Entertainment: Starting from joining Kugou Video

Chapter 159: *Ghost Blows Out the Light* VS *The Grave Robbers' Chronicles*

The reason why Tanglou dared to make such a bet was not just for this one drama, but to pave the way for the entire IP.

Unlike his previous life, in this life, he owns all the copyrights to "Ghost Blows Out the Light," and Tang Lou can reliably release a series of web dramas.

Fixed actors, fixed scenes, fixed props – a single investment can be reused repeatedly.

Moreover, in order to achieve an extremely high degree of realism, the underground palace was completely replicated and built. These scenes can be used as a film and television city or tourist attraction in the future.

These are all long-term, stable sources of income.

Tang Lou shared his vision for the future of "Ghost Blows Out the Light," along with data analysis and insights, with the project team to boost their confidence and determination.

Of course, there is a lot of information that Tang Lou cannot reveal. In his past life, he learned that the "Ghost Blows Out the Light" IP has created many myths.

The original novel of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was serialized in 2006, and by 2018, it had garnered over 120 billion views across the internet.

The physical book has been published for 12 years, with cumulative sales exceeding 2000 million copies.

This is the first truly nationwide super IP in the history of Chinese online literature.

Then there's its derivative value. In 2015, director Lu Chuan's film "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" grossed 6.8 million yuan.

In 2016, director Ursan's film "Mojin: The Lost Legend" grossed 16.8 billion yuan and received a 7.4 rating on Douban.

This is also the pinnacle of all tomb raiding-themed film and television adaptations.

And this is just the big screen. In 2017, the web series "Candle in the Tomb: The Lost City," starring Jing Dong and Chen Qiaoen, was exclusively broadcast on Tencent Video and garnered 45 billion views with a Douban rating of 8.0.

These are all solid achievements. This time, Tanglou has concentrated all the copyrights in its own hands.

There is even more room for maneuver in subsequent IP series, and related peripheral products can also generate huge profits.

Compared to the disastrous reputation and chaotic system of "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles", Tang Lou is confident that he can make "Ghost Blows Out the Light" a benchmark work in the tomb raiding and adventure genre.

Currently, all video platforms still have a very large user base.

Under Tang Lou's leadership, KuMiao has far surpassed all other platforms, with monthly active users reaching 5.6 million.

Tencent Video ranks second with nearly 5 million monthly active users, while iQiyi, which was originally ranked first, has now fallen to 1.3 million monthly active users.

With such a large number of monthly active users, the battle between platforms relies on their respective content ecosystems. Whoever has the deepest and widest moat will be invincible.

Tanglou's new "Ghost Blows Out the Light" series is a trump card among trump cards. As long as it can be developed smoothly and stably, a top-tier IP can at least capture paying users for the next five years.

Compared to these returns, an investment of over 100 million is really nothing.

While Tanglou was fully committed to planning and promoting the "Ghost Blows Out the Light" series, the industry also received news and rumors.

Before this, Tanglou's series of actions left its peers on other video platforms completely bewildered.

Kiwifruit has been completely eliminated, while Tencent Video, backed by large capital and as its own subsidiary, enjoys support from various channels. Yuewen is also Tencent Video's largest content reserve.

When the director of the self-produced drama production department at Tencent Video learned that Tanglou had invested over 100 million yuan in the web series "Ghost Blows Out the Light," his eyes lit up.

According to the team at Tencent Video, when it comes to the tomb raiding and adventure genre, "The Lost Tomb" is definitely the industry benchmark.

In terms of both popularity and traffic, it is an absolute force to be reckoned with.

With the foundation laid by "The Lost Tomb: The Seven Star Lu Palace", there's no reason why any sequel would fail.

It just so happens that when Tanglou was trying to develop a brand new tomb raiding and adventure IP series, Tencent Video, in order to compete with Youku, happened to choose the top IP "The Lost Tomb".

Based on the timeline, it would have been entirely possible to release "The Lost Tomb: The Wrath of the Sea & The Sacred Tree of Qinling" before it was even finished on KuMei Video.

According to the original plan, the show would have been released a little later, but after learning about the situation on KuMiao, Tencent Video is preparing to release it ahead of time to seize the market for tomb raiding and adventure.

Given the excellence of the "Tomb Raiders" series, when Tanglou team releases "Ghost Blows Out the Light," it will only be an embarrassing imitation.

Tencent Video invested a lot of money in producing this series.

First of all, the production of this drama is very faithful to the original work, especially the construction of core scenes such as the underwater tomb and the bronze tree, which are basically a one-to-one replica of the novel's description.

In addition, after studying the original work, the screenwriting team added some background stories from the original work, such as the Lu Palace and the Blood Corpse Tomb of Biaozi Ridge.

This series is Tencent's top self-produced series this year, so a large investment has been made in special effects, which has completely surpassed the first one.

Besides the props and sets, the cast this time is also completely different from the first film.

The cast includes popular young actors Hou Minghao, Cheng Yi, and Zhang Boyu, and the producer is the well-known Bai Yi Cong.

This well-produced new TV series in the "Tomb Raiders" series also boasts an incredibly high investment, totaling a whopping 0 million yuan.

This is already an astronomical figure in the context of web series.

Therefore, Tencent Video is very confident about "The Lost Tomb: The Wrath of the Sea & The Sacred Tree of Qinling" this time.

"This time, in the hit web series, we're determined to make Tang Lou suffer."

The head of the self-produced drama department immediately began making arrangements, and the next step was to tell the market and the audience that Tencent Video had taken the lead in the tomb raiding and adventure genre.

A novel like "Ghost Blows Out the Light," which has yet to achieve any success or have any adaptations, cannot possibly compete with the already well-known "Tomb Raiders" series.

Tencent acted very quickly. After being overwhelmed by the three variety shows from Tanglou, leaving its variety channel almost in a vacuum, the drama channel has now begun to exert its strength and fight back.

The homepage of Tencent Video features a huge banner advertising "The Lost Tomb: The Wrath of the Sea & The Sacred Tree of Qinling", making a grand entrance!

The high-profile promotion by Tencent Video made the "Ghost Blows Out the Light" team on Kugou Music feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

During a routine project meeting, a team member raised this issue.

The head of the marketing department reported with a somewhat grave expression: "President Tang, Tencent Video just held a press conference." She handed over an iPad, which read, "The Lost Tomb: The Wrath of the Sea & The Sacred Tree of Qinling, has a release date. Starring: Hou Minghao, Cheng Yi, Zhang Boyu, Producer: Bai Yicong."

A clip from the press conference is playing on the screen.

Bai Yicong, the man known as the "Godfather of Web Series," smiled at the camera: "We've been polishing the 'Tomb Raider' IP for three years. This time, we're going to make a web series of movie quality."

With an investment of 8000 million yuan, 60% of the set construction is real-life. We are confident that we can redefine the ceiling for the tomb raiding genre.

Seeing the members of the White Horse team made everyone feel a sense of pressure.

Bai Yicong is indeed a super genius in the field of web dramas, and only President Tang can truly surpass him on KuMiao Video.

However, while Tang Zong excels in versatility and multifaceted abilities, Bai Yi Cong has reached the pinnacle in the tomb raiding genre, possessing absolute skill and experience.