Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 749: League of Legends Script

"The Hunger Games 3, produced by Lionsgate Films in Hollywood and starring Jennifer Lawrence, grossed $1.25 million in its first weekend, and the global box office has now exceeded $ million..."

"After three and a half weeks of release, the Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" grossed $5.14 million in North America.

It is reported that the total box office of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in the global film market has exceeded 7 million US dollars, and has achieved high profits, which are still growing. "

Just as the consultation from the other side of the ocean came in, Warner President Tsujihara called.

"Gu, I have good news to tell you, haha."

As soon as the call was connected, Tsujihara couldn't contain his excitement. He didn't expect that Warner, which had been in a slump for most of the year, would make a comeback at the end of the year.

At present, even though "The Hunger Games 3" has a box office of over million in its first weekend, there is still a big gap between it and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". According to the prediction of professionals at Warner Bros., this year's North American box office champion is already "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".

While watching the news, Gu Wei pretended to be ignorant and asked in confusion, "What good news?"

"The box office of The Hunger Games 3 in its first weekend is out. Although the box office is as high as 1.25 million, Lionsgate Films lost. They have lost the opportunity to compete for the annual box office champion..."

"Oh, what wonderful news! I think we should continue to increase the publicity of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." Gu Wei said in an exaggerated tone, and Miss Liu next to him looked at him in confusion.

"That's right. Not only will we increase publicity, we are also planning to hold a large-scale celebratory reception. I hope you can come and participate then." Tsujihara directly extended the invitation.

"Sorry, my wedding is coming soon and I will be staying in the country for some time." Gu Wei refused directly.

Fortunately, Tsujihara, a Japanese, did not force it. After all, Japanese people know a little about etiquette. If it were a foreigner, he might not understand why a wedding has to be prepared so long in advance. After all, they are a nation that can continue to hold a party the day before the wedding.

"Warner's call?" Miss Liu asked casually after seeing Gu Wei finish chatting.

"Well, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a big hit, and Warner was going to invite me to a cocktail party, but I just refused." Gu Wei replied indifferently.

"Oh." Miss Liu didn't say anything after asking. She took the performance book and started reading it by herself.

I have to say that Miss Liu is becoming more and more diligent in her efforts to achieve the Grand Slam of Best Actress.

...

In the film market, the box office of "A Woman Who Acts Like a Baby Has the Best Luck" is stable, and its current box office has exceeded 100 million. Compared with its investment cost of tens of millions, it is definitely profitable.

And "Taiping Wheel (Part 1)" is really interesting.

With all the negative reviews, the daily box office is still hanging around 10 million. I guess several producers are crying their eyes out.

The domestic film with the best box office performance at the moment is undoubtedly the youth film "Fleet of Time".

5986 million on the first day, 8048 million on the second day, and 6596 million on the third day.

It grossed 2.06 million in the first three days of the weekend, fully demonstrating the advantages of youth films.

But everyone in the industry knows that youth films only have those three tricks, and if they can’t get past that upper limit, Little Pony will inevitably collapse.

Sure enough, one week after its release, the total box office of "The Year in a Hurry" exceeded 4 million, and the daily box office dropped sharply.

Industry insiders estimate that the final total box office will definitely not be as high as Zhao Yanzi's "So Young", probably around 6 million.

……

Time flies and it is already the 7th. The Hollywood imported animated film "Despicable Me 3" has officially been released in China.

DreamWorks applied for an extension, but it was rejected outright.

Because "The Crossing (Part 3)" was so bad, "Despicable Me " is showing signs of rising again.

However, the Film Bureau will not allow an imported blockbuster to be postponed during the Lunar New Year holiday, as that would have a huge impact on domestic films.

The wedding time is getting closer, and Gu Wei has not been to the company for more than a week. However, someone from Penguin came to discuss the "League of Legends" movie, which involves cooperation, so Gu Wei had to go out in person to discuss it.

Recently, the company is still considering whether to release a feature film or an animated film for "League of Legends" first, but as for the script, the screenwriters have been trying to create it.

However, Gu Wei divided the seven or eight screenwriters in charge into two groups, gave them a story outline and general ideas, as well as several selected game heroes. After several months, the two types of scripts have been basically completed.

