Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 153 Gu Long's martial arts universe and Yan Li's male lead drama?

Yan Li finished filming "Railway Guerrillas" for a little over a week, and his scenes were finished.

After resting at home for another two days, Yan Li returned to the capital.

The first thing Yan Li did after returning to Beijing was to sign a cooperation agreement for "Drawing Sword" with Hairun.

The drama "Bright Sword" is expected to have an investment of around 800 to 1000 million yuan, with Hairun taking the main control and Yi'an investing 400 million yuan to hold a 45% share.

The distribution will be jointly done by Hairun and Yian, and will be divided according to region or contract.

The actors haven't been decided yet. We'll discuss it when the time is right. Yi An only has a few big and small cats, and at most Dong and Qin can be added. It's easy to discuss.

Yi An invested in Hairun's drama, and similarly, Hairun also participated in Yi An's new project.

After much consideration, Yan Li decided to have Yi'an Investment produce three TV series in the next two years.

The number of episodes produced is over 6000, and the total investment is expected to be around 8000 to million.

This level of investment is certainly not a small deal. It is expected that two medium-to-large-scale productions will cost more than 3000 million yuan, and the remaining one will not be less than million yuan in investment.

Of course, this is just an open slogan. Yan Li wants to launch these projects at once and make them more popular than Hairun.

So we can only take it slow, start one first, and if the subsequent progress goes smoothly, start the next one.

Otherwise, if tens of millions of dollars are invested right away, Yan Li may not be able to withstand the pressure, but the sponsor's wallet may not be able to keep up.

The first project to be launched was a martial arts drama.

To be honest, Yan Li didn't really want to shoot martial arts films before. As mentioned before, there have been too many martial arts films, the market competition is fierce, and it is easy to be saturated.

But this is the current market trend. Investors and TV stations all recognize martial arts dramas.

On the contrary, the attitudes of several investors and TV stations that Yan Li contacted for several projects he wanted to do were rather vague.

An investment of 3000 million is not a small amount in today's TV drama industry. If Yan Li wants investors to pay money and TV stations to be willing to pay a large sum of money, he cannot go against the market.

Yan Li is not a person who sticks to one thing and his emotional interests are no match for making money.

If martial arts dramas make money, then he should just keep making martial arts dramas.

The company is developing rapidly. Let’s make money first and then think about other things after making money.

Since we have decided to shoot a martial arts drama, original scripts are risky and difficult to attract investment and sell, so works by famous writers are the safest.

The most profitable works by famous martial arts writers, and the one that Yan Li most wants to shoot, are naturally Jin Yong dramas.

However, most of Jin Yong's more well-known works have been filmed by Zhang Da Huzi in recent years.

"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" in 2001, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in 2003.

Now Zhang Da Hu Zi is preparing to shoot "The Return of the Condor Heroes". Various hypes about the casting are flying all over the place, causing a lot of noise in the entertainment industry this summer.

The male protagonists Huang Xiaoming, Nie Yuan, Nicholas Tse, Tong Dawei, and the female protagonists Zhou Gongzi, Liu Tianxian, Jiang Qinqin, Sun Li, Jun Ji-hyun and many other artists were involved.

Especially when it comes to the male lead Yang Guo, two popular young actors, Nie Yuan and Huang Xiaoming, made public remarks and almost pointed fingers at him and cursed him.

The Jin Yong work that Zhang Da Huzi did not film, Su Youpeng's version of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" was a hit last year.

This drama is considered to be the most popular Jin Yong drama in recent years except for the dramas produced by Zhang Da Huzi. It forced Zhang Da Huzi to temporarily avoid the limelight and postpone the plan of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

In addition, Wang Xinmin, the director of "Railway Guerrillas", also filmed "The Untold Story" and "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", and Tangren filmed "The Book and the Sword" in 2002, all of which are dramas from recent years.

It is not a wise choice to shoot another film based on the one that has been shot in recent years. If the other party has done a good job, you should be more cautious.

