Chapter 492: The Speedster
Chapter 492: The Speedster (The Extreme Thief)
When it comes to "Jurassic Park", it can be said that everyone knows it.
This science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993 can be said to be a revolution in film technology. It innovatively combined CGI special effects with mechanical models to create an unprecedented image of dinosaurs.
The stunningly realistic visual effects and thrilling dinosaur adventure opened up and swept the global film market, raking in $14.2 billion at the box office. It also allowed filmmakers around the world to witness the powerful strength of the American film industrialization.
It was also from this movie that Hong Kong's film colleagues began to lose ground under the attack of Hollywood.
Before that, Hong Kong had the support of Eastern Hollywood, but the emergence of "Jurassic Park" completely widened the gap between Eastern and Western "Hollywood".
And now this classic Hollywood series has ushered in its reboot "Jurassic World".
The film is directed by Colin Trevorrow and stars "Star-Lord" Chris Pratt.
The story is set 22 years after the original work. Isla Nublar has developed into a huge theme park and resort - Jurassic World. Visitors can take a boat, drive a car, or sit in a transparent spinning ball to admire the dinosaurs around them. The beautiful scenery and tranquil atmosphere make people linger.
But amidst all the excitement lies a hidden danger. While creating dinosaurs, the International Genetic Technology Company (InGen) also tried to create "hybrids" by combining DNA from different types and even species, and eventually accidentally created the terrible D-Rex predator dinosaur.
Later, a research team led by Owen (Chris Pratt) came here to study the Velociraptor, and accidents happened.
Judging from the plot summary, the story of "Jurassic World" is not complicated and is almost the same as "Jurassic Park".
But this kind of movie is also about special effects and dinosaurs, and the story is secondary.
Especially since today's computer special effects technology is far superior to the past, with the support of new technologies, the new "Jurassic World" will definitely give the audience a more novel visual experience.
Of course, in the summer season in June, there is the "dragon from the river" "Jurassic World", and China also has its own "local tiger".
Unlike Wang Hao's previous life, the previous Chinese cultural departments and Huaying Group also had to consider the protection of domestic films, and often made some adjustments to the release of films overseas.
But now they dare to boldly implement the opening-up strategy of the cultural industry, allowing Chinese-language films and Hollywood films to compete in the same period.
For example, in June of the 2015 summer season, Galaxy Entertainment Group will release a movie called "Bad Boys".
This movie also belongs to the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] and is a co-production between China and the United States, invested by Galaxy Group, Huaying Group, Wanda Group, Columbia, Sony and Lionsgate.
The story is adapted from "Point Break" by Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, but Galaxy Group's version of "Point Break" is different from "Point Break" and the original "Point Break".
The original "Point Break" is the same as "Point Break", both of which tell the story of a young agent who loves extreme sports and infiltrates a group of bandits who also love extreme sports and eventually finds himself.
The story is simple, but the behind-the-scenes production of the original "Point Break" is not simple. Using real-life shooting methods, the film took three years to make, with a production and shooting cycle of 221 days and a huge cost of 1.5 million yuan. It was filmed in many countries around the world, from the United States, Germany, Switzerland to Austria and Venezuela, spanning 11 countries.
The scenes and extreme sports in the movie are undoubtedly exciting and adrenaline-pumping.
However, the plot of the original movie is too weak and poor, and the plot lacks novelty. It is obviously a thrilling extreme adventure action movie, but the protagonists undertake a series of extreme sports challenges, and the ultimate goal is to complete a specific task and achieve sublimation of life, rather than having a clear result.
Such a plot setting is unlikely to bring more surprises and touches to the audience, and people who don't know much about extreme sports will just feel bored. It feels more like watching an extreme sports documentary than a movie.
Moreover, affected by the plot, the character creation in the original film is extremely thin, the character images are not full and three-dimensional enough, and the characters' personalities and motivations lack in-depth exploration.
All these factors led to the film's final box office being lower than expected, with the mainland box office only reaching 2.46 million yuan and the global cumulative box office only reaching 1.34 million US dollars.
