The literary era since 1979

Fox, Phoenix.

Fangyan asked Mike to take Lin Qingxia and his younger sister for a ride and sightseeing, and he came to the door of the company building alone.

Alan Ryder's secretary had been waiting for a long time and politely welcomed him into the elevator and took him to the floor where the reception room was.

In the magnificent room, Murdoch and Alan Ryder stood up to greet them and congratulated them repeatedly.

"Thank you. Actually, this is also thanks to your carefully arranged interview."

Fangyan smiled at them and they all sat down.

Alan Reid picked up the red wine that had already been decanted and poured it into the glasses of the three people himself.

"Fang, I wonder what your next plan is after The Three-Body Problem wins the Nebula Award?"

"Of course, I am waiting for the good news of the Hugo Awards."

Fang Yan shrugged. "Who can resist the temptation of winning the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award consecutively?"

"Ha ha!"

Murdoch laughed loudly and then winked at Alan Ryder.

Alan Ryder immediately understood, "What if we win the Hugo Award?"

Fangyan gradually understood the hidden meaning of his words, "Why, is it that Fox is interested in The Three-Body Problem and wants to adapt it into a movie?"

"We do have this idea," Murdoch did not hide it.

Fangyan let out a light exclamation, wondering why Fox would be interested in the "Three-Body" movie.

Alan Ryder said bluntly that it was mainly because of "Artificial Intelligence". Since its release in the summer, this movie has grossed nearly 2.5 million US dollars worldwide, which has led more and more Hollywood film companies to focus on Fang Yan's science fiction novels and want to adapt them into movies.

Especially "The Three-Body Problem"!
After all, Artificial Intelligence, a work nominated for the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award, has achieved such impressive results around the world.

"The Three-Body Problem" is a masterpiece that has already won the Nebula Award and has a chance to win the Hugo Award. It will surely take off if it is made into a movie!

It is precisely because of this idea that Fox hopes to get "The Three-Body Problem" ahead of its rivals such as Warner, Universal, and Paramount!
“If The Three-Body Problem could really be made into a movie, it would definitely be an epic blockbuster that would gain both fame and fortune.”

Fang Yan changed the subject and said, "But this filming is not just difficult, it's extremely difficult!"

“We know that.”

Alan Ryder said that Murdoch specifically called together Fox's senior management and held several meetings for this purpose.

"No, you don't know. This difficulty may be greater than you think."

Fang Yan said in a serious tone: "If nothing else, the difficulty lies in the visual presentation."

Murdoch listened patiently and said, "The Three-Body Problem" not only tests the imagination of the creative team, but also puts a great deal of pressure on the film special effects industry.

If you want to express what is described in the novel "The Three-Body Problem" in a movie, you can only use a lot of special effects.

However, the more special effects are used and the more money is spent, the more likely the producer will not be able to sustain it.

If they can’t sustain it, they will cut the budget, and if the budget is not enough, the special effects level will not keep up.

As far as "The Three-Body Problem" is concerned, if the visual effects cannot keep up, the quality of the entire movie will definitely be greatly reduced.

But in his opinion, this is not a problem at all.

"Fang, after our last cooperation on Die Hard, you should know the investment strength and attitude of our Fox."

“Besides the special effects and cost aspect, there is another aspect.”

Fangyan frowned and said that compared with "Artificial Intelligence", the "Three-Body" series has a more grand worldview, more characters, and involves more concepts, especially the theme is more complex, so that "The Three-Body" is like "Star Wars", and it is obviously not enough to just shoot two or three films.

"That's just perfect!"

Alan Ryder's eyes lit up instantly. The longer the "Three-Body" movie series was, the more money it would make!
"It's not a question of length. For science fiction movies, the background and story can be complicated, but the theme must not be complicated, otherwise it would be tantamount to suicide." Fang Yan said, "Movies are different from TV series. We must try to tell the story clearly within two hours." Murdoch pondered for a while, "What you said is indeed a big problem."

Fangyan took a sip of red wine and said that many of the fantastic concepts and images in "The Three-Body Problem" are difficult to present, such as "water drops". As a species, humans have five senses living in a three-dimensional world, and there is no way to solve this problem, and it is impossible to do so with the current level of special effects.

The more they listened, the more Murdoch and Alan Rider realized that the conditions for filming "The Three-Body Problem" were not yet ripe.

"If you really want to make a movie, you might as well try The Ring."

Fangyan takes the Chinese version and the Japanese version of "The Ring" as examples. Both movies achieved good results.

Murdoch nodded and said, "We will seriously consider your suggestion."

"Let me ask you, why are you so eager to make The Three-Body Problem into a movie?"

Fang Yan shook his glass and said, "I'm afraid it's not just because of Artificial Intelligence."

Murdoch said that he had bought Fox for some years. Although Fox, which was originally loss-making, turned losses into profits and regained its vitality and established a firm foothold in Hollywood with movies such as "Die Hard", it is not enough to surpass other Hollywood competitors.

"I can tell that you not only want profit, but also fame."

Fangyan suddenly understood.

Murdoch admitted openly that it is undeniable that "Baby Smart" scheduled to be released on Christmas Day will be an extremely successful commercial comedy if nothing unexpected happens. If "Die Hard" is made into a second part, the box office will not be bad both in North America and around the world.

However, it was unable to gain the influence it wanted when it acquired Murdoch, at least in Hollywood.

"In fact, if you really want to pursue influence, there are ways to do it."

Fangyan said seriously.

"What's your idea?"

Murdoch was curious.

“Influence itself is an illusory thing.”

Fang Yan said: "So if we want to pursue influence, we actually want to pursue something that can make influence concrete, such as authoritative awards."

Murdoch raised an eyebrow, "You mean Oscar?"

“Not just the Oscars, but also European film festivals like Cannes and Venice.”

Fang Yan said: "For example, the three major awards in China, namely the Golden Horse, Golden Rooster and Golden Image."

Alan Ryder reminded Murdoch that film companies such as Warner, Paramount, Universal, and Columbia all have a subsidiary that specializes in investing, producing, and distributing independent films, and most of their budgets are around 500 million to 1000 million US dollars.

These films are neither critically acclaimed nor commercially successful, but most of them are gilded by chasing various Oscar awards.

It just so happens that Fox currently does not have such a company that supports and invests in low-cost independent films.

"That might be a good idea."

Murdoch said, “But even if it is established now, it may not be able to start working in a short period of time.”

"uncertain."

Fangyan said that it is definitely too late to invest in and produce low-budget movies now, but one can go to the European Film Festival's trading market to buy films.

It just so happens that the film produced by his "Ming Tian Xia" will be competing in the Cannes Film Festival in a few days.

So he half-jokingly said, "If the price and conditions you offer are right, it may not be impossible to sell the North American distribution rights to Fox."

Alan Ryder and Murdoch looked at each other, "I wonder what film you are going to enter at the Cannes Film Festival?"

Fangyan said firmly: "It is the movie of the same name as Farewell My Concubine!" (End of this chapter)