韩国影视公司瞄准中国市场

Hollywood isn't the only foreign player eyeing China.

好莱坞并不是唯一一个瞄准中国市场的海外影视基地。

Two major South Korean studios are strengthening cooperation with local players to grab a foothold in the world's second-largest movie market.

韩国两大影视公司正加强与中国本土影视公司的合作，以期在这个全球第二大电影市场站稳脚跟。

Last month, China's Huayi Brothers Media Corp. and Korea's Showbox/Mediaplex Inc. released the $20 million, 3-D movie 'Mr. Go,' about a gorilla from a Chinese circus who becomes a baseball superstar in Korea's major leagues.

上个月，中国华谊兄弟传媒股份有限公司(Huayi Brothers Media Corp. , 简称：华谊兄弟)与韩国公司Showbox/Mediaplex Inc.推出了一部耗资2,000万美元（约合人民币1.2亿元）的3D电影《大明猩》(Mr. Go)，该片讲述的是一只来自中国马戏团的大猩猩如何成为韩国棒球联赛超级明星的故事。

Since opening in South Korea on July 17, the film has pulled in about 8.4 billion won ($7.6 million), according to the Korean Film Council, known as Kofic. In China, where it opened a day later, it has pulled in a bit more than 100 million yuan ($16.3 million), according to media-research firm EntGroup Inc.

据韩国电影振兴委员会(Korean Film Council, 简称Kofic)的数据显示，自7月17日在韩国上映以来，《大明猩》已经取得了约84亿韩圆（约合人民币4,600万元）的票房。媒体研究公司艺恩咨询(EntGroup Inc.)的数据则显示，自7月18日在中国上映以来，该片的票房已经略微超过人民币1亿元。

'It is doing not bad, though not as good as expected,' said Son Jang-hyun, one of the producers of 'Mr. Go.'

《大明猩》的制作人之一孙长铉(Son Jang-hyun)表示，这部电影的成绩还不错，但没有预期的那么好。

In June, South Korea's CJ E&M Corp. struck a deal with state-run China Film Group and Pegasus & Taihe Entertainment International Co., a private Chinese company, to produce a sci-fi fantasy project called 'The Fist,' featuring Chinese and Korean actors. In April, it also signed with the two companies to produce a 3-D Chinese historical epic, along with 'Avatar' director-producer James Cameron.

今年6月，韩国的CJ E&M Corp. 与中国国有企业中国电影集团公司(China Film Group)和中国私人企业派格太合环球传媒(Pegasus & Taihe Entertainment International Co.)达成协议，将制作一部由中韩两国演员联袂出演的科幻电影──《The Fist》。早在4月份，CJ E&M还与上述两家公司签署了协议，将与电影《阿凡达》(Avatar)的导演兼制作人詹姆斯・卡梅隆(James Cameron)联合制作一部3D中国史诗大片。

'Mr. Go' represents one of the biggest attempts yet by Korea's vibrant pop-culture industry to make inroads into China. The producers have been promoting it in both countries for months. In China, Huayi Brothers sent Mr. Go dolls to celebrities across the country and got them to pose with the dolls for photos posted to Sina Corp.'s Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service. Kofic, a government-supported body that promotes and supports Korean films, named it as one of the three biggest global projects of Korean-initiated film co-productions for this year.

《大明猩》是活力四射的韩国流行文化产业为进军中国市场所做出的最大尝试之一。该片的制作方在韩中两国为此片展开宣传攻势已有数月。在中国，华谊兄弟将“大明猩”玩偶送给全国各地的名流，让他们在新浪(Sina Corp.)微博上晒自己与玩偶的合影。Kofic称该片是今年由韩国发起的、与其他合作方联合制作的三部全球大片之一。Kofic是一家由韩国政府支持的、旨在促进和扶持韩国电影产业的机构。

' 'Mr. Go' is not a cast-driven film, so we had to give the overall marketing campaign a different angle from other local blockbusters,' said Chris Jung, COO of Showbox/Mediaplex, whose company started to promote the film in Korea in early March. 'We believe its touching story can emotionally draw both markets.'

Showbox/Mediaplex的首席营运长Chris Jung表示，《大明猩》不是一部靠明星阵容吸引观众的电影，因此，他们必须选择一个与本土大片不同的角度来进行影片的整体宣传。该公司于3月初在韩国开始了对《大明猩》的宣传推广。Jung说，相信这个感人的故事能够吸引韩中两个市场的观众。

'It is the first time that Huayi has co-produced with Korean companies, so it would be great if it can pull in more than 100 million yuan in China,' Wang Zhonglei, chairman of Huayi Brothers, said prior to the film's opening. 'We are confident that this film will gross high in Korea, so the earnings can cover the cost even without China's market.'

华谊兄弟总裁王中磊在该片首映礼之前表示，这是华谊首次与韩国公司联合制作电影，如果该片在中国的票房能过亿，就非常不错了；他们有信心该片在韩国市场将获得很高的总票房，即便不考虑中国市场，影片的收入也能够覆盖支出。

'We will have a sequel of 'Mr. Go' with Huayi Brothers and are working on the script,' said Kim Yong-hwa, the director of 'Mr. Go' and founder of Dexter Digital, a Korean visual-effects studio. 'I am also thinking about finding Chinese partners to produce films like 'Transformers' in the future.'

