The Miasmal Journey also had a television series version, and the duration of the television series version was a full four times that of the three movie versions combined. Furthermore, the special effects of the television series version were equally impressive, greatly complementing the timeline and world-building of the entire cultivation world.
For a time, such news was rampant online, with various theories emerging.
Some people came forward to swear that they had already seen the complete television series version of The Miasmal Journey in China, and Chinese people directly spoke out to prove these claims were true.
Of course, there were also those who claimed that these were all rumors, false information fabricated by some to gain attention. They asserted that all this news was fake, nonexistent, and that a television series version of The Miasmal Journey could not possibly exist in the world.
"If they filmed it like that, it would cost around 1 billion US dollars. Do you think the production company is stupid? They would use 1 billion US dollars to produce a television series!" Such statements were rampant online, leaving many unsure of whom to believe.
Later, someone took the opportunity to conduct a poll, and ultimately 63.2% of people believed it was fake news, while 31.8% believed it was true, and the rest stated they didn't know.
As the arguments grew more heated, more viewers who were originally indifferent to The Miasmal Journey were once again forced to accept the constant barrage of news about it.
At the height of the debate, the official account of Jiangnan Group finally released a public announcement on its Weibo, stating that The Miasmal Journey indeed had a 2160-minute television series version. However, due to the need for translation, it was being expedited, and English and other language versions would be released globally as soon as possible.
This announcement put an end to all disputes, and everyone then collectively looked forward to when the television series version of The Miasmal Journey would appear on television.
Concurrently, representatives from major television stations worldwide flocked to China, heading to the headquarters of Jiangnan Film and Television Group. This was because Jiangnan Film and Television Group was holding a bidding conference for the exclusive broadcast rights of the television series version of The Miasmal Journey in various countries, allowing television stations from each country to participate in their respective national bidding to acquire the exclusive broadcast rights.
According to statistics, in just one week, over 180 television station representatives from around the world submitted their applications to the headquarters of China's Jiangnan Group to participate in the global bidding conference for the television series version of The Miasmal Journey.
It is believed that if The Miasmal Journey had only premiered its television series version domestically, it would have been impossible to attract so many television stations when planning to release it globally.
However, with the earlier release of the movies and the significant news generated online, the television series version of The Miasmal Journey immediately garnered a massive audience. Sensing the opportunity, television stations rushed to China to participate in this bidding event.
Jiangnan Group's rules were simple: a reserve price was set, and the highest bidder won.
The specifics of the auction process will not be detailed here. Apart from the US market, there were no surprises or dramatic turnarounds, just normal bidding. In the end, the copyrights for 23 countries were sold, with the highest price being for the Japanese region, fetching an authorization fee of a whopping 32 million US dollars.
This result somewhat surprised Boss Huang himself. However, he later learned that the television series version of The Miasmal Journey had achieved a staggering 19 billion Japanese yen in box office revenue in Japan, a record that no foreign film had ever achieved before.
Moreover, the film was still in theaters, with box office revenue increasing by over 100 million yen daily, frightening the entire Japanese film industry and causing them to cry "wolf."
Consequently, the Japanese people naturally turned their attention to the television series version, ultimately offering the sky-high price of 32 million US dollars.
However, this price was not secured by a single television station but by Japan's Asahi TV Broadcasting Association.
Japan's television station system differs from that of other countries. Unlike China, where a single satellite channel can be received nationwide, and local television stations only broadcast within their regions, Japan has thousands of television stations, almost all of which are local. Apart from the national broadcaster NHK, Japan essentially has no nationwide television stations.
This is because, apart from NHK, which receives government funding, most Japanese television stations are privately owned. These stations control the various local cable television networks. While NHK can leverage national policies to attempt to mandate that all local television networks broadcast its signal, no other television station dares to do so.
This results in no station other than NHK being able to transmit its television signal nationwide, as satellite television is even illegal in Japan.
However, this creates a critical problem: the vast majority of private television stations can only control a small region, and the television fees collected from these regions are insufficient to fund the production of full-time television programs.
Thus, as time went by, the organization known as the Broadcasting Association came into being.
Broadcasting Associations typically organize a group of television stations from various regions in Japan to form an association, which then produces various programs for unified broadcast by the member stations.
