for more than a month and a half has reached 666 million yuan as of press time, and the local box office in Hong Kong in China exceeded 60 million yuan, ranking among the top ten.
As the boss, director producer and starring company, Louis Koo is the biggest contributor to this movie.
His efforts are obvious to all. This project was launched in 2015. The title of the film was still "Contradictory War". Chen Musheng, who had already passed away, served as director. For seven years, it is not an exaggeration to say that Louis Koo spent all his efforts and thoughts.
In 2003, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait started a wave of co-production, capital and talents poured into the mainland, and Hong Kong films continued to decline, but Louis Koo insisted on revitalizing the project on his own. He found a group of old friends to star in and launch a Hong Kong local filming team.
But for mecha science fiction films, special effects are the top priority. In 2015, the mainland post-production companies were still in the exploration stage, and the tiger in Tsui Hark's "Taking Tiger Mountain" was handed over to the Korean special effects company. The ambitious Louis Koo incorporated the local production company FATface and helped the company's boss Wu Xuanhui to the position of director of "The Legend of the War", which can not only save production costs significantly, but also train his team through "The Legend of the War of the War", which is the best of both worlds.
schedule selection and promotional rhythm are like placing troops. "Tomorrow's War" was released in mainland China on August 5 and landed in Hong Kong 20 days later. The 20-day time difference lengthened the promotion cycle of the movie. Louis Koo first ran around the mainland, ran a roadshow, went live broadcast, and interacted with the audience across the air, then returned to Hong Kong to hold a press conference, held a celebration banquet, and planned a public welfare screening...
Louis Koo invested and starred in many movies, but this was the first time he fought. In addition to the reason why he has invested heavily and needs to make a hard work to make his money, more importantly, "The Legend of the War" is Louis Koo's first step to realize his film ambitions.
Lou entered TVB in 1994 and was well-known for starring in "The Legend of Condor Heroes" the following year. After 28 years of entering the industry, Louis Koo's acting career has been smooth sailing, and he has participated in more than 150 films and television works. If he has participated in investment and post-production, he will have at least more than 200 films. Louis Koo, 52, has always been active on the screen and has been quite successful, but from another perspective, he is actually very failed.
Lou Tianle is a recognized model worker, but his efforts and gains are not proportional. After so many years of surging the film industry, he has always been a "middleman". In the heyday of Hong Kong films in the 1990s, TVB, Jiahe, Yongsheng, New Art City and other major roles. Louis Koo wandered in major film companies as an actor. He worked hard to film but failed to reach the important position like Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow, nor could he win the annual box office championship with his own strength;
After the millennium, Louis Koo went north to shoot films while taking into account Hong Kong local movies. His influence in the mainland was limited, and the highest-grossing "2 World Showdown of Drugs", with the support of Andy Lau, he won 1.3 billion box office. At the same time, he is not "choosy to eat" and has taken on many bad movies. As soon as he won the best actor in "Greedy Wolf", he presented "Meow Man" and "Monsters of the Martial Arts" with his backhand; just as he swept the audience back to his confidence, he soon used "The True Three Kingdoms Invincible" and "Chasing the Tiger and Capturing the Dragon" to disgust you. It makes people wonder if Louis Koo is going to become a third-rate actor who can shoot money?
In fact, Louis Koo's film career has just begun.
In my opinion, a simple filming can only be called an actor, and leading the production and production of projects can be called a film career. Louis Koo's first 20 years of acting career have been accumulating energy little by little, accumulating money and connections, and paving the way for his film ambitions.
Lou was founded in Tianxiayi in 2013 and included FATface in 2014, which coincides with the starting point of the project of "The Legend of the War of Tomorrow". During this period, Louis Koo continued to expand his career territory. Not only did he participate in film investment and production, he also took over the post-production of most local Hong Kong films. Its branch, Hengyun, provides equipment rental services for almost all Hong Kong filming. At the same time, Louis Koo also supports new directors and invests in small-scale films, presenting well-known but not popular local movies such as "Uncle Against the Current" and "Tuess".At the moment when TVB is declining, Jiahe falls, and Hong Kong film talents wither, Louis Koo gradually expands his film empire.
But these efforts still cannot compete with mainland film manufacturers. Louis Koo was not involved in the top 20 box office list. The main theme, war, and comedy that allows mainland audiences to fully get laughs are not the types that Louis Koo and Hong Kong movies can try. If he wants to have a place in the mainland film market and make it to the box office list, he can only place his hopes on science fiction.
Therefore, "The War of Tomorrow" is not only a new attempt and exploration by Louis Koo, but also a brand new start for his film career. The share of the money exceeded 250 million, and a celebration banquet was held. "The Legend of the War" should be profitable, which gave Louis Koo confidence to play a bigger game of chess and launch the second work of the science fiction journey, "The Ladder".
In an interview, Louis Koo said that "Ladder" will be a brand new space story, the shooting is ten times more complicated than this time ("Fighting Tomorrow"), and will build a large 360-degree LED and create an IMAX effect.
Many people may not have figured out what Louis Koo's words mean.
On the one hand, "ten times more complex" means that the production fee will increase several times and the investment risk will be higher.
On the other hand, "The Ladder" will completely subvert the traditional film production methods. Including "The Legend of Tomorrow", the special effects cameras are all made of green screens on the spot, and the computer special effects are cut out later. The director can only use animation previews to see the effects on the spot. The "360-degree large LED" mentioned by Louis Koo is actually the most advanced XR technology at present. The scenes and pictures of the post-work and the special effects completed in the green screen are presented on the LED screen. The actors perform in the LED screen surrounds the LED screen, and what the director sees is what he gets.
In addition to having requirements for studios and LED screens, this production method has higher requirements for photographers, actors, as well as the technical support for linkage between LED screens and cameras. Currently, they are still in the initial stage abroad, and no movie in China has been completely completed in this way. Therefore, what Louis Koo wants to do this time is not only the pioneer of Hong Kong mecha science fiction, but also the first person in the entire domestic film to try XR shooting. I wish him success.
