Is the 400 million episode of "Dragon Family" worth the "most expensive" episode in history?

Is the 400 million episode of "Dragon Family" worth the "most expensive" episode in history?

In recent days, both "Zhongtu fans" and "Quanyou fans" have been celebrating at the same time.

Two weeks ago, the prequel series "Dragon Clan" derived from George Martin's "Game of Thrones" premiered, focusing on the timeline of All Star 200 years ago and the story of the Tangrian family. On the day of its premiere, it premiered on HBO and HBO Max streaming platforms, attracting 9.986 million viewers and setting a record for the premiere of original HBO dramas.

On September 2nd, the theatrical version of "The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power" was released, telling the legends of the Second Age of Middle earth: the forging of the Ring of Power, the rise of the devil Sauron, the destruction of the Numenorean Empire, and the ultimate alliance between elves and humans. Amazon officially stated that within 24 hours after the premiere of the two episodes, the number of viewers exceeded 25 million, making it the most watched episode on Amazon's streaming platform. In China, the reading volume of Weibo topics has also exceeded 130 million and 89 million, respectively.

Behind the explosive viewership and platform crowding, two fantasy masterpieces have paid extremely high costs: the first season of Dragon Clan invested over $200 million, equivalent to an average of 130 million yuan per unit, and its promotional expenses reached as high as $100 million. The budget of "The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power" is as high as $465 million, equivalent to 400 million yuan per episode, and is known as the most expensive American TV series in history.

How should the top-level IP derivative universe be played? Is the return brought by ultra-high capital adventure worth it?

HBO Power Tour vs. Amazon Lord of the Rings: Is it the most expensive value in history?

The century duel between HBO MAX and Amazon has similarities in the influence and audience overlap of the two fantasy IPs, and happens to be launched simultaneously, spreading the war both inside and outside the show.

According to IGN, when Amazon released "The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power," HBO released the first episode of "The Dragon Clan" for free on YouTube, aiming to compete for market share. The drama "The Lord of the Rings" received a large number of negative reviews after its broadcast. Musk complained that Amazon urgently locked the rating of "The Lord of the Rings" on the rime video website in an attempt to offset the impact of malicious negative reviews.

At present, from the perspective of word-of-mouth, especially audience feedback, "Dragon Clan" has secured a victory. As of the time of press release, the storyline version of The Lord of the Rings received 84% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating from film critics, and Metacritic Media received 71 points. Dragon Clan received 85% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes website and a Metacritic score of 68.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the former has a popcorn index (ratings) of only 39%, while on the Metacritic website, the ratings are only 1.9, far lower than the latter's 85% and 6.8 points. This is also true in China. The Lord of the Rings storyline version of Douban received 7.4 points, lower than the 8.7 points of Dragon Family.

Before airing, both dramas faced similar casting issues: the "Tangrian" dragon race was known for its beautiful genes. In the Lord of the Rings movie series, elves are also set to deserve beauty regardless of gender. "Elf King" Lipes, "Elf Prince" Bloom, "Elf Queen" Kate Blanchett, and others are all representatives of high value and have become classic screen characters in their personal careers.

However, the release of stills from the two dramas has raised doubts among fans about their ugliness. After the release of The Lord of the Rings, "aesthetic degradation" even topped the hot search list.

After the epic end of the final season of Game of Thrones, HBO urgently needs spin offs to turn the tide. After its broadcast, "Dragon Clan" won fans' recognition of "True Fragrance" with excellent word-of-mouth, temporarily avoiding negative reviews such as "Beauty Downgrading".

The well-known fan organization "The Wardrobe Legion" told the media that "great efforts have been made in creating the atmosphere and creating details. For example, at the championship, the family emblem, the badges of various knights, and armor are very similar to the original work, arousing fans' memories of the main drama of" Power Game "and creating a wave of emotional dividends." Douban praised the short comment "Reviewing the shock of watching the whole game back then", "The degree of restoration of the original work of the whole game S1-4+the skill of the lines, the level of special effects production of the whole game 5-8... the historical weight of epic fantasy.".

Lord of the Rings is not so lucky. In the eyes of many viewers, the procrastination and colloquial dialogue in literary dramas have dragged down the audio-visual situation. For political correctness reasons, the introduction of black elves in the drama has created a sense of discord and resistance among many fans, which goes against Tolkien's description of the original elves as "white".

