Chapter 1403 One Hand Left!

The launch of the US version of "Infernal Affairs" project was exceptionally smooth. After DreamWorks communicated with Ben Affleck, the other party agreed to the invitation of the film in advance without seeing the script, and played the role of a policeman in the film. The role of the undercover Liu Jianming, the starring lineup of Leonardo, Ben Affleck and Tom Hanks has also been recognized by Martin Scorsese, and the rest of the roles, Li Mu will be completely handed over to Martin Scorsese Seth decided on his own.

After the director and starring have been confirmed, Makino Imaging and DreamWorks immediately signed a relevant cooperation agreement, and started work related to script creation.

Since the filming of "Flying Tigers" is expected to be completed in early September, the US version of "Infernal Affairs" is tentatively scheduled to begin preparations in August, and the filming will officially start at the end of October.

"Infernal Affairs" is a complete urban film. All of its story structures only take place in one city in the spatial dimension, so it is not difficult to shoot. The shooting time is expected to be about two to three months, no accident. If so, it can be completed early next year.

According to this rhythm, it is impossible to compete for the Oscars next year. The film will be released in the first half of next year or in the summer, and then participate in the Oscars in February and March of the following year. The time is just right.

In Li Mu's view, with the American version of "Infernal Affairs" + Martin Scorsese + Leonardo and Tom Hanks' lineup, coupled with his own strong resource support, several winners of the next Oscar will be won. Awards are not an issue at all.

While the project of the US version of "Infernal Affairs" was basically taking shape, the total box office of "Zmbie-Mater" in North America has exceeded 200 million US dollars, and it only took an astonishing seven and a half days to achieve this amount.

Although the subsequent box office is a little weaker than before, the downward trend is very stable. Based on this estimate, it is not a problem to win another 100 million box office during the remaining release time.

Hollywood and Hong Kong film industry have been shocked by the amazing achievements of this film, and its direct impact on Hollywood and Hong Kong film industry is that Hong Kong has recently launched several zombie-themed movies, and Hollywood has already The company went to talk to Uniasia about the North American remake rights, adaptation rights and continuation rights of "Zmbie-Mater".

Uniasia tried hard to sell "Infernal Affairs" at a high price, but it has not been sold until now. Now that the news that Li Mu is going to remake it, Hollywood's interest in the original "Infernal Affairs" is even weaker. .

The way the film is handled and the narrative method itself is not quite in line with the tastes of North American audiences, and Makino Imaging does not participate. If Hollywood film companies take it away, it will be difficult to push it up in North America. Now Makino Imaging directly leaves the ring. Ya, I am going to invest in the remake myself. In this case, Hollywood film companies can also guess that the relationship between Makino Imaging and Uniasia is not very good, and may even be a little nervous. In this case, they have to do more One layer of worry: Mastering the Makino image of the Muying ticketing system,

Will there be some awkwardness for the release of the original film in North America? Even if it just weakens the film layout, it is enough for the distribution company to drink a pot.

"Mr. Zombie" missed a lot of revenue, and "Infernal Affairs" failed to realize the success, which made Uniasia's anger at Makino Imaging to one level, so when several Hollywood companies wanted to package and buy "Mr. Zombie" When all the English copyrights and derivative copyrights of ", Uniasia was going to take this opportunity to make a fortune, and then also find some trouble for Makino Imaging.

Uniasia is very clear that there are still many zombie films with overseas distribution rights in Makino Imaging's hands, which means that the big profits of "Zmbie-Mater" in North America are just the beginning of Makino Imaging's money making. , This movie will be released all over the world, and let the players of "Plants vs. Zombies nline" all over the world pay for it. After this movie has finished attracting money around the world, Makino Imaging can launch other zombie film copyrights. Earn a round, in this way, Makino Imaging will definitely make a lot of money.

What makes Uniasia angry is that most of the copyrights of high-quality zombie films are from their own hands, which means that they must reluctantly watch Muye Imaging make more money with their copyrights. money.

As a result, Uniasia decided to give Makino Imaging a stumbling block, selling a series of derivative rights such as the remake, adaptation and sequel of "Mr. Zombie" to Hollywood, so that Hollywood could make a big fuss about it. I can make a lot of money through copyright licensing, and I can also let these Hollywood film companies surround and suppress Makino Imaging, so as to minimize Makino Imaging's profits from using zombie films.

