Sermon in the text. - Tang Tears
Movies "The Insider" and "Customs Front".
They have already released movie posters and the first trailer, but they have been "only hearing the sound of stairs".
The reasons are, of course, complex.
With the arrival of the new year, Aaron Kwok once again became a "pioneer of Hong Kong films" with a small and medium-cost Hong Kong film "Temporary Robbery", which seems to have changed things at the moment when Hong Kong films are in decline.
Regarding the above two Emperor films, you may be able to make a preview.
What will it look like?
The movie "Temporary Robbery" is interesting.
The film may be polished on the technical aspects such as editing and sound effects, but there is not much to find fault with in the fundamentals, and what is especially rare is that under the shell of black humor, there are thoughts and revelations about the fate of the characters in the market.
The film has already won 23.6 billion box office, and after a lapse of ten days, it returned to the top ten ranks of the daily box office.
This kind of performance shows that it has withstood the impact of the Spring Festival stalls and **.
At the same time, its trend in the Hong Kong box office is unusually strong.
In the case of a huge gap in film scheduling, there is a momentum of counterattacking "Rice Drama Attack Heart 2" and "Moon Thief" to the top at any time, and there are box office successes in many regions.
And why did it make a difference?
The world is "empiricist".
From the perspective of film, commercial and word-of-mouth performance, will affect the future.
For example, when "Infernal Affairs" collected more than 50 million box office in Hong Kong, the industry allowed it to "save the market", and "Cold War" won the annual crown in Hong Kong and set a new record for Hong Kong films in the mainland market, and was once again awarded the title of "rescue market".
Subsequently, there were films such as "Macau", "Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven", "Macau 2", "Journey to the West: Monkey King Three Fights the White Bone Spirit", "Macau Fengyun 3", "Cold War 2", "Apostle Walker", "Chasing the Dragon", "Wushuang", "Anti-Drug 2: Showdown between Heaven and Earth", "Bomb Disposal Expert 2" and "Rage: Serious Case", which won quite well at the box office.
Although the reputation is not consistent, under the good situation, people are full of expectations for Hong Kong films.
In the past, some people were already looking forward to when Hong Kong films would break through the box office of 2 billion.
This is, of course, based on experience.
But the situation took a turn for the worse.
From "Edge Walker", "Detective Wars" and "Tomorrow's War", "Search and Rescue", to "When the Wind Rises Again", "Disconnected", "Don't Call Me "God of Gamblers" and "Anti-Drug 3: The End of the World", "Assassination Storm", and then from "Trapped Beast", "Breaking Point", to "Stealth" and "Goldfinger".
Word-of-mouth continues to be sluggish, and the lower limit of the box office is constantly being broken down.
The highest box office of the dozen or so movies only reached 700 million, and the lowest was 20 million.
What's even more terrifying is that the reputation has collapsed.
And the entire Hong Kong film industry can already be described as elite, from Ren Xianqi, Ren Dahua, ** Yun to Louis Koo, and then to Donnie Yen, Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung, Chow Yun-fat, Cheung Jiahui and Andy Lau, Lin Jiadong, single-core, double-hero, three-main, actors in various permutations and combinations, rarely omitted.
In this case, it is obvious that not to mention the 2 billion box office, the 1 billion level in the past has become a luxury, and many Hong Kong films to be screened have been overshadowed as a matter of course.
What to expect from situations such as "The Insider" and "Customs Front"?
It must be extremely pessimistic.
Overall. The current trend of Hong Kong films is undoubtedly not optimistic.
When huge investment and top lineups can't turn the tide, no one will feel powerless, whether it is actors, fans or investors.
But "Temporary Robbery" still gives people hope.
Putting aside the problem of the polarization of its mainland word-of-mouth, from the perspective of the movie itself, the basic quality is of course above the passing line, in fact, as a commercial film, this is the key to be defended first, and then to talk about the entertainment index.
Take some of the above-mentioned works as an example, the special effects of "Tomorrow's War" are acceptable, but the plot is too mediocre, the narrative rhythm of "Disconnected" is good, but the script is weak or even perfunctory, the narrative of "Anti-Drug 3: People in the End of the World" is chaotic and the characters are vague, "Breaking Point" is too old-fashioned, and the theme of the big production "Goldfinger" with a top lineup is even more old-fashioned.
The other side of "Temporary Robbery" is the humor and core depth, which makes the movie itself withstand chewing and review, which is almost rare in Hong Kong films in recent years.
This may be the reason why "Temporary Robbery" is still in good shape.
In the final analysis, the fundamental problem of the decline of Hong Kong films in recent years lies in the continuous quality of Hong Kong films, which may also be understood as the failure to take into account both basic quality and entertainment index.
If it is carefully polished and the aforementioned problems are avoided, then Hong Kong films can still have a chance to cheer up.
Therefore, "Temporary Robbery" may be a revelation.
Back to "Insider" and "Customs Front".
When these two movies were launched, they had different degrees of benefits.
From "Three Forks", "Father and Son", to "C+ Detective", "Empire", "Murderer", "Favorite" and "Floating City Tycoon", Aaron Kwok has set up a "quality pioneer" signboard in just a few years, and has spent seven years from "Cold War" to "Wushuang", laying the hole card of his commercial appeal.
So his joining is undoubtedly able to boost morale.
For a long time, although Mak Zhaohui has not been able to fly alone, the problem is not the quality itself, but the momentum and temporary changes in the lineup, so when he invited Aaron Kwok, he may make up for it.
This is the hole card of "The Insider".
On the other hand, starting from "Bomb Disposal Expert", Qiu Litao has successively set a new box office record for Hong Kong films in the mainland with "Anti-Drug 2: Showdown between Heaven and Earth" and "Bomb Disposal Expert 2", which can be described as a momentum.
Nicholas Tse is in his playing year, and he is even coming with the momentum of "Rage: Serious Case".
Therefore, the "Customs Front" with an investment of 200 million yuan cannot be underestimated.
However, putting aside the shadow of the downward trend of Hong Kong Film, the concerns of "Customs Front" may be greater than that of "Insider".
The so-called two sides of the coin, this concern mainly comes from Qiu Litao, whose work in recent years has frequently exposed narrative chaos, half-way out of control, and anticlimactic problems.
Therefore, the crux of the problem is still in the film.
For the two films, a little forward-looking.
The most suitable schedule for "The Insider" may be May Day or National Day, if the quality is medium, the goal is less than 300 million, and if the quality is excellent, supplemented by strong publicity, there can be greater ambitions.
The "Customs Front", which claimed an investment of 200 million yuan at the start, should undoubtedly be the first choice for the summer file.
However, there is a lesson from the past of "Anti-Drug 3: The End of the World", if there is no excellent quality, I am afraid it will be difficult to please, so it is necessary to choose the schedule according to the quality, such as the quality, you can put it at the end of the summer file or the Chinese New Year schedule, relying on the big scenes and action types, and take the long-term effect.
In a word, if the quality is qualified, it is expected to stabilize the position of Hong Kong films.
As for the explosion, it is quite difficult.