National Tide 1980.

Ning Weimin was greatly encouraged after successfully buying out the Chinese copyright of "Chibi Maruko-chan" at a low price.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have been shortsighted for a long time.

Perhaps because he was too focused on helping Keiko Matsumoto run the studio and agency, he was a little too focused on the big money-makers in the entertainment market - movies, TV series and music.

However, they ignore the IP advantages of Japanese anime.

The two-dimensional industry has great growth potential in the future, and what can be expanded into a grain economy is actually a better cultural resource than live-action film libraries and music copyrights.

In the long run, compared with live-action film and television dramas, animated works are undoubtedly more commercially feasible and can create greater economic value.

Especially Japan is currently far ahead in this regard and is at the forefront of Asia, and many big IPs have been born.

Therefore, Ning Weimin immediately came up with a new idea and began to actively look for contact information from various parties. He contacted companies and authors who owned well-known animation IPs in the name of Wu Studio and Huiwentang Bookstore to discuss copyright transactions.

There is no need to think too much, Ning Weimin’s first choice must be super IPs such as "Dragon Ball", "Saint Seiya", "Doraemon", "Fist of the North Star", "City Hunter" and "Peacock King".

It has been proven in the previous life that these anime works can be popular in the country.

There is no risk at all, and everyone would choose this.

But the problem is that these authors are all famous veterans.

Not to mention animated versions of their works, they have even launched a wide variety of peripheral products.

Not only has he made a lot of money from copyrights a long time ago, but he has also set up his own agency.

They have a lot of people under them who are specifically responsible for protecting their copyright interests and handling related legal issues.

In addition, this kind of thing does not require the author's consent alone, but often requires the publisher's consent.

Because publishing companies like Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Kodansha obtained the global distribution and adaptation rights for many works at the beginning of publication.

To put it bluntly, these already famous cartoonists are completely different from the new author Miki Miura who entered the industry in 1986 with "Chibi Maruko-chan".

When Ning Weimin wanted to negotiate copyright transactions, he couldn't even meet these authors and could only deal with their companies.

It is impossible not to let the middlemen make a profit from the price difference.

It goes without saying that these "mother-in-laws" who block the road care most about practical interests and are business-minded.

Those who handle this are all professionals with a strong sense of copyright, so it is not easy to fool them.

Ning Weimin talked to them about the significance of cultural exchanges between the two countries, the limited consumption capacity of the mainland entertainment market, and the current situation in China where there is no copyright protection. There are already pirated copies of "Dragon Ball" and "Doraemon" being sold in the mainland... These topics are all useless, and people don't care at all.

Don't even mention the price, it's impossible for them to give him any discount.

Even for the filming rights of a movie, the price would be calculated in billions.

The key is that no one is stupid. People with brains certainly understand that steady and long-term success is better.

These stumbling blocks simply refused to agree to Ning Weimin's request to buy out the copyright at a flat price for use in mainland China.

He was only willing to rent the copyright to Ning Weimin for a period of ten or fifteen years.

how to say?

Now is the best time for Japan's economy, and those who hold the copyrights of famous works have an astonishingly large appetite for wealth.

Even if the deal fails, it doesn't matter to these companies. After all, good wine needs no bush, and this kind of product is unique and only available from this company.

So this can't be discussed. Ning Weimin is not willing to use China's wealth to support a few Japanese companies in the future. He is here to reap the benefits of Japan, not to send himself to Japan to make him bleed. This goes against his original intention.

So he could only excuse himself and leave.

Unexpectedly, his behavior made him despised, and some of his negotiating partners looked dissatisfied.

Maybe they thought that since Ning Weimin couldn't afford the price, he shouldn't bother them and waste their time and a cup of coffee as a reception.

In fact, it is not like what they think. Ning Weimin is not someone who cannot afford the money.

He just felt that it was not a good deal to rush in, and it would be a loss for him to buy now.

Perhaps we can only wait until the Japanese economic bubble bursts before renegotiating, and then we will be able to get better terms.

As the old saying goes, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, so just wait patiently.

Of course, not all of these first-line cartoonists are so successful.

The author of "City Hunter", Hojo Tsukasa, is a little different from others.

Because this guy is a loyal fan of Keiko Matsumoto, the name of Mist Studio still has some effect on him.

