Don't remake classic dramas

(Wednesday, December 26, 2012)

China's ancient "four masterpieces" -- "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Water Margin" were all filmed into TV series, and each work was filmed in two versions, the old and the new, after twenty or thirty years.

The "Four Great Masterpieces" are the masterpieces that the people are most familiar with, most aware of, and most liked, and also have the highest expectations, and it is undoubtedly an excellent event to shoot them into TV dramas.

Although the old version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series has their own shortcomings, such as the hard wounds at the end of "Dream of Red Mansions" and the tediousness of the sequel to "Journey to the West", on the whole, they are quite good and have become classics, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and loved and recited by the majority of audiences.

However, a new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, which was completed since the remake of the "Four Great Classics" in 2008, has been released.

As a result, the new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, which costs a lot of money, is far less effective than the old version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, and it has not been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, nor has it received the favor and love of the audience, and it cannot surpass the classics, and it cannot become a classic.

The old version of the "Four Great Masterpieces" TV series, which has become a classic, has really won the approval of the majority of the audience since the day they were broadcast, and has formed a solid impression in the minds of the majority of audiences, which will linger.

Lin Daiyu, Jia Baoyu, Wang Xifeng, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Tang Seng, Song Jiang, Wu Song, Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao and other artistic images are vivid and lovely characters, and they are beautiful symbols in people's hearts, and the entire TV series has also left an unsurpassable impression on people.

It is very difficult to shake and change the idol in people's minds.

With the emergence of the new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, people naturally want to compare their plots, cameras, etc., especially the characters, with the old version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, and always feel that the idols who have been in the depths of their hearts are radiant, and naturally retain the original image and reject the new image, not to mention that each of the new versions of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series is unsatisfactory, and even very serious.

Every director of the remake wants his new work to surpass the old version, but the result is not only not surpassing, but also far behind, painting a tiger is not an anti-dog!

The old version of "Dream of Red Mansions" is mostly some young and innocent actors, their appearance is close to the young people in the original book, like Chen Xiaoxu who plays Lin Daiyu, with distant mountains in his eyebrows, seems to be frowning;

If Ouyang Fenqiang, who is now in his forties, plays Jia Baoyu again, I am afraid there will be no such wonderful effect.

Where do the actors who play Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu in the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" have the demeanor of Chen Xiaoxu and Ouyang Fenqiang?

Tang Guoqiang played Zhuge Liang in the old version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which was really vivid, especially the scene of "Crying Zhou Yu", which took a long time, but because he was in tears, his language was sincere and moving, and he did not give people a lengthy feeling at all, but it was heartwarming, touching, and tear-jerking, and it was really a swan song!

In the new version of "Three Kingdoms", Lu Yi, who plays Zhuge Liang, does not have this effect.

The Monkey King in the old version of "Journey to the West" is played by Liu Xiaolingtong, the heir of the monkey opera family, the action, the language, are all vivid, especially the monkey's movements, all of which are godlike, and the whole image is a perfect combination of animal nature, human nature, and sociality. Just imagine, in addition to the six-year-old child, is there a second person who can play Sun Wukong to such a wonderful degree?

Even the episodes in the TV series are the songs in the old version of the "Four Masterpieces", and the singers sing unparalleled.

The new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series does have undeniable shortcomings, the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" does not show much at all, and no one cares about it, although the Monkey King of the new version of "Journey to the West" has a little more humanity, but the image is too different from the original work, it is simply a "four dislikes".

Zhou Siyuan said: "The most important thing for the adaptation of the 'Four Great Masterpieces' is to satisfy hundreds of millions of viewers", but in fact, the majority of audiences are not only dissatisfied, but shake their heads and sigh, and even complain and scold.

Of course, the new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series is not useless, each has its own merits, the delicacy of their plots, the fullness of events, the beauty of the characters' costumes, the grandeur of the scenes, the use of stunts, etc., are all worthy of affirmation, in contrast, the new version of "Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" are more prominent.

From the remake of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series to the remake of all dramas, the vast majority of the effects are not good, almost all of them are failures, such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", etc., not only can not surpass the original version, but can not be loved by the audience, but attract the audience's scorn and even scolding.

From this point of view, it is better not to remake the classic play.

Why do producers like to remake classics?

Wu Ziniu said: "The reason for the remake is the progress of film and television technology, the continuous emergence of good actors, the promotion of the TV drama market, and the excellent production team. ”

In fact, is that really the case, and is it all for this reason?

