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Volume 1 Chapter 601 Egypt

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    New Year's Day is here, and just like in memory, the new US Secretary of State visited Hong Kong and reached a number of cooperation agreements with Chris Patten, many of which seemed to be beneficial to Hong Kong's economy but actually contained evil intentions.  These include opening up investment access to Hong Kong cinemas to US capital and halving the entertainment tax required for US films to be released in Hong Kong. Hong Kong films have stood up a strong and thick wall for half a century.  There were a few cracks on it.  However, Lin Xiaozhi is actually quite satisfied with this result.  Although he started to operate the Hong Kong media and film industry several months in advance to put pressure on the Hong Kong government with remarkable results, he did not expect from the beginning to completely prevent the Hong Kong government from causing chaos to Hong Kong, which was about to return to China.  This result can be regarded as a great blessing among misfortunes. At least the actions of the industry still influenced the will of the Hong Kong government, preventing Patten from completely dismantling the wall of Hong Kong films to resist the invasion of American blockbusters as he had hoped.  Historically, the British Hong Kong government began to completely cancel the entertainment tax on American blockbusters released in Hong Kong in June 1993. About 50% of the box office revenue of foreign movies released in Hong Kong belongs to the theaters, and the remaining less than 50% still needs to be paid.  10% entertainment tax (the entertainment tax was originally supposed to be borne by theaters, but because Hong Kong cinemas have a strong monopoly on release channels, it has always been borne by distribution companies and film producers), after deducting publicity costs and income from local distribution companies  Wait, unless the box office of foreign films in Hong Kong can exceed 20 to 30 million Hong Kong dollars, they will not only make no money but also lose money when released in this market.  The same goes for theater management. In the early years of Hong Kong's theater operations, there were not many restrictions on local businessmen and British businessmen, but there were many restrictions on external funds (mainly to prevent mainland capital from controlling Hong Kong theaters to make films and promote leftist ideas).  Constraints.  For example, the legislation stipulates that theaters must be operated by local businessmen, and foreign capital must not exceed 20% of the total investment. At the same time, there are many restrictions on management to prevent the emergence of a second Yindu theater chain that is difficult to control!  It is this regulation that has created the transcendent status of Hong Kong cinema businessmen since the 1960s. Even though backstage business capital has invested heavily in Hong Kong cinemas since the late 1970s, in fact, the control and management rights have always been in the hands of Hong Kong businessmen.  ??Historically, the British Hong Kong government also revised the hospital business operations measures after 1993.  The most core one is that foreign capital only needs to register a company in Hong Kong, and then it can invest through the company and completely operate and manage the movie theater chain, completely breaking the monopoly strategy of local businessmen.  At the same time, it also significantly reduced the stipulation that foreign capital investment should not exceed 20% in existing local cinema lines, raising it to 60% and later lowering it to 40% due to protests from local cinema operators, but that was already many years later.  .  Just as he put pressure on the Hong Kong government on the entertainment tax, Lin Xiaozhi also contacted many local academics to conduct public relations with the Hong Kong government. In the end, although Patten increased the allowed foreign capital investment to 40% of the total investment, that clause  The plan that completely broke the monopoly of local businessmen on theater chains and allowed foreign businessmen to register companies in exchange for theater operating rights was stillborn and failed to take shape.  In this way, although the best effect was not achieved.  However, profits from the future release of American blockbusters in Hong Kong will still be very slim. It is estimated that many American film companies will have to consider whether they can make money when releasing their films in Hong Kong.  Cinema chains are still monopolized by local businessmen, which means that the number of foreign films released in Hong Kong every year is entirely up to local cinema operators, which is undoubtedly a huge victory.  After New Year's Day, while the entire Hong Kong media was still hyping up the "Academy Awards" with its big moves, Lin Xiaozhi himself quietly boarded a plane to Egypt.  His next film "The Mummy" can finally be officially shot after nearly two months of location arrangements.  Because this movie is to compete with the upcoming American blockbuster "Jurassic Park", and Lin Xiaozhi also has high hopes for it, hoping to catch up with the Hollywood blockbuster "Jurassic Park" this summer.  Let¡¯s take a hard look at its arrogance in Hong Kong and around the world.  Although he knew in his heart that this possibility was not high, Lin Xiaozhi was still unwilling to give up without giving it a try.  For this reason, he gave up his vacation and was as busy as a spinning top. Zhou Huimin, who had just finished his work in Hong Kong and comforted him for several months to become pregnant with his second child, boarded a flight to Egypt with the crew.  airplane.  This time, the mainland also helped a lot with the shooting in Egypt.  Although China was one of the world's top five gangsters in 1993, it was far less powerful than later generations.  