Chapter 264 I've been holding it in for too long
When the outside world's enthusiasm for the Venice Film Festival gradually faded, Liu Zhou spent nearly two weeks and finally came up with the plan for "The Martian".

Not only did he write a 20,000-word biography of the hero, but he also made a shooting plan and financial budget for the entire film.

In fact, the plot of "The Martian" is relatively simple. It is almost entirely a one-man show by the male protagonist, telling the story of his survival and self-rescue on Mars.

But the original version is a story from the United States after all. If it is to be adapted into China, it still needs to be localized.

For example, the identity of the male protagonist. In the original version, he is a botanist, but that would definitely not work in China.

Because the first batch of astronauts in the country were 1500 selected from 14 air force pilots.

From Yang Liwei to Nie Haisheng of Shenzhou XII, almost all of them were pilots.

Truly one in a hundred!

Anyway, in our country, many people who work in special or important professions are military personnel.

Soldiers are naturally tough, hardworking, have good physical fitness, strong willpower and strong execution ability, and they possess most of the requirements of astronauts.

Therefore, in China, it is impossible to set it as a botanist.

In the original version, the male protagonist was set as a botanist in order to have a reasonable explanation for him growing potatoes on Mars.

But people who grow potatoes don’t necessarily have to be botanists. We Chinese are the best at farming, and it’s almost in our genes.

So Liu Zhou made some changes here, setting the male protagonist as a farmer's son. Most of the people in the army were farmers before they joined the army, so it is natural for the male protagonist to understand crops.

However, the subsequent planting of potatoes also needs to be modified. It cannot be made like a research. But some technical knowledge like water regeneration can be set as what the male protagonist learned in a military academy.

Other than that, there is no need to make any major changes.

But this simple change is very important, even more important than special effects.

After all, there is not much difference between special effects of 70, 80 or even 90 points for the audience.

If there's something wrong with the male lead's character and the audience feels uncomfortable, then it's all over.

Therefore, the changes must be in line with national conditions, and the male protagonist must also conform to the triple identities of farmer, soldier and astronaut.

In addition to adapting the plot, Liu Zhou also made a detailed shooting plan and budget.

The funds for special effects, the cost of setting up the Martian landscape, the cost of using supercomputers, and the salary of the actors totaled nearly 130 million.

However, in order to cope with emergencies, Liu Zhou also made a generous budget and gave a total investment budget of 20 million US dollars.

Don’t think that this amount of money is too little to shoot a sci-fi blockbuster, but it is enough to be produced in China.

"The Martian" does not require too many special effects shots. The Martian landscape, spacecraft, and rover are all shot on location, with artificial scenery, which is not very expensive in the mainland.

At most, digital special effects will be used in a few shots in space, but these will be completed by Golden Harvest Special Effects Studio and China Film's Hualong Digital.

So a $20 million investment is enough.

Even Liu Zhou was thinking that the Martian landscape scenery should not be wasted.

At that time, we can build some Mars base warehouses there, turn them into hotels and restaurants, and get some rockets and spaceships for tourists to experience, as well as Mars-themed attractions such as exploring Mars in spacesuits.

When "The Martian" is released, riding on the popularity of the movie and the rapid development of China's space industry in the future, this Mars-themed tourist attraction may become a success.

I think the local government should be very interested in this kind of project that can boost the economy.

In that case, do you have to invest some money?

A free ticket is not an option. If you want a free ticket, then Liu Zhou might as well let Jiahe do it.

Of course, if Jiahe were to do it themselves, Liu Zhou would also be prepared to make it bigger.

In addition to the Mars theme, the theme of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" can also be added in, or other popular IPs of Golden Harvest can be added in the future to create a theme park like Universal Studios that combines play and filming.

The only possible downside is that the location is a bit too far west, but considering that people's living standards will continue to improve in the future, this location doesn't seem to be a problem.

Liu Zhou felt more and more that there seemed to be a way forward, and he planned to call together the top management of Jiahe to discuss it.

But these are all things for the future. The most important thing now is to finalize the project of "The Martian" first.

After Liu Zhou finished the plan for the entire project, he made a few copies without delay and then went to China Film.

Han Shanping immediately put down his work, took the plan carefully prepared by Liu Zhou, and went to find his superiors.

Only Han Shanping could do these jobs dealing with the relevant departments above, and Liu Zhou could only wait for the results at home.

The waiting time is always hard to bear. One can never sit still at home. Even Zeng Li could see that Liu Zhou seemed to have something on his mind.

Zeng Li thought that the previous public opinion about Liu Zhou had recurred, so she asked Liu Zhou with some concern.

