Chapter 225: Big Brother

After the Thailand concert ended, Cheng Chen accompanied Gao Yuanyuan on a leisurely tour around Bangkok.

During the trip, Cheng Chen also met that internationally renowned Big Brother, Jackie Chan.

How to put it—although Big Brother's standing in the jianghu was high, and he looked generous and open-hearted to boot,

his reputation at home wasn't all that great, especially with the rise of the internet.

All sorts of long-buried old stories kept popping up as one "exposé maker" after another appeared.

Some of the negatives were made up, but some were quite true, for instance…

Big Brother's attitude toward Cheng Chen was very warm—after all, Cheng Chen was a junior strongly backed by his own Senior Uncle-Master, Ba Ye.

As for why Ba Ye was called Senior Uncle-Master, Big Brother explained: Sammo Hung is Uncle-Master, so Ba Ye is Senior Uncle-Master.

Of course, Big Brother was also aware of the friction between Zhou Xingchi and Sammo Hung, and the matter of Ba Ye rising to the top later on.

Between fellow disciples, the meat just stays in the pot, after all!

Actually, when you get right down to it, Big Brother's rise to fame was something he had to thank Yuan Baye for.

Back then, Hong Kong Kung Fu films were mainly built on hard-hitting, real-deal stunt work—every fight scene was the real thing.

But there were too many films of the same kind; the rigid, by-the-book fights were lively enough at first glance,

but watching them for long made the audience suffer aesthetic fatigue.

At this juncture, Yuan Baye's film boss, Wu Siyuan, felt that adding comedy into Kung Fu would work.

Combining the two would create a new form of expression for Kung Fu.

In a market saturated with look-alike Kung Fu films, it was bound to succeed.

Yuan Baye's idea happened to coincide with Wu Siyuan's, so the two of them slapped hands on it.

"Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" was born against this backdrop.

"Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" was the first film Yuan Baye directed entirely on his own, and he treasured the opportunity dearly.

He not only put in everything he had ever learned, but also called on his own father, Yuan Xiaotian, to act in it.

The film's style was witty and humorous; amid the hard-hitting martial-arts action of the day, it wove in a unique comedic flavor, making the fights throughout both hard-core and hilarious.

On the casting side, Yuan Baye brought in his fellow junior disciple, Jackie Chan—at the time, Jackie Chan's career had hit a certain bottleneck.

At Ba Ye's invitation, Jackie Chan figured they were all from the same school, so he came to help—little did he expect it would take off beyond all control.

The martial-arts moves Yuan Baye designed for Jackie Chan fit him like they were tailor-made, and the moment the film aired, it was a huge hit.

Even more unexpected, this form of martial-arts expression broke the boundary that only boys liked Kung Fu films.

It expanded the market to children and women.

In the end, the film pulled in over HK$2.7 million at the Hong Kong box office.

It also let Ba Ye feel, for the first time, the success of being a director.

The success of "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" also gave birth to "Drunken Master."

According to rumor, at the wrap party for "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow," everyone was drunk as a skunk.

Seeing everyone sprawled every which way, Wu Siyuan got a sudden whim and said, "How about we make a Drunken Fist movie?"

Ba Ye went back and thought it over—the suggestion was good; filmed out, it ought to be very funny.

And so "Drunken Master" started shooting. Sure enough, "Drunken Master" was once again a huge hit.

It took second place at the Gang Sheng box office that year, and also pulled in a decent haul in Japan.

"Cheng-zai, when you're back, let's get together."

Big Brother took down Cheng Chen's contact info, made a phone-call gesture at Cheng Chen, and said.

Cheng Chen smiled and nodded, waved to Gao Yuanyuan, and left the set of "Baby Project."

"We're leaving just like that?"

Wang Baoqiang asked reluctantly from the side.

From the moment Cheng Chen had sent Gao Yuanyuan to the crew, Wang Baoqiang's eyes had stayed glued to Big Brother.

It was as if he'd bumped into his idol—he wished he could whip out paper and pen on the spot for an autograph.

Luckily, Bao Qiang had seen a bit of the world by now, so he didn't actually do it.

"If we're not leaving, what are we doing? Hurry back and start shooting the film."

Cheng Chen said, patting Bao Qiang on the shoulder.

"N-no, I mean, we finally ran into Big Brother—I still want a photo with him."

Bao Qiang said, reluctant to part.

"There'll be chances later on."

Cheng Chen said with a smile.

"Sigh, I love Big Brother so much—I can even do his Drunken Fist, learned it really well, Mr. Cheng, do you guys want to see—

Hey? Wait for me, I don't know the way back, hey…"

……

Cheng Chen and his group returned home low-key; with the Thailand stop, the Asian concert tour was basically half done.

The remaining stops, according to the plan set earlier, would kick off in the second half of the year.

So in the first half of the year, Cheng Chen had at least to finish one of the one film and one TV drama he had on hand.

The film "Lost in Thailand"—there was basically nothing for him to do over there; he just had to keep pulling out money.

Speaking of money, the box office for "Crazy Stone" was already out, and sure enough, it didn't exceed Cheng Chen's expectations.

The final box office landed at a little over 60 million; after deducting the shares due to the exhibitors and distributors,

Cheng Chen's final take was roughly around 25 million.

This rate of return could truly be called astonishing.

Keep in mind that Crazy Stone only made 6 million.

Moreover, Cheng Chen's calculation only accounts for pure box office revenue.

It does not include overseas screening rights, domestic CD production, or other copyrights.

This is also a major source—when handled well, it rivals box office income.

Of course, Cheng Chen's 25 million is just an estimate; the exact amount he'll receive won't be known until all box office earnings are settled.

In short, whether it's the distributor, the theater operator, or Cheng Chen himself, everyone made a fortune.

When this news broke, Cheng Chen instantly became the center of attention.

"Not only a Heavenly King, but also a miracle investor and Screenwriter—how talented must a man be?"

"Earned a fortune from just one movie: experts estimate Crazy Stone's total copyrights, conservatively, at 100 million!"

"Cheng Chen drops another new film—investors rush to join!"

"Xinghuo Entertainment, a sudden sensation!"

……

Various news headlines screamed for attention.

Some were exaggerated, but some were true—for instance, Cheng Chen had already turned down several investors early that morning.

They came from both film and TV drama investment circles.

But Cheng Chen politely declined them all; for the TV drama The Legend of Zhen Huan, he released only one cooperation slot—that of Anhui Satellite TV, the first to approach him.

For the film Lost in Thailand, Cheng Chen planned to handle everything himself—he didn't want to share this pie with anyone in the movie market.

If it weren't for unavoidable theater distribution and release channels, Cheng Chen would have kicked Xinmei Group out entirely.

Perhaps sensing Cheng Chen's thoughts, or inspired by recent news of investors fawning over him,

or noticing Cheng Chen's frequent contacts with other film distributors and theater operators,

Xinmei Group sensed danger and sent its theater operations head, Yang Lin, over first thing the next morning.

After secret talks between Yang Lin and Cheng Chen, Xinmei Group was confirmed as the exclusive theater and distribution partner for Cheng Chen's films.

For three years.

In return, Xinmei had to offer the most favorable royalty terms, guaranteeing Cheng Chen's income and promotion.

Xinmei originally wanted to extend the term, but Cheng Chen refused.

Come on—how could a mere Xinmei Group possibly bind him completely?

……