Visible to the naked eye, every frame is burning with the scent of money. In order to make up for the regret of having too few dragons, there will be 17 dragons in "Dragon Family", each with different body types, sizes, and appearance characteristics. The top versions of The Lord of the Rings, from the Elf Kingdom to the Dwarf Mines, are all very beautiful and have been praised for their ability to play even in cinemas.

Unfortunately, the theatrical version of "The Lord of the Rings" may have more room for cultivation in terms of re engraving the epic significance of China and meeting the expectations of fans. With the end of numerous classics, the golden age of American drama (from the 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century) has come to an end. In recent years, with the support of capital, the competition on streaming platforms has become increasingly fierce, and American dramas have entered an era of arms race in broadcasting audiovisual and special effects, becoming increasingly "blockbusters". But the script is the soul of a play, and excellent visual effects are just a bonus on this basis.

The platform IP war will not stop. In addition to the "Dragon Clan" who have already fired their first shot, HBO, which holds tourism intellectual property rights, is working hard to build a "power to travel the universe". At present, HBO plans to promote at least six spin off dramas related to "The Journey", including the already in production stage "Duncan and Igor", which tells the adventurous story of the "towering" Sir Duncan and his entourage Aegon 5 traveling across seven countries. Other TV series that have not yet entered the filming stage include "Namilia", "Sea Snake", "Callis Valerian, Count of Tide Island", "Nine Seas", "Flea Nest", which focus on the Leona Warrior Queen and tell the story of people living in the slums of King's Landing, as well as an unnamed animation project.

Creating an IP Universe: Cost Reduction and Efficiency Enhancement of Domestic and Foreign Streaming Media

Of course, whether it's Dragon Clan or Lord of the Rings, the ultimate goal is to explore the value of IP as much as possible and create a universe derived from IP - a beautiful and real looking universe. Difficult to operate nouns.

Whether it is the two IP spin off dramas discussed in this article, the frequent mention of "eating more with one fish" by iQiyi, the attempts of many film and television companies to launch trendy games and other spin off products, or the linkage of movie tours, they can be classified into this sequence. Focusing on popular supporting role, or "derivative dramas" about original prequels and postquels, is becoming a global content trend.

In the best case scenario, IP spin off dramas have their own fan base, spread topics, reduce risks, and can cover more audiences such as overseas markets, maximizing the commercial value of IP, nurturing and continuing its vitality. For example, "Little Sheldon" extends the influence of "The Big Bang", while the recent spin off drama "Deadly Poison", along with the former, is the ceiling of American dramas.

However, in most cases, due to differences between different forms of content, it is "difficult to convert", or the content producers themselves lack specific genes, the narrative connections are chaotic, and the high production costs may not be able to exchange for corresponding returns, and sometimes even endanger the reputation of the original IP. The spin off dramas of "Agent Carter", "X-Men", and "Friends" are negative textbooks.

Disney, which excels in creating IP derived universes, relies on four dramas including "Falcon and Winter Soldiers," "Wanda and Vision," "Rocky," and "What If...?" Marvel's "Eagle Eye," which have both ratings and reputation. More than a month ago, the fifth stage of movies such as "Galactic Guardians 3" were announced at the San Diego Comics Exhibition, as well as "Rocky". Dramas such as Season 2, Echoes, Hearts of Steel, Agatha, and Nightmare: Rebirth continue to unleash Marvel's cosmic power. As a spin off of Star Wars Universe, the first and second seasons of Mandalorians also performed well.

Disney is a great example of a successful IP world. Its experience and inspiration lie in the fact that the threshold for IP derivative works with complete fans is too high, self repetition is not easy to break through the circle, and it is easy to fall into the homogenization of aesthetic weakness. Derivative creation particularly requires innovation and surprises in the form of content, such as the classic black and white retro techniques of sitcoms in Wanda and Vision, or the cinematic quality of Mandalorians, directed by multiple people. Acting and directing different TV series to create different styles and impress the audience.

In numerous IP derivative dramas, fantasy themes have extremely high requirements for special effects, costumes, and industrialization, making them the most expensive.

What made the two streaming media companies win this tough battle at all costs? The battle of streaming media abroad has entered a white hot stage. Currently, both HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video are facing heavy growth pressure on Netflix.

