The launch of the US version of "Infernal Affairs" was particularly smooth. After DreamWorks communicated with Ben Affleck, the other party agreed to the film's invitation in advance without seeing the script, and he played the role of a policeman in the film. The role of undercover Liu Jianming and the starring cast of Leonardo, Ben Affleck, and Tom Hanks were also recognized by Martin Scorsese. The remaining roles were completely handed over to Li Mu. Seth made his own decision.
After the director and starring actors were confirmed, Makino Imaging and DreamWorks immediately signed a relevant cooperation agreement and started the related work of 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 start preparations in August and officially start filming at the end of October.
"Infernal Affairs" is a thoroughly urban film. All its story structures even only take place in one city in the spatial dimension, so the shooting is not difficult. The shooting time is expected to be about two to three months, and it will not be released. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be completed early next year.
According to this pace, it is impossible to compete for next year's Oscar. The film will be released in the first half of next year or during the summer, and then participate in the Academy Awards in February or March of the following year. The time is just right.
In Li Mu's view, with the lineup of the American version of "Infernal Affairs" + Martin Scorsese + Leonardo and Tom Hanks, coupled with his own strong resource support, he can win several Oscars in the next session. Awards are not an issue at all.
At the same time that the project for the American version of "Infernal Affairs" was basically taking shape, the total box office of "Zombie-Master" in North America had 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. According to this estimate, it will not be a problem to win another 100 million box office in the remaining release time.
The Hollywood and Hong Kong film industry have been shocked to the point of numbness by the film's astonishing achievements, and its direct impact on Hollywood and the Hong Kong film industry is that Hong Kong has recently launched several zombie-themed movies, and Hollywood has already The company went to discuss the North American remake, adaptation and continuation rights of "Zombie-Master" with Uni-Asia.
Uniasia tried hard to sell "Infernal Affairs" at a high price, but it has been holding on to it until now. Now that the news of Li Mu's remake has come out, Hollywood's interest in the original "Infernal Affairs" has become even weaker. .
The film's handling and narrative techniques are not in line with the tastes of North American audiences, and Makino Pictures is not involved. If the Hollywood studio takes it away, it will be difficult to promote it in North America. Now Makino Pictures has directly ignored the environment. Ya, they are going to invest in the remake. In this case, Hollywood film companies can also guess that the relationship between Makino Pictures and Uni Asia is not very good, and may even be a bit tense. In this way, they will have to do more One level of worry: Will Makino Imaging, which has mastered the Muying ticketing system, create some awkwardness for the release of this original film in North America? Even if it only weakens the film schedule, it is enough for the distribution company to drink a pot.
"Mr. Zombie" missed out on a large amount of revenue, and "Infernal Affairs" failed to be successfully monetized. This made Asia's anger towards Makino's image reach a peak, so when several Hollywood companies wanted to package and buy "Zombie" "Mr." all English copyrights and derivative copyrights, Uniasia was ready to take this opportunity to make a fortune, and then also cause some trouble for Makino Image.
Asia Asia knows very well that Makino Pictures has many overseas distribution rights for zombie films, which means that the huge profits made by "Zombie-Master" in North America are just the beginning of Makino Pictures' money-making. , this movie will definitely be released all over the world, and make "Plants vs. Zombies Online" players around the world pay for it. After this movie ends attracting global money, Makino Image can launch other zombie movie rights. Earn one round, in this way, Makino Image will definitely make a lot of money.
What makes Huanya angry is that the copyrights for most of the high-quality zombie films are out of their own hands, which means that they have to endure the pain and watch Makino Imaging use their copyrights to make more money. money.
Therefore, Uniasia decided to put a stumbling block in Makino Image's life by selling a series of derivative rights such as the remake, adaptation and sequel of "Mr. Zombie" to Hollywood, allowing Hollywood to make a fuss about it. In this way, not only I can make a lot of money through copyright licensing, and I can also let these Hollywood film companies surround Makino Imaging and minimize the profits that Makino Imaging makes from zombie movies.
