China Daily Global Edition (USA)
China Daily forum sees experts debate merits of IP productions
As online fiction is increasingly mined for box-office gains by both film and TV producers, a panel of industry experts at a China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable titled The Trend of Film Adaptation, cautioned against overheating the market in the race to snap up items of intellectual property.
IP adaptations have become a major driving force in China’s entertainment sector. In cinemas, they accounted for a third of the 45 billion yuan ($6.8 billion) in box-office receipts last year. This summer, the film Once Upon a Time, a popular IP adaptation of a fantasy romantic online novel, made 530 million yuan.
“A lot of industry players mark 2015 as the first year of IP movies,” says Geng Xiaonan, president of production company Beijing Sky Saga Film and TV Culture Media, referring to the boom in China of movies based on online literature, comics, animation and video games.
She says 14 of the country’s 20 highest-grossing movies that year were IP-based.
But there have been disappointments, too.
In 2016, the much-hyped L. O. R. D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties only pulled in 350 million yuan.
The panel felt the market would grow more healthily based on more adaptations that tell meaningful stories in a professional way.
“We already see signals of a chaotic market,” Geng cautioned at the forum in Hong Kong on Dec 7.
Not all source materials — even huge hits in the original format — are fit for screen adaptation, she says. “The problem is that some industry players have lost direction on their way to chase the so-called super IPs.”
Echoing Geng, Tony Gao Wentao, EntGroup partner and general manager of East China, an entertainment industry research and consulting firm, says the source literature with an established fan base helps sell the film or TV series, which is seen as an advantage for IP adaptations.
But “good source material can’t guarantee a good IP adaptation, which entails an appealing script, skilled actors and actresses and sophisticated production”.
To protect and nurture the longterm value of IP assets, investors and producers should rein in excitable bidding on properties with builtin buzz and focus more on good storytelling, appropriateness, and quality in the adaptation process that said.
And, films and TV shows based on IP content are poised to become leading drivers of China’s cultural influence around the world, they added.
“China is the world’s second-largest economy, but the influence of Chinese culture cannot match the status of its economy,” says panelist Ma Zhongjun, chairman and president of Ciwen Media, a Beijingbased entertainment media group.
“In the future, with China having a bigger say globally, I think Chinese films and stories will have much fans demand, the panelists greater influence in the global market.”
IP adaptations are a key part of the maturing process in China’s film industry, and Ma predicted global development would be driven by IP content rather than by star power.
“Currently, the value of the industry can only be seen from famous movie stars, but as the market continues to develop, the industry, as a whole, will show its value,” he says.
With the stakes encompassing national development as well as commercial gains, the panel urged a sustainable approach to IP adaptation.
“It can’t be hurried,” says Gao. “To produce excellent works you must put your heart into it.”
Highlighting the level of interest in IP, the initial public offering of China Literature, the online publishing arm of tech giant Tencent Holdings, in Hong Kong in November, was oversubscribed by a factor of more than 50.
Vice-president of China Literature Luo Li told the forum, co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, “Hong Kong is the best place for us to start going global.”
Meanwhile, video games have shown they may become the next cash cow for movie adaptation. Warcraft: The Beginning, a film adaptation based on the game World of Warcraft, was a massive hit in China, with a box-office take of 1.47 billion yuan.
The success was partly accredited to the popularity of video games in the country.
Statistics show that in the first six months of the year, sales of competitive gaming products hit 35.64 billion yuan in the Chinese market, a rise of 43 percent year-on-year, according to Beijing-based video game research firm CNG. Yang Hang, Wang Yuke, Lin Wenjie and Dara Wang in Hong Kong contributed to the story.