China Entertainment Times

Chapter 447 "The Martian"
In the chairman's office of Hantang Media, Tang An is still writing his own script.

If Mandarin movies want to sell well in North America or even the world, there are not many genres to choose from.

The ancient costume blockbusters with Huaguo characteristics, simple and crude, big scenes and fierce war scenes, it doesn't matter if the story is weak, and it doesn't matter if foreigners don't understand history, they mainly watch fighting scenes and war scenes.

The other is action movies, which have been popular around the world since the 90s.

But not any action movie can be sold overseas. Donnie Yen can only make money in Asia. Americans and Europeans don’t buy it, because he is not as good-looking as Li Lianjie, and he is not as funny and desperate as Cheng Long.

Wang Jiawei also has a few films that have sold millions of dollars in the United States, but the niche is the niche, and the ceiling is there.

There is also Zhou Xingchi, "Kung Fu" sold 1700 million US dollars in North America. This film has Columbia's investment, and its opening theaters reached 2500.

In 2004, 2500 movie theaters opened, which is already the treatment of blockbuster movies.

Without the support of the U.S. distributor, it would be extremely difficult to sell a high-grossing film.

The only other movies that can be passed around the world are horror movies and sci-fi movies. There are not many cultural differences, and the most important genres are audiovisual effects.

Watching movies is all about visual and audio effects, horror movies are meant to be scary, and science fiction movies need big scenes and special effects, which are also the most prominent genres in terms of audiovisual expression.

Whether it is American-style bloody horror films or Japanese horror and suspense films, there is a market for them without cultural barriers.

But comedies have national boundaries. People can laugh out loud with body language, facial expressions, and lines. Foreigners can't understand Zhou Xingchi and Feng Xiaogang's comedies.

This time Tang An still chose a sci-fi film, "The Martian"!
A sci-fi film with a very personal hero idea, known as the rest of the deserted island on Mars!
Originally a bestseller in North America, the author originally published it on his personal website, similar to a blog, in 09, for free.

Later, at the request of readers, the author released the novel on the Amazon platform at the end of last year, and the price was $0.99, which sold well.

It's just not bad, and it was also on the bestseller list because the movie was a big hit.

However, the other party refuses to sell the physical copyright. You are a Huaguo film and television company. If you sell you the film copyright, you will only sell it if the filming of "Edge of Tomorrow", which is also a science fiction film, is not bad. Do you want the physical copyright?
Isn't it nonsense.

Tang An didn't force it, and it wasn't a bestseller like "Harry Potter". It sold 75 copies in one and a half years, about 1100 million US dollars, and the royalties he got were not much.

The place where the story takes place is Huaguo, and many things have to be changed.

The plot is simple. An astronaut was caught in a storm on Mars. His teammates thought he was killed, but he was left alone on Mars.

This is actually a BUG. The density of the atmosphere on Mars is only 1% of that of the Earth, and the atmospheric pressure is much smaller than that of the Earth. It cannot produce the violent storms in the movie.

It is true that dust storms often blow on Mars, but the wind force is only about the same as that of a breeze on Earth.

But in order to leave the hero alone on Mars, there is only one "unreal" time.

Just like a novel, in order to write well, a large number of brainless supporting characters have to be arranged to make the protagonist slap in the face.

In the end, I didn't ask other countries for help. If I asked other countries to help, I would definitely choose the United States. After all, I have to take care of the American market, and their technology is indeed advanced.

But if you don't do it like that, some people will spray themselves as traitors and pennies.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, secretary Zhou Li came to tell Tang An that the actors were here, and then packed up the unfinished scripts, got up and went to the conference room.

"Director Tang."

"Everyone please sit down."

Tang An pressed his hand to signal everyone to sit down, and said with a smile, "Your manager must have already said that my new movie is under preparation, and there are a few roles that need to be prepared in advance."

"At least nearly two months of training, until the filming starts near the end of March, you need to make room for four and a half months."

Several people have no objection, even if the schedule is not suitable, they will try their best to adjust it.

Li Binbin couldn't help asking, "Director Tang, what type of movie is it?"

"Sci-fi movies, movies about outer space, I have asked someone to contact the space agency, the government is willing to provide a series of technical support, everyone will start to receive a series of training from tomorrow, including weightless training and body training."

It's hard science fiction again, so it will definitely be released globally. If it is still a big hit, even if it's just a supporting role, it will be great.

In addition to Li Binbin, there were also 5 people on the scene, Liu Ye, Wang Kai, Yang Mi, and Jiang Wu. This was their team of six.

In fact, except for Liu Ye, the other actors did not have any high requirements, and it was completely a one-man show for the male lead.

Jiang Wu played the role of the navigator. The navigator must be experienced, and the character must be obviously mature, but he is too old and too serious. Tang An thought for a few days before remembering Jiang Wu.

The interior of the spacecraft is a closed space, and the scenes inside cannot be dull. Although Jiang Wu is 41 years old, he looks old, but the lively atmosphere is good.

He is also the only suitable actor for Liu Ye. At this age, actors with better acting skills than him can be counted on one hand. Coupled with the image of a tough guy, no one is more suitable than him.

It’s just that Liu Ye is too tall. The highest height standard for Chinese astronauts is only 1 meters, but American astronauts can be up to 75 meters.

Not a big deal though.

The next day, Tang An took several actors to the space agency. Even "Edge of Tomorrow" could invite the army. It would not be difficult for Han Sanping to ask Optoelectronics to contact the space agency.

What's more, Tang An told the other party about the general plot, which is also a good opportunity to promote our country's astronauts.

The training was handed over to the other party. In addition, Xiao Yang and art director Ye Jintian from Tiangong Yicai also communicated with each other on how to reproduce a real Mars.

All these preparations were done by professionals, and Tang An was only concerned with writing scripts and filming.

At the end of January, Tang An went to New York again, the NASDAQ trading market, Tudou.com was listed again.

The issue price was US$21, and the closing price was US$21.8. It was considered a successful listing and did not fall below the issue price. For Tudou, which has experienced so many twists and turns, it has been very successful.

Part of the reason is that domestic online copyrights have been standardized, and the market has become more and more regulated. Youku's stock price also rose by 13% that day.

Tudou.com, which was successfully listed, has a market value of 6.18 million US dollars and successfully raised 1.48 million US dollars.

Major shareholders have also cashed out a bit, adding up to nearly $2000 million.

Tang An is still the largest shareholder of Tudou, with a 24.7% stake worth $1.53 million.

It seems that relative to the cost of 4300 million US dollars, it has more than tripled, but the return multiple is the lowest among all shareholders.

IDG Group has successively invested 750 million US dollars, occupying 11% of the shares, worth 6800 million, and the return multiple is 9 times.

Other shareholders are also four to five times, and the earlier the investment, the higher the return.

The 1.48 million raised in this financing would not last long. Tang An contacted various Hollywood companies through Columbia, and helped Tudou buy the exclusive online copyrights of hundreds of Hollywood movies.

They are all picked and bought. There are three or four thousand movies in any major film library, which adds up to at least [-]. I can only buy some familiar ones. Fortunately, it is cheaper to buy them in packages.

There are also a large number of copyrights for domestic film and television dramas, which is also a considerable sum.

On the 29th of the Lunar New Year, Tang An returned to China, and the first movie in the Spring Festival, "Modern Times" starring Xu Zheng will also be released.

(End of this chapter)