Then there are not many Jin Yong dramas left to choose from.

Films like "The Double-Edged Sword" and "White Horse Roars in the West Wind" are not well-known, are short in length, and are not of good enough quality to support tens of millions of dollars in investment.

"Snow Mountain Flying Fox" and "The Sword of Royal Blood" also feel a bit lacking.

"The Deer and the Cauldron" is quite well-known, but Yan Li doesn't like it very much. In 2000, Zhang Weijian also filmed a version of "Young Master and Empress Dowager" in Taiwan.

More importantly, the copyright of Jin Yong's dramas is also a problem.

Zhang Da Huzi's side must have been eyeing this for a long time. Jin Yong and the copyright holder must trust him because he has successful works, so it would not be easy to coordinate with him.

Yan Li asked around and found that Jin Yong's dramas were too difficult to operate, so he changed his target.

...

Among the famous martial arts writers, Jin Gu is the most recommended.

Since it was impossible to film a Jin Yong drama, the first thing Yan Li thought of was to film a Gu Long drama.

Although Jin Yong is the most famous martial arts film and television nowadays, in fact, the first martial arts film and television that became popular was Gu Long.

In the 60s and 70s, every movie Gu Long made became a hit. For example, he wrote the script for "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" first and then published the novel. Cheng Long, the eldest brother who was not yet successful, begged Gu Long to write the script for him and drank until he vomited.

In the late 70s, Adam Cheng's "The Legend of Chor Lau-heung" was a huge hit, catapulting him to superstar status. Everyone in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong knew about the "Thief Master".

That's why Gu Long's films could not compete with Jin Yong's films.

One reason is that Jin Yong's style is more suitable for film and television adaptation, and the other reason is that Gu Long died early, making it impossible to carry out fine-tuning and systematically manage the copyright.

There are many bad movies and few good ones, which lowers the reputation of Gu Long's films and prevents them from having a greater influence, and they are suppressed by Jin Yong's films.

Even so, that is only compared with Jin Yong. Apart from Jin Yong's dramas, Gu Long's works are still very influential in the industry.

Even though Yan Li had previously refused to film a martial arts drama, he had made up his mind not to just make a drama and call it a day.

He plans to create a Gu Long boutique series like Zhang Da Huzi, or even create a Gu Long martial arts universe.

Film all the movies like "The Flying Dagger of Xiao Li", "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng", "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang", "Seven Weapons", etc.

Now when talking about Jin Yong's dramas, we can't avoid TVB and Zhang Da Huzi. In the future, when talking about Gu Long's dramas, we can't avoid Yi An and Yan Li.

By the way, they could also use the title of the Jin-Gu War to clash with Zhang Da Huzi, or jointly hype it up to stir up a martial arts craze in mainland China and enhance and build Yi'an's corporate brand value...

Regardless of whether Yan Li can do it or not, he used this grand vision to fool people... uh, when talking to investors and TV stations, everyone was very excited.

Anyone who knows knows how popular and profitable Zhang Da Huzi's Jin Yong dramas are.

Yi An's Gu Long drama can reach 80% of the strength, which is definitely a top-notch project in the industry.

So, no matter whether you are seeking investment or selling dramas, you have to be able to brag!

If you say you want to make a martial arts drama, no one cares. But if you say you want to make a Gu Long drama, everyone will be interested.

But if you say that I want to compete with Jin Yong's dramas, revive the glory of Gu Long's dramas, become the pinnacle of martial arts dramas, make a lot of money, and influence the industry, blah blah.

Some people will think you're bragging, but others will be very interested.

If we benchmark against an already successful project (Zhang Da Hu Zi) and have a certain ability to achieve it, then there will definitely be people willing to make a big bet and work with us.

Anyway, Yan Li took the project book and walked around.

Hairun tried the waters for cooperation and was willing to invest more than 600 million in related resources, and won a 20% share.

At the same time, many financiers and investors have also expressed interest. The talks are still ongoing, but they are expected to jointly invest 2200 million yuan and take a 40% share.

