IP has to perform a major exchange of leading roles and re-creation. The most representative works are the “Spiderman” series under Sony, and the more prestigious is the “007 James Bond” series.

The former has ushered in three generations of Spider-Man in the past 20 years, played by Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. The latter created 27 historical works in 50 years, a total of six generations of “James Bond.”

This staged creative replacement is in line with the general trend of the times. Movie fans can fully understand it, and it is easier for IP to generate new vitality. For example, the “Spider-Man” first-generation trilogy has a global box office of 2.5 billion US dollars, the second-generation two works still have a box office of 1.5 billion US dollars, and the third-generation two works have a box office of 2 billion US dollars, and joined the “Avengers” for IP linkage.

From a comprehensive point of view, the series of movies often do more harm than good when they encounter a major change in starring.

By analogy with the “Infernal Affairs” series that encountered the same problem, its creative methodology is worth learning. Also, because the film’s hot potential was not predicted, the three main protagonists Huang Zhicheng, Han Chen, and Chen Yongren were written to death in “Infernal Affairs” in the first work, and even supporting roles such as Big B and Shaqiang were not spared. When “Infernal Affairs” won more than 50 million box office in Hong Kong and gradually became popular around the world, it was discovered that there was too little room for clues and it was difficult to launch a sequel.

▲ “Infernal Affairs” stills

But in the end, “Infernal Affairs 2” unfolds in a prequel nature, and its core story is still circulated from the four major characters Liu Jianming, Chen Yongren, Han Chen, and Huang Zhicheng. It is shown in the details of the story of the character’s youth, which not only enriches the previous game’s setting , Also echoes the previous work as a whole.

Although “Infernal Affairs 2” is not a real actor change of blood, but in the face of the absence of Andy Lau, Tony Leung and other banner bearers, the second part retains the basic settings of the main characters and retains the feelings of movie fans point. At the same time, the classic roles such as “Ni Yongxiao” played by Wu Zhenyu, the godfather of the gang, have been recreated, making movie fansHave a new memory point again. Although the overall effect of the sequel was not as good as the previous one, it was also accepted by fans.

The collapse of the reputation of “Travel in Busan 2” has made movie fans heartbroken, and it has also sounded a wake-up call for film creators.

Looking at the Chinese market in the past two years, the process of the film industrialization system has continued to advance. During this period, the series of films have become an important touchstone for the industrialization of Chinese films. Many popular works have also launched series plans, such as the representative works of 2019 “The Wandering Earth” and “Manslaughter”. Their sequel projects have also been put on the agenda early, but to a large extent they will also face the same problems as “Busan 2”.

For “The Wandering Earth”, in the face of a market environment with more stringent supervision of artists’ morality and private life and public opinion, the love incident of the male protagonist Qu Chuxiao has caused negative reviews on the whole network. Whether he can participate in “Wandering Earth 2” is still doubtful; In addition, Chen Hui, CEO of Fang Hengye Pictures, the producer of “Manslaughter”, once said: “Manslaughter 2 is not a sequel in the usual sense, and will not be a continuation of the story, characters, and worldview.” Whether the lead actor will maintain the original version is yet to be determined.

▲ “Manslaughter” stills

The sequel of the above two works will inevitably face a larger investment amount and will be subject to stricter supervision by the sentimental fans. Through the example of “Busan Tour 2”, domestic creators need to think carefully about how to ensure the quality of the film when the leading role is changed. Don’t become the imitator of the US commercial blockbuster because of the increase in investment, but more Think about how to retain the original “self-worth”, and carefully formulate the sequel creation methodology.

I hope “Wandering Earth 2”, “Manslaughter 2” and other works can finally submit a satisfactory answer.