Chapter 283: Industry Turmoil

"Director Jiang, hello, I am a reporter from Entertainment Scene. You said this film is about sci-fi war, so the weapons in it must be very advanced, right?"

"That's for sure, sci-fi war means the weapons are definitely advanced. Moreover, all the characters in this film have their own superpowers, so it's actually a superhero film!" Jiang Heng replied.

"Superhero?" The reporters exclaimed in surprise.

"In 2007, Marvel Universe's pioneering work Iron Man had not yet been born; people's understanding of 'superhero' still stayed at characters like Superman and Batman, so their comprehension was somewhat off."

"A female reporter chimed in, 'May I ask, is it like Superman, able to fly and move underground, invulnerable to swords and spears?'"

"Jiang Heng laughed and said, 'Of course not; they are first human, then they possess superpowers!'"

"'Special abilities?' another reporter asked excitedly, 'Like invisibility or remote viewing?'"

"Jiang Heng saw his expression slightly lewd, as if about to blurt out his inner thoughts."

"He smiled and replied, 'No, the superpowers of all the characters in this film are used for combat!'"

"Speaking of that, I immediately thought of the X-Men series, where those mutants with bizarre powers are practically just comic relief."

"The most criticized is the Hedgehog Person; those spikes seem useful only for scaring people or squeezing onto the subway, basically useless."

"Yet the reporters on site gazed at the creators on stage, wondering what formidable superpowers the roles they played would have."

"When faced with individual interviews, they all vaguely said they practice Tai Chi, refusing to disclose what their abilities actually are."

"After all, the film won't be released for over a year; this groundbreaking ceremony and new film announcement are merely to inform the media and incidentally pique the audience's curiosity."

"Then another reporter asked, 'Director Jiang, hello, is this film an original screenplay, or adapted from some novel or comic?'"

"Jiang Heng smiled, thinking finally someone sharp, and explained: 'This, it's really hard to say. My game company is developing a new game. The story background and many game characters are written by me. Then during game development, I felt it was suitable for film and TV adaptation, so this movie came about!'"

"After hearing this, the reporters all felt a bit dazed, wondering if one could even do it this way."

"Speaking of game-to-film adaptations, it's not unusual."

"The two Chinese Paladin films produced by Outstanding Rising Film Company are adaptations of the game, with good reception, and they made stars of Hu Jie, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and others."

"Internationally, the 2001 Tomb Raider was relatively successful; the rest of the game-adapted film series mostly have poor reputations and average box office."

"Because it's also simple, the story backgrounds of most games are not rigorously set from the start; after all, even with some logical flaws, it's hard to affect the gaming experience."

"But turning it into a film is different: the story needs conflict, must be reasonable and logical, and cannot deviate from the main plot, which is truly difficult."

"So far, films successfully adapted from games are few and far between."

"Director Jiang, however, achieves 'two gains from one fish': he first writes a story background and character settings for the game, then uses those materials to adapt the film."

"The reporters only felt they had never heard of such a thing, and could only say 'impressive'!"

"After the press conference ended, Jiang Heng led the crew straight to the China Film Digital Base."

"The reporters then hurried back to their units, pondering how to write this piece."

"Some directly entered from the game sector, after all, the online game version of Slay Immortal swept the nation, calling Jiang Heng an embodiment of a 'game tycoon' to promote the game with a big film."

"After all, the influence of the Slay Immortal film and its promotional ads is enormous."

"How many people who aren't big gamers, because of the film and ads, go into internet cafes to register accounts and casually play a couple rounds!"

"Today's new film announcement is tantamount to giving a huge advertisement for the game about to launch; many will want to know what kind of game it is, prompting Jiang Heng to rush into early film and TV adaptation."

"The next day, domestic entertainment media reported Jiang Heng's new film groundbreaking news, saying the film is adapted from a game about to launch, believing that when the game enters public beta, it will become the hottest game domestically."

"As soon as this report came out, many game companies became unhappy."

"Inside the office of the boss of Net Hundred Million, Ding Lei saw this news and was amused by anger."

"'You say you, just make films if you're making films, why meddle in the game circle?'"

"After muttering for a while, he summoned a vice president: 'Do you know anything about the game Jiang Heng's company is developing?'"

"'I've heard it sounds like a real-time competitive game similar to Warcraft III, with rapid development, likely able to enter public beta by year-end!'"

"Upon hearing this, Ding Lei jumped in shock: 'Year-end? His company has only been established for a little over a year, right?'"

"'Yeah, just over a year!'"

"'Two games within a year—how can it be this fast?' Ding Lei was quite surprised."

"After all, developing a large-scale game usually takes about two years; Jiang Heng's game company releasing two games in just over a year is somewhat excessively strong."

"If it were an established company, it would be fine, but it's a newly founded one, so Ding Lei was naturally shocked."

"'I heard that during the development of Slay Immortal, Director Jiang had already set much of the content, so they proceeded very quickly!'"

"After all, Jiang Heng's game company poached a research and development team from Net Hundred Million; even with a confidentiality agreement, it's impossible to completely block information."

"Ding Lei grew even more astonished hearing this: 'Isn't his main job making films? Where does he find the time to design games?'"

"To be honest, Ding Lei acknowledges Jiang Heng's talent and ability, admitting it's truly remarkable."

"But human energy and time are limited; Jiang Heng's filmmaking speed is already very fast among directors, yet he can still find time to design games—this is downright absurd!"

"'Although it sounds unbelievable, hearing it from past brothers, it's indeed true. Moreover, for the game currently under development, much of the content has already been pre-designed, which is why it can be so fast!'"

"'That brother also said, Director Jiang's talent is wasted on filmmaking; if he focused on games, he could certainly turn the company into a domestic leader with a hundred-billion-yuan market value!'"

"Ding Lei replied unhappily: 'Damn, I even have to thank him for not focusing on games?'"

"The vice president gave an embarrassed smile, indeed feeling that way inside."

"Of course, such words definitely cannot be said."

"'Actually, I also think his statement is a bit excessive. In my opinion, this might be a smokescreen!'"

"'Oh, how so?'"

"'Director Jiang doesn't often go abroad for vacation; who knows how many industries he has laid out overseas! Those two games might possibly have their preliminary work done by foreign companies, then handed over to him!'"

"Upon hearing this, Ding Lei was at a loss for how to comment for a moment."

"He inwardly leans toward this explanation, after all, geniuses often dislike other geniuses."

"(End of chapter)"