Reborn Tycoon: Hong Kong's Entertainment Godfather

Chapter 17: Taking a chance and then refusing to be taken advantage of, acquiring Nine Dragons Const

"Not bad, pretty good!"

Gu Yuhan's casually uttered words sent a chill down Huang Baiming's spine.

After a pause, Huang Baiming couldn't help but ask, "Boss, could you perhaps offer some suggestions?"

"I have no objections, it's fine, everyone's laughing and having a good time, aren't they?" Gu Yuhan shrugged and said with a smile, "As long as you think it's okay, then it's fine!"

"Boss, do you think this movie isn't funny?" Huang Baiming couldn't help but ask again.

"I'm a little different from you guys!" Gu Yuhan shrugged again. "My threshold for laughter is just higher than most people's!"

Damn it, he'd watched this movie at least four or five times in his past life. This was just a rewatch. If he could still laugh, that would be truly unbelievable.

Seeing this, Huang Baiming didn't say anything more.

Gu Yuhan shrugged again and said, "I'll send the film to theaters later, one is Golden Harvest, and the other is Shaw Brothers, right?"

Huang Baiming nodded quickly: "Yes!"

At that time, there were mainly three cinema chains in Hong Kong: Golden Harvest, Shaw Brothers, and Golden Princess.

The number of cinemas in Hong Kong reached its historical peak in 1969, with an astonishing 180. However, with the sudden death of Bruce Lee, the entire film industry suffered a devastating blow, and the number of cinemas began to plummet, decreasing year by year.

这种颓势一直持续到1977年，当年香江的电影院只剩下75家。好在1978年又新开了15家，所以现在香江总共有90家电影院在营业。

On the one hand, new generation filmmakers such as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung began to emerge, injecting fresh blood into the film industry.

On the other hand, Hong Kong's economy is developing rapidly, and more and more citizens are rekindling their interest in going to the cinema.

Judging from the current situation, Shaw Brothers is still the strongest, controlling the largest number of cinema chains.

Following closely behind is Golden Harvest, whose strength should not be underestimated.

As for the Golden Princess Cinemas chain, which will later collaborate deeply with Huang Baiming and his team, it already exists, though it's still called Lisheng Cinemas chain. It originally only had four cinemas and was founded by Lei Juekun. For the past few years, it was leased entirely to Golden Harvest, essentially a branch of Golden Harvest Cinemas chain.

However, just two years ago, Lei Juekun keenly sensed that the film industry was about to experience explosive growth, so he decisively separated Lisheng Cinemas from the Golden Harvest system.

Lei Juekun's thinking was completely different from Gu Yuhan's.

Gu Yuhan started by focusing on film production, while Lei Juekun directly targeted the cinema chain, spending large sums of money to attract scattered independent cinemas, intending to build a large cinema chain that could rival Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers.

However, in Gu Yuhan's eyes, Lei Juekun's decision to abandon his successful real estate business and instead plunge headlong into the film industry to run a cinema chain was utterly putting the cart before the horse and was extremely ridiculous.

While making movies can be profitable, it's nowhere near the level of the exorbitant profits in the real estate market.

Although Gu Yuhan himself is involved in the film industry, he would never focus his main energy on making movies. For him, it is just a tool to make it easier to meet beautiful women.

More importantly, he is building his own media empire step by step.

The media is an extremely important tool for public opinion and must be firmly controlled by ourselves.

He wants to firmly control all media channels, including film actors, print media, television media, and the future internet. He can't control other places, but in Hong Kong, he must have absolute power.

Lei Juekun has dedicated his life to filmmaking.

Gu Yuhan only used the film as a stepping stone and a tool. As long as a sound institutional framework was established, he could basically be a hands-off manager.

"I'll personally negotiate with these theater chains. I think they'll give the Gu family some face, right?" Gu Yuhan smiled and said slowly, "No need to rush. Let's send the film over first and see how it performs at the box office!"

Huang Baiming was still very nervous and uneasy.

He was initially very confident about the film, but when he saw that Gu Yuhan didn't smile at all from beginning to end, he started to worry. Could it be that the film had really been a flop?

Although Huang Baiming was unsure, Gu Yuhan was full of confidence.

This movie had already performed quite well at the box office in its previous life, and it was a low-budget comedy. Even if it really lost money, how much could it lose?