In fact, after Ning Weimin was rejected in an interview with Hojo Tsukasa's agency, there was a glimmer of hope the next day.

Someone from Hojo Tsukasa's agency called him again and said that Hojo Tsukasa was very happy to learn that Ning Weimin came to discuss the copyright transaction on behalf of Mist Studio.

Regarding the timeliness and price of copyright transactions, Hojo Tsukasa himself is willing to make some concessions, and the specific terms can be discussed in person.

However, Hojo Tsukasa also had his own conditions, which was to require Kiri Studios to adapt his work "Cat's Eye" to the screen first, and to let Keiko Matsumoto play the eldest sister among the three sisters.

For no other reason than because Hojo Tsukasa created this character based on Keiko Matsumoto.

In addition, Hojo Tsukasa also hoped to serve as the special consultant for props and costumes for this film, and he requested that all costumes be selected by him.

He was also willing to follow the crew so that he could answer any questions Keiko Matsumoto had about the work at any time on the set.

I have to say that this guy is very sincere, even a little eager.

But the problem is that the motives behind these conditions make Ning Weimin suspicious.

As a man, he felt that Hojo Tsukasa seemed too eager to meet Matsumoto Keiko and join the crew.

Moreover, although the story of "City Hunter" is good, there are too many things in this comic that cannot be published in the mainland. It must undergo castration surgery and be made into a clean version before it can meet readers.

Just think about it, who is this Hojo Tsukasa, the author who can design so many adult plots, so many dirty jokes and all kinds of beauties?

It would be strange if this guy wasn't a senior pervert.

So Ning Weimin didn't even consider agreeing to it, and just refused it on the grounds that Matsumoto Keiko was expecting a baby and needed to recover after giving birth, so it was impossible for her to act in an action movie. This is the side effect of having a beautiful wife, there will always be all kinds of bad people who are thinking of taking advantage of the loopholes and clinging to you like flies.

But then again, even so, Ning Weimin did not gain nothing.

Besides the fact that he is quite good at socializing and can always make friends anytime and anywhere,

The main reason is that there are too many people working in the Japanese animation industry, which means there are too many people and too little resources.

Of course, famous authors whose works are very popular can make a lot of money from various royalties and writing fees.

But these people are after all a minority of the top people in the industry, and there are only a few of them in total.

The backbone of this industry are comic book authors who have only one well-received work, or who have just gained a little fame but have not yet fully proved their commercial value.

Most of these people do not live a wealthy or even tight life.

Especially due to the family environment, there are many children from poor families like the author of "Chibi Maruko-chan", who were born into a family selling vegetables and fruits.

Even if the work starts to sell well, the remuneration will be much less because it is your first work.

Otherwise, it would not have been sold to Ning Weimin at such a cheap price.

For example, when Ning Weimin was discussing the copyright of "Fist of the North Star" with Shueisha, he had a good chat with an editor named Hiroshi Nakano, although the deal was not reached in the end.

But the editor mistakenly thought that he wanted to buy "Fist of the North Star" in order to make an action movie.

I then recommended to him a work that had been serialized in Shueisha's "Weekly Shonen Jump" magazine since last year, which was "Riki-O" by the young cartoonist Tetsuya Saruwatari.

Hiroshi Nakano's reason for recommendation is that "Rikio" is somewhat similar to the style of "Fist of the North Star" in terms of its cruelty and bloody atmosphere, but because the story is set in a modern city and the story is shorter, it may be easier to shoot.

Moreover, this work is only the second work of Tetsuya Saruwatari, and it is undoubtedly much cheaper in terms of price.

It would be fine if it was other comics, Ning Weimin was not really familiar with them, but "Li Wang" suddenly evoked his youthful memories.

Among all the Hong Kong films adapted from Japanese comics, this movie starring Fen Shaohuang should be the one that everyone knows!

Those bloody scenes and the cinematic style full of mania challenge the audience's nerves all the time. They really have the effect of destroying the audience's worldview and can be regarded as a childhood shadow in the hearts of many children.

In his previous life, when Ning Weimin was still a junior high school student who had never come across the word "cult", he accidentally saw a video of this film in the school's tiered classroom.

