It's been 5 years since it started! The domestic version of "The Lord of the Rings" is finally set
Time Editorial Office | Stealth drinking
Movies heal life.
The much-watched domestic giant production "Fengshen Part 1" is finally set today! It was officially announced that it will be released in the summer on July 20.
The film official has been a "solar term blogger" for many years, and now he has finally released a fixed poster and a new trailer.
"Fengshen Part 1" is directed by Wu Ershan, Fei Xiang, Li Xuejian, Huang Bo, Yu Shi, Chen Muchi, This Sha, Wu Yafan, Xia Yu, Yuan Quan, Wang Luoyong, Hou Wenyuan, Huang Xiyan, Li Yunrui, Yang Jue and Chen Kun starring.
In the fixed trailer, Kunlun immortal Jiang Ziya went down the mountain with the "God Sealing List" to find the co-master of the world, and big scenes appeared one after another.
A trilogy that was many years late
As the opening work of the "Fengshen Trilogy" series, the preparation process of this film has not only attracted much attention, but also a good thing.
In May 2017, the project was launched and the title poster was announced.
In September 2018, the start-up was announced.
In October 2018, a concept poster was released.
In December 2019, a pilot trailer was released.
In January 2020, it was completed.
In April 2021, the film party announced the transfer of 600 million investment shares.
"Fengshen Trilogy" claims to have a total investment of 3 billion yuan, based on the well-known classical god and demon novel "Romance of Fengshen "Romance of Fengsheng", which tells the story of a protracted mythical war between people, immortals and demons more than 3,000 years ago.
The first to appear in the new trailer is Jiang Ziya, played by Huang Bo, and the shape of the aging dragon clock is in line with the description in the original work.
Jiang Ziya (played by Huang Bo)
Shang Wang Yin Shou is played by Fei Xiang, who once collaborated with Wu Ershan on "Painted Skin 2".
Yin Shou (played by Fei Xiang)
In the trailer, Fei Xiang's Yin Shou is a bearded shape, highlighting the brave and fierce side of this character.
There is a footage of Shang Wang Yin Shou (played by Fei Xiang) bathing with Su Daji in the trailer, but Daji does not show his face.
In the new poster, the role of Daji remains mysterious, and the actor's name has not yet been revealed, and she appears as a nine-tailed fox demon with a foxtail that surrounds everyone.
In the trailer, the baby Lei Zhenzi in the arms of Xibo Hou Jichang (played by Li Xuejian), this is his adopted righteous son, and will become a capable general in Ji Fa's army in the future.
Ji Chang (played by Li Xuejian)
There are some other important characters, which are also appearing in the trailer one by one.
Queen Jiang (played by Yuan Quan)
Shen Gongbao (played by Xia Yu)
Bo Yi Kao (played by Yang Jue)
Yang Jian (played by this Sha) & Nezha (played by Wu Yafan)
The previously exposed Yuan Shi Tianzun (played by Chen Kun)
Also shining in the trailer is "Proton Brigade", which is a team composed of princes of various countries in the dynasty, and a new face of actors created by director Wu Ershan.
At the beginning of the preparation of "Fengshen Trilogy", director Wuershan decided not to choose "traffic stars", but to select and cultivate from amateurs.
Since February 2017, the film team has carried out large-scale actor recruitment among Chinese around the world.
In the end, more than 20 young actors were selected from tens of thousands of people and opened the "Fengshen Performing Arts Training Camp" to create members of the "Proton Brigade" full of masculinity.
The "Proton Brigade" actor's blockbuster shot for Esquire in 2018
Time Jun again posted the first trailer released by "Fengshen Part 1" in December 2019.
You can compare what new shots appear in the new trailer.
Invest heavily in three consecutive films
"Fengshen Trilogy" is the first trilogy continuous production in the Chinese film industry.
The film is adapted from the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Gods", based on the war between the tyrant King Feng and King Ji Fa of Zhou Wu in history, composing a magnificent epic blockbuster.
As one of the most expensive film projects in China at present, the investment of "Fengshen Trilogy" is rumored to be as high as 3 billion yuan.
Previously, there were many voices in the industry who questioned such a high cost.
