. Gao Wu was clearly more dedicated to promotion than he was. After filming, Wu Changyun was exhausted and didn't get involved in publicity. Besides, he didn't have the charisma of a major star. He didn't know if it was a deliberate arrangement, but Gao Wu and Wu Changyun were scheduled to film together. It could also be a company arrangement.
Wu Changyun checked the schedule. Currently, they only own two cinema chains under Shaw Brothers, namely Hollywood and Beijing Capital Cinema. These two are the first stop. Tonight, the film will also be shown in the midnight slot of the Royal Cinema, Mandarin Cinema and New Voice Cinema.
There weren't many people lining up to buy tickets. During the lunch hour, many people bought tickets just to enjoy the cool air. Perhaps only half were drawn in by the promotional posters. Even though it was a film he'd made, tickets still had to be bought. Fushun queued up and spent two yuan to buy two tickets, and the two of them sat in the theater waiting.
But watching the people coming and going, Fushun felt strange. Why did everyone else have a few cents in their hands? Why did they even bring change for two yuan? Fushun went to the front desk angrily. There was a girl with short hair at the window. At just one glance, Fushun's temper subsided. Instead, she looked like a weak scholar.
"The change is at the window. It's your fault for not waiting any longer and just turning around and leaving. You can't blame us for that," Wen Jing said, leaning on her head. She was actually the supervisor, temporarily looking after the place while the official ticket seller had gone to the restroom after lunch. Although supervisory wasn't a serious job, coming in at this time of day did bring in some benefits.
After hearing this explanation, Wu Changyun also frowned. Shouldn't the change be told in advance?
Wu Changyun didn't reach out to take the money from the window, and Wen Jing ignored them and waved her hand, saying, "Are you okay? If not, please stand aside. There are so many people queuing."
"That's right, what are you doing?"
The people behind him were getting a little impatient. Wu Changyun was angry. If it was someone else's movie, he wouldn't care so much. After all, this was his movie.
"It's really strange that several grown men would fight for these two cents." Wen Jing continued.
"Sister, look at what you said. We really don't feel bad about the two cents, but we just need to get things straight."
Fushun was about to reach out to take the money from the window with a silly smile, but was immediately stopped by Wu Changyun, who scolded him, "Are you crazy? How can you tolerate such a person's bad habits?"
"Oh, you don't understand, that little girl is quite pretty."
"Damn, you like him?" Wu Changyun said, looking at Fushun's stupid look.
"Am I such a frivolous person? My attitude towards love has always been loyal and unwavering, okay? But then again, who wouldn't want to take a second look at a beautiful woman?"
"Yeah." Wu Changyun nodded. He agreed with Fushun's point of view very much. The ticket seller looked like a rare beauty, but based on Wu Changyun's experience in judging people, a girl like this who was dressed in heavy makeup, had a slender waist, and had such an arrogant attitude was definitely a person who would waste money and cause trouble. He advised Fushun not to mess with such a woman.
"I know. Do I need to tell you?" Fushun replied unhappily.
Wu Changyun sighed helplessly. It was obvious that Fushun didn't take his words to heart at all.
After a brief wait, the two entered the theater. This was the first showing of "New Wusheng." Wu Changyun glanced around. It was about five minutes from now, and the show was only halfway through. Honestly, disappointment was a common occurrence, and Wu Changyun had anticipated this. Their movie was bound to be a flop. Now, sitting there and seeing the attendance, even someone as calm as Wu Changyun was speechless.
"It's okay. You know what, everyone likes watching movies." Fushun doesn't usually watch movies. He once didn't understand why people would spend a dollar or two to sit in a movie theater and kill time.
Wu Changyun could only nod awkwardly, but what he thought in his heart was completely different from what Fushun thought.
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