Chapter 334: The Blockbuster Success of the Calabash Brothers Movie
Time quickly advanced to April 2nd.
Yang Wendong arrived at the entrance of the movie theater inside Changxing Mall, accompanied by Su Yiyi and their eldest son, Yang Zhiwen.
"Yang Sheng, Madam Yang," greeted Zheng Zhijie from Changxing Real Estate and Zhang Zhiyuan from Changxing Comics. Once they found out the boss was coming, of course, they rushed over.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I'm just here to watch a movie. Calabash Brothers is premiering today, and I promised my son I'd bring him to see it."
Calabash Brothers was already one of the most well-known comic stories in Hong Kong, and it even had a bit of a following in Southeast Asia. The main reason was the unique superpowers depicted—it was far more appealing in this era than the repetitive swordplay and martial arts clichés of wuxia stories.
Now that the Calabash Brothers animated film had been completed, with the backing of Changxing Media's powerful promotional engine, practically everyone in Hong Kong knew about it. Many families with children planned to go to the cinema, and the Yang family was no exception.
This was, after all, Hong Kong's first-ever film adaptation of a comic.
"Still twenty minutes until the movie starts," Zheng Zhijie said with a smile. "Then we'll wait until you've finished watching before coming back to you."
"Alright," Yang Wendong nodded.
The two men left, and the Yang family of three followed the queue, handing in their tickets and entering the cinema one by one.
"East-ge, there are so many kids here, all about the same age as ours," Su Yiyi said, laughing.
Yang Wendong replied, "That's right. There aren't many comics in Hong Kong suitable for kids. Our Calabash Brothers is one of the few age-appropriate ones. I'm guessing lots of parents, like us, read it to their children."
No matter how simple a comic was, the reader still needed to be literate, so the audience was inherently limited. Many preschool-aged or low-literacy children wouldn't be able to read it themselves, but once the comic reached them—thanks to curiosity and parental guidance—some adults would read it aloud.
That was the case with their own family. Yang Zhiwen, almost two years old now, could already understand parts of the story. Su Yiyi had read it to him several times before.
"Mhm. Have you seen it before?" Su Yiyi asked.
Yang Wendong smiled. "No. I specifically waited to watch it together with you two."
That was true. He hadn't watched the animation in advance, primarily because he wasn't a professional in that field. His perspective came from another era and might skew expectations—he didn't want to give unhelpful suggestions.
More importantly, if he gave too much feedback, his team might begin following his instructions to the letter, prioritizing "safety" over creativity. That could compromise the project's potential. It was a problem many companies faced.
For things like factories, shipping, or real estate—industries where Yang Wendong's knowledge of the future gave him an edge—he had no problem slamming the table and making executive decisions. But for comics or film, he didn't hold that advantage.
In this industry, his job was just to set the general direction for content. The rest—the specifics—were better left to the professionals.
"Alright," Su Yiyi replied with a smile.
Soon, the two of them entered the cinema. Their seats were located in the central-back section—any seasoned moviegoer would know this was the best viewing spot.
"This cinema is much nicer than those under Shaw Brothers or Cathay," Su Yiyi commented.
"The ticket prices are higher too," Yang Wendong said with a grin.
As a major financial group, Changxing's primary reason for investing in theaters was to use it as a convenient excuse to acquire prime land. That's why their locations were carefully selected—even in the Kowloon Peninsula, their cinemas were always right in the town center.
Such prime spots demanded better decor and stricter hygiene standards. As a result, ticket prices were naturally higher. It was what you'd call differentiated competition from Shaw Brothers and Cathay's cinemas.
Still, the Yang family did visit those theaters from time to time, depending on what was playing.
Su Yiyi nodded. "Mhm."
"It's starting soon," Yang Wendong said.
The movie didn't begin right away—instead, advertisements played first. That was typical for Hong Kong cinemas, especially since many real estate companies loved to advertise before films, hoping to reach hundreds of thousands of middle-class consumers.
A few minutes later, the film officially began: the story opened with Grandpa Calabash climbing the mountain.
