Chapter 1129: Shaw Brothers Blood Loss! Decision!

MGM Pictures held a world premiere. As the more powerful Warner Bros. Pictures, it naturally did not want to be outdone, and also held a very grand premiere. The ceremony was star-studded, and the media who came exclaimed that they had come to the right place.

In Hong Kong, the Shaw Brothers Film Company also held a premiere, and then the movie was screened in full at Shaw Theatres starting at midnight on June 19.

Wu Siyuan strategically defied 'Blade Runner', but that didn't mean he ignored it.

Because he was so hoping that 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' would set a local box office record of 30 million Hong Kong dollars, he wanted to see for himself any movie that might pose a threat to 'E.T.' before making a judgment.

Therefore, in the early morning of 19 June, he wore sunglasses and a hat and went to a Shaw Brothers cinema in a low-key manner.

While waiting in line to buy tickets, a young couple stood in front of him.

It seemed that the girl didn't want to watch 'Blade Runner' before. She only listened to the young man point to the nearby packed people and said with some complacency, 'Ah Zhen, watching "Blade Runner" is definitely the right choice. Just by hearing the name, you know it's domineering. You can be sure you've come to the right place tonight, so don't worry.'

The girl was still a little reluctant, took the young man's hand and whispered, 'But I heard Cai Xia and the others say that Alien E.T. is so heartwarming, perfect for couples or families to watch together, with all the fighting and killing...'

The girl kept an eye on her boyfriend's face as she spoke, and when she noticed that he didn't look well, she pursed her lips and stopped talking.

'One ticket for Blade Runner, a seat in the back row will do,'

After the young couple had gone in, Wu Siyuan took out his money and said to the ticket seller:

After receiving the ticket, he walked straight to the ticket inspection area.

More than two hours later...

The first movie ended, and the audience left one after the other.

When Wu Siyuan came out, he saw that the employees of Shaw Circuit were asking the audience about their movie-watching experience from time to time. He deliberately slowed down to listen, and most of the audience cursed, which made the employees of Shaw Circuit look very embarrassed.

He also saw the couple in front of him when they bought the tickets. The girl kept complaining about how it wasn't any good, while the guy didn't dare to argue back this time, just cursing at Shaw Brothers Pictures.

Some people were even upset, and when they walked out, they kept on complaining to the people waiting in line to buy tickets, telling them there was no need to waste their money.

Seeing so many people saying this, some people really gave up watching the movie on the spot and left Shaw Brothers Cinema directly, either going home or going to Universal Cinema.

After leaving Shaw Movie Theatre, Ng Si Yuen turned his head to look at the theatre's sign, smiled with a relaxed expression, and then strode proudly towards the car park.

Blade Runner is definitely no match for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and there's no way it can stop E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial from reaching the top!

After all, Blade Runner is a science fiction film, but science fiction is a broad concept, and Blade Runner's science fiction is only expressed in the worldview setting of the film, while its story kernel is completely different.

What is the core of the plot of the movie Blade Runner?

It is sci-fi in spirit – it explores science that has developed to another stage, challenging what humans have previously known.

This extremely in-depth plot is not suitable for the general public to watch, especially in a place like Hong Kong where the general level of education is low, it is strange that the vast majority of the audience can understand it!

It would be more suitable to release it in the 21st century!

...

Early the next morning, after learning the audience's feedback on the movie, Shao Weiming felt like he had been struck by lightning. He then urgently gathered his subordinates to analyse the reasons, and the result was simple – the audience couldn't understand the plot.

There was no solution to this problem!

The situation in Europe and North America was a little better than in Hong Kong, after all, the education level in Europe and the United States was higher than in Hong Kong in this era, and the science fiction movie market was also larger.

But at the end of the day, the box office was not very satisfactory.

Blade Runner's first-day North American screening rate exceeded 20%, but its box office share was only 12.6%, and its first-day box office was only 3.87 million US dollars.

In contrast, the North American box office for the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was higher than the previous Saturday's, breaking the 7 million US dollar mark and reaching 7.26 million US dollars!

A clear winner!

In the Hong Kong market, Blade Runner's first-day box office was only 9.8 million Hong Kong dollars.

This result would be considered excellent for an average Hong Kong film, and it is not impossible for it to gross more than HK$10 million by the end of the run if word of mouth doesn't collapse.

But as the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison.

Compared to the HK$2.26 million box office of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Hong Kong that day, Shao Weiming and Shao Yifu only felt a sense of gloom.

After the bad word-of-mouth from the first day fermented, the box office of Blade Runner plummeted the next day.

Many media outlets seized the opportunity to criticise the film, regardless of its fate. The newspapers owned by Jiuding Newspaper Company even used film critics' reviews and audience survey data as weapons to attack Blade Runner and promote E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

The North American box office that day was 1.97 million US dollars, less than a third of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and it only ranked fourth that day.

In Hong Kong, the box office was even lower, with Blade Runner only earning HK$440,000, less than half a million Hong Kong dollars.