……

……

The Gu family still holds considerable influence in Hong Kong. Neither Shaw Brothers nor Golden Harvest dares to disrespect them, given that the Gu family is currently at the height of its power.

After both parties reached an agreement, the number of screenings and the revenue sharing ratio with theaters were basically settled, and everything went smoothly.

They had to give them face, after all, the Gu family was currently acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and had substantial capital; no one could say for sure if there would be opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Neither Raymond Chow nor Run Run Shaw wanted to offend the Gu family at this time.

Ultimately, the theaters were allocated 30% of the screenings, and the box office revenue was split 40/60, with the theaters receiving only 40%.

but……

"Lei Juekun refused to cooperate?" Gu Yuhan raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the documents Su Rongrong handed him. "Why?"

Su Rongrong replied, "He didn't give a specific reason, only saying that if we want to discuss cooperation, your father should go and talk to him in person!"

"What is it?" Gu Yuhan's eyes widened suddenly, then he said with a forced smile, "Let my father talk to him? I'm really curious, when did he develop the illusion that he can stand on equal footing with my father?"

Su Rongrong took out another document and placed it in front of Gu Yuhan, saying, "The investor behind the Lisheng Cinemas is Kowloon Development. This company previously competed with us for the land development rights for Tiu Keng Leng. We have reason to believe that this refusal to cooperate is a retaliatory act against the Tiu Keng Leng project!"

Gu Yuhan casually picked up the documents Su Rongrong handed him, flipped through them, and then said, "So that's where the problem lies. Interesting, very interesting!" Kowloon Construction is actually not a large company.

If you add up all the assets, Kowloon Development's total assets are less than HK$200 million.

Let alone compared to the Gu family's current heyday, even compared to the Gu family a few years ago, it's worlds apart. Lei Juekun's Kowloon Development Holdings mainly has two businesses: Kowloon Motor Bus and the soon-to-be-renamed Golden Princess Cinemas.

If it were Gu Yuhan himself, when capital was not yet abundant, he would definitely focus on real estate and finance, which is the fast track to exponential asset growth in the future.

Unfortunately, not everyone is a time traveler with memories of the future like him.

Lei Juekun did indeed keenly perceive the signs of recovery in the film industry.

He also foresaw that Hong Kong films would soon enter a golden age of box office revenue in the tens of millions.

Tens of millions in box office revenue, what does that mean?

This means that the overall profits of the film industry will increase by at least ten times, or even more than ten times.

You can't say Lei Juekun's judgment was wrong; you can only say that he didn't realize that real estate and finance are the most profitable industries of this era.

"never mind!"

Gu Yuhan shook his head and said calmly, "Don't worry about them. It's enough that Jiahe and Shaw Brothers are giving the Gu family face. Lei Juekun is just a nobody; there's no need to take him too seriously!"

At this point, Gu Yuhan looked at Su Rongrong and said, "Go and call Shi Nansheng over here!"

"Boss!" Not long after, Shi Nansheng walked into Gu Yuhan's office.

Nansun Shi is Tsui Hark's wife and is herself an outstanding producer. Gu Yuhan was short-staffed, so he simply promoted her to general manager of the company.

He holds multiple positions.

In addition to coordinating the work of various film crews, she is also responsible for the communication and cooperation between the company and the cinema chain.

"How are the negotiations between Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest going?" Gu Yuhan glanced at his watch and asked, "It's already the end of June, when will our movie be released?"

Shi Nansheng took a deep breath and replied, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be July 12th!"

"So, we can still catch the tail end of the summer movie season?" Gu Yuhan asked with a laugh.

Nansun Shi nodded: "Yes!"

"Okay!" Gu Yuhan nodded, then added, "Make sure to do a good job of promotion!"

Shi Nansheng smiled and said, "Boss, don't worry, I've already spoken to the media. As soon as the movie is released, we'll immediately arrange a large-scale publicity campaign!"

During this time, Shi Nansheng stayed by Gu Yuhan's side and learned a lot from him.

She had to deal with theaters, media, and cultivate a group of young producers, as well as coordinate the schedules of various actors. During this period, Nansun Shi was so busy that she didn't even have time to catch her breath.

To be honest, she hardly has any time left to be intimate with her husband.