Selling these copyrights in a package means that all the rights and interests of the IP of "Mr. Zombie" have been transferred out. If Hollywood gets these copyrights, it can not only remake the film, but also adapt it by itself, make various sequels, and even make some of them. The characters are extracted to create more new stories, and after the sale, Uniasia will never be able to adapt "Mr. Zombie" into any English version of the content.

Others fish for exhaustion, while Huanya wants to package and sell the entire fish pond.

However, the income from the package sale is still very considerable. The quotations of Hollywood film companies are more than 6 million US dollars, while Uniasia mediates among several film and television companies, and the price has faintly exceeded 10 million US dollars.

When Uniasia finally negotiated with a Hollywood film company to sell the exclusive English remake rights, adaptation rights and continuation rights of "Mr. Zombie" for US$12 million, the news came out and shocked the whole of Hong Kong.

Hollywood Company Willing To Buy The English-language Remake Of "Mr. Zombie" For $12 Million This is simply a fantasy! 12 million US dollars, this is almost 100 million Hong Kong dollars! Are Hollywood studios out of their minds? !

This price seems outrageous, but in the eyes of Hollywood companies, it is actually very profitable. Now, "Zmbie-Mater" has become a popular IP in the North American market. If you can get the rights to remake, adapt and continue Right, Hollywood companies can make a big fuss about the story structure of this popular IP, they can remake movies, make new sequels, they can also make North American-style comics and animations, and even imitate Marvel to create a new superhero , and then make this superhero his own IP.

The success of Marvel lies in the fact that it has a large number of popular superheroes. Spider-Man is very popular, Wolverine is also very popular, Captain America and Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk are very popular. Each of these superheroes can support it. A huge industrial chain, from comics to animation to movies and TV series, peripheral products, and image licensing, has huge profit potential and a very long revenue cycle. A superhero can even make a company change its business for seven or eight years. Ten years, such as Captain America, this character was born in the distant 1941, and it is estimated that by 2041, he will still be active on the big screen.

What's even more abnormal is that when these popular heroes become popular, companies like Marvel can make money lying down. It can let all heroes play their own way, or they can rub them together to create an aegis. Bureau, and the Avengers.

What Hollywood companies are best at is this kind of long-term brand building, so they spent 12 million to buy a Chinese "superhero" image, and it is a superhero image that already has a strong fan base in the United States. This account is still very cost-effective. , as long as a remake of the original work, and a transitional sequel of "Mr. Zombie deals with the ultimate zombie and is sealed with the ultimate zombie for nearly a hundred years, until the seal is accidentally broken", the image of "Mr. Zombie" can be used in a modern context. .

This setting may sound far-fetched, but there has long been a successful precedent, that is, the famous Captain America.

Captain America was frozen for decades, resurrected after a few decades, and went to work with a shield. This setting has been accepted by the audience. Since Captain America can, why can't Mr. Zombie?

Moreover, for people in Hollywood, they have countless ways to localize overseas culture. In their opinion, the image of Zmbie-Mater is too easy to take root in the United States, because the United States also has a large number of ghost legends, and the volume is extremely large. It is big and it is not worse than the Chinese ghost legends. Eastern and Western cultures respect ghosts and supernatural powers. Chinese people like to find people for fortune-telling and goddesses to see a doctor. Westerners also like to find people like fortune tellers and psychics to solve problems. Now The image and brand of the Chinese Taoist priest "Zmbie-Mater" has become popular. At that time, a transitional plot will let him live in the United States in the 21st century, and then this Zombie Mr. from the East with great powers will be able to deal with the legends in the United States. Ghosts are clear.

If the copyright of this IP is eventually bought by Marvel, it is very likely that Taoist priests from China will fight Nazi zombies with Captain America in the movie after a while. Captain America will be waving in front of thousands of Nazi zombies. The shield was so tired that it became a dog, and when it was almost impossible to hold it, a Chinese Taoist priest in a yellow Taoist robe jumped out, holding a peach wood sword, and calmly said: "The warriors who are facing the army are all marching forward", "Too old man." Jun, rush like a decree." At that time, talismans, handprints and formations will be flying all over the sky. The picture is too beautiful, I really dare not think about it...

