director of the millennium

Wu Yuan’s idea is very simple. The image of “Sun Wukong” has already carried too much weight and has been created by too many classics.

From the classic image of Mr. Liu Xiao Ling Tong in the 86 version of Journey to the West, to the Hong Kong version by Stephen Chow, as well as the versions by Dicky Cheung and Benny Chan, many other images of Sun Wukong are deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Under such circumstances, it is very difficult to create a real-life version of Sun Wukong.

Just like the 2010 version of "New Journey to the West" was a complete failure. It wasn't because the actors and the script were really bad, but because there were so many excellent predecessors. All Chinese people already have their own "Sun Wukong" in their hearts, and even a new version could not surpass it.

So this is why many movies related to Sun Wukong and movies based on Journey to the West later failed.

The only one that can be considered successful is "The Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", in which the characters such as Tang Monk, Sun Wukong, and Zhu Bajie were completely reshaped. Rather than saying it is "Journey to the West", it is better to say that it is just a new story with a new name.

The Tang Monk in the movie has nothing to do with the Tang Monk in the public's impression, and Sun Wukong is completely a demon king, not the peerless hero Monkey King in the public's impression.

Only this version that completely breaks the inherent impression can bring new ideas to the audience.

But what Wu Yuan wants to do, or what the fairy-hero movie universe in the era of light and shadow needs, is not a "Monkey King" who breaks the inherent impression. As a superhero movie, the protagonist must be a "hero", and it is impossible to create a "clown" Sun Wukong like in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

In this way, if Wu Yuan really wants to borrow the "Sun Wukong" IP, he only has one choice.

That is "inheritance"!
In his conception, the real Monkey King Sun Wukong would only appear once in the movie, and he could invite Mr. Liu Xiao Ling Tong to play the role.

The image of the real Sun Wukong in the movie must be an old one, and then the beliefs of the "Great Sage" will be passed on through the mouth of Mr. Liu Xiao Ling Tong.

Then a modern young man who admires and loves Sun Wukong is chosen and embarks on the road of inheritance. After going through various trials, he becomes the new generation of Monkey King, wielding the golden cudgel to resolve crises that threaten world peace.

Well, this crisis could be a demon king who escaped from the earthly fairyland to the earth.

In this way, it not only avoids the problem of being unable to bypass countless classic "Sun Wukong" images, but also can get hold of the big IP of "Sun Wukong" and bring new ideas to the audience and fans. It is undoubtedly a happy thing for everyone.

When watching the movie, movie fans will not identify the protagonist with the image of "Sun Wukong", but will only regard the protagonist as an ordinary person who is lucky enough to have obtained the "Great Sage's inheritance". This also makes it easier for the audience to put themselves in the protagonist's perspective.

And they will not associate the image of Sun Wukong in their minds with the male protagonist, because the male protagonist is not Sun Wukong, at most he can only be regarded as Sun Wukong's apprentice.

In fact, this idea was not something Wu Yuan came up with on the spur of the moment, but he was still crossing the river by feeling his way along the Marvel path.

Marvel has a superhero called "Monkey King" who appears in the "Avengers" comic book.

In the comics, the Monkey King was once a gang member. Because he believed in the mythical Monkey King, he went looking for Monkey King's golden cudgel and met the real Monkey King in a cave. After understanding one of Monkey King's words, he gained mysterious power and became a superhero.

After becoming a superhero, the Monkey King joined the official Chinese superhero team in the Marvel Universe - Fengshen, which is affiliated with the Chinese Divine Spear Bureau.

This Chinese superhero team in Marvel comics also participated in the Secret Empire event in the main Marvel universe.

However, these are unlikely to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so most ordinary Marvel fans don’t even know about them.

Wu Yuan had also been studying Marvel comics in recent years, and only then did he know that there was actually a Spear Bureau in Marvel comics, and even an incident where the battlefield took place in the Chinese Magic City. "That's what I think." Wu Yuan patiently told Li Xiaoping: "The beginning of the story..."

"Then……"

"finally……"

Wu Yuan enthusiastically told Li Xiaoping about his ideas. A commercial blockbuster that combined the classic Hollywood superhero routine with elements of traditional Chinese mythology and legends was quickly perfected in his mouth.

Perhaps it might be a little difficult for Wu Yuan now to make an original art film that could win one of Europe's three major awards, as his level is not up to the mark yet.

But if he were to make a commercial special effects movie that could be considered first-rate both in Hollywood and in China, there would be absolutely no problem!
Wu Yuan has already mastered the skills in commercial special effects blockbusters. Even if there are no ready-made movies to copy, Wu Yuan, who has already mastered the routines of Hollywood's commercial movies over the past few decades, is fully capable of creating his own scripts.

Even if you have never eaten pork, you have seen pigs run. And Wu Yuan has both eaten pork and seen pigs run!
His directing career of more than ten or twenty years has made him an excellent commercial film director.

"It sounds pretty good." Li Xiaoping was very satisfied with the movie Wu Yuan mentioned, and asked excitedly: "Director Wu, are you going to direct this movie yourself?"

"If you were the one directing it yourself, I think this movie would have a chance of breaking new box office records in mainland China!"

“Although Ready Player One is very good, its subject matter is still too novel. It cannot be compared with commercial films derived from national IPs such as Journey to the West.”

Li Xiaoping has always been unwilling to accept that "Ready Player One" failed to take the top spot at the domestic box office.

For a long time, the box office record of mainland films has been held by Wu Yuan. Until recent years, Wu Yuan's mainland box office records have been surpassed and refreshed one after another.

Although the global box office of "Ready Player One" is much better than that of "The Mermaid", it has lost the championship throne in mainland China!

But this time, Wu Yuan's "The Monkey King" gave Li Xiaoping hope of regaining the championship throne in mainland China.

It’s not that the story of this movie is so amazing. From Li Xiaoping’s perspective, it is just an excellent commercial blockbuster. It is not much different from Wu Yuan’s previous commercial films, or even from the series of films in the fairy-xia movie universe of the Light and Shadow Era.

But the important thing is that this movie is a modern story adapted from the legend of "Sun Wukong"!

There is no need to emphasize how great the influence of Sun Wukong is in China.

If Wu Yuan personally comes to guarantee this, once this movie is released, I'm afraid that everyone from the elderly in their sixties and seventies to teenagers in their teens will be the target audience of this movie!

The wider the audience of a movie, the higher the box office will be!

"Yes." Facing Li Xiaoping's expectant gaze, Wu Yuan nodded calmly: "I'll take the photo myself."

"In the next few months, I will perfect the script as soon as possible, prepare for filming from the end of this year to the beginning of next year, and strive to release it during the 2019 Spring Festival!" (End of this chapter)