Selling these copyrights in a package means that all the rights and interests of the "Mr. Zombie" IP have been transferred. If Hollywood gets these copyrights, it can not only remake this movie, but also adapt it on its own, make various sequels, and even make some of it. The characters were refined to create more new stories, and after selling, UniAsia itself will never be able to adapt "Mr. Zombie" into any English version.
While others try to catch fish from the entire pond, Huanya wants to pack up and sell the entire fish pond.
However, the profit from selling the package is still very considerable. Hollywood movie companies all quoted prices of more than 6 million US dollars, and Uniasia negotiated among several film and television companies, and the price has faintly exceeded 10 million US dollars.
When Asia Asia finally reached an agreement with a Hollywood film company to sell the exclusive English remake rights, adaptation rights, and sequel rights to "Mr. Zombie" for US$12 million, the news came out, which shocked the entire Hong Kong.
Are Hollywood companies willing to pay $12 million for the English remake and sequel rights to "Mr. Zombie"? This is simply a fantasy! 12 million US dollars, which is almost 100 million Hong Kong dollars! Are Hollywood studios out of their minds? !
This price seems ridiculously high, but in the eyes of Hollywood companies, it is actually very profitable. Now, "Zombie-Master" has become a popular IP in the North American market. If it can get the rights to remake, adapt and continue filming, Right, Hollywood companies can make a big fuss on the story structure of this popular IP. They can remake movies, make new sequels, produce North American-style comics and animations, and even imitate Marvel to create a new superhero. , and then make this superhero into its 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, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk are all very popular. Each of these superheroes can support A huge industrial chain, from comics to animation to movies and TV series, peripheral products, and image licensing. The profit margins are huge and the revenue cycle is extremely long. A superhero can even make a company run smoothly. Ten years, for example, Captain America, this character was born in the distant 1941. It is estimated that by 2041, he will still be active on the big screen.
What’s even more perverted is that when these popular heroes become popular, companies like Marvel can make money by letting heroes from all walks of life play their own roles, or they can mix them together to create a shield. Bureau, and the Avengers.
What Hollywood companies are best at is this kind of long-term brand building, so spending 12 million to buy a Chinese "superhero" image, and a superhero image that already has a strong fan base in the United States, is still a very cost-effective deal. , as long as an original work is remade and a transitional sequel is created in which "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 to make a big fuss. .
This setting may sound far-fetched, but there has been a successful example for a long time, and that is the famous Captain America.
Captain America was frozen for decades, then resurrected decades later, holding a shield and going to work. This setting has been accepted by the audience. If Captain America can do it, why can't Mr. Zombie
Moreover, for people in Hollywood, they have countless ways to localize overseas culture. In their view, the image of Zombie-Master is too easy to take root in the United States, because the United States also has a large number of ghost legends, which are extremely large. It is as big as Chinese ghost legends. Both Eastern and Western cultures fear ghosts, gods and supernatural powers. Chinese people like to ask fortune tellers and goddesses for medical treatment. Westerners also like to ask fortune tellers and psychics to solve their problems. Now The image and brand of the Chinese Taoist priest "Zombie-Master" has become popular. At that time, a transitional plot will allow him to live in the United States in the 21st century, and then let this Mr. Zombie from the East and have great supernatural powers to deal with the legendary Americans. The ghosts and gods became enlightened.
If the copyright of this IP is eventually bought by Marvel, it is very likely that Taoist priests from China will join Captain America in the movie to deal with zombies in the future. By then, Captain America will be in front of thousands of zombies. When he was exhausted from waving his shield and could no longer hold on any longer, a Chinese Taoist priest wearing a yellow robe jumped out, holding a mahogany sword in his hand, and said calmly: "All those who are facing the enemy should march forward in formation." "Laojun, hurry up like a law". When the time comes, talismans, handprints and formations are flying all over the sky. The scene is so beautiful that I really can't imagine...