Blade Runner's global box office on the second day was only US$33.1 million, nearly half of the US$65.9 million on the first day. Theatre attendance was generally low, and some cinemas, determined to make money, ruthlessly chose to change the film, and the film they chose was none other than E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

The worldwide simultaneous release of Blade Runner, which had been carefully chosen to compete with E.T., had become a laughing stock.

...

The chairman's office in the TVB headquarters building in Hong Kong.

The atmosphere in the entire office was very somber, and it had been quiet for ten minutes.

Shiu Yat-fu didn't want to speak, Shiu Wai-ming was too ashamed to speak, and Fong Yee-wah didn't dare to speak.

All that could be heard in the office was the heavy sound of panting.

After a long while,

With bloodshot eyes, Siu Wai-ming said with self-reproach, 'Dad, it's all my fault. I was eager to make a name for myself. If I hadn't strongly recommended investing in "Blade Runner", this situation wouldn't have happened.'

'I'm sorry, I'm not cut out for making movies...'

At this point, Siu Wai-ming was under tremendous pressure. In order to invest in "Blade Runner", his father had invested HK$150 million despite the company's difficult operating conditions, and with the nearly HK$10 million in costs for subsequent publicity, a total of HK$160 million had been invested!

It should be noted that over the past year, Shaw Brothers Pictures has been operating under difficult conditions due to competition from Galaxy Studios and Golden Harvest Studios. Its annual net profit was less than HK$40 million, not to mention Shaw Theatres, which can barely break even due to the generally poor quality of film sources.

Judging from the current situation of Blade Runner, it is certain to flop, and it is hard to say whether its global box office will break 30 million US dollars.

If the global box office happens to be 30 million US dollars, after deducting the shares of the cinema and value-added tax, the share belonging to the production company is about 30%. Warner Bros. Pictures and Shaw Brothers Pictures at least have their own distribution channels, so they can convert part of the share. Even if it is 33%, they can only get 10 million US dollars.

Given the reputation of Blade Runner, even if the video rights were sold, they would not fetch a high price. It would be good if they could sell for 2 million US dollars. Then the total revenue of Blade Runner can be estimated at 12 million US dollars.

According to the agreed revenue sharing ratio in the agreement, Shaw Brothers was able to share about 6 million US dollars, which is equivalent to less than 28 million Hong Kong dollars.

The total cost was 160 million Hong Kong dollars, but only 28 million Hong Kong dollars could be recovered, not to mention the manpower and energy invested by the company.

What a loss!

He has lost the profits of Shaw Brothers Pictures for the next four or five years in one go, which can be described as crippling the company.

Now that the company has suffered heavy losses and has limited financial resources, it is even more difficult to compete with Galaxy Studios and Golden Harvest Studios. It is hard to say whether it will be able to make a net profit of 30 to 40 million Hong Kong dollars each year in the future...

Seeing his son's heartfelt feelings of self-reproach and guilt, and even a state of self-denial, Shao Yifu let out a long sigh and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, 'Alright, Ming, it's not your fault. I was the one who approved the investment. If I hadn't agreed, there was no use in you saying anything.'

Shao Weiming was moved to the core of his being, his eyes gradually moistening, his nasal passages a little sour, and he choked as he said, 'Dad, I'm sorry...'

Shao Yifu couldn't bear to see anyone cry, so he didn't look at his son, tilted his head, blinked his eyes, waved his hand, and raised his voice a little as he said, 'Okay, don't blame yourself. Winning and losing is a common occurrence in the military. How could there be no risk in doing business? A successful businessman must remain calm in success and maintain a stable state of mind in defeat.'

'Shaw Studios has been a success for decades, but it's time to make way for the next generation.'

'Take some time to calm down and think about the future. Do you want to continue running the studio, or take over from me at TVB?'

'Luckily, TVB has now gone satellite, and although it can't compete with Global TV at the moment, the market has expanded and it can still make a relatively stable profit, which is enough to pass on to future generations.'

Shiu Yat-fu had planned to gradually withdraw from the film market two years ago, but the rise of Global TV and the difficulty of TVB gaining a foothold in the market made him hesitate once again.

This failure has once again strengthened his resolve to withdraw from the film market and focus on the television field.

However, whether or not to withdraw will depend on how his son Shiu Wai-ming chooses to act.

He is already old, and the future belongs to the next generation.

If his son can muster the fighting spirit to fight in the film market, even if the risks are huge, he, as a father, will still give him strong support.

Under the watchful eye of Shao Yifu, Shao Weiming gathers his emotions and nods firmly: 'Dad, I will think about it carefully.'

'Mmm!'

...

PS: It's not good to look at the protagonist's company's prestige. Movies also make money. If I just write the total box office, the time will be too jumpy. 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was released for almost a year before it finished. It still made more than a million dollars in North American weekend box office in June of the following year, and it never fell out of the top ten. I can't just skip a year, can I?