FWTS Chapter 120

 Hou Muyun arrived at the Qiyue Group building around five o'clock, unsure how long the negotiation would take. He had initially worried that Fei Ning would be bored and asked him to return to the Huashan Hospital first, but Fei Ning seemed very interested in the Qiyue Group.

Of course, after reading books on Qiyue Chinese website for more than ten years, it was only natural to come and take a look here.

"You go ahead, I'll just wander around for a bit and wait for you in the lobby or in the car later," Fei Ning said, his eyes shining as he followed a staff member around.

Shortly after, Hou Muyun arrived at an office in the Copyright Department and met with the head of the department and the chief editor of the Chinese website.

After exchanging pleasantries, they all sat down.

The chief editor spoke first, "Hou Yun, the other party will arrive in about ten minutes. Here is the price and some promises they have given so far. Take a look first."

Hou Muyun nodded and looked through it.

Legendary Century Media!

This was the name of the purchasing company, and Hou Muyun naturally knew a little about it. It was a well-known film and television media company in the country.

This time, Legendary Century was offering to buy the television and film adaptation rights of "The Master of Xuanyuan Sword" in one go, with a bundled price of 2.48 million RMB!

Other promises included naming the films and television series after the original work, remaining faithful to the original work in the adaptation, and giving Hou Muyun or Qiyue the right to inspect and supervise the production process...

Seeing Hou Muyun's slight confusion, the head of the Copyright Department said, "Hou Yun, you may not be very familiar with film and television rights. Generally speaking, it's difficult to sell the film and television rights of male-oriented novels like online novels, and the price is relatively cheaper compared to female-oriented rights. As for the reasons, I don't need to elaborate."

"In recent years, due to the popularity of IPs, the price of novel adaptation rights has increased a lot. For example, recent hits like 'Mi Yue', 'He Yi', and 'Hua Qian Gu' have reached a maximum adaptation authorization fee of 2 million RMB! Legendary Century offering 2.48 million RMB for the adaptation is definitely not a low price. Moreover!"

The head paused for a moment and continued, "For authors, the adaptation authorization fee for film and television is never the main part. What's the main part? It's the sales of physical books after the film and television series airs! It's also the sale of game adaptation rights after the film and television series airs. That's why we've never sold game adaptation rights."

The chief editor took over and said, "To be honest, Legendary Century isn't the highest bidder so far, but it's the most suitable film and television company. You should be somewhat familiar with the company, targeting the young market, and it has already produced and released many film and television adaptations of novels. Each production is positioned with big stars, big budgets, and a big scope, with high popularity, excellent production quality, and excellent cooperation with major TV stations and video websites. This will have a great impact and role in the sales of physical books and game adaptation rights after the film and television series airs!"

Hou Muyun knew that what the head and the chief editor said was true and fell silent.

As for film and television adaptation rights, Hou Muyun did have some understanding. He knew that it was generally difficult to sell the rights of male-oriented novels in this regard, and 2.48 million RMB was not low.

He also knew that the real value of the adaptation rights of male-oriented novels was the game adaptation rights, especially for fantasy novels. Several top fantasy novel game adaptation rights on Qiyue Chinese website had already exceeded tens of millions or even billions, far surpassing the film and television adaptation rights!

As for the game adaptation rights of "The Master of Xuanyuan Sword," Hou Muyun had heard from the chief editor before that the highest price had reached 8 million RMB, but neither Qiyue nor Hou Muyun had agreed. Hou Muyun was waiting for the completion of the novel before making a decision, and Qiyue naturally also hoped for a higher price. They believed they could sell it for a higher price.

The adaptation of film and television could make "The Master of Xuanyuan Sword" more well-known, undoubtedly increasing the value of the game adaptation rights!

After about ten minutes, the deputy general manager of Legendary Century arrived.

After an hour and a half of negotiations, the final result was not reached!

After seeing off the people from Legendary Century, the head and the chief editor returned to the conference room, both feeling very helpless.

"Hou Yun! Why do you have to insist on the final approval rights? That's definitely not something they will give us!"

"I know, Legendary Century has indeed been known to make a lot of changes when adapting novels into TV series! But you have to understand that film and television adaptations are never completely the same as the original novels! There are differences in expression and the demands of filming, so there will inevitably be discrepancies from the original work!"

"I understand that you want the final approval rights to ensure that the TV series is better and more faithful to the original work! But you have to realize that final approval rights are equivalent to a veto power, do you think the production company will give that to you? Even if you only want the script approval rights, that's still impossible!"

"As for Legendary Century liking to use young actors, that's just market demand! But that's how the market is, with so many people choosing looks over acting skills! And as for special effects and such, it's almost the same everywhere in China, there's no way around it!"

"Hou Yun, we're selling the rights for film and television adaptation, not producing the TV series, so we can't control everything! Most of the TV series produced by Legendary Century will have flaws and controversies, but the consensus is that most of them become popular, which has a big impact on physical sales and game adaptation rights."

"Furthermore, even if some people criticize the TV series when it comes out, it's not our fault!"

"And besides, no matter who you sell the adaptation rights to, you'll have the same series of concerns you just mentioned!"

"As for you writing the script, that's even more impossible. They will definitely adapt the script according to their market position, and they may even make changes during filming. If they let you write, according to what you said, you'd be like part of the crew, which is no different from having approval rights. They won't accept such passive demands!"

"Besides, they don't believe that being able to write a good novel means you can write a good script!"

"..."

Both of them were novelists themselves, so how could they not understand the author's dilemma? But this world is just like that. When the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, what's the point of feeling helpless?

"Bosses! I understand the reasoning, and I know my thoughts are very naive and silly, but those are the words I want to say, and the attitude I want to express!"

After listening to the two of them persuading him for a long time, Hou Muyun grinned, "And, I have an even more naive and silly idea."

Both of them looked puzzled.

Hou Muyun said seriously, "I want to buy the film and television adaptation rights of 'The Master of Xuanyuan Sword' myself!"

Both of them were dumbfounded.

The head said, "Hou Yun! Although the copyright is in the company's hands, you have a very high percentage of the share! If you want, even if the company gives you the rights for free, it's no problem! We know you don't care about the money, and the company doesn't either! But the key issue is that the film and television rights are meant to increase the popularity of your book, for the future physical rights and game rights, that's the focus!"

The chief editor added, "Yes, Hou Yun, I know you're a stubborn person, but you can't be stubborn about this matter!"

Hou Muyun said, "Bosses, I'm not being stubborn, and I'm not asking for the rights right away. We can first establish a betting agreement!"


NEXT