Yang Wendong and Su Yiyi watched intently. The plot mirrored that of the comic, but with the addition of voice acting, motion, and even basic special effects (drawn by hand), the visual impact was exponentially greater.
The eldest Calabash Brother, gifted with immense strength, could lift boulders and smash enemies. The second, with clairvoyance and super hearing, could detect distant threats. The third had a body of steel and was invulnerable to blades and bullets.
The fourth Calabash Brother could breathe fire, scorching everything in sight. The fifth could spit water at will—capable of swallowing and spewing entire rivers, and even summoning lightning and rain. The sixth had the power of invisibility, moving unseen to rescue his trapped brothers.
The seventh and youngest brother had the most mystical ability—he wielded a magical calabash gourd, similar to a spatial ring from the fantasy novels of Yang Wendong's previous life.
Together, the seven brothers defeated the serpent demon and returned to a quiet, happy life with their grandfather.
Throughout the screening, countless children sat wide-eyed, mesmerized by the film. Yang Zhiwen was no different.
When the movie ended, the screen darkened, and the house lights came up. All around them, children began chattering excitedly.
"East-ge, it looks like this movie really hit the mark with the kids," Su Yiyi said.
"Of course," Yang Wendong replied with a smile. "Now it just depends on the box office numbers. That's the only standard that truly measures quality."
This time, Yang Wendong's ambitions were quite high. Between aggressive marketing, solid production quality, ownership of the theater chain, and the comic's existing reputation, he was aiming for a real box office breakthrough.
Animated films had a unique advantage—each child who came usually brought along one or two paying adults. Parents didn't necessarily want to watch, but to accompany their kids, they'd buy tickets too. In his past life, many of the highest-grossing animated films in mainland China succeeded for that exact reason.
Of course, there were downsides as well. People without children wouldn't go see it—singles, dating couples, or parents with older children had little reason to buy tickets. So it was a trade-off, like anything else in business.
Su Yiyi said, "I remember the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong last year was Shaw Brothers' Legend of the White Snake, which made HKD 790,000. That was like half the people in Hong Kong who could afford to go to the movies. Do you think Calabash Brothers can break that record?"
"It'll be tough to break the record," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "I'm not expecting it to break records right away, but if we can squeeze into the top ten highest-grossing films in Hong Kong history, I'll be satisfied."
Although he had laid down extensive resources—marketing, theaters, production quality—movies still lived or died by their actual content. This wasn't like manufacturing industrial products. Having a good idea didn't mean it would automatically succeed in the market. Every year there were unexpected breakout hits, but for a dark horse to take first place was extremely rare.
"With our theater chain and media backing, it shouldn't be too difficult," Su Yiyi replied. "It's only a few hundred thousand in ticket sales, right? The profit from that can't be much."
Yang Wendong nodded. "No, it's not much. The profit alone isn't worth a whole strategy. But cultural industries aren't like factories. You don't just sell a product once and be done with it. Films and shows can generate profits again and again, and there's a whole ecosystem of merchandise and licensing opportunities.
If this animated film becomes a hit in Hong Kong, it'll drive sales of sticker books and toys, and foreign distributors will pick up the film for their theaters. Then the merchandise can also be exported. That's way easier than trying to export comic books."
Television and movies had high production costs, but once completed, if the content was good, they could be shown over and over again. In fact, it wasn't crazy to think that over a year, they could reach tens of millions of viewers.
But comic books? Even Dragon Ball, one of the most successful titles in his past life, sold only about 260 million volumes over thirty years. Most people didn't read the manga—they knew it from the anime.
The same applied to many popular novels. Jin Yong's martial arts stories, Harry Potter, and so on—most people experienced them through films or shows. Very few ever read the original books.
"Yeah, I can tell you really care about comics," Su Yiyi said with a smile.
Yang Wendong replied, "I do. The scale is small now, but the potential is huge. Once the copyrights are secured, they can pay dividends for a lifetime. And when you have one successful property, you can keep building more. One day, even if I lie flat and do nothing, the royalties will still pour in."