But when it comes to the official relationship between Egypt and China or between Egypt and the United Kingdom, the former is naturally better.  This is not surprising, not to mention that Egypt was a British colony for a long time before World War II and was exploited and plundered by British colonists.  Just after the establishment of Egypt after World War II, the British first tried to seize the management rights of the Suez Canal, and then, after failing to do so, they fought with the United States several times.The two brothers cheering for Israel together are enough to make the Egyptian authorities, still under the rule of the military government, less convinced of the British.  ¡°As for China, not only do they belong to the Third World countries like Egypt, the two sides established diplomatic relations very early. Since the 1960s, including North Korea, there have been a lot of back-and-forth arms and sensitive machinery transactions between the three countries.  So in order to avoid the scene where Jackie Chan was blackmailed by the locals while filming in Africa, he asked someone to help inform the Egyptian authorities in advance. Although it cost some money, it also saved a lot of trouble.  And the benefits don't stop there. According to the Egyptian side, they can help arrange for manpower to shoot some big scenes in the movie for a fee.  Technology is a great power. Lin Xiaozhi always feels this way every time he takes a plane.  Because of the birth of the airplane, the distance between Hong Kong and Cairo was reduced from a flight of several months to less than a day.  The group only has to stop briefly in Dubai on the way and will reach their destination soon.  Although the reason for going to Egypt this time was to make the movie "The Mummy" as close to the Egyptian style as possible, and then use the "authentic ancient Egyptian mythology" to crack the world market.  However, because the crew of "The Mummy" is so large, it is impossible to fit all the people on just one chartered plane. There will be a group of people behind them, together with the filming equipment, who will arrive half a day later than them.  Because they had made arrangements early, after getting off the plane, the group took four buses to a four-star hotel in the suburbs of Cairo.  After spending nearly 20 hours in the sky at a height of 10,000 meters, Lin Xiaozhi's mood quickly improved as he got off the plane and felt down to earth. Through the car window, he could see the exotic Egypt, one of the four ancient civilizations, along the way.  Lin Xiaozhi felt a little relaxed and happy when he saw the scenery, and Fa Ge, who was sitting next to him, was also filled with emotion.  ¡°I¡¯ve heard people say before that if you don¡¯t live in Egypt, your life will be in vain. The outside world is really big, and Hong Kong is really small compared to it!¡± ¡°Is this the first time for Fa Ge to come to Egypt?¡± Lin Xiaozhi asked with a smile.  Chow Yun-fat nodded, and then moved his eyes away from the Sakkara Pyramid that was faintly visible outside the window. He turned around and asked Lin Xiaozhi curiously: "Why, has Lin Sheng been here before?" Lin Xiaozhi smiled and nodded without saying anything more.  He did travel to Egypt in his first life, and he did spend a few days sightseeing in Cairo.  It's just that the plane he took flew directly to the Cairo International Airport in the city center, but the current Cairo Airport has obviously not been built there yet. The 'new airport' they arrived at now is just the second flight that was put into operation in 1986.  It's just a building, quite a distance from the city center. It mainly serves airlines in Europe, the Far East, the Gulf region and North Africa.  "Hong Kong is a bit smaller, but with the internationalization of film production in the future, not to mention the mainland and Africa, but also Europe, America, and Australia, we will have the opportunity to go there to collect and shoot!" Lin Xiaozhi said with confidence.  Chow Yun-fat smiled and nodded slightly, a trace of longing flashed in his eyes.  Turning his head to the side, Lin Xiaozhi looked at a young white man sitting next to him who looked a little cautious, feeling a little proud in his heart.  "Arnold, how do you read the script?" He asked this young white man with short hair in English. This young white man's full name is Arnold Vosloo. He is an Irish-South African and is about the same age as Andy Lau, but  The achievements achieved in South Africa are no less than those achieved by Andy Lau in Hong Kong.  He was once one of the best dramatic actors in South Africa. A few years ago, after he felt that his domestic career had reached its peak and local South African movies could not help his career further, he followed many European and South American artists.  The United States seeks development.  Unfortunately, Arnold still underestimated the deep-rooted contempt and indifference of American filmmakers towards foreign artists.  He stayed in the United States for three or four years. He almost spent all his savings. He applied himself everywhere but only got a role in two low-budget movies. One of them had all the scenes cut during post-production.  The other film was not allowed to be released because of its large scale and could only be released on video tape to meet American audiences. Naturally, it did not earn much fame.  With no other choice, he could only go back to his old career and participate in some stage plays in the United States to earn a living while looking for self-recommendations from the crew everywhere. Finally last year, he got a role in the historical blockbuster "Columbus" co-produced by the four countries of Britain, France, the United States and Spain.  A somewhat dramatic role.  