All-rounder Artist-Chapter 686 - 652: The Highest Record in TV Drama Investment History_1

With Sun Wukong setting out to sea in search of immortality, the first episode of "Journey to the West" finally comes to a close. This episode lasted a staggering one hour and twenty-three minutes, equivalent to the length of two episodes of other TV series, so the rest of the series will be broadcast daily.

With the end of the first episode...

The internet has set off a Journey to the West frenzy sweeping across the five continents. Eight of the top ten trending topics were related to the series!

Of all the topics, the two most heated ones were the TV series theme song "The Music of the Cloud Palace" and everyone’s curiosity about the production cost of this series.

In the first topic...

Countless musicians are expressing their thoughts on "The Music of the Cloud Palace" on different platforms, offering their critiques from various angles.

Among them, some accomplished maestros even praised the song!

"Undoubtedly, ’The Music of the Cloud Palace’ pioneers blending electronic music with traditional folk and orchestral music in a television series. Its innovative musical composition, beautiful melody, and perfect melding of plot and music are unbeatable in the history of television series music."

— Yin Dong

"I was probably one of the first lucky ones to hear this piece. I was deeply shocked when I first heard it. But after watching the Journey to the West series today, I think awe-inspiring would be a better description."

— Zheng Jing

"For those who missed Journey to the West tonight, as a TV series enthusiast, I believe it’s a television feast not to be missed for Blue Star’s audience. As for the theme song ’The Music of the Cloud Palace,’ I think it would be a classic piece that many proficient electronic musicians should dissect and learn from."

— Ye Zhi Qiu

Even Yang Zhongming expressed his thoughts on the platform:

"I’m not surprised that Xian Yu has such a profound understanding of electronic music. What surprises me is that electronic music can blend so perfectly with a mythological story like Journey to the West. Such an out-of-box idea probably would have been beyond my capabilities."

Some people think this is Yang Zhongming’s modesty.

But with so many maestros praising ’The Music of the Cloud Palace,’ it indeed gives people a deeper understanding of the level of this piece.

There were many musicians analyzing various aspects of "The Music of the Cloud Palace" during this process.

In their analysis, every instrument in ’The Music of the Cloud Palace’ seems to have its own unique emotional expression.

The notes are actually a depiction of Journey to the West in a form of artistic language.

In contrast to the first topic...

The second topic has an even broader reach!

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Countless people are asking under Starlight’s official Weibo:

What is the actual cost of Journey to the West TV series?

When people praise a TV series as good, they often describe it as having a "movie-like quality."

But when it comes to "Journey to the West," even this praise seems insufficient.

This series can be described as "surpassing movie quality!"

Even compared to movies, the first episode of "Journey to the West" is not a bit inferior!

At that moment…

Starlight suddenly released an interview, titled:

[Exclusive Interview with Zhou Ruiming, the Producer of Journey to the West: The Production Cost of Journey to the West Sets a New Record for Blue Star’s TV Series Investment!]

Holy crap!

A new record!

Even though everyone already anticipated it, this still shocked everyone, and they all immediately clicked on the interview.

In the interview,

The host laughed and said,

"Tonight, the first episode of ’Journey to the West’ was broadcasted, and its popularity has reached a terrifying peak. Perhaps the TV king of this year has been born ahead of schedule. Now, we’ve invited Zhou Ruiming, the producer of Starlight’s Journey to the West, for an interview. First of all, I would like to ask a question that everyone is curious about, how much does this series cost?"

"The first season of Journey to the West, a total of ten episodes, was invested with seven hundred million, which averages to seventy million per episode."

Zhou Ruiming started off seriously.

The host drew in a cold breath: "This must be the highest record of Blue Star’s TV series production, right?"

Zhou Ruiming responded proudly: "Yes, for example, the upcoming episode of Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in the heavenly palace could even be screened in cinemas without any problem."

The host asked, "Starlight has invested so much money, are you confident about getting a return on your investment?"

Ol’ Zhou burst into laughter: "A TV series with an investment of seven hundred million, you’re asking me about return on investment?"

The host: "..."

Ol’ Zhou paused his laughter: "The series is going to lose money, big time. If it hadn’t been for Xian Yu’s insistence, our planned budget for the series would have been around one hundred million."

The host wore a strange expression: "Didn’t anyone try to dissuade Teacher Admirable Fish?"

Ol’ Zhou, as if recalling something, suddenly got excited, with his spit flying all over, and his arms waving:

"Who says there weren’t any objections? I objected! For half a month, more than a dozen high-level executives at Starlight took turns persuading him not to take such a big risk. In the end, even the chairman of the company personally stepped in, but could not persuade him. Instead, Xian Yu added another one hundred million to the investment."

The host was stupefied.

That information was pretty heavy-duty.

Looking at Zhou Ruiming’s expression, the host could almost imagine the sense of despair the Starlight executives must have felt at the time.

"Teacher Admirable Fish has a lot of sway in Starlight," the host said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Ol’ Zhou’s voice was mixed with complex emotions, "He’s the crown prince of Starlight."

At first listen, this comment seemed to voice dissatisfaction with Xian Yu. But upon closer inspection, the host could clearly hear a note of pride and satisfaction?

This was the first time the outside world got a glimpse of Xian Yu’s position in Starlight.

