Huayi at New York Comic-Con teamed up with Batman producers to develop superhero IP

This joint production of THUNDER Agents marks a step forward in Huayi Brothers 'global IP deployment. Wang Zhonglei, president of Huayi Brothers, said: "We will work hard to develop THUNDER Agents movies, televisions, games, and theme parks, and build our brand through all appropriate channels."

On October 10, local time in New York, Huayi Brothers held a press conference at the high-profile New York Comics Show and announced that it would cooperate with Michael, founder and producer of the Batman series. Michael Uslan teamed up to develop the "THUNDER Agents" film series. The first THUNDER Agents film will be filmed in China and the United States, and will also be filmed in other countries. The film will be directed by front-line directors and will be officially announced in the near future.

Huayi Brothers said that in addition to investing and developing content, Huayi also plays the role of a studio, providing its own industrial chain to operate global IP together, and also uses it to expand links in the domestic industrial chain that are not yet mature and professionally operated, such as brand authorization. This project is only the first step, and there will be other international cooperation of the same level in the future.

THUNDER Agents 'first film will be directed by Michael. Oslan and David. David Uslan and his son, Huayi Brothers President Wang Zhonglei co-produced, industry senior producer and screenwriter David. Producer David Matthews, Ben. Benn Lustig and Jack. Written by Jake Thornton, it is scheduled to be released globally in 2018.

This is the first time that China film companies have participated in the development of high-concept global superhero films. As a co-producer, investor and IP owner of the series, Huayi Brothers will enjoy an equal share of its global revenue.

THUNDER Agents: The new generation of global superhero IP

Globally, superhero films have been popular among audiences from all over the world and have long occupied the forefront of the global box office rankings. For example, the 10 films in Disney's "Marvel Universe" series, including "Iron Man","Thor" Captain America "and" The Avengers ", have a total global box office of 42.96 billion yuan, while the" Bourne "series The four films also grossed 7.329 billion yuan in box office worldwide. From the perspective of the film industry, developing high-concept superhero films is a global industry trend and the type of project that major film companies in the United States are most focused on developing.

The THUNDER Agents series of comics was born in 1965 and was created by Wali, a legendary painter in the comics industry. Wally Wood (author of the satirical and humorous cartoon "Mad" published by EC; designer of Marvel's "Daredevil" uniform). The superhero in the cartoon is a classified United Nations action group-The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves (acronym T.H.U.N.D.E. R). The group selects elites from ordinary people to train, and with the help of high-tech equipment, they become super agents to confront the king of war of extreme evil forces.

THUNDER Agents, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, is currently the first and only superhero comic book truly funded by the United Nations. This is why the Secretary-General of the United Nations will record a recommended video specifically for this purpose. Over the years, THUNDER Agents has brought together the work of several top painters in comics history: Steve. Steve Ditko (co-founder of "Spider-Man" and "Doctor Strange"); Jill Gil Kane (co-founder of "Green Lantern" and "Atomic"); Mike Kane (co-founder of "Green Lantern" and "Atomic"); Mike Sekowsky (original painter of Justice League); Dave Sekowsky (original painter of Justice League); Dave Cockrum (co-founder of the new X-Men) and so on. THUNDER Agents has been published by DC Comics (a subsidiary of Warner Bros., which owns superhero comic series such as Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern) for many years. This series is well known for its modern avant-garde dark narrative style.

Comic book fans who grew up in the 1960s all know that THUNDER Agents were considered to be a new generation of superheroes who would succeed DC and Marvel. They combined DC's dark style and Marvel's humorous taste. THUNDER Agents team members have their own code names and equipment that gives them different superpowers. However, every superpower comes with a fatal price. Each agent represents a different member state of the United Nations, many of which have internal conflicts based on very different cultural, religious and political backgrounds. But when faced with greater threats, they must unite as a force to fight against the enemy.

Wang Zhonglei, president of Huayi Brothers, said of THUNDER Agents: "It sends an important message to today's society, that is, unity, understanding and cooperation around the world, and perfectly moves comics into real life through the perspective of action movies." Talking about the reasons for choosing THUNDER Agents for global IP development, Wang Zhonglei said: "Considering the concept of superheroes and elements such as United Nations agents in the story, we believe that this IP has certain commercial value on a global scale, and there is also space for us to integrate China elements into a co-production film."

Huayi Brothers has fully entered the era of global super IP deployment.

Michael, who joined forces with Huayi this time. Oslan is a world-renowned Hollywood film producer, screenwriter and producer. The "Batman" series of films he serves as producer has a cumulative global box office of more than US$3.7 billion, including "Batman: The Rise of the Dark Knight" and "The global box office of" Batman: The Dark Knight "has exceeded US$1 billion per piece. In his early years, Oslan was a cartoonist under the American comic book giant DC Comics. Later, he began to supervise DC's super IP "Batman" series of films. He also served as "National Treasure","Captain America","The Lego Movie", etc. Co-producer of a series of well-known films. Oslan will provide a modern and new visual design for the THUNDER Agents film.

Film producer David. Matthews is a talented producer and screenwriter who has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1980 and can be seen in various prime-time works. His works include "Soul Man","For Your Love","The Nanny","Half & Half" and "Living Single". In addition, Mathews also writes music for many film and television works, and won an Emmy Award in the Music Guidance Unit in 1989 for "The Young and the Restless".

Lustig and Thornton, the screenwriter duo, were hot topic figures in Hollywood in 2015. They wrote high-quality screenplays for Sony Pictures-"Winter's Knight", adapted from the Norse myth about the Santa Claus prototype Saint Nicholas, and H.G. Wells 'adventure story "The Well's Initiative". The two have now completed the script outline for the debut of the THUNDER Agents movie.

In April this year, Huayi and STX of the United States signed a cooperation agreement for 18 film lists, setting a precedent for global revenue sharing for China film and television companies. This joint production of THUNDER Agents marks a step forward in Huayi Brothers 'global IP deployment. Wang Zhonglei, president of Huayi Brothers, said: "We will work hard to develop THUNDER Agents movies, televisions, games, and theme parks, and build our brand through all appropriate channels."

Editor: yvonne