Indian special effects companies cited Ali, Tencent, and Wanda to bid, but China films were abandoned?

Recently, Indian media revealed that Reliance Capital, India's largest commercial company, is preparing to sell its approximately 35.1% stake in media services company PrimeFocus Limited, and the buyers negotiating with it include China buyers such as Alibaba, Tencent and Wanda Group.

The company mainly provides entertainment technology services, including 3D conversion, visual effects and animation services. Currently, in the 3D special effects conversion market, PrimeFocus World accounts for more than 35% of the market share.

It is no longer new for China capital to buy around the world. However, India's film technology is already so powerful, which still makes people sigh.

When it comes to their traditional impression of India, many people will blurt out a word-"Indian Ahsan". There, there are train pickups that are more spectacular than the Spring Festival travel in the mainland, a shocking sanitary environment, and handsome men and beautiful women who can dance in the square at any time.

But in fact, India is not only developing rapidly in the fields of economy and science and technology, but the Indian film industry has also achieved results far exceeding its level of economic development, almost second only to Hollywood in the world. They never regard Hollywood as a scourge, because Indian audiences are so loyal to their own films, leaving no place for Hollywood blockbusters.

On the other hand, in the China film market, which has been dominated by Hollywood since the Spring Festival, domestic film companies are at a loss and seem to have only to participate in Hollywood projects to share their benefits.

The performance of China films in overseas markets has also been lackluster. Overseas markets have always been an important source of income for Indian films. What kind of magical existence Indian movies are? In addition to buying, maybe we can learn more from this former "poor buddy".

3D transformation is lovely

According to official data, Prime Focus was officially founded in 1997 and launched in India in 2006.

The 3D technology of popular films familiar to China fans such as "Avatar","Transformers 3","The Chronicles of Narnia 3: Dawn Treader","Scientist Dog","007: The Big Break of the Quantum Crisis","The Great Gatsby","Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1)" and "Twilight 4: Breaking Dawn" all came from this company. According to their own claims, they have a 35% market share of 3D film technology worldwide.

This 22-year-old special effects company has become a 3D producer of many Hollywood movies. For China capitalists, if they cannot buy Hollywood's "facade" studio, it is also a good choice to harvest the "back garden" of Hollywood films. After all, before this, China capital had acquired several special effects companies overseas.

But in addition to films being an important choice for the 3D production of many Hollywood films, this company also has an extremely important technology-3D conversion.

After all, in the current film industry process, the popularity rate of purely using 3D technology for shooting is not high. This is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also extremely costly. As a result, many blockbusters choose to undergo 3D conversion after filming is completed. From this point of view, this company made its fortune with 3D transformation technology and has the most advanced transformation technology in the world. Then Hollywood blockbusters naturally have their reasons for choosing this company.

In 2010, the company successfully completed the 3D production of the movie "Battle of the Gods" in eight weeks. Since then, the 3D production of the "Star Wars Prequel" trilogy,"Wrath of the Gods","Transformers" and other works has also been handed over to this company.

With highly marketable advanced technology and maintaining a high degree of "close" ties with Hollywood, what reason does China capital not have to invest?

fact, as early as 2013, Prime Focus has already set up a branch in Beijing for blockbusters, and the established Beijing studio will be Prime Focus World's sixth studio in the world. But like most overseas companies, how to join the "big family" of China's film industry is extremely difficult. Even CAA, which is universally available in the world, once hit a wall in the mainland, let alone just a visual effects company that made its fortune in technology.

So how to gain the "trust" of China film market, perhaps introducing China giants is the most cost-effective deal. What's more, this company is not completely short of money.

The "wishful thinking" that China capital hopes to use is obviously not just technology. Even if the deal is concluded, it will only obtain 35% of its shares, which determines that the ultimate possession of this technology cannot fall into the hands of China. What China's capital is probably most concerned about is the market.

At present, in the film market, heavy industry films are predicted to become the mainstream of the industry in the next few years. The biggest part of so-called heavy industry films is visual effects. Owning a visual effects company is a great deal for several bidding giants.

Among them, after Alibaba Pictures experienced "The Ferry Man", the movie version of its second work "Three Lives of Life and Ten Miles Peach Blossom" relied most on visual effects scenes. Whether it is the film style or the director's choice, it is obviously a heavy industry blockbuster.