This has led to the establishment of several television station associations that can cover the entire country. Among them is the Asahi Television Broadcasting Association, with Asahi Television in Tokyo as its core. The signal of programs produced by Asahi Television is then provided to hundreds of television stations under the association. These local television stations are required to pay 30% of the television fees they collect to Asahi Television as a signal licensing fee, with the remaining 70% constituting the local television stations' revenue.
The reason for this detailed explanation is to inform everyone that the 32 million US dollars was not paid by Asahi Television alone but by hundreds of television stations collectively, so the price is not entirely exaggerated.
Moreover, Asahi Television is currently on a strong trajectory, and its station director dreams of surpassing NHK and creating a myth of a private television station's viewership defeating a national television station.
As for television stations like NHK, their greatest asset is their production of historical dramas, which often dominate viewership ratings. Therefore, NHK needs The Miasmal Journey to defeat its competitors.
Following Japan, the second-highest引进 fee came from France, with an investment of 18 million US dollars. The rest will not be elaborated upon, but in total, over ten television stations paid a combined fee of 210 million US dollars.
Although this was only 1/5 of the total production cost of the television series, when combined with the box office revenue from the movies, it could be considered a recovery of costs. This income was within Boss Huang's expectations.
However, when the bidding for the North American region began, the final highlight of the entire bidding conference, an unexpected event occurred.
"Brother-in-law, how much do you think the Americans will pay this time?" Leng Zhiwen asked curiously.
"The Japanese paid 30 million US dollars, so shouldn't the Americans pay at least 50 million US dollars? Maybe even over a hundred million, as it's the biggest market and representatives from all five major US television networks are here. And look at how much anticipation there is for the television series version of The Miasmal Journey online in the US. In my opinion, it's not impossible for the final price to exceed a hundred million!" Leng Zhimeng said eagerly before Boss Huang could answer.
Similar to Japan, the US also has a system of television networks and alliances. However, unlike the relatively independent associations in Japan, many affiliated television stations under US television networks are directly acquired or controlled by the parent company, or at the very least, hold significant shares.
Therefore, major US television network companies have much stronger control over their subordinate television stations. They also own their own cable television networks, making them more cohesive overall than the Japanese television broadcasting associations.
They are divided into five major television networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and CNN.
Among these five television networks, CNN is perhaps the most familiar to the Chinese public, as it is the television station that a certain future president frequently labeled as "fake news."
However, in terms of overall strength, ABC is the strongest, backed by The Walt Disney Company, with its rich film and television resources.
Furthermore, from the perspective of the greatest influence on Chinese people, CBS is significant because its dramas such as "The Big Bang Theory," "NCIS," "How I Met Your Mother," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "2 Broke Girls," and "The Walking Dead" are all well-known American dramas in China.
As for American dramas like "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones," their affiliations with television networks are not relevant here.
In short, representatives from these five television networks all appeared at the bidding conference, indicating that the entire United States was determined to win this bid. Therefore, even Huang He believed that The Miasmal Journey would fetch an extremely favorable price this time.
"I now announce the commencement of the bidding for the North American television broadcast rights. The starting bid is 10 million US dollars! Each increment will be 1 million US dollars!" the host announced from the stage. 10 million US dollars was also the highest starting price among all regions, but everyone believed this was just the beginning.
Representatives from other countries' television stations in the audience widened their eyes and pricked up their ears, eager to see what major news these Americans would create this time.
"Alright, FOX, 10 million!"
"ABC, 11 million!"
Soon, employees from television stations began raising their paddles. This seemed normal, but the audience soon realized that something was amiss because the price was increasing too slowly.
In the Japanese region, where the bidding started at 3 million US dollars, the price quickly surged to 20 million US dollars within two minutes, and then increased gradually.
However, in the US, after three minutes, the price had only reached 16 million US dollars. Many bids were made just before the third hammer fall, and several companies were clearly unwilling to bid high prices.
This situation typically occurs only when the auction is nearing its end and is about to be finalized, but it appeared at the very beginning. If this pace continues, the final transaction price might not exceed 20 million US dollars, a price much lower than that of the Japanese region!