Changsha Evening News All-Media Reporter Ning Shaou
Recently, Liu Cixin’s famous sci-fi novel "Three-body" has spread the news that it will be adapted into a TV series and an animation. In the case that the film version is far away and the stage version is mixed, it undoubtedly blows the wind of hope to sci-fi fans. This year, The Wandering Earth opened the "first year of science fiction" in China, and "Three-body" is the "apple of the eye" of domestic science fiction. Whether various versions can successfully create a "three-body universe" directly determines whether the spring of China science fiction movies can come as scheduled.
So far, it is difficult to get a glimpse of the true face. The movie version of Three-body has a lot of life.
Li Jinglan, a citizen, is a veteran sci-fi fan. She has been buying China’s sci-fi enlightenment magazine "Sci-fi World" since middle school, and there is still a thick stack at home. The earliest issue can be traced back to the 1990s. "Three-body" was first serialized in "Science Fiction World", and she still treasures the magazine serialized in the first issue.
"At that time, I was really scared. It turned out that China writers can also write sci-fi novels comparable to world-class standards." Li Jinglan said. In addition to reading domestic science fiction, she has also read the works of many foreign writers such as Asimov and robert heinlein. In her opinion, Three-body is not inferior.
After reading it, Li Jinglan went crazy about "Amway" and "Three-body" to her friends, but at that time, science fiction was still a "niche hobby" and her friends didn’t buy it.
After serialization, Three-body won the international recognition of Hugo Award and gradually became familiar to the public. During the Spring Festival this year, another work by the original author Liu Cixin, The Wandering Earth, was put on the big screen, which won a super-high box office of 4.5 billion yuan, becoming the first box office in China’s film history, making science fiction gradually "out of the circle", and friends who were not interested before came to borrow books from her. "I am very happy that my favorite things have finally been accepted by more people because of film and television." Li Jinglan said happily that in this screen-reading era, film adaptation is undoubtedly the most effective channel to expand the influence of the original work.
Although the sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth is a great success, the most anticipated adaptation of Liu Cixin’s work has always been the pinnacle "Three-body". However, for various reasons, the film and television adaptation of Three-body has not been smooth, which can be called "a long way to go".
The copyright of "Three-body" was first won by the tourist culture, and the film was adapted around 2017. At that time, the propaganda caliber of the tourists was to spend a lot of money on filming, and invited popular actors such as William Feng and Zhang Jingchu to star. However, it was later reported that the quality of the film was worrying. Although the tourists repeatedly publicized that they would release the film on a certain day of the month, there was no more.
The film adaptation was put on hold for two years, and sci-fi fans also complained about the company, criticizing them for not "adapting", but making a difference as a middleman, sticking to copyright and waiting for appreciation. Last year, it was reported that Amazon, an American streaming media giant, was negotiating to buy the copyright of Liu Cixin’s "Three-body" and planned to produce a three-season TV series with a total investment of $1 billion. Previously, Amazon won the global copyright of the The Lord of the Rings TV series at a high price of $250 million. According to the ratio of copyright fee to production fee in The Lord of the Rings, the copyright of "Three-body" may be as high as $100 million. Unfortunately, this matter ended in vain.
Liu Cixin didn’t make a big splash when he sold the copyright to the tourists. Although he kept his mouth shut about the copyright fee, the online rumors sold it for only several hundred thousand yuan at that time. The copyright transfer fee of $100 million may have some moisture, but the industry generally believes that the value of 10 million yuan for "Three-body" should be a normal price. If the rumored figures are true, the tourists have really dug a "gold mine".
The stage version of the tour, many TV dramas and cartoons are coming?
As mentioned above, before the copyright is clear, the movie version of "Three-body" is expected to make the audience want to wear it for a while, but other versions of "Three-body" are already eager to try.
In June 2016, the stage version of Three-body I: The Past of the Earth premiered in Shanghai. According to media reports, the drama was adapted to the first part of the original novel trilogy, The Past of the Earth. As soon as it was released, it triggered a drama-watching craze. The first round of national tour went through many first-and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing, and the attendance rate was over 90%, which was unprecedented. The play has also visited Hunan Grand Theatre before, and it was also full of applause. Mr. Xiao, who watched the play, said: "I haven’t read the original novel, but as an ordinary audience, I think it’s very good. Some high-tech 3D technologies also make the experience of watching the play very novel."
"The Past of the Earth" is the beginning of the trilogy. As far as the plot is concerned, it is not the strongest, nor is it the best. The first one was so successful, and the production team also set their sights on the second and third parts. Last year, "Three-body II: Dark Forest" was also moved to a small theater, and the tour of the third part should only be a matter of time.
The tourists have also made new moves recently after falling into the sand in the movies. In June this year, the TV series "Three-body" was put on record by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The record shows that the drama is scheduled to officially start shooting in September, and it is still produced by Shanghai Youzu Culture. It is planned to shoot 24 episodes and the production period is 12 months. However, on the official page of Youzu, the related materials of "Three-body" still follow the previous film version and are not updated according to the TV series version.
"When the copyright contract is signed, the two parties will make an agreement on film and television adaptation, and set terms such as termination of the contract if it cannot be made into a film and television drama within a certain time limit." Jiang Liang, an insider, told reporters, "Therefore, many people in the industry believe that this so-called TV series version may be a remedy for tourists before the copyright expires."
