Chapter 312 The Envy and Jealousy of People in the Circle
The news that Zhang Yimou has started preparing for the second science fiction film in China also caused quite a stir in the circle.

All the major film and television companies in the industry were excited to see the incredible performance of "The Martian".

In the past, people didn’t dare to shoot it. Besides the fact that no one was willing to shoot it, the more important reason was that they felt that science fiction movies were not profitable and the risks were too high.

Now "The Martian" has set an example for everyone that a good science fiction movie can not only make money, but also make a lot of money.

So if that's the case, then what's there to hesitate about?

Many film companies, especially the leading ones, are already planning to produce science fiction films.

As the saying goes, every different trade has its own unique challenges. When I really prepared to make a science fiction movie, I realized that it is not that easy to shoot a science fiction movie.

Putting aside other things, the director is a problem.

After some searching, I found that apart from Liu Zhou, no one else in the circle can make science fiction movies.

Therefore, if you want to make a science fiction film, not only does the director need to be retrained, but even every aspect of the filming process may also need to be learned.

Of course, some people have thought about inviting a complete production team from Hollywood to shoot the film.

But after making a rough budget, I decided to give up.

Inviting a production team from Hollywood is almost the same as shooting a science fiction movie in Hollywood.

A movie costs at least 50 or 60 million US dollars, or even more.

Even if the actors and other labor may be cheaper, the cost of eating horse biscuits for these foreigners is higher than the cost saved on labor.

Although domestic film and television companies are rich now, they are not so wealthy as this.

Even Liu Zhou would not dare to make such a large investment in the country, otherwise it would be difficult to make a profit.

The total investment of "The Martian", including publicity expenses, is only 220 million RMB, which is only about 24 million US dollars.

An investment of 24 million US dollars is only a small- to medium-cost investment in Hollywood. If you use this amount of money to invest in a science fiction movie, many people will think you are joking.

In addition to the cost, these Hollywood production teams have no understanding of China's national conditions.

The reason why "The Martian" has such a high box office is not only because of its good quality and the fact that it is the first science fiction film in China, but also because it suits the tastes of Chinese audiences.

It would be difficult to support such a high box office relying solely on science fiction fans, even if many people watched the film twice or three times.

The main reason why "The Martian" has such a high box office is that it attracted a large number of passers-by to watch it, and they are the main force contributing to the box office.

Therefore, even if you hire a Hollywood team to shoot a sci-fi movie with cool special effects and it is full of Chinese faces, it will be useless if it does not suit the tastes of Chinese audiences and will not attract them to go to the cinema.

There was a very typical movie before, that is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

The martial arts blockbusters at that time were as popular in the mainland as the science fiction movies are today.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" stars only Chinese superstars, but it tells an American story and still did not do very well at the mainland box office.

Although a box office of more than 10 million was already very good at the time, it was far from the expectations of the producers, and was insignificant compared to the box office of more than 100 million US dollars in North America.

Therefore, inviting a Hollywood team to shoot the film not only requires a large investment, but the returns may not be great, and the risk is simply too high.

This also forced them to give up this idea.

In fact, some of them have thought about just making a random film and then releasing it under the name of a science fiction movie.

Considering the current popularity of science fiction movies in China, even so, it should be able to achieve good box office results.

But the backlash of doing so is also significant. Being scolded is inevitable, and being scolded is just a small matter. If it affects the company's reputation, that would be a big deal.

Especially for those who want to make their company bigger and stronger or even go public, they care more about the company's reputation.

The reason why they envy Golden Harvest is not only because Golden Harvest can stably produce blockbusters with very good results, but also because Golden Harvest has established a very good reputation in recent years.

There are almost no bad movies produced by Golden Harvest in recent years.

It is through these high-quality films that the brand has been successfully established in the minds of the audience.

Mainland audiences today are just like Hong Kong audiences in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. When they hear the four "ding, ding, ding, ding" sounds of the movie opening, they will prejudge that the quality of the movie must be good.

Some cinemas even specifically mark Golden Harvest productions on their posted promotional posters.

This kind of brand power is what several other film companies dream of.

However, they do not have as precise a vision as Golden Harvest, and cannot guarantee that every film they produce will have a good reputation.

Although our company cannot create a brand image that the audience trusts like Golden Harvest, we cannot destroy our own brand.

So most people eventually gave up the idea of ​​making money.

However, the profits from science fiction movies are so great that they will not give up no matter what.

Since there are not enough talents, we should train them honestly and let them learn from scratch. Since the first science fiction film shot by a company may be risky, several companies should cooperate and share the risk.

Take it slow and you will be able to build up a team.

