On December 1, 2016, 1905 Movie Network exposed the official establishment of the movie "Thorn Bureau", and revealed that the production cost of the film will be as high as 220 million yuan.
"Thorn Game" poster
According to the plan, the film version of "Thorn Bureau" will start filming in May 2017, and a 30-episode web series of the same name with an investment of 120 million yuan will also begin. However, at that time, LeTV Pictures continued to expose negative news such as tight funds, shrinking business and layoffs, and LeTV announced that it could not complete the injection of LeTV Pictures in 2016, making the prospects of "Thorn Game" not optimistic.
In June 2017, Zhang Zhao, CEO of LeTV Pictures, pointed out in an interview that the movie "Thorn Bureau" undertook the heavy responsibility of the content transformation of LeTV Pictures and will open a new model of LeTV Pictures' online film linkage. After Zhang Zhao and Li Rengang signed the contract, he hoped that Li Rengang could help him create a model of online film linkage in the American drama model, and produce various products related to the brand through the derivative effect of big IP.
In Zhang Zhao's concept, "Thorn Bureau" is about the ancient assassin culture, is a way of life, this is a big IP, through this IP, the first out of the first season of the network drama warm-up, half a year later the movie was released, forming another wave of influence, and then three months later the second season of the Internet drama, so series of lasting operation, in addition to film and television linkage, "Thorn Bureau" will also integrate derivatives, mobile games and other fields, the content of the "research, investment, production, publicity, hair, release" six major links all Internet.
Spin-off starts
In November 2017, "The Assassination Bureau" was officially launched in The Gongsun Mansion of Xiangshan Film and Television City, and the filming cycle lasted until February 2018, including the Gongsun Mansion, Zhao Dun Mansion, Chunlai Tea House, Taoyuan Palace, Phase II Street, Urn City and other places in Xiangshan Film and Television City. It is reported that "Thorn Game" was filmed for a total of 100 days.
Concept art of The Thorn Game
In May 2018, the Beijing Evening News exposed the concept map of "Thorn Bureau", and Li Rengang gave full play to his film aesthetic advantages, which expressed the grand art scenery and intricate weapon props through rough brushstrokes, and restored a turbulent and turbulent and powerful "Thorn Game" world with high contrasting colors.
"Thorn Game" embodies Lee In-gang's cinematic aesthetic
It is reported that the film version of "Thorn Bureau" written and directed by Li Rengang, Feng Shaofeng, Hu Jun, Xu Qing, Jin Chen, Wang Qingxiang and other starring, the web drama version of "Thorn Bureau" by Li Rengang supervised production, chen Zhiliang director, Hou Yong, Qu Zheming, Qu Jingjing, Wang Qingxiang, etc., the production team will create movies with Hollywood quality, at film-level cost to create network dramas, for this reason, Li Rengang and his team have been polishing for several years, adhering to high production investment, live shooting to strengthen the sense of light texture, creating and restoring a complete, magnificent, huge, meticulous, An authentic, shocking world of assassins. The film stills further show Li Rengang's magnificent imagination and artistic skills, mechanisms, masks, armor, weapons, all of which are brain-opening and full of oriental colors.
Stills from "The Thorn Game"
It should be said that the film that focuses on props, organs and art, and scenery is the most suitable for Li Rengang's unique film aesthetics, according to the Beijing Evening News at the time, the film and the web drama version of "The Assassination Bureau" have been filmed, and post-production will last for one year.
However, "Thorn Game" not only did not release as scheduled in 2019 a year later, but it became quieter and quieter, and slowly there was no news.
In April 2019, Zhang Zhao, then CEO of LeTV Pictures, withdrew from lerong's new board of directors; in June of the same year, Zhang Zhao, then chairman and CEO of Lechuang Entertainment, announced his resignation; on February 3, 2021, Zhang Zhao died.
"Thorn Bureau" is in such a change of personnel and world affairs, and finally annihilated.