《大明猩》的导演、韩国视觉效果工作室Dexter Digital的创始人金容华(Kim Yong-hwa)表示，将与华谊兄弟合作推出《大明猩》系列电影，目前正在创作剧本；他也在考虑寻找中国搭档在未来制作类似《变形金刚》那样的电影。

Korean dramas have long been popular in China, as they are elsewhere in Asia. But as with U.S.-China co-productions, Chinese co-productions with Korean studios have been a mixed bag. Since initial cooperation in 2000, films co-produced by the two sides haven't been embraced as much as backers hoped. In 2017, 'Dangerous Liaisons,' an adaptation of the 18th-century French novel starring Zhang Ziyi and Jang Dong-gun, pulled in just a little more than 60 million yuan in China, according to Kofic, less than half of its budget.

韩剧在中国流行已久，它们在亚洲其他地区同样也很受欢迎。但就如中美联合出品的电影一样，中韩联合打造的电影也是表现不一。自2000年首次展开合作以来，中韩联合制作的电影并没有取得投资方所期望的票房。来自Kofic的数据显示，2017年，由章子怡和张东健主演的改编自18世纪法国小说的电影《危险关系》(Dangerous Liaisons)在中国市场仅获得了略高于人民币6,000万元的票房，不及该片预算的一半。

However, another recent Sino-Korean co-production, the romantic tearjerker 'A Wedding Invitation' released in April, earned 192.2 million yuan ($31.3 million), according to EntGroup.

但最近中韩联合出品的另一部影片──4月份上映的浪漫催泪片《分手合约》(A Wedding Invitation)却取得了不俗的票房成绩。艺恩咨询的数据显示，该片的票房达到了人民币1.922亿元。

CJ E&M has ratcheted up its ambitions following 'A Wedding Invitation,' with big plans specifically for 'The Fist' with its Chinese partners. 'This movie aims at the Pan-Asia market and will be released world-wide,' said Jeong Tae-sung, CEO of the film division of CJ E&M.

在推出《分手合约》后，CJ E&M的雄心壮志渐长，该公司专门为与中国搭档合作的影片《The Fist》制定了宏大的计划。CJ E&M电影部门首席执行长Jeong Tae-sung表示，这部电影的目标是泛亚洲市场，并将在全球范围发行。

CJ E&M is also developing 10 more co-production projects with China, one-third of which will be launched next year, said Mr. Jeong, whose company held a Chinese film festival in Korea in June with the Chinese government. Its ambition is beyond production. 'We will help introduce China's local films to the world by our distribution network in Asia and the U.S.,' he said.

Jeong表示，CJ E&M也在开发与中国合作的其他10个项目，其中三分之一的项目将于明年启动。今年6月，CJ E&M与中国政府一同在韩国举办了一个中国电影节。该公司的远大目标不仅仅局限在电影制作上。Jeong说，他们将通过公司在亚洲和美国的发行网络帮助中国本土电影走向世界。

CJ E&M opened its office in 2005 in Beijing, where its staff has grown to 60 people from seven initially. It previously invested in the 2011 state-commissioned, star-studded propaganda epic about the Communist Party, 'Beginning of the Great Revival.'

2005年CJ E&M在北京设立了办公室，其员工人数已经从最初的七人增加至60人。2011年，该公司投资了一部众星云集的献礼片《建党伟业》(Beginning of the Great Revival)，该片是有关中国共产党宣传史诗片。

Besides the two major studios, many small and midsize Korean production companies are going to China to look for financing, according to Kofic. 'They don't know where to find money here, and many are trying to enter the local market by joining local film festivals,' said Zhou Jianwei, a prominent researcher on Korean film based in Shanghai.

据Kofic表示，除了上述两大韩国公司，许多中小型韩国影视公司也纷纷前往中国筹措资金。一位驻上海的知名韩国电影研究人Zhou Jianwei 表示，它们不清楚在哪里可以找到资金，许多公司正试图通过参加本地的电影节来打入本地市场。

Financing isn't the only difficulty when tapping into the market. 'Rules in China are not that explicit, so you have to try, fall flat and then you may get it,' said Ms. Zhou. 'It is more difficult to co-produce in Chinese mainland than with Hong Kong and Taiwan partners, as censorship here starts from the script writing.'

融资并不是韩国公司进军中国市场时面临的唯一困难。Zhou表示，中国的相关制度规定并不十分清晰，因此你必须先尝试，经历失败之后你才有可能成功。她说，与中国大陆合作比与香港和台湾合作的难度更大，因为中国大陆对电影的审查从剧本就开始了。

'Korea shares culture and geographical proximity with China, and our film industry is well-developed,' said Kim Pil-jung, manager of Kofic's China office. 'Compared with Hollywood, we charge much less from Chinese companies in co-productions.'

Kofic中国办公室经理Kim Pil-jung表示，韩国文化与中国文化有相通之处，两国又是邻国，而且韩国的电影产业很发达，相比好莱坞，韩国公司在联合制作影片方面向中国公司收取的费用要低得多。