Been waiting for 10 years! Who will clean the chicken feathers in the movie ＂Three-body＂？
1905 movie network news On June 23rd, a statement of the company’s October culture was filmed, which made the sci-fi IP that China movies wanted to climb come into people’s eyes again.
This animation company will become the latest film industry, trying to bring Liu Cixin’s novels to the big screen.
It has been 10 years since the film and television rights of the series of novels of Three-body were sold.
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"There will be a month," three-body "movie will be released. By this time, even a trailer was not released, and the movie was definitely problematic. " At the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2016, a film reporter commented like this.
It was an extraordinary year for filmmakers. In the past 2015, the box office of movies in China mainland reached an unprecedented 44 billion. Moviegoers were extremely excited, hot money poured in, and the discussion on IP reached the maximum.
Shanghai International Film Festival is also very lively. In two weeks, 100 film companies were announced; Five private companies have released films; There are dozens of press conferences waiting for media reports every day. Even Ang Lee, who rarely appeared in the mainland, came to Shanghai to sit with celebrities such as Yu Dong and Xú Zhēng to discuss the future of China’s film industry.
On June 15th, the film festival entered the fifth day, and the media’s interest slowly shifted from the film festival to the "Three-body" which will be released one month later. News began to come out that the post-production of "Three-body" has not yet been completed, and it will be considered to withdraw from the summer.
Rumors are getting worse. At that time, it was reported that the quality of "Three-body" was so poor that the materials could not be used at all, and Kong Ergou, CEO of Youzu Film Industry, had left his job and the project stopped. Two days later, on June 17th, director Panpan Zhang and producer Kong Ergou spoke on social media one after another, denying the rumors and saying that they would increase the budget for the later period of the film.
The rumors subsided for the time being, but the movie "Three-body" was completely lost. It was not until April 2020 that the annual financial report of Light Media revealed that the new "Three-body" film had entered the early development stage.
This wait is another four years.
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Unlike most people who sold their film and television adaptation rights when the market was hot, Liu Cixin sold the adaptation rights of several novels early, including Three-body, which was bought by China Film and Panpan Zhang. It was sold around 2010, and it is said that it only sold less than 100,000 yuan.
In 2013, Panpan Zhang used his own company, Beijing Baixingshe Culture Development Co., Ltd., to submit an application for film production and filing, and the screenwriter was Song Chunyu who worked with him.
During this period of time, Panpan Zhang has been looking for investors to join. It is said that one of his requirements is to be a director himself, but Panpan Zhang has only been granted the right of adaptation for five years. This also means that if you want to be the director of "Three-body", the project must land in 2015.
Finally, it was Kong Ergou’s Youzu film industry that decided to invest. At that time, the Youzu film industry was still a newcomer in the circle. Panpan Zhang wanted to be the director of "Three-body", and Youzu hoped to make the company a leader in the domestic industry through movies. Both sides have their own worries, but they hit it off.
In March 2015, the film was officially started, and it was finished in August of the same year. In November, 2015, Youzu Film held a rough-cut film viewing meeting.
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But this has not been a smooth year. After the filming of "Three-body" started, in May 2015, Xiao Fei, the vice president, left his job, only half a year before he joined the Youzu. Then Xiao Fei founded Upward Film. In November, another vice president, Yang Lu, left and founded Yuanli Film.
Before Kong Ergou, Han Wei, who founded Xiyi Film, also briefly served as CEO of Youzu Film. An insider once said that one of the reasons why Han Wei left Youzu was that she could not handle the mess left by Three-body Film.
During that time, four executives left their jobs within half a year, and two CEOs changed. There were more than 30 people left in the Youzu film industry, which once had more than 120 employees, and the official account was not managed because of the departure of the Xuanfa team.
Even though the personnel changes of tourists are so ups and downs, Kong Ergou and Panpan Zhang still insist on making Three-body, after all, it is a big project with an investment of 200 million yuan.
Someone once recalled to the media the scene of the film festival in 2015: there were two versions at the film festival, one was edited by Panpan Zhang himself, and the other was edited by Gao Qunshu, because he was also the chief content officer of the tourist film industry at that time.
Panpan Zhang’s version was supported at the film conference organized by Enlight Pictures. Gao Jun, who was deeply involved in the production of "Three-body", once told the media that after watching the film, the director’s dominant position was re-established. At the same time, he also revealed that this version of "Three-body", the participation ratio of Light Film Industry is 15%-20%.
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Before leaving his post, Yang Lu used to be the general planner of the film "Three-body". He once said that many people were not satisfied with the rough cut version, but after all, it was the most original version with no special effects and no good narrative.
Director Lu Chuan also appeared at the film conference. When confronted with the media’s verification, he just said, "I just helped my friends make suggestions and participated in several conferences. After all, I have made some visual effects films, and I still have some gain and loss experience in this respect. I will give some basic suggestions from the perspective of creation to avoid detours." Did not disclose who voted for it.
Being supported does not mean that the progress of "Three-body" will continue smoothly. Many subsequent controversies revolved around the later special effects. Yang Lu once revealed that VHQ had been involved as a cooperative special effects company when the film started shooting, and made some digital previews and process control for the film.
However, in June 2016, a person familiar with the matter suddenly revealed that VHQ had withdrawn and the special effects company was replaced by four other companies. Panpan Zhang is also considered inexperienced, and his understanding of special effects is still in the basic stage.
But Kong Ergou obviously hopes that the film can appear in front of the audience as soon as possible. In November 2016, he announced that the film would be released within one year. By July 2017, "Three-body" was still in the late stage of special effects in his mouth. But since then, people seem to forget the existence of this film.
In 2019, when The Wandering Earth was released, fans suddenly remembered "Three-body" and left messages under Kong Ergou’s social account. After two years, he wrote this passage:
"Wandering earth is so wonderful that I don’t know how to describe it in words. After watching it yesterday, I cried and sat in the cinema until the last line of subtitles came out. I deeply feel guilty and ashamed for the recklessness and ignorance of starting the "three-body" project five years ago. Come on, China science fiction! Sooner or later, stand on the top of the world! ! … I am a seventy-two martyr in Huanghuagang. "
The implication is that it seems that this film "Three-body" directed by Panpan Zhang has been abandoned and will not meet the audience again.
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Compared with 2016, today’s China film industry is already a different look. Among them, many films that rushed to establish projects and wanted to earn box office through IP and traffic have been smashed. Chinese blockbusters began to appear, and realistic themes regained the attention of the audience.
On the one hand, there is a growing demand for good movies in the market. On the other hand, the industry began to have a stronger ability to promote the film industry to become more and more perfect.
When pathfinders explore the ceiling of genre films upwards, they also leave experience and direction for future travelers.
As a result, a new version of the "Three-body" movie will appear. Tian Xiaopeng, the director who filmed The Return of the Great Sage on the Journey to the West, took over this difficult baton.
It has a similar corporate background to the old version of "Three-body" movies, and the cooperative companies behind the new version of "Three-body" are still tourists and light. A person familiar with the matter told us that the new version of "Three-body" will be re-established, giving up the old materials and starting from a new starting point.
The story of the film "Three-body" is just a way for China’s films to squeeze out water and eliminate bubbles. With the weight of "Three-body" in the hearts of sci-fi fans and the sensation caused by sci-fi genre among fans, this new finished product will still attract much attention in the end.
For the narrative of the development of China’s film industry, The Wandering Earth is responsible for what the audience wants to see from scratch. Now, the plot of farmland may fall on "Three-body".
This road may not be easy to walk, but as long as the filmmakers are on this road, the audience will walk with them on this road.