Text/Great Entertainer

For China's comic film productions, this may be the best era, but it also coincides with the worst era.

The overall box office of the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" on the other side of the strait of more than 30 billion US dollars undoubtedly reflects the huge commercial potential of the top comic IP after being adapted into movies, but the double decline in box office and word-of-mouth from "Eternals" to "Ant-Man 3" in the past few years shows how much the aesthetic fatigue caused to the audience after the frequent comic adaptations are fully revealed.

And the first Chinese manga film production born at this point in time, "Under the Alien", does not seem to have embarked on a new path of its own.

Stills from "Under the Alien".

This highly anticipated summer comic adaptation blockbuster, with the wide popularity of the original work and a lot of production investment, should have set off a movie-watching boom in the summer file, but it suffered a dismal box office after the opening of the film. Up to now, the box office revenue of the film has just exceeded the 110 million mark, and the Douban score has continued to decline to 6.0 on the verge of passing.

This result can't help but make people re-examine how domestic large-scale comic films should deal with themselves at the moment of rapid changes in the domestic film market.

Looking back on the development process of Chinese manga films, it is not difficult to find an interesting phenomenon: in the past, some low-cost manga works were often able to achieve good results, such as "Get Out, Tumor", "Take My Brother Away" and other works, with their unique narrative style and close to life theme, once won the love of the audience and the recognition of the market.

Stills from "Get Out, Tumor".

This contrast seems to imply that relying on strong IP, famous directors, big productions and visual effects alone is not enough to guarantee the success of a manga movie.

So, in the process of moving towards the era of large-scale manga, what is the lack of domestic manga movies?

At this time, it is better to look at Hollywood, especially successful cases such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, how they can continue to attract audiences and create box office miracles while maintaining high production standards.

01

The audience base needs more time to incubate

The development of China's manga film market is inseparable from a strong animation audience base.

However, compared with countries with developed animation industries such as Japan and United States, China's animation culture is still in the growth stage. Although the quantity and quality of domestic animation works have increased significantly in recent years, it still takes time to cultivate a large and loyal audience, and the industry continues to work hard.

The box office performance of "Under the Inhuman" reflects this situation to some extent. Although the original manga has considerable popularity on online platforms, this online popularity has not fully translated into an actual movie-watching craze. This shows that although our anime audience is gradually expanding, its purchasing power and influence have not yet reached the level that can support large-scale manga films.

To solve this problem, we need the joint efforts of the entire industry chain.

• First of all, creators of original anime works need to continue to produce high-quality content to attract more readers.

• Second, animation platforms and publishers should increase the promotion of excellent works and expand their scope of influence;

• Finally, film and television producers should also have a longer-term vision when choosing adaptation projects, not only focusing on the current popularity, but also considering the long-term development potential of the work.

At the same time, we must also recognize that cultivating a mature animation culture market is a gradual process. Both the anime industries in Japan and the United States have taken decades to get to where they are today. Therefore, China's animation industry and the related film and television adaptation market also need to remain patient and gradually expand their audience base in the process of continuous experimentation and accumulation of experience.

02

Adaptation orientation: how to balance the mass audience with fans of the original work

When adapting comics, how to find a balance between attracting a mass audience and satisfying fans of the original book has always been a major problem for creators. The encounter in "Under the Alien" is a typical embodiment of this dilemma.

On the one hand, in order to appeal to a wider audience, movies often need to make drastic adaptations and simplifications of the original work, which may include adjusting the story structure, cutting subplots, strengthening certain characters, etc., however, these changes can easily cause dissatisfaction among fans of the original work.

For viewers familiar with the original, they expect to see a presentation that is faithful to the original on the big screen, and too many changes may make them disappointed or even angry.

Douban short comment

Judging from the current word-of-mouth feedback, compared with the previous drama version, the movie has obvious deficiencies in the restoration of the original work and characters, and the direct result is that before it is out of the circle to ordinary audiences, word-of-mouth has been set by fans of the original work, and it is difficult to turn over.

On the other hand, being too faithful to the original book may make it difficult for the film to be understood and accepted by audiences who do not know the original. Especially for some comic works with complex settings and huge world views, if they are not properly adapted and explained, it is easy for ordinary viewers to feel confused and alienated.

Therefore, a successful manga film needs to find a delicate balance between the two.

Taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example, they usually retain the core elements and spirit of the original book when adapting, while making appropriate adjustments to the story to suit the needs of the film's narrative. This approach allows fans of the original book to feel familiar elements while also attracting new audiences into the world.

The Marvel movie "Avengers 4".

Finding this balance is especially important for Chinese manga films.

The creative team not only needs to deeply understand the essence of the original work, but also have enough courage to innovate. They should strive to retain the most engaging elements of the original while making the story more universal and engaging with clever adaptations. This may require more upfront preparation, including in-depth market research, multiple rounds of script revisions, and close communication with the original author.

03

Copyright policy: focus and ability on film and television adaptations

In the production process of manga films, the role of the copyright owner is crucial, but it is often overlooked.

In fact, the copyright owner's focus and ability on film and television adaptation directly affects the quality and success rate of the adaptation.