"So, Starlight knew they wouldn’t be able to recoup the cost, but still went ahead with the production? Simply because of Teacher Admirable Fish’s insistence?"

"Yes, but it’s not just that."

Ol’ Zhou said, "Xian Yu mentioned that the future development of ’Journey to the West’ might not just be limited to a TV series. In the future, there may be animations and even movies related to Journey to the West. This is a grand scheme. Maybe one day in the future, we would be able to recoup the cost of this TV series.

Anyway, that’s how Xian Yu explained it—we dare not say anything, we dare not ask."

"That’s so exciting!"

The host looked forward to it, then said, "Any interesting experiences during filming?"

Ol’ Zhou looked a little blank: "Very desperate. Every day when I woke up, I was greeted with the smell of burning money."

The host: "..."

Ol’ Zhou twitched the corner of his mouth: "Just kidding, even though it’s true. As for interesting experiences, I guess Xian Yu insisting on casting a newcomer as Sun Wukong counts?"

The host nodded, "That decision was very adventurous and crazy."

Ol’ Zhou shared the sentiment deeply, "It truly is madness, which is why Xian Yu’s choice to cast a newcomer in a seven-billion-dollar TV drama lead role also drew opposition from the company. But judging by today’s results, it seems we were wrong, the charm of Sun Wukong is not whether the actor is a star, because Sun Wukong can easily make one a star."

"…"

The interview lasted for half an hour.

Ol’ Zhou revealed a lot of behind-the-scenes stories from "Journey to the West".

After the interview ended.

Discussion went wild on each continent!

"Damn it, seven billion!"

"Is it okay to wake up every day smelling the scent of burning money?"

"Seventy million per episode on average!"

"They even dare to shoot a TV show that is bound to lose money!"

"Typical of Xian Yu!"

"With an average cost of seventy million per episode, if it was early on, Xian Yu could have used that much to shoot several films!"

"Is Xian Yu the Crown Prince of Starlight?"

"Fish Papa is badass!"

"Hahahaha, this director looks fun, he must have been tormented a lot by Fish Papa."

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"We dare not say, we dare not ask - please, you’re a senior executive at Starlight, why are you so humble in front of Fish Papa?"

"What do you mean, senior executive? Didn’t she say that even the chairman courteously discusses investment matters with Xian Yu, and in the end, she had to add another hundred million. It’s just too much."

"You call it the Crown Prince?"

"This is clearly the Supreme Emperor of Starlight!"

"Fish Papa is the company’s favorite, this director might be complaining about Fish Papa, but he cares a lot."

"You guys think he’s complaining about Xian Yu, but actually, he’s just indirectly praising him, playing with words."

"Just look at how much Zheng Jing and Yang Zhongming spoil Xian Yu to guess the company’s attitude."

"…"

Netizens were in a heated discussion.

When the production team of The Primordial Chaos saw this interview, they almost couldn’t catch their breath.

A total investment of seven billion?

Ten episodes in total, you guys burn seventy million per episode?

Are you guys doing charity!

Is that necessary!

This is a behavior that breaks industry rules!

It seriously messes up the market atmosphere!

You guys wouldn’t be trying to ruin us regardless of the cost, would you?

What a huge grievance!

The Primordial Chaos is really about to get ruined...

Actually, the investment in The Primordial Chaos is not low, close to two billion.

But The Primordial Chaos shot a full fifty episodes!

There must be some watering down, it’s an industry norm for TV dramas and the audience is used to it.

If Journey to the West didn’t exist, everyone would feel that watching The Primordial Chaos was a good value.

But...

Being broadcast at the same time as Journey to the West, the comparisons present themselves.

After watching Journey to the West and then watching The Primordial Chaos, they always had the feeling that their props had a plastic feel, fifty-cent special effects, very cheap.

Ironically, this was a choice made by The Primordial Chaos itself!

If The Primordial Chaos had evaded Journey to the West, not insisted on challenging Journey to the West, they might have had a good harvest.

In fact.

The shock this interview brought was not only to the team of The Primordial Chaos and netizens, but also to the whole film and television circle!

Investing seven billion in a TV drama is truly madness!

Even a movie wouldn’t dare to gamble that much!

If it were on Earth.

The investment level of Journey to the West is slightly more than the later seasons of "Game of Thrones".

In fact.

When Lin Yuan shot "Journey to the West", he was aiming for that kind of blockbuster.

But will "Journey to the West" really lose money?

Ol’ Zhou is not stupid.

His words were purely to win the favor of the audience.

As long as the drama is popular enough, it won’t lose much, because if this drama maintains its heat, there would be an extension of a series of interest chains.

Like games, like movies, like animations, like merchandise, like...

At the time, the company was not happy with Xian Yu gambling so much, purely because they lacked confidence in the show’s success.

Note, super hit!

If it doesn’t reach the super hit level, only a normal hit, it’s definitely not okay.

The standard of a super hit is everyone following the drama!

Neighboring Earth’s "Game of Thrones" recouped its cost and earned a lot of money because it was a super hit.

The only difference is that the money-making cycle of Journey to the West is longer.

But at the same time, the money that Journey to the West will earn is definitely more than Earth’s Game of Thrones.

Regarding this, Lin Yuan had full confidence!