I am afraid that it is difficult to come to a single conclusion.

In this, we do not deny that some producers are indeed the reason for this, and better yet, the purpose is correct. Some producers are not so pure.

Professor Shen Bojun said: "Do you have the purpose of promoting the excellent national culture and dedicating a spiritual meal to the audience, or do you just want to make more money and intend to hype?"

This is said very well and clearly, it seems that some are pure and noble in purpose, and some are remade for "money".

If we take a look at the article "Remake of the 'Four Great Masterpieces' -- A List of TV Drama Revenues" from the Legal Evening News on July 27, 2011, we can say that the bad purpose of some people's remakes of the "Four Great Masterpieces" TV series is not groundless.

Domestic TV dramas are overproduced, supply far exceeds demand, and more than half of the TV dramas produced every year are in the predicament of not being able to be broadcast, but the remake of the "Four Great Masterpieces" is an exception, because

Therefore, the comparison of the production cost of TV dramas is often a gimmick, and real investors are making careful calculations, for fear that they will not be able to recover the cost. However, the remake of the "Four Great Masterpieces" is an exception, because this is a profitable business, and there is no worry that it will not be sold, let alone no one will invest.

For example, the new "Dream of Red Mansions", a vigorous actor draft was held before the start of filming, and many sponsors were easily circled.

Another example is the new "Journey to the West", which was once exposed by the Zhijin Cave Scenic Area in Guizhou Province The unspoken rule that "you need to pay 2.8 million to become the location of "Journey to the West" is the filming location", which attracted the anger of director Zhang Jizhong. However, at the opening ceremony of the new "Journey to the West", the crew repeatedly emphasized to the media that the filming location of Gansu Yeliguan Scenic Area Ecological Park must be placed in the news headline when reporting, and it is not difficult to see the cattiness.

In addition to being able to easily circle investment, the "Four Masterpieces" TV series are also favored by advertisers.

Because of its fame, large production, and stable audience, in today's TV environment where ratings are almost the only criterion, the "Four Masterpieces" TV series are naturally the sweethearts in the eyes of various satellite TVs.

TV stations have grabbed the right to broadcast, which can not only enhance the brand and increase ratings, but also earn a large amount of advertising fees through separate investment. Because as soon as advertisers heard that it was the new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, they rushed to advertise.

Taking the upcoming new "Water Margin" as an example, just the title of the show, Anhui Satellite TV sold it for a high price of 50 million, plus the advertisements inserted in the play, Anhui Satellite TV's advertising revenue has exceeded 100 million. Last year, Anhui Satellite TV's advertising revenue from the broadcast of the new "Dream of Red Mansions" was also as high as tens of millions.

It is precisely because they do not worry about selling advertisements that they have also strengthened the courage of TV stations, video websites and other drama buying units, and they have used huge sums of money to coax the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, and there are more and more distribution channels.

At that time, China's TV screen was dominated by CCTV, and the "Four Masterpieces" TV series were filmed, with little investment, less remuneration for actors, and the price of selling dramas was not high. The TV series is only broadcast on a few TV stations, and there is almost no competition, and the price of the producer naturally cannot go up.

Nowadays, the strength of local satellite TV is getting stronger and stronger, the competition for ratings is becoming increasingly fierce, and the resources of high-quality TV dramas are in short supply.

In addition, the rise of online video in recent years has provided a new channel for the distribution of TV dramas.

Last year, the online copyright of the new "Three Kingdoms" was sold at a high price of 350,000 per episode, which not only set a new record, but also drove the overall market to climb. To snatch the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, the video website paid a high price and also got high returns.

The new TV series "Water Margin" and the new "Journey to the West" will appear on the screen next month, of which the new "Water Margin" will be broadcast on 4 satellite TV stations at the same time on August 2;

In April this year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a restriction order that prohibits the remake of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series in the short term. Therefore, the upcoming new "Water Margin" and the new "Journey to the West" may become a "swan song".

The new "Three Kingdoms" and the new "Dream of Red Mansions" were broadcast last year, although the investment is huge and the production is excellent, but because the domestic audience's love for the old version of the TV series has become a fixed trend, the classics are insurmountable, and no matter who remakes them, it seems that they will only have to be blocked.

But why is the producer willing to risk leaving behind infamy and still challenge the "Four Masterpieces"?