But look at the salary Gu Yuhan offered her: a full HK$50,000 a month, plus generous project commissions. Gu Yuhan even promised a large bonus at the end of the year, as long as the company is profitable.

With these thoughts in mind, Shi Nansheng worked even harder.

She is growing very fast and is now fully capable of standing on her own.

After chatting about work for a while, Gu Yuhan's thoughts turned to the development project in Tseung Kwan O. The film studio still needed to be built. The Hengdian World Studios on the mainland was still a long way off, and building one in Hong Kong would be perfect for shooting low-budget films.

The development of Tseung Kwan O is a long-term project that cannot be completed overnight, nor can it be finished in one or two years. It may even take ten or more years to take shape.

No need to rush, just take it one step at a time!

However, at this moment, Lei Juekun's next move completely enraged Gu Yuhan.

In an interview, Lei Juekun officially announced that the Lisheng Cinema Line would be renamed Golden Princess Cinema Line. Moreover, he also made it clear that he wanted to fully enter the film and television industry.

In the interview, Lei Juekun bluntly stated that it was a joke for Gu Zhenguo to entrust such a large development project as Tseung Kwan O to Gu Yuhan for management.

What does a callow youth know?

Can he develop Tseung Kwan O well? He simply doesn't have that ability, you know?

Look what he's doing now! Instead of focusing on the development of Tseung Kwan O, he's making movies here?

A kid who hasn't even grown up yet actually wants to get involved in both film and real estate development at the same time? Who does he think he is?

Upon seeing these words in the newspaper, Gu Yuhan suddenly tore the newspaper into pieces.

The media even started using the term "young punk" to describe themselves.

damn it……

Gu Yuhan had always thought he was fairly well-mannered. He hadn't planned to do anything when Lei Juekun refused to cooperate before, but now Lei Juekun was insulting him by calling him a "young brat" in front of all the Hong Kong media. This was going too far.

I've been polite enough to you, and you still dare to take advantage of my kindness and call me a greenhorn in public.

What angered him most was that the media outlets also joined in the commotion, using the same terminology to report on the matter.

This is an absolute disgrace.

If he can tolerate all this, then he might as well give up his job in Hong Kong and just disappear into a hole in the ground!

"Alright, today I'll show you just how capable this 'young upstart' really is!"

Gu Yuhan took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and looked at Su Rongrong, asking, "How many shares of Kowloon Construction have been issued so far? What is the price per share? How many shares does Lei Juekun personally hold?"

Su Rongrong was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized what she meant and quickly said, "Okay, I'll go check right away!"

Gu Yuhan let out a heavy sigh. Before, the cooperation had just failed, but now this guy dared to piss on his head. If he didn't teach him a lesson he would never forget, what would others think of the Gu family in the future?

Do they even care about the Gu family's reputation?

Gu Yuhan was truly angry this time, and the consequences were naturally very serious.

No wonder Gu Yuhan was so angry.

To put it bluntly, it's like I'm giving you face, but you insist on trampling on it.

It's one thing if we can't reach an agreement on cooperation, but what do you mean by calling me a greenhorn in front of so many reporters and media?

Arrogance is never a good thing; he needs to be taught a lesson.

Now everyone in Hong Kong is watching me. If there is really no reaction at all, how will Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers view me in the future?

Are we really going to end up eating at the children's table?

We absolutely cannot lose face!

In reality, Lei Juekun dared to target Gu Yuhan so openly because he was certain that the Gu family couldn't do anything to him. Although Kowloon Construction wasn't a top-tier company, its market value was still around 200 million, which wasn't something Gu Yuhan could easily manipulate.

If Gu Zhenguo were to personally intervene, that would be a different story.

The problem is that Gu Zhenguo is currently focusing all his energy on the major undertaking of acquiring Hutchison Whampoa.

Therefore, Lei Juekun felt that even if he humiliated Gu Yuhan in public, Gu Yuhan couldn't do anything to him.

As for the future development pattern of Hong Kong.

What a joke! Hong Kong isn't ruled by Gu Yuhan alone. There are plenty of real estate tycoons out there, and the Gu family doesn't yet have the power to stand shoulder to shoulder with the shipping magnate.

Ultimately, although the Gu family is powerful now, it is not strong enough to control everything.