According to AT&T's financial report, as of the end of the first quarter, the number of HBO Max and HBO global subscribers reached 76.8 million, an increase of nearly 3 million in a single quarter, and a total increase of 12.8 million in the past year. The local HBO Max and HBO subscribers increased by about 10% year-on-year, with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $11.24.

Warner Bros. will jointly announce HBO Max and Discovery+in August, while the department will lay off 14% of its workforce, demonstrating its determination to cut costs. The consideration of launching a free model with advertising reflects growth pressure. The "Dragon Family" will become its "strong shot" in global performance.

As the world's second-largest streaming video provider, Amazon Prime Video has 117 million users worldwide. In 2020, Amazon's revenue from membership videos was 3.6 billion US dollars. In June, a CIRP report stated that Amazon's Prime membership growth in the United States had stagnated for the first time, which may be related to price increases. In order to stimulate continued membership growth, Amazon also needs this drama version of The Lord of the Rings.

Interestingly, while domestic streaming platforms are reducing costs and increasing efficiency, foreign streaming platforms are adhering to the path of "increasing costs and efficiency".

Did hundreds of millions of dollars come in exchange for corresponding returns? In fact, Dragon Clan and Lord of the Rings have respectively brought extremely high popularity to the two major streaming platforms. The average weekly traffic of the former in August increased by 90% compared to July. At the end of the day, it may still be the differential treatment concept of using good steel on the cutting edge. The production of fantasy big IP requires industrialization level and burning money to support, and

Smaller projects may continue to follow a smaller and more beautiful path.

Extended Reading

American media: "Quanyou" new drama "Dragon Family" has added dragon kills, just to please fans

After waiting for more than three years for fans of "Journey of Power", the prequel to "Game of Thrones" and "Dragon Clan" finally went live on August 21st Can the new play shine again The BBC is paying attention to the quality of the play for the first time and evaluating it based on opinions from various media outlets Critics are also trying to answer this question, but the answer given is not certain.

"Dragon Clan"

Although it is also a spin off adaptation of George Martin's novel "Song of Blood and Fire," "Dragon Clan" is a prequel to "Game of Thrones" on the timeline, and Martin himself is also one of the producers. The new story takes place in Westeros's Game of Thrones 200 years ago. It focuses on how the legendary Tangrian family declined and the family civil war known as the "Blood Dragon Dance". A single version can reach up to 20 million pounds. The special effects of the Dragon Clan are particularly anticipated. "Dragon Clan" was launched on the 21st in countries such as the UK and the US.

Most of the local mainstream media saw and published word-of-mouth through internal channels. The Metacritic film review website gave a comprehensive rating of 69 points, while Rotten Tomatoes website gave an 85% freshness rating. The overall opening evaluation was acceptable. The Guardian praised Dragon Clan as "a sensational success during its heyday, just like Game of Thrones.". The Times affirmed that the drama is visually stunning, with a clear plot and mostly colorful performances by the actors. The Los Angeles Times believes that "Dragon Clan" has returned to a grand and imposing pattern. There are also media evaluations that are cautious or even harsh.

The Chicago Tribune believes that "there are no prominent key characters, they are not cunning or brave enough, just repeating the previous rhythm.". Rolling Stone believes that "the lack of emotional aspects in characters makes everyone feel bored.". The lowest scoring "Weifeng Magazine" criticized the drama as "empty and fragile, with more dragons and kills just to please all fans.".

What worries fans the most is Dragon House. "Don't start high and end low like Game of Thrones. The last two seasons have come to an end. As one of HBO's most successful TV series, Game of Thrones, which premiered in 2011, pioneered a global trend in fantasy and epic culture. The Guardian named it the 7th best 100 dramas of the 21st century. The characters in the series are well crafted, and many new actors have become top tier actors, such as" Dragon Mother "actress Emilia Clark," Little Devil "actors Peter Dinlaki and Sophie Turner, Maxie Williams, and others are now shining in Hollywood, but these actors are unlikely to appear in" Dragon Clan ".". Due to the production and broadcasting progress of Game of Thrones exceeding that of the novel in the following seasons, it lost the support of the original work, exposed the lack of screenwriting skills, and the reputation declined in the last two seasons.

For HBO, the "All Game" series is ultimately a gold medal IP. It started developing several spin off dramas three years ago. Dragon Clan is expected to bring more users to the streaming platform HBO Max.