The reporter conducted an in-depth analysis of the economic benefits brought by the "Four Masterpieces" TV series, and it turned out that they were all "billionaires", which can be called the most expensive TV series in China.

The total production cost of Gao Xixi's new version of "Three Kingdoms" is 160 million yuan, the shooting cost of Ju Jueliang's new version of "Water Margin" is 130 million yuan, Zhang Jizhong's version of "Journey to the West" has an investment of 120 million yuan, and Li Shaohong's version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has a production cost of 118 million yuan.

Generally speaking, TV dramas mainly rely on copyright distribution to recover investment, and the profit method is relatively simple. The cost of filming the new version of the "Four Great Masterpieces" TV series is more than 100 million yuan, can such a high investment succeed in recovering the cost? Can it be achieved by selling films alone?

The answer to this is yes, the new version of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series has easily passed the challenge with only sales income. The new "Three Kingdoms" sold for a total of 230 million yuan, with a naming fee of 10 million yuan, and a profit of 50 percent; the new "Water Margin" sold for 160 million yuan, with a naming fee of 30 million, and a profit of 46.2 percent; and the new "Dream of Red Mansions" sold for 120 million yuan, with a naming fee of 22 million yuan, and a profit of 20.3 percent.

And the new "Journey to the West" has made a lot of money, and the income from selling films alone has earned 76 million, which is equivalent to an investment of 100 yuan to obtain a profit of 63.3 yuan. Coupled with overseas copyright and online copyright sales, it can sell at least 260 million, and after deducting production costs, the new "Journey to the West" has earned more than 100 million.

Data display

The cost is all over 100 million and it is still profitable

Data parsing

The remake of the "Big Four" does not worry about no investment

The audience is stable, and advertisers are rushing to get on

The number of online distribution channels has increased

Dream

Outlaws

The four famous books on the screen are all billionaires

This edition of the article / reporter Fang Fang, Zhou Meng, Wang Gang

In this regard, Wu Yi, general manager of Huayi Tianyi, told reporters that the "spin-offs" of the "Four Masterpieces" must be stained with the light of the "Four Masterpieces", and when the remake of the "Four Masterpieces" is blocked, there will definitely be production companies that will look at the filming of these "spin-offs", "Even if there is no money made by the 'Four Masterpieces' TV series itself, it will be guaranteed."

But the remake of the TV series must have new ideas, if you simply want to make money from the "derivative drama" of famous books, it will definitely not work. Derivatives cannot be compared with the original, and the fullness and completeness of their stories and characters cannot replace the masterpieces themselves.

Therefore, in order to form an impact, the angle of creation and the level of production are the most important factors. If you don't innovate and blindly copy it, it is difficult to be optimistic about the outcome.

However, in April this year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a restriction order -- no longer giving any "four masterpieces" TV series projects in the short term, but it blocked such a lucrative business. This is undoubtedly a blow to many producers who are still thinking about making money from remakes.

But the reporter found that these producers quickly found a new way to make money, and did not let the remake of the "Four Great Masterpieces", but told the same story under a different name.

The above list can make us can't help but see that some people are remaking the "Four Masterpieces" TV series for the purpose of making more money, which is terrible and despicable.

In order to make money, regardless of the promotion of classic literary works, that is, the quintessential culture of the nation, and also without regard to the enjoyment of the spiritual life and the cultivation of noble sentiments of the broad audience, they regard the "Four Great Masterpieces" as a treasure trove of gold nuggets, a packaging for profit, and a slogan for hype, which is a blasphemy against the "Four Great Masterpieces".

Such a person is simply a loser, a silverfish, and extremely hateful!

Moreover, the remake of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series costs a huge amount, each of which exceeds 100 million, and the four new versions of the "Four Masterpieces" TV series cost a total of more than 500 million, what an astonishing number!

If you use this money to help the poor, the homeless, and the laid-off, how many people's suffering can be avoided!

If you don't help the poor, the homeless, and the laid-off, how many good dramas should there be with this money to shoot some new TV series!

In reality, our television sets have dozens or even hundreds of channels, but how many good and new plays are there? Most of them are repeated broadcasts or have little taste.

In this case, people's spiritual food is not exquisite, nor is it abundant, and they do not get much spiritual pleasure, let alone be infected and edified, and the soul is purified?

Therefore, the classic repertoire should not be remade, neither to waste money nor to pollute people's hearts.

TV drama producers, to produce good works, to promote national culture, to cultivate people's souls, but also to purify their own souls!