Chapter 444

While Battle Through the Heavens kept breaking box office records in the mainland market, its income from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas was also not bad.

In Hong Kong, the film grossed a total of 1.17 billion Hong Kong dollars upon release, about 14 million US dollars.

Later generations often have a misconception when discussing the decline of Hong Kong films, thinking that the entire Hong Kong film market collapsed as well.

But in fact, only the Hong Kong films collapsed; the market remained, and audience demand remained.

People just used to watch Hong Kong films, then went to watch Hollywood blockbusters instead.

In the original history, the champion of the Hong Kong film market's annual box office in 2012 was the well-known Avengers, which earned a respectable 12.46 million US dollars, equivalent to about 98 million Hong Kong dollars.

Coming in second was the Hollywood blockbuster Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, with a box office of 10.34 million US dollars, slightly lower than the Avengers.

Therefore, the Hong Kong film market's box office output is still quite strong.

People no longer favor martial arts, action, comedy, zombie, etc., genre films; they prefer to watch special-effects blockbusters with more shocking visual effects.

In the original history, Hong Kong audiences had no choice but to contribute to Hollywood blockbusters.

In this life, there is a Chinese-language special-effects blockbuster with superior visual effects, directed by the still proud-of-Hong Kong Jiang Heng; the film being warmly received and selling well, with a box office over 100 million Hong Kong dollars, is quite reasonable.

This makes many veteran Hong Kong filmmakers extremely envious; Xiang Huazhong is one of them, but he has no usable people around him.

Furthermore, Huayi's filming of Investiture of the Gods suffered a box office failure; Xiang Huazhong felt uneasy, fearing he might accidentally follow in Huayi's footsteps.

Yet doing nothing at all also leaves him somewhat unwilling.

Coincidentally, Jiang Heng was in Hong Kong during the Spring Festival; this person also arranged a meal together to ask how to make a good special-effects blockbuster.

Jiang Heng was not stingy either; he casually shared some insights, and as for whether they could learn it, he didn't care.

After hearing that, Xiang Huazhong still dared not take the risk.

However, Madam Xiang is strong-willed, wanting to pave the way for her son.

Moreover, because Jiang Heng announced a pause in filming in 2012, she felt it was a rare opportunity and kept urging her husband to make a big film to promote their son.

This is because Xiang Zuo has been in the entertainment industry for years, yet he can only play supporting roles, with no prospect of rising to prominence.

Xiang Huazhong originally had some hesitation, but upon seeing Battle Through the Heavens' box office smash hit—grossing 1.17 billion Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong and breaking the 3 billion yuan mark in the mainland market, achieving a box office success of 3.298 billion yuan—he was truly moved.

Because behind these box office figures lies extremely enviable profit!

Take Battle Through the Heavens for example; its mainland shareable box office alone is around one billion.

Adding the Hong Kong/Taiwan, Japan/Korea, Southeast Asia, North American, and European markets, one can only say Jiang Heng made a killing again.

As the saying goes, 'wealth and beauty move hearts'; Jiang Heng makes huge profits every year, leaving countless people envious.

But these people know their own limits and dare not take risks.

Moreover, the Chinese-language market only acknowledges Jiang Heng's special-effects blockbusters, leaving no chance for others to stand out.

Just like in the golden age of the Hong Kong film market, where modern action had Cheng Long, martial arts had Li Lianjie, gangster gunfights had Zhou Yunfa, and nonsensical comedy had Zhou Xingxing—each of them dominated their respective specialty genres, leaving no living space for imitators.

Therefore, during those prosperous years of the Hong Kong film market, there was no second Li Lianjie, no second Zhou Xingxing.

Although some have tried, none have succeeded. And Jiang Heng's dominance in the Chinese-language special-effects blockbuster genre is even stronger than theirs.

Since he does not pause filming, others really find it hard to stand out. Thus, for many Chinese-language filmmakers, 2012 was truly a godsend opportunity.

Xiang Huazhong was initially cautious, but he could not withstand the pleas of his wife and son.

Furthermore, as various companies hurriedly prepared new films, he also became somewhat restless.

"What do you think we should film?"

Madam Xiang had prepared early: "Jiang Heng's special-effects blockbusters are nothing more than a few categories—mythology, sci-fi, monsters, and mecha. The latter three we cannot learn; only mythology can be filmed."

Xiang Huazhong nodded slightly, he also thought so, then immediately asked: "Then what do you think—is classical mythology better, or something like the web novel Battle Through the Heavens?"

Xiang Zuo said: "Web novels are great! I see many young people like them; I've read some, and they feel quite fun!"

Madam Xiang shook her head: "Web novels won't do; that stuff is only watched by young people, mainstream society doesn't accept it. Moreover, the setting is too grand, making adaptation extremely difficult!!"

"But Jiang Heng's Battle Through the Heavens succeeded, right?" Xiang Zuo asked doubtfully.

Madam Xiang said: "That's because he is Jiang Heng, with the special-effects visuals pushed to the extreme; some plot flaws are tolerable to the audience, since they go in just for visual enjoyment. Whereas our film, the audience might enter with a skeptical mindset."

Xiang Huazhong, also a veteran filmmaker, said in a low voice: "Indeed, the audience will definitely be more critical of our films."

"Then what should we film?" Xiang Zuo showed a surprised expression.

Madam Xiang said: "Let's film Investiture of the Gods!"

"Investiture of the Gods? What would I play? Nezha? Age and build don't match either? Surely it can't be Yang Jian, right?"

Xiang Zuo still has some self-awareness, knowing his looks, playing Erlang Shen Yang Jian would be too much of a stretch.

After all, in Chinese-language film and TV, the older Yang Jian is played by Jiaoshunjun, the younger version by Jiang Heng; both are audience-approved, and Xiang Zuo doesn't think he can challenge either of them.

Xiang Tai turned to look at her husband and said, "What do you think of Lei Zhenzi?"

In the original novel, Lei Zhenzi is an extremely ugly character, so if Xiang Zuo played him, he probably wouldn't be criticized.

Xiang Huaxiang thought for a moment and said, "Making Lei Zhenzi the male lead would make the plot hard to write, wouldn't it?"

Xiang Tai said, "Spending more money to hire a few good screenwriters isn't a big problem; the key is the cast. This time we're splurging to promote our son, so we can use any past connections we have."

Xiang Huaxiang heard this, understood his wife's meaning, thought a bit, and said, "Okay, I'll call Ah Jie!"

Speaking of Li Lianjie back then, he owed the Xiang family a huge favor.

Nowadays, the Xiang couple plan to invest heavily in a special-effects blockbuster to promote their son; as an uncle, you should definitely come show your support.

It's a pity they aren't close enough with Jiang Heng; otherwise, having Jiang Heng nominally serve as a producer and come give some guidance during filming would surely boost the box office.

Just as the Xiang family was preparing "The Legend of Investiture of the Gods", Wu Yusen's "The Crossing" had already started filming in Jingcheng Huairou.

The film has confirmed stars such as Zhang Ziyi, Huang Xiaoming, Jin Chengwu, Song Huiqiao, Tong Dawei, etc.; Wu Yusen said the film is based on real historical events, aiming to create a Chinese version of "Titanic".

Meanwhile, Xu Ke's "Detective Dee: The Dragon King of the Divine Capital" had already started filming; these people's goal is simple: to seize the blockbuster market left by Jiang Heng and win the box office battle in next year's Spring Festival season. (End of chapter)