Huayu 1992, my entertainment era

Chapter 166 You Naihai

After the premiere, Liu Junhui came personally to invite Zhou Ziheng, saying that a reception had been prepared and invited Zhou Ziheng and other guests as well as film critics to attend.

Zhou Ziheng did not go. After exchanging contact information with Chen Musheng, Simon Yam, Yu Rongguang, Christy Chung and others whom he had just met, he quickly left the theater.

Although he and Johnnie To did not talk much at the cinema, he still made an appointment with the other party to have a detailed chat.

……

"Director Du, why did Zhou Ziheng come to see you? Do you think he will take our movie 'Tasteless Detective' seriously?"

The vehicle was driving on the street and the young man driving turned around and asked Johnnie To.

"I'm not sure. If he really wants to act in this drama, we can consider it. But he may not be here for this drama."

Johnnie To recalled the rumors he had heard recently, with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

There is no airtight wall in the world.

Although Zhou Ziheng had only revealed his idea of ​​starting a company to his friends, he had not told anyone else about it.

But sometimes information is like this, you don’t even know where it came from.

Johnnie To recently heard a rumor that Zhou Ziheng was recruiting people to set up a company.

Thinking back to how Zhou Ziheng came to the premiere of "The Sky of Mongkok" for no reason today, and his attitude towards Benny Chan, Johnnie To began to speculate in his mind.

Be your own boss and start your own company.

To be honest, Johnnie To has actually thought about this question many times.

As the saying goes, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier.

The same is true in the film industry.

Actors want to be directors, directors want to be bosses.

Johnnie To has been in the business for many years, so it is obviously impossible for him to say that he doesn't want to be a boss.

So, after discovering Zhou Ziheng's intention, he agreed without hesitation to Zhou Ziheng's invitation to have a chat at the London Restaurant.

The London Restaurant is located on London Road in Mong Kok and is the place with the most complete dim sum carts in Hong Kong.

Since its opening in 1979, it has always adhered to tradition. Starting from 7 a.m., steamer carts, pancake carts, and fried food carts appear one after another, and shop assistants push dim sum carts around the venue. With just one call, you can taste the most authentic Hong Kong-style dim sum.

This is where Zhou Ziheng met Johnnie To.

He arrived early. After arriving, he asked someone to book a private room, and then waited at the door in person.

This is his sincerity.

He felt that Johnnie To had made him do this.

A few minutes later, Johnnie To's car arrived, and with him were the henchmen whom he had just seen at the premiere of "The Sky of Mongkok".

"This is You Naihai, my colleague and partner. He is Wei Jiahui's apprentice and also a screenwriter."

After getting off the car, Johnnie To introduced Zhou Ziheng.

Hearing this, Zhou Ziheng was stunned.

He thought this person was simply Johnnie To's assistant or follower.

I didn't expect he was actually a celebrity.

You Naihai is indeed not well-known in Hong Kong today.

He joined TVB in 1989 and was a student of Wai Ka-Fai.

In 1992, he was invited by Johnnie To to work at Metropolitan Theatre.

In the early 1990s, he was indeed a minor character.

But starting this year, he will begin to become famous in this circle.

This year, "The Good Wife", invested by Metropolitan Pictures, achieved decent box office results after its release, and will be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards in April next year.

The screenwriter of this movie is You Naihai.

Thanks to this movie, You Naihai became famous overnight.

After that, he will enter the peak of his career. In the future, he won the Best Screenplay Award at the Academy Awards three times.

The screenwriter's representative works include "Dark War", "Gunfire", "Goodbye Alang", "PTU", "Single Men and Women", "Deadly Gold", "Drug War", "Blind Detective", "Threesome", etc.

Maybe he is not an outstanding director, but in the screenwriting industry, he will undoubtedly be a top figure in the future.

If we say that Wang Jing and Liu Zhenwei are the best partner combination in Hong Kong.

Then, Johnnie To, Wai Ka Fai and Yau Nai Hoi are another golden partnership.

The future glory of the Milky Way Silver Statue is inseparable from his contribution.

"Hello, Mr. You!"

After recalling the information about this guy, Zhou Ziheng's heart suddenly felt hot.

However, he remained calm on the surface, leading the way and guiding the two people to the private room that had been arranged.

"Just tell me what you want to eat. Don't be polite."

Arriving at the private room, Zhou Ziheng said to the two of them with a smile.

The two of them didn't hesitate to pick up the menu and started ordering.

After ordering the food, the three of them chatted for a while about the recent film industry.

We first talked about the failure of Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey".

Then they talked about the recent sensation "Peace Hotel" which is about to be released.

"I've read my master's script, and it's absolutely top-notch quality. With a big star like Chow Yun-fat backing it up, I guess this movie could be the box office champion of the year."

You Nai-hai is actually not very old. He was born in 1968, only four years older than Zhou Ziheng. He is young and energetic. When he talked about this movie directed by his master Wai Ka-fai and starring Chow Yun-fat, his words were full of confidence.

Hearing this, Zhou Ziheng couldn't help but smile.

He happened to know the information about this play, and in the end it earned more than 20 million at the box office.

But the fact is that this play flopped.

At the very least, compared to Chow Yun-fat's previous films, this movie didn't make much money.

After all, the salary of Chow Yun-fat, the leading actor of this film, is not a small amount.

Others include actors such as Cecilia Yip and Jacklyn Wu who currently have high pay.

The box office revenue of 20 million is not even enough to cover the cost.

As for overseas markets, since the second half of last year, the performance of Hong Kong films overseas has visibly declined to the extreme.

First of all, Taiwan, Hong Kong’s number one market, is still boycotting Hong Kong films, and has directly pushed the distribution price of Hong Kong films to the lowest level.

Even for a big star like Chow Yun-fat, the price is not as high as before.

As for the mainland, last year's reforms in the mainland gave the bulk of the imported films to Hollywood.

This makes it difficult for most Hong Kong films to be released in mainland China, unless they are co-productions.

"Peace Hotel" is obviously not a co-production, so it is easy to imagine how difficult it would be to release it in mainland China.

Finally, only Japan and South Korea are left.

Chow Yun-fat is indeed very popular in South Korea, but how much money can he make back in South Korea alone?

Compared with the box office of this movie, Zhou Ziheng found Chow Yun-fat's behavior after the movie very interesting.

After this movie, this guy directly announced that he was going to Hollywood to develop his career.

To this end, he ceremoniously donated all of the more than ten trophies he had won to the Hong Kong Film Archive, declaring that he would say goodbye to the past and start over.

"Mr. Zhou, I don't think you invited me here just to talk about the development of Hong Kong films!

Let's not hide anything, just tell us your purpose!"

More than half an hour passed while they were eating and drinking. Finally, Johnnie To couldn't help it and asked Zhou Ziheng.

(End of this chapter)