Compared with the cost of 1.5 million US dollars, this box office result is undoubtedly a huge loss, and even the cost cannot be recovered.
Therefore, Galaxy Group made a lot of changes in the content of the movie for this version of "Bad Boys".
First of all, this story has also been integrated into the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe], and it is not an insignificant branch plot. Xia Feng, the male protagonist of "The Speedster", will play an important role in the second phase of the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] story in the future and occupy a lot of space.
This movie can only be regarded as an introduction at present. The male protagonist Xia Feng’s name is taken from Fang Baiyu’s series of novels "Game Era".
In "The Lost Odyssey", the second part of "The Game Era", the male protagonist at the beginning of the story is called Xia Feng, 22 years old, Eurasian, and has loved extreme adventure sports since he was a child.
The actor who plays this role in "The King's Avatar" is Gao Weiguang, a new actor who was signed by Xing Dou Culture two years ago.
He graduated from the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama in 08 and debuted as a model in 06. He is 191cm tall, tall and handsome. He is also mixed-race and has an exotic appearance.
It is undoubtedly difficult to develop well in the Chinese film and television industry with these conditions. After all, the male actor is too tall, and it is not easy to find actors who can play with him.
Fortunately, there is the Galaxy Group in this world. Gao Weiguang is lucky. Since Yu Entai, the Galaxy Group has been consciously sending Chinese actors to Hollywood.
Someone like Gao Weiguang, who is tall and has an exotic look, is at a disadvantage in the domestic entertainment industry, but at Star Culture, he just meets the standards for overseas transfer.
So as a newcomer, he was hit by the big production "Bad Boys" when he made his first film, which brought about a huge change in his entire acting career.
In this movie, Xia Feng, played by Gao Weiguang, is a young man who loves extreme sports.
Extreme sports have only been around for a short time, only beginning to appear overseas in the early 2000s. It is an adventurous activity in which humans challenge their physical and mental limits.
At first, this activity was just about pursuing extreme speed, but later, as more and more people participated, it gradually evolved into a sport that challenges a series of comprehensive qualities such as courage, bravery, reaction, and skills. And because of the excitement associated with extreme sports, it has gradually become popular around the world, forming a huge circle, and even starting to have targeted competitions.
Those who challenge their physical limits and seek sublimation of life are called "speedsters" because extreme sports initially started with challenging speed.
Xia Feng is such an extreme speedster, and because of his little fame in the circle, he was invited to participate in the "First Extreme Sports Games" sponsored by the Brilliant Group and several large conglomerates.
This "extreme sports meeting" uses the famous "Ozaki Eight Events" as its competition event.
The eight competitions are:
1. The surge of power - mountain off-road flying (Utah, USA);
2. Birth from the sky - high altitude motorcycle skydiving (Mount Everest);
3. Awakening of the Earth - High-altitude fixed-point parachuting (Swallow Cave Tiankeng, Mexico);
4. The perpetual motion of the wind – wing suit flying (Alps);
5. Ice Solidification - Extreme Skiing (Alps);
6. Water Creatures – Extreme Surfing (Sea of Cortez);
7. The Master of Life - Freehand Rock Climbing (Angel Falls, Venezuela);
8. The most mysterious and most difficult "ultimate trust".
It is said that the "Ozaki Eight Items" are eight tests proposed by Ono Ozaki to pay tribute to the power of nature. Those who can complete all eight challenges can achieve nirvana in life.
Xia Feng participated in this extreme sports meeting, and during the thrilling extreme sports competitions, he also established deep friendships with those "speedsters" who were both teammates and opponents.
In particular, the extremely beautiful girl with chestnut hair as soft as the wind, "Flying Cat" Jiaxinna, left a deep impression on Xia Feng.
After passing the first seven extremely dangerous extreme sports, more than a dozen "speedsters" including Xia Feng and Jia Xinna finally faced the last challenge.
