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Following the announcement of global casting for "Shaolin Girls" in March, Stephen Chow recently appeared in front of the public again. The first season of the micro-short drama "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf", which was produced and planned by him and directed by Yi Xiaoxing, was completed in early May.
is not just a short play. At the end of April this year, iQiyi announced another cooperation with Stephen Chow - he will serve as a sponsor to participate in the recording of its variety show "The King of Comedy Stand-up Season". If the show is successfully broadcast, it will be Stephen Chow's first variety show in mainland China. As soon as the news came out, related topics such as #Stephen Chow is going to appear in a variety show# quickly became hot searches.
has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1980. This superstar has been in the public eye for almost 45 years. With the rise and fall of Hong Kong films, the audience's emotions towards Stephen Chow have also become more complicated. For example, compared to his previous His high-quality comedy films, such as "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" and "The New King of Comedy", have received mixed reviews from the market. It has been 5 years since the last film he directed.
Some people commented that he has "exhausted his talent", but the return of Stephen Chow this time has given the audience hope. I believe that he is still the "Star Master" in people's impression. However, can the "Zhou's nonsensical comedy style" returned in a new form really be well received by the audience?
"Stephen Chow" is the best ip
In 1980, Stephen Chow, who was only 18 years old, broke into the Hong Kong entertainment industry single-handedly. After working as a bit player for 8 years, he got his first important role in life at the age of 26, that is, as a younger brother in the movie "Pioneer of Thunder", for which he won nominations and awards at the Academy Awards and Golden Horse Awards. As he signed with new companies and participated in more and more movies, Stephen Chow's comedy talent gradually emerged.
In 1992, it had been four years since Stephen Chow made his debut. This year, among the top 15 Hong Kong movies at the box office, his starring films "The Death Judge", "A Happy Event in the Family", "The Deer and the Cauldron", "The Military Champion Su Qier" and "The Deer and the Cauldron: The Dragon Cult" ranked among the top 5, and the first two films both broke Breaking the box office record at the time, Stephen Chow ushered in the highlight moment of his life. Some people called this year the "Year of Stephen Chow".
His acting career is in full swing, and Stephen Chow's personal IP has also begun to gain popularity. Whenever a comedy movie has his blessing, the attention will increase significantly. "Chow's nonsensical" has also become an important label for Stephen Chow's movies.
Time came to 1994, Stephen Chow released his first self-written, directed and starred movie "Domestic Lingling Paint", and began to switch from actor to screenwriter, director and other identities. In 1995, he filmed his transformation and masterpiece "Westward Journey" series; the following year, Stephen Chow founded Star Overseas Co., Ltd., "God of Cookery", "The King of Comedy", "Shaolin Football" and "Yangtze River No. 7" Classic works such as "Kung Fu" were launched with the help of this company, and since then, the "Stephen Chow Movie Universe" has continued to add new members.
The more movies he makes, the more famous he becomes, but the chain effect brought by Stephen Chow's IP goes beyond that. In the history of Hong Kong films, Stephen Chow's movies almost made famous some of the best comedians in the 1990s. The most well-known is the "movie partner" formed by Stephen Chow and Ng Meng-tat. The two officially started cooperating in comedy movies with "The Gambler". They have filmed a total of 26 works and created many classic moments in the history of comedy movies.
In addition, there are the actresses who have gained more attention due to their appearances in Stephen Chow's movies. The title of "star girl" has always accompanied their acting careers, such as Cecilia Cheung, Xu Jiao, Huang Shengyi, Lin Yun and others. How popular the title of Star Girl is is evident from Stephen Chow's global recruitment of actresses for "Shaolin Girls" not long ago. According to relevant media reports, at least 20,000 people signed up at that time.
benefited from Stephen Chow's personal IP becoming popular across the country, and he also began to get involved in business investments in the years before and after he became famous. In the early days of , he founded Caixing Film Company and Xinghui Overseas Co., Ltd. In 2010, he joined the listed company Bigao Group and later became the company's first shareholder.
The film produced by Caixing Film Company when it was first founded was "Westward Journey", which was later highly praised by people. However, because it was not recognized by the market at the time, Caixing Film Company also went bankrupt. Xinghui Overseas and Bigo Group both reaped the dividends brought by Stephen Chow's IP. The two companies' entrepreneurial works "God of Cookery" and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" both achieved huge profits that year.
Although Stephen Chow has become less active in recent years, he has never fallen behind in creating a personal IP. The autobiographical film "The King of Comedy" based on his personal experience in his early years was later released as a sequel "The New King of Comedy" in 2019. In addition, around the famous IP "Journey to the West", he created successive films. There are Zhou's comedy-style "Journey to the West" series and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".
Today, "Stephen Chow IP" is only presented to the audience in a more systematic and straightforward manner. In the near future, we will see a large number of Zhou comedy movies appearing in a new look, and the adapted works of Stephen Chow IP will also become richer.
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Transformation into a famous director, or making money?
In recent years, there are many directors who have stopped making movies and have switched to making dramas, participating in or directing variety shows. Among the famous domestic directors, Feng Xiaogang filmed his first online drama "North and South" in 2021. The drama invited a number of famous actors to play supporting roles, such as Liu Xiaoqing and Song Dandan, which caused a lot of discussion. At the end of last year, Wong Kar-wai contributed to the big screen hit drama "Flowers". It took nearly 10 years from preparation to filming. Wong Kar-wai used the film-making model to produce his first TV series.
Zhang Yimou may be somewhat similar to Stephen Chow. He has been developing in multiple fields such as movies, variety shows, and TV series. For example, in 2016, he directed the large-scale variety show "The Snow King" and announced around 2023 that he would direct his first online drama "Heroes". Alliance" and the first TV series "Protagonist", both of which are currently in preparation.
However, is very different from the transformation paths of these famous directors. The two tracks that Stephen Chow is targeting - micro-short dramas and comedy variety shows not only match his existing positioning and transformation needs, but also both It is a niche segment with market potential. In terms of
micro-short dramas, domestic micro-short dramas will begin to grow explosively in 2022. According to the "2023-2024 China Micro-Short Drama Market Research Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, the market size of my country's online micro-short dramas in 2023 will be 37.39 billion yuan, year-on-year. With an increase of 267.65%, the market size is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan in 2027.
In January this year, Douyin announced a cooperation with Stephen Chow. The two parties will jointly create and operate a comedy micro-short drama brand "9527 Theater". The famous director's micro-short drama, whether in terms of content or production, may be a "dimensionality-reducing blow" to those entering the industry.
For a long time, it is not uncommon for famous directors to transform. The audience has always been concerned about whether directors can maintain high-level output after transformation. For example, in "Flowers", some people think that Wong Kar-wai's style is not suitable for the medium of TV dramas, while others think that Wong Kar-wai can't adapt the original novel well. There are many voices of disbelief. However, the Douban score of 8.7 after the broadcast has truly confirmed Wong Kar-wai's transformation. very successful.
However, there is also a situation similar to Feng Xiaogang's "overturn" in the online drama. After the broadcast of "North and South", it was once criticized by the audience: "Feng Xiaogang was abandoned by young people!"
Speaking of Stephen Chow, in terms of movies, In recent years, the standard of his works has indeed declined repeatedly. In addition, some of his works are sequels to classic movies and are of poor quality. There have also been criticisms of Stephen Chow for "trading feelings" and "plagiarizing himself." This time, we have started to explore new fields again. Stephen Chow and other famous directors who have transformed are facing the same situation. They all have to answer "Is my work still suitable for today's era?"
The answer will be revealed soon. .
Bremen
editor-in-chief Liang Xinting
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