Fans are also cautiously looking forward to the "Three-body" TV series. Li Jinglan said: "It will definitely be chased after filming, but with the lessons of the film, let’s wait and see."
What people expect more is the animated version. A few days ago, the video website Bili Bili released the concept trailer of the animated version of Three-body, and the company leading this project once launched the animated film Linglong, which is also a sci-fi theme and well received, which gave the audience some confidence in the animated version of Three-body. From the point of view of the production team alone, the current animated version is more reliable than the previous movie version and the cloud-covered TV version.
Can a The Wandering Earth Drive Other Science Fiction Films?
During the Spring Festival this year, two films adapted from Liu Cixin’s original works, The Wandering Earth and Crazy Alien, both won good box office. China sci-fi movies caused quite a stir in the film market, and some critics thought it was the first year of China sci-fi movies.
On August 9th, Shanghai Fortress, a sci-fi film adapted from Jiangnan’s novel of the same name, will be released. Jiangnan is the "great god" in the field of science fiction and fantasy, and its original works have a large readership.
The Hong Kong sci-fi movie "Tomorrow’s Battle" will also be released soon, which has gathered a number of big-name actors such as Louis Koo, Liu Qingyun and Carina Lau. The trailer previously announced is quite hard-core and is also expected by sci-fi fans.
Projects such as "Pioneer" directed by Zhang Xiaobei, a well-known screenwriter and film critic, are also in preparation. In the book market, the new sci-fi novel "AI Trek" sells well, and the media reports that its film and television copyright is also quite popular.
A movie is ready to go, is the spring of domestic science fiction movies coming? People in the industry are cautious about this. "Compared with other movie types, science fiction is the most ‘ Burning money ’ Yes. Although The Wandering Earth has succeeded, if there are several unsuccessful projects, the enthusiasm for this type of film may soon cool down. " Jiang Liang told the reporter, "On the other hand, science fiction movies started late in China. In the text, there are not many mature original novels, and only a few influential science fiction writers such as Liu Cixin; Technically, there is still a clear gap compared with Hollywood. Even The Wandering Earth has many places that have been criticized, which will restrict the development of domestic science fiction movies. " He also cited domestic cartoons as an example. In 2015, The Return of the Great Sage was born, and anime fans shouted "The Rise of the Country". However, after four years, only several successful cartoons, such as Big Fish Begonia, White Snake: Origin and Nezha: The Magic Child, appeared in the market. The reporter interviewed Liang Xuan, the director of "Big Fish Begonia", and Liang Xuan said that the rise of Guoman was "too urgent" and should be "step by step".
In addition, sci-fi movies have not been the "mainstream type" enjoyed by China audiences, and everyone’s acceptance of sci-fi needs to be further cultivated. Li Jinglan said: "I also took my parents to see The Wandering Earth, but they felt that there were too many concepts and the settings were too hard to accept." Even in Hollywood, there are some examples such as blade runner, which was labeled as a "masterpiece" by fans, but failed miserably at the box office. The scientific concepts and complex settings of science fiction movies naturally set a threshold for ordinary audiences.
In fact, in addition to Liu Cixin, there are also good writers such as Wang Jinkang, He Xi, Liu Wenyang and Pan Haitian in Science Fiction World, and there are many masterpieces of small scenes and small patterns. Li Jinglan said that science fiction does not necessarily need big scenes and big patterns, and film and television practitioners can also relax their eyes. There are many small and medium-cost science fiction masterpieces such as The Man from Earth and 12 monkeys in the history of film.
It’s a bit difficult to satisfy both fans and fans with a large number of books.
Three-body novels have sold more than 5 million copies in China, and the book has a deep reader base, which also brings a problem to film and television and various adaptations: how to balance the book powder with the preferences of fans? The reporter once interviewed a young novelist, who argued with a foreign director for two days in order to preserve the plot in the novel.
Recently, Jiangnan’s fantasy masterpiece "Kyushu Vaguely Recorded" was made into a TV series. Based on the adaptation, the screenwriter modified some plots in the novel, which caused strong dissatisfaction with the book fans. They had a dispute with the fans on the Internet, and Jiangnan himself had to personally explain. The adaptation of science fiction novels such as Three-body also faces this problem.
Jiang Liang said: "The Wandering Earth’s novel is more like an outline of a script. The film inherits its background setting and spiritual core, and only selects hundreds of words to expand it, so it won’t encounter such problems. However, "Three-body" is different. The three masterpieces of "Three-body" have comprehensive information and a larger readership. Once the film and television show is not good, it is likely to cause readers to vomit. " In his view, the scenes such as "proton", "water drop" and "two-way foil" described in "Three-body" are the essence of the book. To restore these things not only tests the production level of the film, but also tests the director’s own understanding and imagination of the book. Of course, film and television adaptation is also an opportunity, an opportunity to make up for the shortcomings of the original and sublimate it. Li Jinglan bluntly said that as a "straight man", Liu Cixin’s description of female roles was flat, and the description of some small emotions was not delicate enough, which could be brought into play and improved in the adaptation.
At present, Ne Zha, which is being shown, has made a drastic adaptation of the well-known myth of deity, and the audience is very enthusiastic. Therefore, whether it is to follow the original or to make appropriate adaptations, the audience hopes to see works full of sincerity and wonderful stories.