As I said, only a quarter of the desert has sand.
Project Flying Eagle
I don't know when, China's film investment has entered the era of 1 billion, and there have been a number of blockbusters with an investment of more than 1 billion yuan.
For example, Zhang Yimou's "The Great Wall" in 2016 is rumored to have invested 1 billion yuan; Chen Sicheng's "Detective Chinatown 3" in 2019 has an investment of 1.3 billion; in 2021, "Changjin Lake" has an investment of more than 1.3 billion; and the "Fengshen" trilogy launched in 2017 has an investment of up to 3 billion.
I really don't know, how much is real money and silver, how much is moisture, how much box office can return the cost!
In the Hong Kong film industry, Jackie Chan, an action superstar who insists on international large-scale productions, has made various real blockbusters with huge investments very early on, and has gone out of Hong Kong and gone to the world.
In the Hong Kong film industry in the 90s, HK$10 million can already make a medium-sized film, and about 30 million can already be regarded as a blockbuster, and can be starred by first-line superstars. For example, in 1990's "A Fei Zheng Biography", with an investment of 40 million yuan, there was a super luxurious lineup of Zhang Guorong, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Liu Jialing and Liang Chaowei.
At that time, Jackie Chan had already begun to shoot a super blockbuster with an investment of more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars.
In 1991, the "Flying Eagle Project" Douban 7.8, with an investment of 90 million Hong Kong dollars, the shooting was postponed for some reason, and finally spent 115 million Hong Kong dollars;
In 1994, the "Red Fan District" Douban 7.6, with an investment of 100 million Hong Kong dollars;
In 1995, "Thunderbolt Fire" Douban 7.0, with an investment of 200 million Hong Kong dollars.
In terms of purchasing power, these are actually equivalent to the current billions or even billions of blockbusters, and at that time, hong Kong dollars were more valuable than renminbi.
What kind of impact did these three billion-level blockbusters have on Jackie Chan and the Jiahe behind him?
"Flying Eagle Project" hong Kong box office 39.05 million Hong Kong dollars, Greater Taipei (the entire Taiwan Province) box office of 81.64 million Taiwan dollars, plus The box office of Europe, America and Southeast Asia, small profits do not lose;
"Red Fan District" has a hong Kong box office of HK$56.91 million, a box office of 121 million Taiwan dollars in Greater Taipei, a box office of more than 95 million yuan in the mainland, and more than 32 million US dollars in the United States, plus box office performance in other regions, making more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars;
"Thunderbolt Fire" grossed HK$45.68 million in Hong Kong, NT$85 million in Greater Taipei, less than 10 million in the United States, and with box offices in other regions, it still lost more than HK$100 million.
The "Flying Eagle Project" was a huge investment, mainly because it needed to travel through three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, including the great deserts of Spain and Morocco.
During the filming in Morocco, because of the hot climate, more than 90% of the crew's employees were sick due to water and soil, including the heroine; some people were stung by scorpions, and Jackie Chan was forced to stop and recuperate after his sternum was cracked and displaced, so the shooting was postponed for two months, for a total of 9 months.
The funniest thing is that the prop banknotes in the movie are too realistic and accidentally circulate to the market. As a result, the film was once confiscated by the local police and brought back after negotiations between lawyers and Jackie Chan. One of Jiahe's production managers was put on the back of the pot and spent three months in prison.
Therefore, tens of millions of dollars were spent on various compensation, medical expenses and various expenses caused by extensions. Especially in the months of filming in Morocco, the crew was hundreds of people, and drinking water alone was not a small amount of money.
After "Flying Eagle Project", Jackie Chan was withdrawn from the directorship by Jiahe for 2 years.
Therefore, in 1992's "Police Story 3 Super Police", the director was replaced by Tang Jili. As a result, Tang Jili directed very well, and also helped Jackie Chan win the first Golden Horse Award, so the later blockbusters such as "Police Story 4" and "Red Fan District" also continued to let Tang Jili direct.
The success of "Red Fan District" is of landmark significance to Jackie Chan, Jiahe Film, and the entire Chinese film industry.
Since the 1980s, after more than 10 years of three attempts, Jackie Chan has finally successfully entered the mainstream Hollywood film market with this film.
"Red Fan District" is also the first work of Jackie Chan to win the Hong Kong box office in the 1990s, and it is also the first Chinese film in Greater Taipei to break through NT$100 million. At the same time, "Red Fan District" also successfully opened up the mainland film market, not only exporting the concept of Chinese New Year films to mainland film peers, but also allowing mainland audiences to develop the habit of watching movies for the New Year.
The movie "Red Zone" is a story that takes place in New York, but it was filmed in Canada, but the cost is still very high.
Because during the filming, Jackie Chan was injured again, which affected the progress.
Moreover, the remuneration of foreign actors is also much more expensive; there are many very expensive shots, such as driving the hovercraft to rampage in the city, the villain using a big car to directly pull Down Mei Yanfang's supermarket, and various flying cars, crash shots, and so on.
Of course, what really conquered american audiences was Jackie Chan's earth-shattering jump on the roof of the building.
During the filming of "Thunderbolt Fire", "Red Fan District" was being screened in the United States, and the box office performance was gratifying. Therefore, the top management of Jiahe decided to make "Thunderbolt Fire" into a Hollywood-level large-scale production like "Red Fan District", adding another fire to the film career of Jackie Chan and Jiahe.
Therefore, "Thunderbolt Fire" is not only an epic investment, but also an unprecedentedly powerful lineup behind the scenes. Yuan Kui served as a martial arts instructor, and the directors included Chen Jiashang, Hong Jinbao, Tang Jili and Chen Xunqi, who were responsible for different scenes such as literary drama, martial arts and flying car.
The most expensive thing is all kinds of flying car scenes, filmed in many cities in Japan and the United States, hundreds of top racing cars have been used, and dozens of cars have been destroyed.
This "Thunderbolt Fire" seriously injured Jiahe Yuanqi, and the only consolation was that Yuankui won the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Direction; the real winner may be a Japanese car factory that has received countless product displays.
Therefore, the cost of "A Good Man" filmed in Australia and "Who Am I" filmed in South Africa and the Netherlands was compressed within HK$100 million.
At that time, "Flying Eagle Project", "Red Fan District" and "Thunderbolt Fire" were all too arrogant in terms of spending money; now it seems that not only left so many epic and wonderful shots, but also had important pioneering significance for Chinese films. Especially in "Red Fan District", the money is still quite valuable.