There were plenty of cultural companies—or individuals—who hit it big with a single IP. Even if they never created anything else, they made fortunes. Take Jay Chou, for example. After the 2010s, he rarely released new music, but he still topped the music revenue charts every year. Sure, it helped that the competition was weak, but still.
Of course, cultural IPs required some upkeep. Unlike music, which could just be replayed, characters and franchises needed new content to stay relevant. Even Disney's Mickey Mouse had to keep appearing in new cartoons and stories.
Soon, the three of them left the theater along with the rest of the crowd. Outside, they saw that Zheng Zhijie and Zhang Zhiyuan were still waiting at the entrance.
"You weren't standing here this whole time, were you?" Yang Wendong asked.
"We weren't," Zhang Zhiyuan replied. "We went back to the office for a bit and came back when the timing was about right."
"Alright," Yang Wendong nodded. "Let's head upstairs."
"I'll take the child to walk around a bit," Su Yiyi said.
"Okay," Yang Wendong agreed, then gave his assistant a look. "Make sure her security detail is in place."
No matter where they were, even in Central District, there were always bodyguards around the core members of the Yang family. It wasn't just about preventing accidents—it also deterred journalists from ambushing them.
After all, they were the most high-profile Chinese business family in Hong Kong, and every move they made was newsworthy.
Once they arrived upstairs, Yang Wendong smiled and said, "The first showing today was pretty much sold out. The initial feedback has been excellent."
"That's all thanks to the marketing work from Changxing Media," Zhang Zhiyuan said with a grin.
"Mm." Yang Wendong nodded. "It'll take about a week to get official box office numbers, but I don't expect it to do poorly. You should immediately scale up production of stickers and toys. Once the movie's out, merchandise sales will spike."
If a movie only earned money from ticket sales, that would be a low-level business. The real profits in entertainment came from the merchandise. Especially for animated shows, even if the film or series didn't turn a direct profit, its fame alone could create massive returns downstream.
"Got it, Yang Sheng. I've already contacted Wei Sheng and told him to ramp up production," Zhang Zhiyuan responded.
"Good," Yang Wendong continued. "What about overseas theater distribution?"
"I've been in contact with several theater chains in Southeast Asia," Zhang Zhiyuan said. "They've agreed to import the film, but the actual pricing will depend on how the box office performs locally."
"That's normal. They're going to be cautious about buying distribution rights." Yang Wendong nodded. "As for our own theaters, just increase the number of screenings to inflate the numbers a bit."
From the beginning, the Hong Kong film industry had always relied on overseas markets. Without them, it couldn't have grown at all. These external theaters usually bought films outright in cash and bore the risk themselves, so Hong Kong's local box office was their gold standard for judging a film's quality.
"Understood," Zheng Zhijie said with a smile. "I'll arrange for more screens."
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "We've got about 20 theaters now, right?"
"Twenty-six in total," Zheng Zhijie replied.
Yang Wendong nodded again. "Right. It's a little bit of number-padding, but since Shaw Brothers does it too, we'd be at a disadvantage if we played it straight."
That was just how the industry worked. A lot of the data people saw—especially in entertainment—wasn't entirely real. Years later, when Hong Kong began its crackdown on organized crime and corruption, many gangs had already infiltrated the film business precisely because it was so easy to manipulate numbers and launder money.
Of course, the money Yang Wendong made was legal. He was just playing the numbers game like everyone else.
Zheng Zhijie laughed, "Exactly. Even if we don't fake it, people will assume we are. That's the reality of the industry."
"Alright. Let's wait for the official box office numbers, and then we'll plan the next steps," Yang Wendong said.
This was the first animated feature film he had produced. If it succeeded, it would not only cement their position in the comics industry but mark their official entry into the film business.
Sure, neither of those sectors made much money at present, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lay the foundation now, and one day, they could reach the top.
The next day, the box office figures for the Calabash Brothers film were released.
Opening day ticket sales: HKD 67,000.
The Ming Pao newspaper even ran a front-page headline:
"The Rise of Chinese Comic Culture Has Begun!"
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