Du Yang, the producer of the film, once publicly revealed, "In fact, many investors have asked us how to spend 3 billion, I can say a number here, maybe everyone does not believe it, we probably account for less than 30% of the cost of actors, and more than 70% are spent on production." ”
"What we mean by production is not just shooting, but establishing a complete set of industrial processes and building a three-dimensional industrial structure.
It is understood that the crew of the three consecutive filming "Fengshen Trilogy" is huge, with more than 20 functional departments with a clear division of labor, and a total of more than 2,000 staff members.
How huge the crew of 2,000 people is, just look at this group photo.
Group photo of the staff of the "Fengshen Trilogy"
How to mobilize the director team, photography team, visual effects, art team, actors, etc., is an all-round test of the overall planning ability of the main creative team of the film.
From scene construction, on-site shooting, horse farm management, actor training, and even canteen management, the main creative team strictly follows the film industrialization model in production.
Directed by Urshan
As early as the preparatory stage, director Wuershan led the team to visit Peter Jackson, the director of the "Lord of the Rings" series, Grant Hill, the producer of the second and third parts of "The Matrix", and also visited ILM and Weta Studios to let the team understand their working mode.
The film's screenwriting consultants include James Shams, who wrote "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and Barry Shams, producer of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. M. Osborne served as production consultants, and they both contributed their production management experience to the "Fengshen Trilogy".
Barry S. M. Osborne
The film also invited Tim Yip, who won the Oscar for Best Art Direction for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", to build a unique oriental aesthetic system of "Fengshen Trilogy".
The art team has carried out detailed digital design of mythical creatures such as gluttony, ink qilin, and thunder Zhenzi in ancient Chinese fantasy.
Of course, the specific presentation effect will be known in the theater.
Can it create a box office miracle?
The box office ambitions of "Fengshen Part 1" are undoubtedly huge.
Now that the summer vacation is set, the industry's most concerned is whether it can lead the market and create a box office miracle.
In 2012, "Painted Skin 2" directed by Wu Ershan was released in the summer, and the final box office exceeded 700 million, becoming the box office champion of domestic films.
However, this box office champion only served as the box office champion for less than half a year, and was broken by the more famous "Thailand" for 1.27 billion yuan.
"Fengshen Trilogy" announced a high-profile schedule very early, and was originally planned to be released for three consecutive years in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and the first part landed in theaters in the summer of 2020.
"Fengshen " was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2020
Later, due to many problems such as shelving the epidemic, production and funding, it was delayed in finalizing.
In the late time, the official blog of the film became a "solar term blogger".
A poster will be sent in each solar term, please pay attention to the following time, even the Chinese New Year's Eve New Year poster has been released.
"Fengshen Trilogy" official micro Chinese New Year's Eve poster
In April 2021, Beijing West Jingxi Cultural Tourism Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Culture") announced that the company and Tibet Huipuhua Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tibet Huipuhua") signed a 25% share of each of the three films of the "Fengshen Trilogy", with a transfer price of 200 million yuan and a cumulative contract amount of 600 million yuan.
As of the announcement disclosure date, Beijing Culture has received the above-mentioned transfer of 550 million yuan from Tibet Huipuhua.
Beijing Cultural Transfer Investment Share of 600 Million Yuan
The announcement revealed that Beijing Culture's move is mainly to diversify investment risks and alleviate the company's liquidity pressure.
According to the financial report, Beijing Culture's net profit in 2019 and 2020 was -2.306 billion yuan and -772 million yuan, respectively, with two consecutive years of losses and continuous tight cash flow.
In 2020, theaters across the country were closed for half a year during the epidemic, which also made the company even worse.
From the establishment of the project to the release of "Fengshen Trilogy", the domestic film market has already undergone earth-shaking changes.
In 2008, Chen Jiashang's "Painted Skin" made Chinese audiences familiar with magical blockbusters.
Later, films such as "Painted Skin 2" and "Monster Hunt" all won good box office results, and even broke the box office record of domestic films.
In the past three years, this type of fantasy big-budget film has become increasingly scarce, and the best-selling films in the mainland box office list have gradually been replaced by "Changjin Lake", "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Hello, Li Huanying".
Can "Fengshen Part 1" regain the enthusiasm of the audience and refresh the box office record of domestic films.
If the box office does not meet expectations, whether the latter two will be released as scheduled, everything is unknown.
Let's wait and see.