Since League of Legends entered China in September 11, after three years of development, it has become the most popular online game.

If you go to an Internet cafe now, at least seven or eight out of ten computers will be playing this game, and according to Tencent's prediction, this game will reach its peak next year or the year after.

At present, even though the global championship has not been won, the League of Legends atmosphere in China has hardly been affected.

Like many engineers and programmers in Xingchen Film and Television Company, they like to play this game and often play it in the company.

Wang Chen, who is in charge of logistics, is not very strict about this. As long as the work is completed, it is okay to relax.

The person who came from Tencent this time was a vice president who was in charge of the game business. As soon as he entered the Star Building, he was photographed by reporters who had been waiting there for many years, and the photos were then posted directly to the Internet.

"What are the Penguin people doing here?" a reporter asked.

"It definitely can't be a collaboration to develop a game. It's most likely for a new movie." Someone gave an explanation.

"I see. Do you still remember the copyright issue of the film and television adaptation of League of Legends that caused a lot of controversy a few months ago?"

"Yes, it must be for the co-production of the League of Legends movie."

...

In the company, just like the visitors from DreamWorks, Universal and Legendary before them, the Penguin team also visited the special effects production department first.

To be honest, Xingchen Films could have handled the film and television adaptation of League of Legends independently, but considering Tencent's large user base, Gu Wei finally decided to cooperate in the development.

For example, once a film project is approved, Tencent will put an advertisement on QQ and various game homepages. The publicity effect cannot be achieved by spending tens of millions.

The tour didn't last long, about half an hour, and everyone went straight to the meeting room, where Gu Wei and Song Ge were already waiting.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they got down to business.

"Director Gu, I'd still prefer to adapt and film an animated movie first. After it's released and the results are good, I'll consider a live-action version of League of Legends movie..."

Tencent's vice president is named Li, who is in his forties and at the right age to pursue a career. He is also supportive of the company's foray into the entertainment and film and television industries.

The other party was talking freely, while Gu Wei fell into deep thought. Just as he said before, the adaptation of games into movies and TV shows is one of the most difficult themes to adapt. The original "World of Warcraft" is the best example. Even with a large fan base, it still did not achieve a high box office, and its reputation was average, and it did not completely become a big IP.

Vice President Li talked a lot, and in the end he just didn't want to directly make a live-action version. After all, the investment in such a movie would definitely not be too low. More importantly, once the reputation is bad, there will be no follow-up.

If it is made into an animated film, with good special effects technology, even if the plot is a bit bad, it will not affect the later live-action adaptation.

After the other party finished speaking, Song Ge and others looked at Gu Wei. How to shoot? How to shoot? Animation or real people? Everything depends on Gu Wei.

“The story background of Runeterra is complicated, and it is difficult to integrate all the stories into one movie.

After all, a movie is only one or two hours long, and it is not enough to tell all the complicated struggles and war scenes in it. "Gu Wei started talking, and after he finished speaking, he gave the others some time to think about it.

Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, he continued, "For a movie adapted from a game, the real draw is the characters, so we can start from that aspect.

For example, if we need to tell a story with conflict, climax, logic, and not deviate from the main plot of the game within two hours, then we can focus on introducing a few heroes...

This will not only attract audiences, but also leave netizens with a memory and make them look forward to subsequent works.”

Tencent's vice president thought for a moment, "How can stories come together to form a popular IP?"

"That's right." Gu Wei smiled and gestured, "Although I don't agree with Ali's concept of movie commercialization, they are right about one thing, that is, the future will definitely be dominated by big IPs."

"Does President Gu agree with my proposal to start the animated film first?" The vice president of Tencent seemed to understand something.

"That's right, just like "Ghost Blows Out the Light", each story is made into a separate movie, and then a few of them are combined to make a big movie."

This is Gu Wei’s plan. There are too many background stories in “League of Legends”, many of which are very exciting. As long as the first step is taken well, there will definitely be a lot of gains in the next few years.

"Boss Gu, fans value the feelings, but passers-by want to hear the story. What should we do?"

As soon as the vice president of Tencent said this, Gu Wei couldn't help but look at him a few more times, thinking that this guy is really something.

