At the beginning of the year, both of Andy Lau’s new films were blockbusters. Now on April 23, he has officially announced the start of his tour concerts in mainland China. The recently released posters show that Andy Lau’s tour will cover multiple cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Chongqing.
The theme of Andy Lau’s tour is named “Today…is the Day”. Despite his sunny and handsome appearance on the concert posters, some people are puzzled as to why Andy Lau, who has been absent from the music scene for a long time, has suddenly announced a concert tour.
According to insiders, Andy Lau was forced to come back to the music scene after the financial setback caused by the failure of his starring film “Red Carpet Gentleman”. Chinese media outlet “Sohu” revealed this information by stating, “Indeed, the poor box office performance of ‘Red Carpet Gentleman’ is a well-known fact. Although Andy Lau displayed his superb acting skills in the film, it was not enough to save the declining box office. During the Lunar New Year period this year, everyone’s attention was drawn to the film ‘Hi, Mom’ directed by Jia Ling, while Andy Lau’s ‘Red Carpet Gentleman’ received little to no attention.”
In fact, Andy Lau’s film “Red Carpet Gentleman”, which he starred in, only grossed 73 million yuan in the first five days since its release on February 10 this year. Recognizing the unfavorable situation, the film distributor immediately withdrew it from the Lunar New Year market. However, after a re-release on March 15, the box office results were even more dismal with only 2.45 million yuan on the first day and a drop to 2 million yuan on the following day.
According to financial data disclosed by the production company “Joy Media”, the production cost of “Red Carpet Gentleman” was 260 million yuan, including a production fee of 20.86 million yuan, director Ning Hao’s fee of 24.6 million yuan, and Andy Lau’s fee of 60.7 million yuan. As the final box office revenue did not exceed 100 million yuan, the potential losses might exceed 230 million yuan, which would not even cover Andy Lau’s fee.
Industry estimates suggest that besides the director and lead actor’s fees, along with other expenses, the total cost of “Red Carpet Gentleman” would definitely exceed 260 million yuan. In general, a film with a cost of 260 million yuan would require a box office revenue of over 1 billion yuan to ensure financial balance. As such, the losses of “Red Carpet Gentleman” might rank as the highest of the year. And as the lead actor, Andy Lau might have to pay a considerable sum if he had entered into a performance-based agreement with the investors.
In recent years, some mainland investment companies have been accustomed to using “performance-based agreements” that deeply bind celebrity artists in the wealth accumulation process.
For example, in 2015, director Feng Xiaogang signed a “performance-based agreement” with “Huayi Brothers”. The latter acquired 70% of Feng Xiaogang’s company “Dongyang Meilai” for 1.05 billion yuan, while the total assets of “Dongyang Meilai” at the time were only 13.6 thousand yuan, with total liabilities of 19.1 thousand yuan. The performance-based agreement included that from 2016 to 2020, the net profit of “Dongyang Meilai” should not be less than 100 million, 115 million, 132 million, 152 million, and 175 million respectively. The final financial report data indicated that Feng Xiaogang had to pay “Huayi Brothers” approximately 230 million yuan due to unmet performance targets in 2018 and 2020.
Unexpectedly, in recent years, Andy Lau, deeply integrated into the mainland entertainment industry, has also become a Hong Kong star who is firmly constrained by the Chinese Communist system.
Although Andy Lau has stated that he has always planned to hold a concert tour with his team, some netizens commented, “Andy Lau started as a singer, but turned to acting in movies when his singing career was not successful. Then he started singing again after becoming a movie star.” Given that Andy Lau was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Film Association on January 30, taking over from Jackie Chan who was embroiled in scandal, some netizens bluntly stated, “He started his career with ‘Boat People’ (a film directed by Ann Hui in 1982), and ended up supporting the Chinese Communist Party.” Many can’t help but feel sorry for Andy Lau.