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In the past few years, the domestic film and television industry has grown explosively, and many powerful film and television companies have emerged, and all of them are ambitious and want to cooperate with Hollywood to make a big splash. In this process, Legendary Pictures is the most enthusiastic.

Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures now have a strategic partnership.

This means that when Legendary Pictures cooperates with domestic film and television companies to co-produce Chinese and American blockbusters, Universal Pictures must also keep up.

For example, "Warcraft", and this time, "The Great Wall".

"Warcraft" is actually not bad. It is an American blockbuster and it spreads American culture. Even if the movie fails, the most it will do is lose some money. "The Great Wall" is different. There is a collision of Eastern and Western cultures. Once it fails, it is not as simple as losing some money, and it will affect your reputation.

Zhou Buqi is a senior movie fan and really doesn't want to get involved.

In fact, the concept of "The Great Wall" derived from "Game of Thrones" is quite good.

Not only film and television dramas, but also many popular literature imitate similar discussions when designing plot structures. There was a "Great Wall" that separated the two factions, and then a series of offensive and defensive battles took place around the "Great Wall". One side was the demon race, the other side was the human race, one side was the barbaric world, and the other side was the human race...

It's just that Hollywood movies always favor value. Once value is introduced, there will be a conflict between Chinese and Western cultures, and it will be easy to offend both sides.

Thomas Tull certainly didn't care.

He only cares about making money.

It won’t work if Zhou Qi is not there. He must pay attention to things other than the market. Especially in China, cultural self-confidence is being advocated, but in fact, the film "The Great Wall" is not self-confident at all. What age is it, and it is still playing the trick of white people saving the world.

But Wanda’s boss Wang heard that it was a Sino-US co-production, and that the investment would reach an astonishing US$150 million. It was also related to the “Great Wall”, one of the eight wonders. He immediately became interested and said that Wanda could also participate. Let’s work together. Get this project started!

Thomas Tull also echoed: "It is indeed very difficult for China and the United States to co-produce, but it is not without success cases. "The Last Emperor" even won an Oscar!"

"Let's talk about it later! Let's talk about it later!"

Zhou Buqi was very embarrassed about this.

This is a project controlled by Legendary Pictures. Logically speaking, Boss Zhou has no right to interfere. At most, he has expressed opposition and the other party wants to give him face. But now it’s really hard to give up on this project. Legendary Pictures doesn’t have to spend almost anything. With the investment from LeTV Pictures and Wanda, it can take control of a huge project.

It's so cheap, why don't you want it?

It is always not good for Zhou Buqi to interfere forcefully.

Why!

trouble!

Let’s avoid starting this issue first, so as to disturb others.

This is Hollywood, and business social discussions are basically related to movies and TV shows.

In addition to business socializing, there are some personal relationships. Basically, every female celebrity comes with some invitation. For example, when her birthday is, ask Boss Zhou if he is free; for example, before she gets married, She wants to invite Boss Zhou to attend the bachelor party; for example, she bought a new house and wants to invite Boss Zhou to give her advice.

Each one is more lustful than the other, and they all covet Big Boss Zhou's body.

Zhou Buqi naturally refused them all.

He still prefers business-level discussions.

This is the celebration reception for "Avengers 2". Many directors and producers who have worked with Marvel are here, including a guy named Kenneth Branagh.

He has participated in the production of three Marvel movies.

During the filming of "Iron Man 2", he served as the assistant director; when filming "Thor", he was the director.

However, the market effect of "Thor" was average. With "Thor 2", he was no longer a director, but became a producer.

But he still hopes to be a director.

Especially since he is a professional actor and he wants to direct and act on his own!

In the past two or three years, he has traveled between Paramount, Warner and Disney, made several movies, and participated in several movies, but he always feels that there is something unfinished. His dream is to write, direct and star in it, preferably in a series like Marvel’s movies!

However, no one supported him.

Now that he had found an opportunity, he saw Boss Zhou.

