director of the millennium

It is normal that Li Xiaoping is not optimistic about "The Wandering Earth".

This cannot be blamed on her lack of vision, it is just that the current domestic science fiction films are really not doing well.

Although there is Wu Yuan's excellent work in the past, as mentioned before, making Chinese-language science fiction films is still a thankless task.

Especially if you want to make a sci-fi special effects blockbuster that is comparable to Hollywood, it is an extremely risky thing.

At least 1.5 million US dollars of costs must be prepared, which means that the box office must reach 30 billion RMB to break even!

In the absence of overseas markets, relying solely on the domestic film market, a break-even point of 30 billion is undoubtedly extremely outrageous.

Except for international-level directors like Wu Yuan, any other domestic director who makes science fiction blockbusters will never be able to reach the Hollywood level and can only reduce investment.

So even after Wu Yuan filmed "Gravity", there have been domestic film companies making science fiction films, but 99% of them are romance films, comedies, etc. under the banner of science fiction films.

Even if it is a real "science fiction blockbuster", it is a low-cost version. It cannot be said to be shoddy, but there is indeed a gap between it and a real science fiction blockbuster.

Mainland movie fans, whose appetites have been whetted by Hollywood blockbusters and Wu Yuan's films, are of course not satisfied with this type of science fiction film, and most of them are rated as bad films.

Under such circumstances, Li Xiaoping would naturally not be interested in science fiction films prepared by other companies or directors.

Not to mention that Guo Fan is a director with very little experience, and the last movie he directed was a low-budget youth romance film.

Do you think a director who makes youth romance films can make an excellent science fiction special effects blockbuster?
Who can believe such a thing?

For this reason, even though Guo Fan used all his eloquence and begged for money everywhere, the funding for "The Wandering Earth" was not smooth. It took several years to raise enough funds to start filming.

And if nothing unexpected happens, the capital chain will be broken during the filming. Simply put, the money prepared is not enough and we will run out of money halfway through the filming.

Wu Jing's cameo appearance lasted for 31 days. As the show progressed, he became the leading actor. However, he realized that the filming funds were a bit tight, so he joined as a producer and invested 6000 million yuan.

This is a normal situation when shooting a movie.

Most movies will go through multiple rounds of investment, including investment before filming, investment during filming, and investment in post-production. It is not necessary to prepare all the money before filming, and additional investment is very common.

That is why Wu Yuan feels that there is still a chance for Light and Shadow Era to make a comeback.

The box office of "The Wandering Earth" is 46 billion!

He didn’t have the chance to take a photo, but he couldn’t just watch the piece of cake slip away from his mouth!

"In short, I am very optimistic about the project "The Wandering Earth". China needs more excellent science fiction blockbusters to emerge, and it also needs to prove to the market that the mainland film market alone can also produce excellent science fiction blockbusters!"

"The film market in mainland China is not much worse than that in North America. Hollywood was able to rely on North America to support its own science fiction blockbusters. We can do it too!"

Wu Yuan knocked on the desk with one hand and said confidently.

Li Xiaoping didn't know why he was so optimistic about "The Wandering Earth" and director Guo Fan, but her trust in Wu Yuan had already reached its peak, to the point where she believed whatever Wu Yuan said.

There was no other way. Wu Yuan had done so many things that shocked her but ultimately proved that he was right. So with Wu Yuan's affirmation, Li Xiaoping had no choice but to nod and say, "I understand. I will send someone to contact the crew of The Wandering Earth. I hope they will still accept additional investment."

"Don't worry, I will definitely accept it." Wu Yuan stood up and patted Li Xiaoping on the shoulder with a smile: "I know these directors who make science fiction films too well. Even if the crew is not short of money for the time being, I will not refuse anyone who comes to me to invest."

"Making science fiction movies is a bottomless pit. If you want to keep improving, there is no upper limit to the investment. You can spend $2 million or $ million. Look at Cameron. He has been working on Avatar for many years. He keeps adding investment, which puts a lot of pressure on investors."

"Guo Fan must be short of money too."

"Then it's settled for now." Li Xiaoping nodded, and casually recorded the matter in her to-do list, and brought the topic back to the topic: "What about you?"

"What about your new movie? Is it going to be a sci-fi movie as well?"

"Well?" Wu Yuan scratched his head. He was indeed troubled.

In the next two years, the movies with good box office in mainland China will not be suitable for him. The high-grossing movies in Hollywood are almost all IP sequels and animated movies. There are no original and high-grossing movies at all.

If he were really asked to choose, it seems he has no choice but to write the script himself!
After thinking about it, Wu Yuan sighed and sat back in his chair: "Sister Xiaoping, how is the company's Xianxia Movie Universe going?"

"How about I take a shot too?"

"There really aren't any good commercial film ideas lately."

"How about I make a movie called 'The Monkey King'?"

"Great Sage?" Li Xiaoping frowned. "Sun Wukong?"

"Are you planning to introduce the myth of Sun Wukong into our Xianxia universe?"

"I have this idea." Wu Yuan nodded: "Look, Marvel also has characters such as Thor and Loki from the Norse mythology system. We can also borrow some characters from Chinese history and legends."

"The Monkey King, Sun Wukong, can be said to be the most famous and beloved mythical hero in the hearts of Chinese people. He is a timeless classic IP."

"Last year's 'The Monkey King: Hero is Back' became a representative work of the rise of Chinese animation, breaking the box office record of domestic animated films, thanks to the IP of the Monkey King."

"There's no need to count the movies before that. Almost every two or three years, there's a movie about the Monkey King - Sun Wukong."

"Our company can also use this IP."

“However, I don’t intend to use the Monkey King Sun Wukong as the protagonist directly. Instead, I want to tell a story about modern people inheriting the will of the Monkey King - Sun Wukong.”

"Inheritance?" Li Xiaoping was a little confused.

"It's about a modern young man who, when the earth is in crisis, is chosen by Sun Wukong. After undergoing various trials, he obtains his golden chain mail armor, phoenix-wing purple gold crown, lotus silk cloud-walking shoes, and most importantly, the golden cudgel. He becomes a new superhero who inherits the full set of equipment and will of the Monkey King, and then saves the world."

"Too many movies have been made about the Monkey King - Sun Wukong, and his story has been filmed over and over again. It's hard to come up with something new. Why not come up with a bold innovation?"

"We will train a modern version of the Monkey King!" (End of this chapter)