It is precisely because they figured out how to dig deeper into this industry chain that Hollywood film companies are extremely interested in the copyright of the film's remake and adaptation.

When Li Mu heard that Uniasia was discussing with Hollywood film companies about the overseas copyrights of "Mr. Zombie", including remakes, adaptations, and continuations, Li Mu only asked, and Muye Technology released a statement on the YY website, which was very concise :

Makino Imaging acknowledges that Uniasia is the owner of the film "Mr. Zombie" and its related intellectual property rights, and Makino Imaging is also very pleased that Uniasia can export this intellectual property to the world, but Makino Imaging wants to make a Kind reminder: Although Uniasia is the intellectual property owner of "Mr. Zombie", Makino Imaging is the exclusive owner of the English brand name "Zmbie-Mater". Intellectual property protection, I hope Uniasia and Hollywood film companies can know about it.

This statement suddenly woke up the dream of Uniasia and Hollywood.

"Mr. Zombie" is the copyright of Uniasia. That's right, Makino Imaging only has the right to distribute this film overseas, but it has no right to adapt it, let alone the right to continue the filming. In other words, if countries around the world want to show the original version "Mr. Zombie", the copyright needs to be discussed with Makino Imaging, which has nothing to do with Uniasia, but if all countries in the world want to remake "Mr. Zombie", this copyright needs to be negotiated with Uniasia, and Makino Imaging has no right to interfere.

However, the original English name of "Mr. Zombie" was Mr.tiff-Crpe, which is "Mr. Stiff Corpse". The exact meaning of "Zmbie-Mater" should be Master Zombie, and the name was taken by Makino Image himself. Although it is used in Uniasia's "Mr. Zombie", it does not mean that the copyright of the English name also belongs to Uniasia.

To put it more bluntly, Uniasia can freely authorize the derivative copyright of "Mr. Zombie" with any film company in the world, but neither Uniasia nor these copyright partners have the right to use the name "Zmbie-Mater" .

It's like Marvel has the intellectual property of "Captain America", which is protected by intellectual property laws all over the world. If you are not Marvel, you can't use this name, you can call it "Secretary of the American Brigade", "Secretary of the United States" , "American Political Commissar", "American Women's Director" and so on, but not "Captain America".

This is the lifeblood! What the audience remembers is "Captain America", not any title other than "Captain America"!

The same goes for Zmbie-Mater! Now "Mr. Zombie" is popular in the United States, but American audiences all know that the name of the movie is "Zmbie-Mater", and the Taoist priest in it is a "Zmbie-Mater". Suddenly one day, Hollywood filmed a "Mr.tiff-Mater". Crpe", which means "Mr. Stiff Corpse", what the hell is this? It's surprising that North American audiences would accept such an egg name!

Moreover, the film "Mr. Zombie" has a very, very unfavorable thing for Uniasia, that is, the starring Lin Zhengying, Master Lin, has passed away. In this way, no matter who makes a sequel, there is no way for Master Lin to reappear. In this case, whether Hollywood bought its own copyright, or Hollywood directly fabricated a new Taoist priest who can fight zombies, there is no way for the audience to determine that it is a sequel to "Zmbie-Mater", unless its name is called "Zmbie-Mater".

So, for a Hollywood company that was willing to pay $12 million for a series of rights to "Mr. Zombie", how much would the rights to the film be worth if they couldn't use the brand name "Zmbie-Mater"? No one will buy a million! Because Huaxia Zombies, as well as the image and setting of Taoist priests are derived from Chinese folklore, legends do not have any copyright at all.

In this way, instead of spending a lot of money to buy the copyright of "Mr. Zombie" from Uniasia, it is better to create a new Taoist image by yourself based on the legend of Huaxia Zombies, or simply go to Makino Imaging to get "Zmbie-Mater" At least once the "Zmbie-Mater" brand is displayed, the audience will know what is going on!

Seeing that all the Hollywood companies interested in buying copyrights have withdrawn one after another, the top management of Uniasia is about to go berserk. They never dreamed that Li Mu would keep such a hand. The name of "Mater" is actually owned by Makino Image...