Yan Li's Yi'an has dominant rights + 40% of the shares + distribution rights, and plans to invest a huge sum of RMB 200 million.

In addition, there are some partners. For example, in order to obtain the copyright, Yan Li went through some channels and naturally made some exchanges of interests. It is estimated that several Taiwanese actors will be used.

Of course, it is Yan Li who has the final say on who to use, and the details will be discussed at the later time, and it does not necessarily have to be used in this drama.

There is also CCTV, they are also optimistic about this project. Although they did not participate in the investment, they are willing to provide some technical, team and resource support in exchange for some preferential terms for Yan Li to purchase the drama.

Although these helps may seem insignificant, they are actually what Yan Li needs most.

Yian was established too recently, has a shallow foundation, and has too few capable talents.

Light comedy mythological dramas like "The Seven Fairies" are okay, but if you want to shoot a Gu Long drama and make it a masterpiece, it's not very reliable to just scratch the surface.

As a giant, CCTV was also the center of film and television production in the mainland. Many film and television talents and teams in the mainland came from CCTV and could provide a lot of help to the crew.

Moreover, the participation of CCTV can avoid some troubles and play a significant role in Yan Lila's investment process.

However, the most crucial thing is that Yan Li found an unfinished script from CCTV.

The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng

...

When Yan Li decided to make a Gu Long drama, he was not sure which one to shoot. Perhaps it was because he read Gu Long's novels every day that he successfully triggered the relevant monthly information.

[Monthly Intelligence X: The film series "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng," produced by CCTV's Movie Channel, has been hailed as the most faithful adaptation of Gu Long's original novel. Since its premiere, it has received rave reviews and has repeatedly topped the Movie Channel's on-demand charts...]

Yan Li, who originally preferred to film Chu Liuxiang, immediately changed his plan.

With the help of the system, we successfully dug up the original script and screenwriter team of "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng".
It’s easier said than done, but it’s actually quite thrilling.

If he hadn't acted quickly, the script was still in the works, and the movie channel had several projects and didn't pay enough attention to it, it would have been really hard to grab it.

After all, the movie channel nominally belongs to CCTV, but actually belongs to the Film Bureau. It's one brand, two units, so Yan Li's approach at CCTV may not be effective.

But no matter what, the final result is satisfactory.

The Yi An version of "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" was also launched.

The first thing to do after the project is launched is to change the script. There is no other way. The original script is in the direction of a series of movies, and now it has been changed to a TV series, so there must be some changes.

However, Yan Li had read the intelligence and knew some of the advantages that made this version of "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" successful.

So, although the script has been modified a bit, it is still based on the style of the original script.

First of all, it follows the original work, and the style is still detective-style martial arts with a relatively brisk pace.

The original script is a story for a movie, so the TV series must be slowed down appropriately, but it is not an exaggeration.

新的《陆小凤传奇》计划整部剧是40集，预备拍摄8~10个案件，平均一个案件4~5集。

You have to know that a movie of one or two hours is almost equivalent to three episodes of a TV series. This kind of change only requires adding some details, and it is far from being watered down.

Even so, Yan Li took a lot of risks.

Frankly speaking, 4 to 5 episodes for one case is definitely fast and exciting enough, but it may not be suitable for TV dramas.

In detective suspense TV series like this, in most cases, there are only a few cases in a series, or a main plot with several subplots.

The main reason is that the pace is too fast and the amount of information is too much, which makes some viewers easily tired, so it is a test of the crew's narrative and character capabilities.

The last drama with such a fast pace and excellent performance was the first part of "Young Justice Bao", which had 40 episodes and seven cases, and was a hit with both the audience and the critics.

It was also because of this drama and the monthly intelligence that Yan Li made up his mind to support the script of "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" to follow a movie-like rhythm.

Yan Li was also persuaded by the screenwriter to give up the "female lead" and adopt an all-male lead group.