First of all, we need to recognize that successful manga authors are not necessarily good at film and television creation, which is depicted in great detail in the latest season of the popular anime "The Child I Push", and different media have very different narrative methods and expressions. Therefore, the copyright owner has actually established a professional team to be responsible for matters related to comics, film and television adaptations.

This team must not only be familiar with the original work, but also have an in-depth understanding of filmmaking. On a practical level, many domestic film directors who have been famous for many years probably can't look at "niche art" works such as comics at all, let alone have an in-depth understanding of their expression.

Comic movie "Take My Brother Away"

Second, copyright owners should be more actively involved in the adaptation process. This does not mean interfering with every creative detail, but controlling the direction of the work at the macro level to ensure that the film can accurately convey the core concept and spirit of the original work.

Marvel Comics, for example, maintains a close collaboration with its film production department, and this close relationship has greatly contributed to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Finally, copyright owners also need to learn how to give the creative team appropriate freedom while protecting the value of the IP.

Finding a balance between overly restrictive restrictions may stifle creativity, and overly lax management may lead to deviations from the spirit of the original work.

04

Create through system construction, rather than relying on the personal tastes of great directors

When discussing the future development of Chinese comic films, an unavoidable question is: should we continue to rely on the personal style of the great directors, or should we turn to a more systematic and systematic creative model. The answer to this question may determine the future direction of Chinese manga films.

Even aside from comic works, the Chinese film industry has always relied heavily on the appeal and personal style of big directors. This model has really worked well in art films and certain genres. However, when faced with complex comic book adaptation projects, the limitations of the model begin to emerge.

Great directors may overemphasize the expression of personal taste, and ignore the core spirit of the original work and the needs of the market, which ultimately leads to the original comic book is just a layer of skin, and the director is still telling the story he wants to tell.

Stills from "Under the Alien".

For example, the large number of sexual innuendos in "Under the Stranger" and the father-killing plot that director Wu Ershan has never been able to put down are more like IP serving his creative expression, and the problems caused by this situation have long been common in the DC Cinematic Universe.

The DC Cinematic Universe has long relied more on stylized directors such as Zack · Schneider, David · Goyer, James · Gunn, and many more. Although these directors have their own unique visual styles and narrative techniques, their personal touches are sometimes too strong, resulting in a lack of a unified style and coherent narrative throughout the series.

As a result, while individual films may have had some success, such as Watchmen and Superman: Man of Steel, the construction of the entire cinematic universe appears fragmented and incoherent.

Directly led to DC being at a disadvantage in the competition with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a long time, until 2022, DC completely changed blood, "rolling guide" James · Gunn became the general leader, and the entire DC movie series began to enter the stage of comprehensive reconstruction.

James · Gunn directed "Task Force X: All Assembled"

In contrast, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has adopted a more systematic mode of creation. They have built a strong production system, and the team led by Kevin · Feige coordinates the direction of the entire cinematic universe. In this system, directors play more of an executor's role, and they need to be creative within a given framework, rather than shaping the film entirely according to their own wishes.

This model ensures coherence and consistency throughout the series, while also giving each film plenty of room for innovation. Of course, judging from the weakness of Marvel movies in the past few years, this model also has its drawbacks, but it is undoubtedly twice the result with half the effort in terms of the early incubation of the entire series.

For Chinese manga films, establishing such a systematic creative model may be a direction worth considering.

This requires us to rethink the process and management of filmmaking – a team of producers who truly understand both comics and films, and who have a deep understanding of the original book and are also familiar with all aspects of filmmaking. Their role is to develop an overall creative strategy and coordinate resources to ensure that each work is both faithful to the spirit of the original work and in line with the needs of the market.

Japan's high-scoring manga film "Rogue Kenshin".

Under this system, the selection criteria for directors need to be changed, and instead of simply pursuing famous directors, it is necessary to find directors who can understand and implement the overall creative concept, and from this point of view, perhaps more young directors will be more suitable for this kind of role.

Of course, the shift to this systematic creative model is not achieved overnight, it requires the joint efforts and long-term practice of the entire industry.

If such a system can be successfully established, it will greatly improve the overall quality and market competitiveness of China's comic films. This is not only good for the success of a single film, but also for building a coherent and sustainable film series or cinematic universe.

We are by no means denying the creative value that great directors can bring to this kind of work, and ideally, within the framework of the overall system, there is still plenty of creative space reserved for talented directors. Just like Marvel has also begun to try to get more directors with their personal styles to join in in recent years.

Conclusion

CONCLUSION

In the final analysis, the future development of Chinese comic films needs to find a balance between the "big director model" and "systematic creation", which not only respects the creative talent of directors, but also establishes a production system that can ensure the quality of works and the coherence of the series. Only in this way can Chinese manga movies truly mature and become a new increment in the film market.

The development of large-scale domestic comic films is undoubtedly challenging, but it is obviously also a road that has to be taken. From the embarrassment faced by "Under the Alien" to the pressure that "Dartman" will face next when it first started filming, we can clearly see the pain experienced in this field and foresee its future potential.

To realize the new era of Chinese manga films, what is ultimately needed is long-term patience and dedication, after all, before the birth of "Iron Man", Marvel movies have also experienced repeated trial and error, "the process is a reward", for Chinese manga films, there is no road in vain to create, every step counts.

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