Wanda is a China giant that maintains a high degree of ties with Hollywood, but it has a legendary film company "born for blockbusters." If it also has a visual effects company "made for blockbusters", it may be more important to improve the quality of its domestic films. After all, domestic films have always been Wanda's weakness compared to co-productions and imported films.

Whether it is the rumored future development direction of several companies or the "Imagination Industry Plan" previously released by Huayi Brothers, it is no secret that heavy industry films will explode in the future.

At the end of 2016, the number of screens in China increased to 40917, and continued to grow at a rate of 26 screens per day. Among them, 3D screens account for 85%. The number of 3D movies exceeds 40. From the market perspective, there is also absolute demand.

At the same time, in the field of TV dramas, large-scale productions that often cost hundreds of millions are also getting together. However, the "fifty cents special effects" are the focus of criticism from netizens. Previously, this company was responsible for the visual effects of "Flower Thousand Bones", and the reputation of this TV series is naturally obvious to all.

China's film and television market still has a very strong "blockbuster complex." In addition to investing in Hollywood blockbusters, self-reliance is also an indispensable step. With the increase in investment in film and television, 3D production is an absolute hit, whether it is movies or TV series.

The development history of other people's films,

China films and Indian films is quite similar. They were both born in the early 20th century. In the mid-20th century, due to political reasons-the establishment of New China and India's independence-they entered a new stage. In the 1990s, they began to gradually be driven by new technologies and the Internet, entering a new stage.

However, the industrialization of Indian films began earlier than in China and has developed more mature. Its outstanding features are vertical subdivision and localization.

This year's Qingming Festival, the most eye-catching feature is the China version of "The Sacrifice of Suspect X." Judging from the film's reputation, it did not destroy the original work, but there are still many fans who are not very satisfied with the localization of the film and the presentation of its core themes.

However, India's "Manslaughter and Concealment of Heaven" inspired by "The Sacrifice of Suspect X" was once posted on the Internet, adapting the original work to the most authentic class division and humanity in Indian society. With the introduction of films such as Amir Khan and Shahruk Khan to the mainland one after another, people discovered that Indian films do not only sing and dance.

Both mainland filmmakers and Hollywood in the United States have praised the development of China's film industry. Indeed, development is obvious to all, but there are also very obvious problems while development. The reason why Hollywood praises China is not only that "China Dad" serves as a "golden winged angel" in Hollywood, but also that Hollywood's popcorn movies have shrunk in the global share, especially for countries such as South Korea and India, where localized movies are very obvious. Their films no longer have the great appeal they once had.

In China, American blockbusters are still a spiritual aphrodisiac for many movie fans. Although some people scolded for making money and shouted disappointment after watching it, they still couldn't stop them from sitting in the movie theater obediently next time.

A prominent figure is that Hollywood films account for only 5%-10% of the box office in India on average every year, while imported films account for half of the country in the mainland.

India has been the country with the highest production of films in the world, with production volumes ranging from 1500 to 2000 films. The Indian film industry is also quite mature in terms of "going out to sea". The biggest advantage of Indian films being popular overseas lies in their population. Although the number of Chinese is equally large in the world, Indian movie fans have a strong demand for localized films. Japanese media said that AMC Theater, the largest studio operator in the United States, has targeted the growing Indian population. In the first half of 2015, it released 53 Indian films and grossed US$7 million (approximately RMB 44.52 million) in box office revenue.

Some time ago, Zhou Chuanji, known as the "Father of a China Filmmaker", passed away, and many filmmakers and fans expressed their condolences. Perhaps the most well-known thing about the old man is his criticism of China's film industry."There are no blockbusters in China" and "Hollywood's godson." Although harsh, he is more like a "fat child" who continues to steal after blushing. Looking at the movie market now occupied by Hollywood, he has no worries or anxiety, and some may just applaud and shout.

And that Indian movie is like the image of a rich boy who walks with a wind, wears oily hair, wears sunglasses, and wears large leather shoes and smells of curry in many films. He may not be a fake local tycoon, but a real rich man.

Editor: yvette