At this time, the specific content of this challenge project was truly revealed. It turned out that the so-called "ultimate trust" was that they would be thrown onto a deserted and dangerous island to see who could survive to the end.
During this process, they can act alone, form teams to survive, or even eliminate others first and then determine the final winner.
Unity, trust and betrayal, the eighth item is not a challenge to the extreme physical strength, nor a competition of spiritual will, but an ultimate test of human nature.
Only by passing this final test can the sole winner receive a reward of 100 million US dollars provided by the Brilliant Group and those major financial groups.
Xia Feng and several other racers naturally rejected this inhumane challenge that went against the spirit of extreme sports. However, some racers were tempted by the high prize money.
However, regardless of whether they agreed in the end or not, Xia Feng and a dozen other racers were still thrown onto a deserted island, and under the behind-the-scenes manipulation of the Brilliant Group, they began a bloody wilderness survival game.
It was also during this eighth challenge that the intense pressure of survival, coupled with the genetic drugs that the Brilliant Group had released on the island in advance, enabled a small number of racers who had reached the limits of the human body in terms of physical fitness and mental willpower after going through the previous seven tests to successfully break through the genetic limitations and complete an evolution that would take humans tens of millions of years in a very short time.
As for the ending of the story, it is naturally that justice triumphs over evil.
It turns out that the reason why Xia Feng came to participate in this extreme sports meeting was not only because of his interest, but also because in this competition, there was a small criminal gang that relied on the special means of extreme sports to rob and steal.
This small group called "Extreme Thieves" also has a certain reputation on the criminal rankings of the dark web. Xia Feng, who has been recruited by China's special affairs department, is targeting them.
In this final challenge, Xia Feng successfully gained the "ultimate trust" with his personal charm, official identity and the powerful strength after breaking the genetic lock, united some of the "speedsters" on the island, and found a second way to pass the eighth test.
He defeated the leader of the "Extreme Thieves" team who had also broken the genetic lock and successfully completed the evolution, persuaded the "Flying Cat" Jiaxinna to turn from evil to good, and led his companions to thwart the conspiracy of the Brilliant Group, and waited for the reinforcements from the Special Affairs Department.
Such a story has a beginning and an end, a main storyline, a certain amount of love and excitement, and the protagonist's motivation is very sufficient. The story is naturally much stronger than the original "The Fast and the Furious".
Therefore, this year's summer box office battle officially started in June.
On June 6, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "San Andreas" fired the first shot in the competition for summer blockbusters.
The film grossed 3264 million Chinese yuan on its first day of release, and 3.22 million yuan in its first six days, which is a normal result for a Hollywood commercial special effects blockbuster. At least it is not bad, and it is a good start for the summer season.
However, "San Andreas" also has the common problem of Hollywood commercial blockbusters. The box office in the first week accounted for 50% of the entire movie's box office. After a few days of surge, the box office gradually declined due to the thin and routine plot.
And in the second week, on June 6th, "Jurassic World" was also released.
Compared to the original "San Andreas", "Jurassic World" is not much better in terms of plot quality, but with the blessing of IP fame, the film still grossed 9 million on the first day of the Chinese film market, becoming the first box office hit of the summer season.
And because of the more realistic dinosaur images and thrilling plots, the subsequent box office trend of "Jurassic World" was very stable, steadily climbing to more than 5 million yuan a day, and achieved a good result of 5.4 million Chinese yuan in the first days of the week.
According to this trend, it is estimated that the box office of "Jurassic World" in mainland China will exceed 10 billion, and 15 billion is not impossible.
Of course, 15 billion is when there is no competitor.
Just eight days after the release of "Jurassic World", on June 8, Galaxy Group's movie "The Fast and the Furious" was released.
As soon as this movie was released, it directly snatched the title of single-day box office champion from "Jurassic World" with the powerful influence of the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe".
Even overseas, this film did not receive much rejection and achieved good box office results because it mainly stars European and American actors and the mixed-race appearance of the male lead Gao Weiguang.
(End of this chapter)