The reason why Li Mu sold the theme of World War II to Spielberg was actually to make the best use of it.

In his opinion, World War II is the biggest theme, but also the heaviest subject, and it is the theme that needs to be taken seriously.

However, in the future Chinese entertainment industry, most of the directors and actors who are going to shoot World War II films and television films are those who are dying, so there are absurd anti-Japanese drama plots such as gun fighting, tearing devils, hiding mines in the crotch of trousers, bombing planes with grenades, bicycles flying on trains, and snipers shooting 800 miles with one shot.

In a few years, the film and television industry will begin to invert, and most of the directors who have the ability to shoot big themes and deep themes will begin to move closer to small themes and shallow themes, such as love, inspiration, action, adventure, cartoon, and even black humor, and they are easy to succeed in this kind of theme;

And those directors who are not able to control big themes and deep themes like to make some big moves, and finally make a bunch of nondescript big bad movies, which makes people speechless, not only many people have made a lot of bad movies about World War II, but also many Chinese directors have made a lot of bad historical movies, "Warring States", "Confucius", "Ink Attack", "Guan Yunchang", "Night Banquet", "Zhao's Orphan", one is counted as one, all of them are big themes, and they are all big bad movies, the only difference is that they are different degrees of rottenness.

As a nationalist, Li Mu has endless pride and love for the Chinese nation, but seeing that from World War II to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, all the big themes of great significance to the Chinese nation have been repeatedly ravaged and ruined by these bad movies, and he is naturally very unhappy, but he is not a filmmaker himself, so he can only find a way to create a healthy development environment first.

If you want to create a good environment, you must not only have the guidance of capital, but also the guidance of industry bosses.

Therefore, Li Mu hit Spielberg with the idea.

Spielberg listened to Li Mu say so many views on the theme of World War II, and said in agreement: "Mr. Li, you are right, purely in terms of movie theme, World War II is indeed larger than any historical period and a historical event, and it does have too many stories that can be made into movies. ”

Li Mu nodded and said: "The most important thing in shooting a film about World War II is not to shoot a movie with a high evaluation or high box office, but to let people remember history and reflect on history now, so it has a higher mission. ”

Spielberg was silent for a moment, nodded slightly, and said, "If there are good World War II-themed scripts in the future, I will consider making one or two more." ”

Li Mu said: "The theme of World War II is so big, it is not enough to make one or two films, or even one or twenty films. ”

Spielberg said: "Time and ability are limited after all, and to be honest, no director is willing to shoot the same subject matter at the same time, which will greatly stifle the diversified development of art." ”

Li Mu said: "The ability of one or two people alone is naturally not enough, so I think it is possible to build a special brand through the support of capital." ”

"Brand?" Spielberg asked in surprise, "the brand of World War II movies?"

Li Mu nodded and said: "That's right, like Marvel's comics that only do superheroes, Disney and Pixar focus on animated films, and make a brand that focuses on World War II movies, what this brand has to do is to continue to shoot excellent World War II-themed film and television works." ”

Speaking, Li Mu said: "We solicit scripts and directors from all over the world, as long as all aspects are suitable, we will invest in filming, and then do our own global distribution." ”

Spielberg thought for a moment, and then said to Li Mu: "Based on the time from intention to release of a film is two years, if you want to ensure the exposure of a brand, at least 3-5 movies must be released every year, in this way, the brand's early investment can support 6-10 movies, roughly calculated, at least hundreds of millions of dollars." ”

said, Spielberg said: "World War II-themed movies, as well as all historical films, have a very hurtful problem, that is, there is no way to do advertising placement, make modern films, what mobile phone does the protagonist use, what car does he drive, which hotel he lives in, Who's billboard appears in a sweep of the camera, these are all things that can make money, at least in this way in the early stage to reduce costs, but World War II-themed movies, it is difficult to find such an opportunity in the early stage, one or two are okay, but if there are too many, the cost pressure is still very great, and the box office revenue space of World War II-themed movies is generally slightly lower, which is not as good as entertainment movies. ”