The cool thing about this movie is that you know most of the settings are rubbish and the filming cost is pitifully low.

But it was the unique move of being blasted with a punch that caused blood and flesh to splatter that made the blood boil. Against the backdrop of powerful male hormones, all kinds of disgusting flesh and blood were elevated to the CULT aesthetic.

Although this film was forced to be withdrawn from the shelves in Hong Kong after just seven days of release because it was too cruel and bloody, resulting in a disastrous box office failure and even the cancellation of plans to shoot a sequel.

However, this movie was well received in other parts of Asia. Even in the mainland, its Douban score has remained above 7 for a long time, and the video tapes sold like hot cakes. The producers definitely made a profit.

So Ning Weimin really followed the advice and went back to read the original comic of "Li Wang" carefully overnight. He soon contacted editor Nakano and asked to meet with the author.

In this way, with the help of Hiroshi Nakano, Ning Weimin finally bought out all the copyrights of "Rikuou" for 110 million yen.

Why is it so expensive? It’s almost a million dollars!

That’s because it’s different from the animated version of “Chibi Maruko-chan”.

This time, Ning Weimin bought out the global distribution and adaptation rights of "Li Wang".

This means that he took over all the rights of "Riki-O" from the author Tetsuya Saruwatari and Shueisha.

In the future, if any company takes a fancy to this IP and wants to produce an animation, a sequel, or peripheral products, they must obtain Ning Weimin’s permission.

Moreover, after obtaining the authorization, Ning Weimin had no plans to sit idle. He had already made up his mind to film "Li Wang" into a movie next year.

But the difference is that this time he doesn't plan to use cheap blood plasma to make people feel sick, and he doesn't want to shoot the kind of work we have seen in the previous life, which lowers the requirements for costumes and props in order to pursue low costs.

He still wants to make a big production, preferably a series of movies.

Therefore, in order to restore the atmosphere of the story as much as possible, at least 1.2 billion yen will be spent on filming tomorrow. This is the lower limit, and there is no upper limit.

To be honest, he didn't even plan to settle for a supporting role. He decided to learn from the way the Chinese filmed "Water Margin" was done and simply held an open audition for actors from China and Japan, picking some muscular men with big bodies.

Of course, the protagonist needs a big star.

Ning Weimin had already made up his mind to get Jet Li over through Silver City. He was young at that time, so the role of Li Wang was the best choice for him.

This guy no longer needs to be disappointed by the box office failure of "Chinese Hero".

He will give Jet Li a satisfactory salary and provide him with a decent opportunity to make a comeback.

In addition to Jet Li, there are also domestic action stars Ji Chunhua, Yu Hai, Yu Chenghui, Yu Rongguang, and Ning Weimin.

It can also help these domestic actors to gain fame in the Japanese market and become more familiar to the public.

As for Japanese actors Yasuaki Kurata, Michiko Nishiwaki, and Yukari Oshima, it would also be nice if these actors joined.

These people are all well-known in Hong Kong films and have become familiar faces.

Yasuaki Kurata is the actor who played the head coach of the Black Dragon Society in Jet Li's "Fist of Fury".

I do have real kung fu skills and am proficient in Aikido and Judo.

Michiko Nishiwaki appeared in "God of Gamblers" as a tattooed woman, which was stunning. Ning Weimin thought he could just copy this image completely.

Yukari Oshima is the actor who played the role of Huang Quan, King of Xicang, in Fan Shaohuang's version of "The King of Power".

In that movie, she wore a tight black dress, had short hair parted in the middle, had evil eyes, and acted cruelly.

The degree of replication of the comic characters is quite high and very impressive, so there is certainly no need to change them.

There is also the action director, which is the most important job and undoubtedly has to be Yuen Woo-ping.

With such a huge investment of money and the participation of such excellent actors, the quality of such a film will surely not be too bad, and its Douban score will surely be raised to 8.5 in the future.

Finally, when it comes to the box office, Ning Weimin is not greedy.

As long as the domestic box office in Japan plus overseas licensing can sell 3 billion yen, he will be satisfied.

After all, videotapes are the main source of profit, and in the future, when the Internet age comes, this movie will be a powerful tool for attracting traffic, which will bring him a steady stream of small amounts of money. (End of this chapter)