The result is still the same tragedy. This "epic blockbuster" "Columbus" with an investment of 70 million US dollars was actually not very good at filming. When it was released, it tragically bumped into Lin Xiaoji's "Assassin's League". This film  This epic film, which had been highly regarded by the media before, was more appropriately described as being crushed than it was a disaster. It only had a box office of over $640 in the United States.Ten thousand US dollars, the grandma's family lost even a fraction of the total box office, not to mention the "League of Assassins", so they got a series of comments such as "The soundtrack is more exciting than the movie", "The first half is acting, the second half is watching", etc.  of sarcasm.  Even the famous director Ridley Scott, who helmed this movie, was forced to announce his retirement amid criticism from the media and investors. This shows how much of a failure this movie was. Arnold, who performed reasonably well in this movie,  Once again, he missed the opportunity to become famous and had to give up his American dream, and instead went to Hong Kong, which has become more and more popular around the world in recent years, and submitted his resume to Media Asia.  "Uh, boss basically almost" Arnold still feels that this is simply a dream. He never imagined that he would be so miserable after living in the United States for several years, let alone the second male lead, and even have a sentence.  It was difficult for him to get lines for supporting roles.  But he didn't want to just because he heard that Hong Kong in Asia is very prosperous now. Although this Oriental Hollywood is not as big as the United States, it is one of the best film production bases in the world, so he decided to come to Hong Kong to see what he could do.  You can't eat for a living.  But he didn't want to submit his resume to Media Asia, the only film company he knew that was also well-known in Europe and the United States. Not long after, he was invited to sign a contract with the company, and not long after that, he got the boss of the company.  At the same time, the great director Lin Xiaozhi, who has produced many blockbuster commercial blockbusters such as "Red Alert", "Resident Evil" and "Assassin's League", received him. During the brief meeting, the other party conducted some acting tests on him, and he successfully obtained the  The first 'big contract' in his life, he got the second male lead role in the new movie "The Mummy" by this great commercial film director for a salary of HK$1.3 million, which is slightly less than US$200,000.  Of course, Arnold would never know that the reason why he got the second male role in Lin Xiaozhi's new drama was entirely because in the original history, he became famous for his role as the high priest Immorton in "The Mummy"  rise.  Otherwise, with Lim Hyo-ji's current status, it is absolutely impossible for his second male lead in a movie to be played by a young actor who can hardly make movies in the United States.  When they arrived at the hotel, the staff who had arrived in Egypt first had arranged everything for them.  A Media Asia employee named 'Wang Cheng' came over with a bearded Egyptian and introduced him to Lin Xiaozhi, "Boss, this is Mr. Said." Lin Xiaozhi glanced at this middle-aged man wearing traditional Arabic clothing, and it was obvious that  The other party should be a Muslim.  As a non-religious person, although he has dealt with some people who believe in Huang Lao, Buddhism and even Christianity in Hong Kong, there are not many Muslims in Hong Kong, and most of them are from the bottom of society who smuggled over from South Asia. Naturally, they do not know each other.  Do you have any concerns?  Fortunately, the other party obviously noticed his hesitation and took the initiative to shake hands with him and said: "Hello, Mr. Lin, you can call me Said. Welcome to Cairo!" Said is not an ordinary person. He comes from ancient times.  The Egyptian Studies Association is a professor of ancient Egyptian history at Cairo University and one of the special consultants hired by Media Asia for the filming of "The Mummy".  Lin Xiaozhi was relieved when he saw that he spoke fluent English. In the Arab world, it is said that people who can speak English are far more open-minded and can communicate more easily than fanatical believers.  At that moment, he also politely expressed his gratitude: "Thank you Mr. Said and the Egyptian government for their help. With your support, the preparatory work for our new movie has been very smooth. I believe that in at least one month, Hamna  The tower will be officially ready for use!¡± Although most of the exterior scenes of "The Mummy" will be shot in Egypt, it does not mean that all scenes will be shot here.  In fact, the set of "Port of Giza on the Nile" that appears in the movie will be shot in Shenzhen. The movie studio that Lin Xiaozhi started building in Shenzhen with a lot of money has a dock specially built for filming the dock scene. It only needs to be temporarily fixed.  Modify it to meet the needs of this scenario.  And because the Egyptian government refused to open some temples and ancient buildings for filming to avoid secondary damage to the ancient buildings during the filming process, Lin Xiaozhi simply asked the Egyptian government to come forward and spent money to hire a group of experts who were proficient in ancient Egyptian architectural styles.  Instructed Shenzhen Cinema to modify the interiors of several huge venues that had already been completed into ancient Egyptian palaces and temples, so that the exterior parts could be shot in Egypt, and the interior filming was completed in Shenzhen.  Can't see anything.  Although this will cost a lot more money, considering that the cinema can not only develop tourism in the future, but also provide convenience for Hong Kong film companies to shoot movies with ancient Egyptian themes, it will not cost them hundreds or even tens of millions more.  It's less distressing.
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