But just as they were getting ready to start preparations, news suddenly came that Zhang Yimou was going to shoot a science fiction movie.

This was not the most shocking thing to them. What shocked them the most was that this time Zhang Yimou was actually working with Liu Zhou.

As the only person in the mainland who has successfully made a science fiction film, Liu Zhou and his team are also the only team in the mainland with experience in shooting hardcore science fiction films.

If Zhang Yimou was the only one shooting the film, although others would be surprised, they would not think that Zhang Yimou would be any different from them and that he would also need to learn and understand the entire process of shooting a science fiction film.

This may just be an attempt by Zhang Yimou.

But this time, by cooperating with Golden Harvest, Zhang Yimou can make up for his shortcomings and have all the conditions to shoot a science fiction movie.

Coupled with the extremely high popularity of Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou at that time, this movie called "Moon" is destined to be another highly anticipated and even a big hit.

This made them feel both envious and helpless.

I envy New Picture for being able to cooperate with Golden Harvest, but I am helpless because even if Golden Harvest is willing to cooperate with external parties, my company cannot offer any bargaining chips for cooperation.

Jiahe has no shortage of funds, team, etc., and even has more funds than you and a better team than you.

You can't produce anything valuable, so why should Jiahe make money with you? No, you are just going to share Jiahe's cake.

In their opinion, if there was no Zhang Yimou in New Picture, Golden Harvest would definitely not cooperate with New Picture.

But there is only one Zhang Yimou.

Now there is no domestic director who can be compared with Zhang Yimou. The former number one director in mainland China, Chen Shizi, has fallen from the altar.

His current status in everyone's mind may even be lower than Feng Kuzi's.

At this time, the only directors who could have huge box office appeal were Zhang Yimou and Liu Zhou. Feng Kuzi could barely be considered one, and Jiang Wen should also be considered one after "Let the Bullets Fly".

So now Huayi could take Feng Kuazi to Golden Harvest for cooperation, but Feng Kuazi had conflicts with Liu Zhou before, which directly blocked this path.

But even if there were no grudges, Feng Kuzi has always been making comedy movies, and his appeal is more in comedy movies.

Asking Feng Kuzi to shoot a science fiction movie always gives people a sense of unreliability.

After all, because of the absence of "Assembly", Feng Kuzi's label is still a comedy director and he has not proven himself in big productions.

Although "The Banquet", which he intended to break through himself, did well at the box office, its reputation was terrible. Until now, it is still regarded as the "Dragon and Phoenix Chick" of the bad film world on Douban, along with "The Promise".

So everyone could only watch Zhang Weiping and Golden Harvest’s collaboration with envy and jealousy.

As for why China Film Corporation was not included in "Moon" this time, Liu Zhou also specifically greeted Han Shanping.

First of all, the investment in the movie "Moon" is not high, even lower than "The Martian", with a total investment budget of only about 100 million.

Although "Moon" failed to attract investment from China Film, Liu Zhou has reached a verbal cooperation intention with China Film for his next film.

Now that the science fiction atmosphere in China has emerged, Liu Zhou must of course continue his efforts and shoot another science fiction blockbuster to completely boost the domestic science fiction market.

I believe that through the three consecutive releases of "The Martian", "Moon" and Liu Zhou's second science fiction film, this goal can be initially achieved.

I think other film companies will also enter the market with their own science fiction films. Maybe their films will be good or bad.

But at least the door to mainland science fiction would not be closed because of the failure of a movie.

Han Shanping didn't care much about whether he could invest in "Moon". Instead, he was happy to see Zhang Yimou also come to make a science fiction movie.

What he values ​​is the increasingly prosperous science fiction film market, rather than just investing in movies to make money.

He is now very much looking forward to Liu Zhou's second science fiction film, but Liu Zhou didn't reveal any information at all and went back to the United States again, which made him scratch his head.

At this time, Liu Zhou was receiving relevant training from Goldman Sachs in preparation for answering inquiries from relevant departments of the United States.

Liu Zhou really didn't expect that he was just acquiring a second-tier Hollywood film company, not some sensitive company, but why he made it so serious.

There was no such step in the previous acquisition of the Golden State Warriors.

But there is no way. If you want to make money in the United States, you can only accept their rules.

Liu Zhou had no choice but to obediently accept the inquiries from the relevant departments of the United States.

Although I felt a little unhappy, thinking that the acquisition was just a last-ditch effort, I could only swallow my unhappiness and patiently accept Goldman Sachs' training.

But seeing how skilled Goldman Sachs is, it seems that they are accustomed to this situation.

This made Liu Zhou feel a little better. The relevant departments of the United States were not deliberately targeting him.

(End of this chapter)