Lu Xiaofeng, Hua Manlou, Ximen Chuxue and Sikong Zhaixing form the main character group, responsible for solving cases, assistance, force and technology respectively.

However, the absence of a female lead does not mean there are no female characters.

On the contrary, each unit has a female character who becomes the heroine of the unit and has various stories with the protagonist group.

This is also in line with the characteristics of the original novel "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng". Women are fleeting, but friends and brothers are eternal.

Moreover, it would be easier for Yan Li to hire some famous artists to play the female lead in this unit.

There is no influence from the titles of the leading female character or the second female character. Each of them is the core of the unit. Although they have few roles, they can easily stand out and their pay can be controlled to a certain extent. At the same time, the lineup is very impressive, and a series of celebrity names can make the TV station raise the price.

Yan Li was calculating a lot. Before he even finished writing the script, he started thinking about how to trick the actresses and exchange interests with other companies.

...

In addition to "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng", another planned project is "The Legend of Xue Rengui".

This project was proposed by Li Silin, the producer of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties", who approached Yan Li for collaboration. In fact, at the very beginning, the name of this drama was "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties 2: Xue Rengui".

Therefore, this drama does not follow the path of official history, but is a popular folk romance, based on "Xue Rengui's Expedition to the East".

Yan Li is not opposed to the adaptation of Pingshu, because it has been proven that the plots of Pingshu novels are more likely to be popular with the public.

If you film Xue Li's rise to power according to official history, it's actually not that good-looking except for a few highlights.

But if we add in the heroes of the older generation of Sui and Tang dynasties, such as the elderly Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong, and mix in various popular storytelling classics such as rescuing the emperor, marrying princesses, being crowned kings, and turning the tide, it will be much more interesting.

However, Yan Li agreed with this adaptation direction, but was not very impressed with the first version of the script that Li Silin brought.

It's too dragged out, too watery and suppresses the protagonist!
In the early stage, he holds a bait and suppresses the protagonist without any bottom line. For the climax, he even ignores logic and characters.

Perhaps due to cost considerations, a lot of court scenes were added in the later stage, making the whole drama more slow and boring.

Yan Li made it clear that the script must be changed.

The early stage can have some twists and turns, but Xue Li cannot be suppressed endlessly. The purpose of reading popular novels is to have fun, and it will not be enjoyable if the protagonist is always frustrated.

Court dramas can be filmed, but they should be limited to a certain point, and it is best to treat them as a turning point.

For example, Li Zhi was deceived, and then someone rebelled. Xue Rengui led the troops to quell the rebellion and rescue the emperor. This is not as interesting as the original script where he was falsely accused of faking his death by a concubine.

Isn't it "The Legend of Xue Rengui"? Not only can he "conquer the East", in the early stage he helped Li Shimin to pacify Liao, and in the later stage he was trusted by Li Zhi and fought against the Uighurs.

This is also the highlight of Xue Rengui in the official history, the three arrows that conquered Tianshan. Since we are filming "The Legend of Xue Rengui", it would be a pity not to film this part.

After defeating the Uighurs, he would turn around and let Xiliang rebel, which would not prevent him from filming "Xue Dingshan's Western Expedition" in the future.

Li Silin originally disagreed. If the script was changed in this way, the costs would not be controlled and there would be losses.

But after Yan Li took him to meet some investors and TV stations and saw Yan Li's network of contacts, Li Silin felt that the matter was not impossible to negotiate.

The reason why Yan Li was so picky about the drama and actively helped was that he had his own selfish motives.

Both he and Li Silin wanted him to play the male lead Xue Rengui!

In addition, the previous work "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" was a hit in the audience ratings. If this project is well handled, the chances of making money are still quite high.

You can invest and make money, and you can also satisfy your desire to be the male lead. He plays the famous general Xue Li, and there is no need to say much about his personal temptation to Yan Li.

He's invested so much money and supported so many people. Now that there's a suitable project, it's his turn to reap the benefits...

(End of this chapter)