When public opinion questioned the close relationship between Liu and Zhou and the Pentagon, although Zeng Li was at home taking care of her pregnancy, she was not completely ignorant of what was happening outside.

When she saw those doubts, she knew that they were full of malice.

Especially when she saw Liu Zhou's unprecedented serious expression, her heart was even more tense during those days. She had never seen Liu Zhou like this before.

This made her realize the seriousness of the incident, but she knew she could not help much, so she just stayed with Liu Zhou silently after he returned home. It was not until the matter was resolved that Zeng Li asked about the specific situation.

After listening to Liu Zhou's story, she was also still frightened and felt that the person who spread the rumor was really evil.

Now seeing that Liu Zhou was obviously worried, Zeng Li couldn't help but think about the previous incident again.

Zeng Li was relieved after hearing Liu Zhou's explanation that it was because of the new project, and then she couldn't help asking:

"Why are you still so emotionally affected by a movie?"

"You don't understand this, right? This "The Martian" is more important, and it's also my first attempt at shooting a science fiction movie in the mainland. It makes me feel like I'm back nine years ago, when I was shooting my first movie with you."

"No wonder, now you look very much like when you were preparing for My Sassy Girl." Zeng Li said with a smile.

"Actually, this is a good thing. It shows that I still have a passion for movies and I am not bored with it."

"Then you need to maintain this passion for a little longer, otherwise this will be a huge loss to the mainland film industry, right?"

"Your words are good, but why do I feel like you are insulting me when I hear you say it?"

"Haha, no, I was just praising you!"

"Don't think you can act unruly in front of me just because you are pregnant and have someone to protect you. Otherwise, I will still deal with you."

"So how are you going to deal with me?"

Looking at Zeng Li's slightly charming expression and these provocative words, Liu Zhou gritted his teeth and said:

"Zeng Li, don't play with fire!"

Zeng Li saw that the fire in Liu Zhou's eyes was about to burn, so she didn't dare to provoke him anymore and immediately slipped out of the room.

Although she thought about it, the doctor specifically advised her not to do that during the first three months of pregnancy.

For the sake of her children, she had to endure it no matter how hard she tried.

Seeing Zeng Li go out, Liu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, then closed his eyes and rested, trying to slowly suppress the desire that had just risen up.

But how could desire be suppressed so easily?

Liu Zhou closed his eyes, and what he thought about in his mind were some classic scenes with the previous women, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Liu Zhou knew that he had been holding it in for too long. It had been several months since he returned from the United States in early May.

Fortunately, the phone in Liu Zhou's study suddenly rang at this time. When he answered it, Han Shanping's voice came.

"Liu Zhou, the space agency has agreed that this subject can be filmed, and they are willing to provide technical support."

"That's great, Mr. Han, thank goodness you're here!"

"Don't be too happy yet. Not only has the space agency known about this project, but it has also alerted the Chinese authorities above me. They need to meet with you in person to learn about the project."

At this time, Liu Zhou also put away his smile. He knew that this would be the last hurdle for "The Martian" and asked seriously:
"Sure, when?"

"In two days, at the Central Film Academy."

"Then I'll be here on time. Do you need me to prepare anything?"

"No, just organize your ideas for this project."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief as he no longer had to wait.

Although Liu Zhou didn't know what else the higher-ups needed to know, what the mainland was concerned about was nothing more than the impact.

As long as the above concerns about the possible adverse effects of "The Martian" are dispelled, there should be no problem.

In fact, Liu Zhou had also considered making a science fiction film. It would be better not to make it so complicated and just make a popcorn-style science fiction blockbuster.

This saves you from having to deal with various departments above and getting tired.

But Liu Zhou was reborn more than ten years ago. He clearly knows how successful China's aerospace industry has been, especially the establishment of our own space station, and he is extremely proud of it.

But now, the mainland's aerospace industry is still in a difficult stage of being blocked and suppressed. Liu Zhou's film may not be able to change anything, but it would be good even if it can boost people's spirits.

What's more, it is Han Shanping who does all these tiring work.

Liu Zhou then sorted out his ideas about the project and some problems that might be encountered.

Two days later, Liu Zhou arrived at China Film Corporation half an hour early.

But I didn't expect that when I arrived at Han Shanping's office, I found that there were already three or four people sitting inside, and Han Shanping was greeting them.

Among these three or four people, Liu Zhou only knew one, who was Han Shanping's leader.

His surname was Xu, and he was the leader in charge of all radio and film projects in the mainland. Liu Zhou had had many fights with him before.

As for the other few, Liu Zhou didn't know them, but when he saw Leader Xu appear here, he knew that the identities of the other few people would not be low either.

(End of this chapter)