Kenneth Branagh hurried over and introduced himself first.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I know, "Thor" was directed by you."

Kenneth said: "Yes, but the box office is not as high as expected. I have been working hard in the past two years to strive for new development space. "Trigger" released at the beginning of this year was a movie directed by me for Paramount. , the market response is very successful, and it can earn at least 30 million US dollars for Paramount. I also directed a Disney live-action movie "Cinderella."

"Oh! Congratulations!" Zhou Buqi knows the power of Disney's animation-turned-live-action movies, "I believe it will be very successful."

"Actually..." Kenneth Branagh sighed, "Actually, this is not what I want. I have always had an idea, a big idea, but I have never had a good chance of realizing it."

Zhou Buqi seemed very easy-going and said, "Let's talk about it."

Kenneth said: "I want to direct and act myself... as the leading actor in a remake of Agatha's detective novel."

"oh!"

Zhou Buqi glanced at him and understood immediately.

Kenneth said: "In recent years, the concept of Sherlock Holmes has risen again in Hollywood, and several excellent movies have been produced. But no one has touched Agatha, who is as famous as Holmes. I think this is an opportunity."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "This is a very good direction. You have also seen that superhero movies nowadays are dominated by one company in the market. Traditional action movies and gun battle movies are no longer recognized by the market. On the contrary, detective and suspense movies with rich plots can rely on differentiation to have a good living space in the market."

"Yes, that's right!" Kenneth was very excited. Or he said that he was a big boss. He really hit the nail on the head. "I think so too. Holmes has been recognized by the market again, which can prove this truth. Holmes can do it, and Agatha can do it too! The detective Poirot written by Agatha can also have rich and exciting stories!"

Zhou Buqi smiled: "So you want to play Detective Poirot?"

Kenneth said: "Indeed, I have been thinking about this project for more than five years. I have written three scripts."

Zhou Buqi laughed and said: "Written, directed and acted by myself?"

"Not really, not really." Kenneth waved his hands repeatedly, "It is an adaptation of Agatha's detective novels. The first one I want to shoot is the most classic "Murder on the Orient Express". If the project is successful, I will use this as a starting point to look at more of Agatha's works, such as "Death on the Nile", "Murder on Halloween", "The Mystery of Styles Manor" and so on. They all revolve around the great detective Poirot as the protagonist. A complete series can be made."

Zhou Buqi said: "Well, it can be done, but the cost must be controlled. The commercial value of this kind of movie in the box office market will not be too high, so it is best to make a budget based on the box office results of 100 million to 150 million US dollars."

A global box office of 100 million US dollars does not seem to be much.

In fact, among the hundreds of new Hollywood movies every year, only about 30 of them can exceed 100 million US dollars in global box office.

It is considered a success to achieve such data.

With the subsequent derivative channels such as DVD, TV, on-demand, and streaming media, a movie with a box office of $100 million can at least earn a total revenue of $200 million for the film company. Unless the production cost is particularly huge, as long as the box office of a general movie reaches $100 million, it can basically make a lot of money for the film company.

Kenneth was very happy, but also a little worried. He coughed and said, "Cost control will be easy. Agatha's novels do not need copyrights, and they are all crime stories in closed spaces, with a single scene and a small number of actors, so the cost can be kept extremely low. However, I talked to Moore, and he was not optimistic. I talked to him several times, and he refused."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, I'll tell him. Your movie...well, your series of projects can be under MGM, produced by MGM, and strive to create a large series comparable to '007'."

"Good!"

Kenneth was excited.

If this is done well, it can be his meal ticket for life, not just a meal ticket, but also a huge achievement. Agatha wrote so many novels, and there are 38 novels with Poirot as the protagonist.

If he could direct, write and act in all of them, it would be enough to leave a name in film history.

Michael Moore, senior vice president and president of the film department of Ziweixing Universal, Zhou Buqi found him and talked about this matter, "Peacock will be online in a few months. The most important thing for video streaming business is content. Remaking Agatha's novels is the most important source of content. And Agatha's novels are not yet copyrighted, which is of great value."