Li Mu said: "It doesn't matter, we have a cinema chain all over China, and an online ticket system throughout the country and even in North America, our cinema chain will continue to expand in the future, and the online ticket system will continue to develop, at that time, our own channel capabilities can basically ensure that the box office of the film does not hit the street, that is to say, even if one billion dollars is invested in the early stage, within two to three years, it will be paid back in the form of the box office, and even have the opportunity to obtain considerable profits." ”

Speaking of this, Li Mu paused and said: "As for how to get this money, it is actually very simple, I can raise a sum of money to make a private equity investment fund focusing on film and television projects, raise investors' funds to invest in film and television projects, and I can distribute all profits to the investors of the fund, after all, what I care about is not profits, but products." ”

Spielberg nodded and said, "I understand, in this case, the initial financial pressure is not so great, and the risk can also be shared among investors, I think there is still something to do." ”

Li Mu said: "We might as well cooperate on this project, I will initiate the private equity fund, and you will be the manager of the project." ”

Spielberg asked curiously, "Mr. Li, can you tell me more about it?"

Li Mu said: "Actually, it's very simple, I'll get money, you will spend money, for example, my first phase goal is around one billion dollars, and this money will be used to invest in ten to fifteen World War II-themed film and television dramas, of which you personally shoot one, and the rest is up to you to choose the right project and team, which script you think is good, you buy it and shoot it, and then find the right director to supervise the project step by step, and finally I will give you 10% of the net profit of the entire project, and at the same time, I will also give you 10% of this brand-" 20% of the shares, we can communicate in depth. ”

Saying that, Li Mu said: "This brand, like Marvel, only makes high-quality products, and strives to become the best World War II-themed brand in the world within three to five years! Now, no one wants to make such a brand, if we do it, we can be at the forefront." ”

"One of the biggest benefits of vertical brands is that they can naturally bring users a sense that I am more professional in this field, for example, if you like mountaineering, then you can't go to an ordinary clothing brand store to buy the clothes you need for mountaineering, you will at least choose a professional outdoor brand, or even a professional mountaineering brand. ”

"Film and television are actually the same, if we are a brand focusing on cartoons, then after we have a good reputation, users will think of us for the first time when they think of cartoons, and when they see our cartoons, they will have a preconceived feeling that since we are producing, it must be a boutique. ”

"Marvel has been creating superheroes since World War II, and now, every time it produces a superhero, everyone will buy their comics like crazy, and even go into the cinema to watch their movies, which is Marvel's huge advantage in the subdivision of superheroes. ”

"The same is true for World War II theme brands, if we can create a few classic World War II films, then in the future, as long as the audience wants to watch World War II themed movies, they will first think of us, and as long as we produce a World War II theme movie, the audience who likes World War II themed movies will rest assured to buy tickets and go into the cinema to watch, and by that day, our brand will form an absolute leader in the World War II film market, and in the future, we can continue to launch new World War II-themed films like Marvel, and push one by one. “

Li Mu knows very well that the film and television industry will develop in the future, and there will be a large number of brands perpendicular to certain sub-categories, Marvel, DC, Disney, Pixar, needless to say, the happy twist that focuses on comedy in China, and the noon sunshine that focuses on high-quality TV series are all very successful cases.

However, there are so many brands in the film and television industry that focus on market segments, but no one has been focusing on World War II-themed films and television.

Li Mu decided to be the first person to eat crabs, and set up a sub-brand under Makino Image, focusing on World War II-themed movies and TV series, and only making high-quality products, at the same time, the movie must focus on the global market, and the TV series will focus on the domestic market and the North American market, especially the domestic market!

If in the future, if this brand under its own umbrella can shoot one or two excellent TV series with the theme of World War II in China every year, then it will have a great impact on the development direction of the entire domestic anti-Japanese war film and television drama in the future.