"Legend of Nine-Tailed Fox" hits over 160 million, fantasy themes still have potential to be tapped

In the past two years, themes such as magic, mysterious, divine, and fantasy have become hot spots for film and television drama creation. For a time, the nationwide craze of catching monsters swept the mainland. First, "Monster Hunt" won a box office record of 2.429 billion yuan, and then "Wuxin: The Monster Killer" counterattacked the online drama market. For a time, "slaying monsters" became a model of fantasy-themed film and television dramas.

Recently, the costume drama "Legend of Nine-Tailed Fox" has been popular on Hunan Satellite TV. With the arrival of the last unit, the drama has received 160 million hits on Sohu Video, which is a remarkable achievement. The combination of handsome men and beautiful women has also captured the hearts of thousands of fans.

In the eyes of outsiders, a series of fantasy-themed film and television dramas such as "The Journey of Flower", "Wuxin: The Monster Killer", "The Master of Obsession", and "The Legend of Zu" are nothing more than detached from reality. Most of the story backgrounds are set in a certain dynasty or ancient times, and the male and female protagonists complete the journey of slaying demons and eliminating monsters that can only be achieved in novels.

In the last century, popular TV series such as "Fairy Wife", "Liao Zhai", and "Living Buddha Jigong" also had fantasy elements, but they are still loved by many audiences. It can be seen that fantasy TV series can also play a role in educating the public as long as the plot is reasonable, respects history, and is based on reality. On February 27, at the National TV Drama Industry Annual Conference, Li Jingsheng, Director of the TV Drama Department of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, emphasized: "We should use the form of gods and demons to express the theme of punishing evil and promoting good, helping the poor and the needy, and entrust people's vision for a better life. Don't excessively promote violence and eroticism."

The "Legend of Qingqiu Fox" which is currently being broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV and Sohu Video is a costume drama adapted from the six stories of "Feng Sanniang", "A Xiu", "Ying Ning", "Hu Si", "Chang Ting" and "Heng Niang" in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". The drama uses fox fairies as metaphors for people, and tells the story of the ups and downs of the "foxes" in love, desire, sorrow and joy in the fickle world of "preserving heaven's principles and eliminating human desires". No matter how otherworldly the world of the gods and fairies is, no matter how magical the mysterious magic is, it is still a projection of the inner images of mortals, and even the emotional entanglements between them are the mental journey of ordinary people.

On the other hand, after the film and television dramas have been recognized by the market, how to continue to dig deeper into the IP of fantasy themes has also become a hot topic. At present, film and television works such as "The Journey of Flower", "Nirvana in Fire", and "The Legend of Shushan" have been adapted into game works and are loved by various player groups. Similarly, the IP of "Legend of Qingqiu Fox" has also been adapted into a mobile game. The product has a strong performance in attracting traffic in the previous paid test. The development team has restored the plot of the TV series in the game by implanting theme songs and original dubbing. The elements of fantasy-themed TV dramas are also highly compatible with games, novels and other works, which is convenient for the continuous development of subsequent IPs.

Like other costume dramas, the cast of Legend of Nine-Tailed Fox is also very eye-catching. The participation of many new film and television stars such as Nazha, Jiang Jinfu, Xiao Caiqi, Jin Chen, Chen Yao, Zhang Ruoyun, Qiao Xin, Yao Yichen, Wang Kai, Fu Xinbo, Tang Yixin, Zhang Xueying, Zhai Tianlin, Chen Ruoxuan, etc. has also become an important reason for the strong fan attraction of the drama. At the Sohu Video Media Meeting of Legend of Nine-Tailed Fox, Zhang Chaoyang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sohu Company and Acting CEO of Sohu Video, said, "Now is the era of fan economy. Sohu Video is willing to provide the audience with an opportunity to meet their idols. The traffic of Legend of Nine-Tailed Fox on Sohu Video is very high. The mission of Sohu Video and Sohu Entertainment is to entertain the people, pay continuous attention to celebrities, and cover them in all aspects."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.