Mr. Moore seemed to understand what the big boss meant and was very surprised, "Do you shoot them all?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Looking at the market feedback, Kenneth wants to direct and act in this series himself. This is his internal motivation, which is a good thing. I estimate that the first few movies will also be fresh in the market, and even in theaters, they will be very popular. However, in the long run, this kind of single-scene suspense drama with a simple structure and mediocre production will probably be difficult to buy in theaters."

Agatha's novels are different from Nightingale's Sherlock Holmes series.

Agatha's novels are all stories in closed spaces.

For example, on a boat, on a train, in a manor, on a golf course... they are all murders in a small space, and then the great detective makes a logical analysis between a small number of characters, and through careful judgment and analysis of details, he infers the final murderer.

Such novels will have a huge advantage in adaptation - saving costs.

Find a place, arrange some actors, and there is no need to change the scene.

It was filmed here from beginning to end.

The cost of shooting will not exceed 5 million US dollars. Counting the costs of production, director, and actors, as long as no big star is invited to star, the budget of 15 million US dollars is enough.

However, the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is too single and easy to get aesthetic fatigue.

It's okay to watch one or two movies, but if they are all movies of this type, it will be difficult for the audience to be willing to spend money to buy tickets to enter, after all, movie tickets are not cheap.

If we look at the operating model of traditional movies, Kenneth Branagh's idea is indeed not very mature.

But with the addition of streaming media, this is different.

Video streaming is different from the traditional classification of film and television dramas. Streaming can break the limitations of movies and television, making a work look like both movies and television, and especially allowing the audience to watch movies with the mentality of watching TV series.

Buying a ticket to the cinema will have high requirements.

Many movies are excellent, but they do not meet the standards of buying tickets to watch movies, and they fail. The success or failure of theater movies depends on whether they can inspire the audience to buy tickets. Once there is no motivation to buy tickets, even movies directed by film masters such as Spielberg and Scorsese will fail.

TV series are different.

There is no need for the motivation to buy tickets.

The core of movies lies in "buying tickets", and the core of TV series lies in "chasing TV series".

The reason why superhero movies can be invincible is that they perfectly combine the two internal motivations of "buying tickets" and "chasing TV series" of the audience.

In the long run, this kind of remake of Agatha will definitely have less and less "buying tickets" motivation over time. However, with the increase in the number of related works and the member stickiness mechanism of streaming platforms, the "chasing TV series" motivation will become stronger and stronger.

Boss Zhou's perspective on the problem is different from that of Michael Moore, the president of the film department.

He wants to lay out streaming media!

Michael Moore knows what the core strategy of Ziweixing Global is at present, and soon understood what Boss Zhou meant. He took a deep breath, "Even if Agatha's remake is not popular in theaters in the future, we can adopt the model of self-made movies on streaming platforms and survive in the long run."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Yes, that's what I mean! You can make a plan and classify it when you go back. Make a long-term plan. It would be best if there is an Agatha suspense movie online in Peacock every year."

"This may conflict with Kenneth's plan. It is better to focus on theaters first, and then focus on streaming media if it is really necessary." Michael Moore is a traditional Hollywood filmmaker. Movies are of course mainly in theaters.

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Okay."

Michael Moore smiled and said, "Actually, I am also a detective lover. I have read all of Agatha's novels. The protagonists in her works include not only Detective Poirot, but also Miss Marple, a female detective from the British countryside."

"Female detective?"

Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up.

Michael Moore said, "Films with female actors as the core are often difficult to succeed in the theater market. If you want to make a TV series about Detective Marple, you can focus on streaming media. It can be made into a series model, or it can be made with movie specifications. I think it is better to use the movie model. Just like you said, make a suspense movie with Detective Marple as the protagonist every year and premiere it on our streaming platform Peacock!"

Zhou Buqi said, "Good! Very good! If there are male detectives, there must be female detectives. This is more in line with the current trend of thought! It can be done!"