Indeed, no matter how many fans League of Legends has, their number can never exceed that of ordinary people. If the League of Legends adaptation does not take this into consideration, there is no way to guarantee the upper limit of the box office.

Just like in the original time and space, "Warcraft" achieved a box office of 1.4 billion in the mainland. The fans were satisfied, but many passers-by were really confused!

“Changing the story background to modern times can not only explain to the game fans, but also enhance the sense of immersion and attract casual fans.

If the game is made into a movie, even if passers-by have never played the game, they can still regard it as a special effects movie about an urban "superhero" saving the earth, and there will be no obstacles to understanding the plot. "This is the solution Gu Wei came up with after repeated thinking.

Upon hearing this, Tencent's vice president's eyes lit up. What a good idea.

To be honest, there are too few themes suitable for making special effects blockbusters in Chinese-language films. For example, movies about Journey to the West and Fengshen have been made to death. Online fairy tales and fantasy themes are too long and only suitable for TV dramas. If they are adapted into movies, many plots will definitely be deleted, and the final result will most likely be that the audience will not approve or buy into it.

"Then do as Gu Dong said."

"Okay, here is the script. You can take a look at it first. If there is no problem, we will confirm the investment and find time to sign the contract?" Gu Wei turned his head and gestured, and then the assistant handed over two copies of the script.

Tencent's vice president nodded, took the contract, and read it attentively.

……

at the same time.

The news that Tencent's vice president appeared at Xingchen Film and Television Company was also known to the general manager of Ali Pictures.

Today, Ali Pictures is a representative of wealth and power, and with Alibaba as its backing, it has no shortage of development funds.

In addition, it has attracted many filmmakers and directors and is now ambitiously developing film and television.

After hearing the news, General Manager Ali waved his hands and didn't take it seriously at all.

On the Star Film and Television side, Tencent's vice president had basically no objection after reading the script. The only point of dispute between the two sides was the investment ratio.

Gu Wei was only willing to give up 30% of the share, while the other party asked for half.

Film collaboration is simple, it’s easy to say. Sometimes it can be done with a few people and a few words, but sometimes it takes months or even a year to see no results.

Seeing that no agreement could be reached for the time being, Gu Wei suggested that the other party go back and think about it.

As soon as the people from Tencent left, Song Ge started chatting with Gu Wei in private.

"To be honest, I've recently studied a lot of examples of game works being adapted into movies and TV shows, and I found that this thing looks like a mountain of gold, but it's actually a pit, and it's a pretty useless existence!"

Hearing this, Gu Wei thought about a lot of cases, turned his head and said with a smile: "That's really the case!"

Song Ge added: "Besides, games have a life cycle. After they reach their peak, there is not much room for development. I believe Tencent can also realize this!"

Seeing Gu Wei nod, Song Ge said again: "I am only worried about one thing now!"

"what?"

Song Ge said: "According to my estimation, Penguin may ask to participate in the investment of each movie.

Unless the movie is produced and loses a lot of money at the box office, the other party will definitely not give up this good opportunity to enter the film and television industry."

Gu Wei heard this and laughed, "If they want to enter the film and television industry, their best choice is to cooperate with Xingchen Film and Television Company!"

Song Ge said: "That's why they offered to take half of the share and make this movie together.

After all, you only need to invest a portion of the funds and you can collect the money with peace of mind. You know how many people in the circle want to invest money in you, the boss, but they don’t have that opportunity! ”

"Half is definitely impossible. If we can reach an agreement, then we'll negotiate. If not, we'll just close the door and do it ourselves. The copyright is in our hands anyway." Gu Wei once again emphasized the proportion of shares.

"That's right. I have to say it was a brilliant move for you to purchase the rights to the film and television adaptation of League of Legends in advance." Song Ge only now understood Gu Wei's operation and praised him sincerely.

"Haha, actually there are good things everywhere in China, but most film and television companies can't develop them, let alone enter the global market."

In Gu Wei's vision, the domestic economy will proceed step by step in the next few years, with the main focus on the global market. After all, even if a movie like "Wolf Warrior 2" can earn or billion at the box office, it is not as good as making a special effects blockbuster and promoting it globally.

The former is just for domestic enjoyment, while the latter is truly promoting Chinese culture.

.........

(End of this chapter)