Per editor: Dong Xingsheng
How can a movie be called "star-studded"? The science fiction film Dune, directed by Canadian director Dennis Villeneuve, is undoubtedly an example of this.
"Dune" landed in Chinese mainland theaters on October 22, and in order to work with Villeneuve on this film that he dreamed of completing as a young man, the producer Legendary Pictures has equipped him with a luxurious front-screen and behind-the-scenes team. The film is starred by Timothy Chalame, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Ramplin and many other famous Hollywood actors, and Hans Zimmer also refused the invitation of Christopher Nolan's "Creed" in order to produce a soundtrack for Dune.
"Dune" promotional poster Image source: Douban
As of November 3, "Dune" had a global box office of 300 million + US dollars and a domestic box office of 218 million yuan. In this year's mainland box office list, the overall performance of "Dune" is not very prominent. "Expectations for this film cannot be measured by the box office alone. We have made "Dune", a very niche science fiction IP in China, the current popularity, and I think the film itself has won in the Chinese market. Legendary Oriental CEO Liu Siru said.
As an overseas company of Legendary Pictures, Legend Oriental is responsible for the promotion and marketing of its films in China. The success of this sci-fi IP that is far less recognized by Chinese audiences than "Three-Body" and "Space Odyssey" to the center of the public topic, thus setting off a "Dune" fever, is undoubtedly a testimony to the excellent marketing ability of legendary Oriental. On November 1, Tmall Double Eleven, which opened at 00:00, ranked second in the first hour turnover of literature, art and social science books.
A few days ago, Legendary Pictures has announced that it will confirm the production of "Dune 2".
In Hollywood, which is known for its results-oriented approach, shooting Dune was a great challenge for both the director and the producer. Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name, Dune, has been hailed as "one of the benchmarks in the history of modern science fiction, a monument to imaginative creation." The huge and magnificent imagination gives the novel a lot of imagination space, and it leaves a figurative obstacle for film and television adaptation.
Before Villeneuve, there were three famous directors who tried to make "Dune", Alessandro Zodurozovsky had to give up due to lack of funds after completing the script; Ridley Scott gave up directing because of the difficulties of anticipating the project and turned around to make "Blade Runner"; the only one who completed the film adaptation was David Lynch, but he was so dissatisfied with the final result that he gave up the signature, and the film's market performance was indeed a mess.
David Lynch version of "Dune" stills Image source: Cat's Eye Pro
Before taking over Dune, Villeneuve had already made two science fiction films based on the novel, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. He once said that if he did not shoot "Arrival", he would not have the courage to shoot "Blade Runner 2049", and if he did not shoot "Blade Runner 2049", he would not have the courage to make "Dune".
In 2016, Legendary Pictures won the film and television adaptation rights of the novel "Dune", and then Villeneuve was selected as the director. In the spring of 2019, the film officially started. The hot potato in the eyes of the outside world, in Liu Siru's view, is actually a movie that conforms to the DNA of legendary pictures. "Dune is a science fiction work with monster characters in it. And the legend is known for shooting science fiction and monsters. Liu Siru said, "Of course, shooting "Dune" is also a very courageous decision for the legend, because its filming is indeed very difficult, and it is also a famous pit." ”
The reason why "Dune" has become a god pit, in addition to the complexity of the original novel, there is also the matching of the film industry level. David Lynch's version of Dune was released in 1984, when the film's special effects were heavily criticized. After nearly 40 years of development, Hollywood's industrial standards have taken a qualitative leap. "The improvement of technology has given science fiction films a good production guarantee, and the increase in audiences has also created higher box office revenue, allowing film companies to invest more." The development of the film industry is mutually reinforcing. Liu Siru said.
Legendary Oriental CEO Liu Siru Image source: Legendary Oriental provided
Liu Siru also said that "Dune" will expand the legendary universe series. "The layout of the future of the legend is quite important. If this universe is missing the Chinese market, then it is missing a strong and powerful support point, so we must establish ourselves in the Chinese market. ”
Although the film was released in China after the praise and criticism were mixed, from the most demanding Douban score in China, nearly 300,000 people scored a comprehensive rating of 7.9, which can be regarded as a word-of-mouth work.
Founded in 2012, LegendAry Oriental is a company of Legendary Pictures. However, another very important factor for Legendary Pictures to pay more attention to the Chinese market is that it was acquired by Wanda Culture Group in January 2016 for $3.5 billion in cash, which was also the largest cultural merger and acquisition of Chinese companies overseas at that time.
After being acquired by Wanda, Legendary Pictures launched a total of 10 films. As of November 1 this year, 10 films in the Chinese mainland the cumulative box office of 9.821 billion yuan. Take, for example, the sci-fi monster movie Godzilla vs. King Kong, released in March this year, grossed $467 million worldwide, $188 million Chinese mainland, and $100 million in North America. "Legend has a lot of movies that have a higher box office in China than in the United States, which is actually less common in Hollywood movies." Liu Siru said.
In 2016, Legendary Pictures launched the Co-production film "The Great Wall" for China, directed by Zhang Yimou and participated by a number of well-known Chinese and foreign actors. "The Great Wall" eventually grossed 1.173 billion yuan in Chinese mainland, and the global box office was 334 million US dollars, ranking 10th in the mainland box office in 2016.
"The Great Wall" promotional poster Image source: Douban
As for how to better meet the audience's preferences, Liu Siru believes that film companies can never predict the tastes of the public. "We can't see the future like Paul [the hero in Dune]. The audience's tastes are changing, and all we can do is stick to our hearts. When you really try to predict the market, you are often left behind by the market. She also mentioned that each market has its own development law, and the development path of the Chinese film market will not be to copy the Hollywood model, "We have actually skipped many intermediate links and entered the era of blockbusters."
In addition to the North American home market, the Chinese market is undoubtedly the most important international market for all Hollywood film production companies. For Legendary Pictures, local co-production is one of the key strategies to further develop the Chinese market. "The starting point of 'The Great Wall' is very high, and we have also begun to build a team to re-focus on local co-production, and if all goes well, there will be 1 or 2 projects starting next year." The specific information is not currently easy to disclose, but it can be shown that local co-production is definitely the top priority of the legend. Liu Siru said.
Stills of "The Great Wall" Image source: Maoyan Pro Edition
As the CEO of the legendary Oriental, one of Liu Siru's jobs is to promote co-productions. At the forum of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival, she said that the epidemic has led to the interruption of the global film industry chain, and the Chinese film industry has taken the lead in resuming work and production to give Legend a deep thinking, so within the scope of the policy, Legend will insist on developing China's localization of co-production creations.
As for the genre, Liu Siru said that it will still be related to the legendary science fiction DNA. "The science fiction genre is the strength of the legend, and I think every company uses its strengths to conquer the market. And there will be a market for science fiction at any time, because people need to have a way to escape from real life, and science fiction is a particularly wonderful carrier. It will give you a plausible setting that makes you feel like everything is likely to happen. ”
Legendary Pictures CEO Josh Grodd previously said that with the surge in audience demand for content, Legendary Is improving its global competitiveness by providing quality content to streaming media. "I feel like the opportunity is in front of me. The current intensifying competition for users in streaming media puts Legend in a very good competitive position. ”
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