Domestic science fiction films versus Hollywood? Liu Cixin: The beginning is achievement and tolerance

A lot of good news combined, and many people said that the spring of domestic science fiction films has arrived. However, some industry insiders said that they are not optimistic that China can produce science fiction films like Hollywood in a short period of time. In an interview with the media, Liu Cixin called on the audience to be more tolerant of domestic science fiction films.

In recent years, China's film industry has developed rapidly. More than a decade ago, the box office of domestic films was only 1 billion yuan, but in the first half of this year, it exceeded the 30 billion mark. This year's National Day release,"Lost in Hong Kong" and "The Nine-Layer Demon Tower", two major domestic films have joined hands to continue to contribute to the box office of domestic films. The Chinese film market has ranked second in the world after Hollywood. In 2015, China Film Group exposed 24 new film projects, of which three were based on Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin's science fiction novels. The total investment of the three science fiction films is expected to be nearly 1 billion yuan, and the "Three-Body" adapted based on Liu's novels has already been completed. At present, the rights to adapt science fiction films by famous science fiction masters basically start at 100,000 yuan.

Domestic science fiction films fight against "Hollywood"

Not long ago, during Xi Da's visit to the United States, China Film Group and the Motion Picture Association of America signed the "Cooperation Agreement on Import and Distribution of Shared Accounts Films." This is since the 2012 China-US Film Agreement. Another important agreement for cooperation in the film field between the two countries. At that time, China's quota for imported films was increased from 20 to 34 per year, mainly IMAX and 3D films, and the proportion of box office accounts for American films was also increased from 13% to 25%. This agreement will expire on February 17, 2017, and the two sides will start a second round of negotiations. Industry insiders generally believe that the "Cooperation Agreement on the Import and Distribution of Shared Films" means that the quota restrictions on imported films are likely to be further liberalized or even cancelled. What Chinese filmmakers have to do, It is to be more self-reliant and fight against the "Hololaihu". It is understood that among Hollywood's movie exports to China every year, various science fiction films account for a large number, and science fiction films like "Avatar" and "Transformers" have repeatedly set box office records. However, the field of domestic science fiction films is still blank. A low start means great potential. Chinese filmmakers may be the best way to compete with American films for the market. Perhaps soon, there will be a policy tilt towards countries that shoot domestic science fiction films.

Jack Ma is playing the "abacus" of science fiction films

In 2015, China Film Group exposed 24 new film projects, including three science fiction films: "Supernova Era","The Wandering Earth" and "Micro Era", all adapted from Liu Cixin's novels. The estimated production costs are US$60 million, US$50 million, and US$40 million respectively. Ning Hao is preparing to shoot Liu Cixin's "Rural Teacher" after "Heart Flowers Spread", Zhang Yimou is preparing for his first English science fiction film "The Great Wall", and Stephen Chow is busy with his second science fiction film, a domestic science fiction film, which has been booked for the 2016 Lunar New Year. In addition, Guo Jingming, Han Han, Lu Chuan, Huang Zhenzhen, Gu Tianle and other directors and actors all expressed their interest in making science fiction films. Even Jack Ma has been involved in this field. He has previously been exposed to visiting Hollywood companies such as Lionsgate, Disney, Paramount, Warner, and Sony, and met with Cameron, director of "Avatar". The motivation for doing these things is that the newly established Alibaba Pictures 'future plans are mainly to make science fiction blockbusters.

The rights to adapt science fiction novels are very popular

. In September 2013, media reported that the film "Three-Body" was approved. At that time, science fiction was a very unpopular and marginal field. Even if the price was low, Liu Cixin agreed to sell the copyright. Unexpectedly, a few years later, Da Liu had become the top player in the science fiction literature world. His works were competed for by major film and television companies, and several leading domestic directors had contact with him. Now, five of his works have been confirmed to be adapted into films, and several others have sold their rights, waiting for the film company to announce the projects.

Today, the "Three-Body" movie has been confirmed to be released in July 2016, and there will be five sequels after that, with a total investment of an astonishing 1.6 billion yuan. In addition to Liu Cixin, the copyrights of famous science fiction writers Wang Jinkang, Han Song and He Xi are also very popular. Many of them have been sold and are waiting to be photographed. Yao Haijun, editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World", once said in an interview with the media that the copyrights of more than 20 science fiction novels have been sold, most of which are works by famous writers, and a small number of newcomers and new works. Generally speaking, movie copyrights for non-famous works can be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan, while authors like Liu Cixin can sell for millions of yuan for a single novel.

The thinking behind the self-improvement of domestic products

is combined with many good news. Many people say that the spring of domestic science fiction films has arrived. However, some industry insiders said that they are not optimistic that China can produce science fiction films like Hollywood in a short period of time. Feng Ze, senior film marketer of Zhejiang Donghai Film Group, said in an interview with reporters that first of all, from the perspective of the industrial chain, our creative links are too weak; Secondly, science fiction films need good screenwriters to complete the transformation from literature to script, but the number of screenwriters in China who can truly master the narrative techniques of Hollywood genre films is extremely limited; The third is that there are no producers and directors who understand science fiction; the fourth is the lack of experience in the special effects industry. These factors have made the development of science fiction films in China unlikely to be smooth sailing.

However, in an interview with the media, Liu Cixin called on the audience to be more tolerant of domestic science fiction films. He said: "Science fiction films in the United States have been developing for hundreds of years, while films in China have started almost from scratch. In this case, it is almost impossible to expect the first high-cost science fiction film to be popular and popular, and become a classic. It is almost impossible. It is impossible to require the first film to be made like" Interstellar." I hope that the audience and critics can be more tolerant, be able to start and be able to shoot, which will be an achievement. ”

Editor: vian