NCCnovel Chapter 141 The Return of the Condor Heroes
Chapter 141 The Return of the Condor Heroes
Lu Ran opened the report.
Total views have surpassed 25 billion, with a stable Douban rating of 9.2. The second-run broadcast rights were snapped up by three satellite TV stations, and online viewership continues to grow...
These figures are truly impressive, rivaling those of long-running dramas produced by CCTV in the past.
"The data is so good, what are you worried about?" Lu Ran asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Of course we're worried about the sequel!" Chen Ke slapped his thigh and said, "You don't know, our audience is now urging us on the official Weibo every day, asking about the sequel to Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and who is the number one in the world after the Mount Hua Sword Tournament."
"What netizens are most concerned about is when the second part of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' will be released. Many investors have also contacted me, asking when the sequel project will be launched."
At this point, Chen Ke looked at Lu Ran with expectant eyes: "Lu Ran, when you were writing 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' did you ever think about the sequel? Even just an outline would be helpful!"
It's no wonder Chen Ke was anxious. The success of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has made Chen Ke, who was previously criticized for not having a representative work for most of his life, into the most sought-after director.
For him, it was like a second spring.
If he can make a few more films like this before he can no longer direct, or create a series of such excellent works, then he will have no regrets in this life.
Hearing Chen Ke's words, Lu Ran smiled.
Fortunately, the show he initially presented was "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," which happened to have a sequel, "The Return of the Condor Heroes."
Although "The Return of the Condor Heroes" is not strictly a sequel to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", its timeline and storyline are so close that it could easily be made as a sequel.
Since Chen Ke thought this way, Lu Ran felt that not only "The Return of the Condor Heroes" but also the last part of the trilogy, "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," could be filmed.
"Indeed, there is." Lu Ran readily admitted, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes is the first part of a trilogy I've conceived. There are two more works to follow. If you want to film it, I'll organize the second part and send it to you in the next few days."
Chen Ke's eyes lit up upon hearing Lu Ran's words: "There really is a sequel? Great! How much have you written so far?"
"Emmm...I'm just about to start writing," Lu Ran said honestly, "but the story is already in my head."
"However, Director Chen, there's something I need to make clear to you first. Although the timeline of the second series is after the first one, and there are many overlaps in the characters, Guo Jing and Huang Rong are no longer the main characters."
"That doesn't matter. As long as the main character's personality is established, even if the overall quality is slightly worse than the first film, the audience will still accept it."
"In terms of quality, the second part is not bad either, and the plot is also very exciting. However, if it is to be filmed, some minor changes will still be needed."
"Okay, take your time to revise it, let me know when it's done." Chen Ke said, then walked away humming a little tune.
After seeing Chen Ke off, Lu Ran began to ponder.
Recently, he's been busy with more and more things. On one hand, "Meteor Garden" is about to be released, and on the other hand, Shen Yuege's show is going to have its final competition.
Meanwhile, he was also taking care of Shen Yuege's studio, and with Chen Ke coming to solicit scripts again, Lu Ran felt that he was getting a little tired lately.
It seems that spreading the excellent culture of the past is quite a difficult task.
Lu Ran stood up and stretched his muscles and bones, and there were even faint cracking sounds from his joints.
"Looks like I need to start training, and maybe take some time to travel. Otherwise, if I keep going like this, I'll soon be just like I was in my previous life." For the first time, Lu Ran felt that having too many skills was actually a burden.
After stretching for a bit, Lu Ran felt much more relaxed, so he sat back down at his computer.
Create a new document and name it "The Return of the Condor Heroes".
His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before he began typing the first line:
"South Lake in Jiaxing during the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song Dynasty."
...
The creation of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" was not as smooth as that of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
Although he now possesses master-level writing skills, he knows this story by heart and has completely recalled it to his memory.
However, there is one point in the plot that Lu Ran feels should be changed.
The preceding plot basically didn't need any changes, but Lu Ran stopped when he got to the part where Xiaolongnu lost her virginity.
In the original text, Xiaolongnu was defiled by Yin Zhiping, a Taoist priest of the Quanzhen Sect, and mistakenly believed that it was Yang Guo who did it.
This plot point drives the subsequent character development and plot twists, but as he said, it is indeed extremely risky to put into modern film and television production.
After all, it's uncertain whether people in this world can accept such a toxic storyline.
The audience for cuckoldry articles is still quite narrow.
"It needs to be changed..." Lu Ran pondered, stroking his chin. "But it can't be too bland. If it's too bland, the later plot won't be able to develop properly."
He re-examined the plot: Xiaolongnu needed to experience a major blow, which would cause her to leave Yang Guo, thus propelling Yang Guo's growth and their subsequent reunion.
But this blow doesn't necessarily have to involve losing one's virginity, or rather, it absolutely cannot involve losing one's virginity.
"Poisoned?" Lu Ran scribbled on the paper. "Poisoned by some strange poison, causing her memory to become confused, or perhaps she lost all her martial arts skills? No, that's too cliché."
"A misunderstanding?" He thought for a moment, "Letting Xiaolongnu witness Yang Guo being intimate with another woman? But that feels a bit forced in the plot..."
Just as I was pondering this, the office door was pushed open.
Tan Yu burst through the door, shouting, "Brother Lu! 'Meteor Garden' has a release date! It'll premiere this Friday at 8 PM on Xiangcheng TV and Tencent Video!"
"That's great!" Lu Ran put down the script. "Is the publicity all done?"
"It's done!" Tan Yu exclaimed excitedly. "The trailer has already surpassed five million views, and it's trending on several hot search topics."
"Zhao Dapeng and the others have all lost weight from running around doing promotional appearances these past few days."
"Zhao Dapeng really should lose some weight," Lu Ran joked.
"Let's get down to business. Have you discussed joining the studio with your dad?"
When this was mentioned, Tan Yu's expression turned serious: "We talked about it. My dad initially disagreed, saying I was just messing around."
"and then?"
"Then I showed him the finished product of 'Meteor Garden,' as well as performance reports for all the projects you've done before, Brother Lu." Tan Yu smiled smugly. "When my dad heard that I was going to work with you, he agreed on the spot. He even said in the end: 'You can go out, but you can't disgrace the Tan family. I can invest some money, but not too much. It's mainly up to you to rely on yourselves.'"
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow: "How much is 'a little'?"
There must be quite a few rich kids like him.
Tan Yu held up three fingers.
"Three million?"
"Thirty million!"
...