It is precisely because they have thought about how to dig deeper into this industry chain that Hollywood film companies are extremely interested in the remake and adaptation copyright of this movie.
When Li Mu heard that Uni Asia was negotiating with Hollywood film companies about the overseas rights of "Mr. Zombie" including remakes, adaptations, and sequels, Li Mu only asked Makino Technology to issue a statement on YY. This statement was very concise. :
Makino Imaging recognizes 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. However, Makino Imaging has to make a Kind reminder: Although Uniasia is the owner of the intellectual property rights of "Mr. Zombie", Makino Imaging is the exclusive owner of the English brand name "Zombie-Master". This English brand has been registered globally and is well received by the world. Regarding intellectual property protection, I hope Asia and Hollywood film companies will be aware of it.
This statement suddenly woke up Asia and Hollywood from their dreams.
"Mr. Zombie" is the copyright of Uniasia. Yes, Makino Pictures only has the right to distribute this film overseas, but it does not have the right to adapt it, let alone the right to continue filming. In other words, if all countries around the world want to release the original version For "Mr. Zombie", the copyright needs to be negotiated with Makino Pictures, which has nothing to do with Uni Asia. However, if countries around the world want to remake "Mr. Zombie", the copyright needs to be negotiated with Uni Asia, and Makino Pictures has no right to interfere.
However, the original English name of "Mr. Zombie" is Mr. Stiff-Corpse, which means "Mr. Stiff-Corpse". The exact meaning of "Zombie-Master" should be Zombie Master, and this name was chosen by Makino Image himself. Although it was used in "Mr. Zombie" by Uniasia, this does not mean that the copyright of this English name also belongs to Uniasia.
To put it more bluntly, Uniasia can license the derivative copyright of "Mr. Zombie" to any film company in the world, but neither Uniasia nor these copyright partners have the right to use the name "Zombie-Master" .
Just like Marvel has the intellectual property rights of "Captain America", which is protected by intellectual property laws around the world. If you are not Marvel, you cannot use this name. You can call it "Secretary of the American Brigade" or "Secretary of the American Branch" , "American Commissar", "American Women's Director", etc., etc., but it cannot be called "Captain America".
This is the lifeblood! What the audience remembers is "Captain America", not any title other than "Captain America"!
Same goes for "Zombie-Master"! Now "Mr. Zombie" is popular in the United States, but American audiences all know that the name of the movie is "Zombie-Master", and the Taoist priest in it is a "Zombie-Master". Suddenly one day, Hollywood filmed a movie "Mr. Stiff- Corpse", which means "Mr. Rift Corpse", who knows what this is? It’s surprising that North American audiences would accept such an egg name!
Moreover, the movie "Mr. Zombie" has a very, very unfavorable thing for Universal Asia, that is, the leading actor 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 invented a new Taoist priest who can fight zombies, there is no way for the audience to confirm that it is the sequel to "Zombie-Master" unless its name is "Zombie-Master".
Therefore, for a Hollywood company that was originally willing to spend $12 million to buy the rights to the "Mr. Zombie" series, how much would the rights to this movie be worth if it could not use the brand name "Zombie-Master"? No one buys even one million! Because the images and settings of Chinese zombies and 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 Asia, it is better to create a new image of a Taoist priest based on Chinese zombie legends, or simply go to Makino Image to get "Zombie-Master" The right to use the brand, at least once the "Zombie-Master" brand is displayed, the audience will know what it is about!
Seeing that all the Hollywood companies that were interested in purchasing the copyright had withdrawn, the top management of Uni-Asia almost went berserk. They never dreamed that Li Mu would retain such a hand. "Zombie Taoist" became popular in North America, but the damn "Zombie-" The name "Master" actually belongs to Makino Image...
(End of chapter)