Interview with Jiang Rong, author of Wolf Totem: How difficult is it to break the “curse” of literary IP adaptations?

Tencent Video recently released a trailer for its drama series The Three-Body Problem. Five days ago， Netflix also announced its Season 1 cast for The Three-Body Problem series. Competition between The Three-Body Problem adaptations has officially begun. It also means that the issue of adaptation rights， held successively by so many companies， has finally settled. The curse of adapting The Three-Body Problem has finally been broken.

Adapting a literary IP work is difficult， and The Three-Body Problem is not an isolated case. Wolf Totem， another phenomenal literary work， was also beset with problems. We recently interviewed Jiang Rong， the author of Wolf Totem， and retraced the ups and downs in adapting this classic novel for film.

Five years and 700 million RMB： Jean-Jacques Annaud’s adaptation of Wolf Totem

In 1967， Jiang Rong went to Inner Mongolia as a “sent-down youth” from Beijing to join the troops on the Wuzhu Muqin grassland. He spent 11 years in the grasslands， undergoing “spiritual nomadism” as a young man， and formed an inseparable bond with the wolves there. After witnessing the gradual decline of the grassland and its nomadic culture， he wrote a long novel out of his love and nostalgia for the grassland. It is about man and nature， civilization and wildness， recreating the savagery and beauty of the grassland. This majestic， solemn， and emotionally resonant work is Wolf Totem.

Li Jingze once commented， “Wolf Totem is an important literary work published at the turn of the century， an especially complex period in history. It truly reflects the great anxiety felt by the nation during that period and can be read for another ten years.” Over the past 17 years， Wolf Totem has won many awards both at home and abroad. Translated into 37 languages， it has become representative of Chinese literature “received successfully abroad”. In 2019， it was selected as one of the “70 classic novels in 70 years of New China”.

The adaptation of such a well-known classic has naturally attracted much attention， and the book was picked up by domestic and international film companies from very early on. In 2007， China Film Group was given the film adaptation rights for Wolf Totem and officially began adapting this masterpiece. But the thrilling scenes in the book， like “the confrontation between man and wolf”， “the battle between wolf and horse”， and the “flying wolf” are all challenging to shoot. They deterred many directors until French director Jean-Jacques Annaud entered the scene.

Jean-Jacques Annaud spent five years preparing for his adaptation of Wolf Totem， which cost over 700 million RMB. The production team adopted the principle of naturalism， set up a special wolf breeding center， hired wolf trainers from abroad， and trained “wolf actors” so as to shoot on location as far as possible… The sincerity of the team was beyond doubt， but the final film was still constrained by many objective factors. On its release， many audiences still found the spiritual world of Wolf Totem presented in the film quite different from that in the book.

Regardless of this， Jean-Jacques Annaud’s team delivered the goods. They showed readers the potential of adapting this magnificent work for the screen. There followed an even more exciting and anticipated proposal： Can an animated feature be made from Wolf Totem that can appeal to the young and old， like The Lion King？

Regret： failing to hire the director of the animation film The Lion King

“In 2014， the pre-production of the live-action film Wolf Totem， directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud， was almost completed. Mr. Jiang Rong and I were delighted but wondered if we could make an animated adaptation of Wolf Totem that would appeal to the young and old， since it is an animal subject like in The Lion King， and wolves are well known to most ethnic groups. Could we present the intrinsic harmonious spirit between man and nature and the great beauty of the Chinese grassland in Wolf Totem through animation， a highly romantic and creative medium， using a fresh and classic narrative？” An Boshun， the editor of Wolf Totem， recalled their first thoughts on adapting Wolf Totem as an animated film.

Author Jiang Rong was full of expectations for this adaptation， intending to appeal to a wider public and a global audience. In July 2014， he authorized Dawang （Beijing） Culture and Art Creation Co. to sign a deal with LeTV Pictures. Zhang Zhao， the then CEO of LeTV Pictures， wanted Rob Minkoff， the director of The Lion King， to direct and produce Wolf Totem， the animated film.

In the end， LeTV did not fulfill its promise. A few years later， LeTV was caught in a crisis： Jia Yueting left for the United States， the LeTV stocks crashed， and LeTV Pictures was bought out. Zhang Zhao also died from illness… The Wolf Totem project ground to a complete halt.

When adaptation rights for the movie expired in August 2021， the animated film adaptation of Wolf Totem still had not started production. It had also not received permission to shoot from the China Film Administration. Seven years of long wait went up in smoke. During these seven years， author Jiang Rong received hardly any news from LeTV about the project’s progress. Nevertheless， he expressed his heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved.

“Although the copyright has reverted to me， I can’t help feeling sad and regretful，” Jiang Rong lamented in the interview. The adaptation rights of Wolf Totem have reverted to the author. For millions of eagerly awaiting fans， their feelings about this “reversion” are undoubtedly mixed. It means the start of another wait.

The rise of Chinese animation： conceived at the right time， willing to ride the waves

The difficulties and troubles met by Wolf Totem epitomize the problems faced by literary IP adaptations. Outstanding film and television adaptations can expand a work’s artistic allure and spiritual content in a richer and more diversified form， extending its influence and artistic life. At the same time， the lack of investment， poor operation， difficulty finding outstanding production teams， and imperfect industrial system mean that IP adaptations of literary works seldom see the light of day or are often stalled.

Although the Wolf Totem animation project has been temporarily put on hold， both author and readers have high hopes of animation as an artistic format. Compared with live-action films， it is easier to recreate the book’s majestic and stunning visual scenes using animation technology and also easier to realize its magnificent and dynamic imagination.

We are living in a golden age of classic IP animation adaptations： highly acclaimed animations like Monkey King： Hero is Back， Jiang Ziya， Ne Zha， and White Snake are constantly being made. There is a growing appreciation for Chinese animation， and these films are enjoyed more and more by young audiences. Compared with Europe， America， and Japan， China’s IP animation adaptations have a bright market prospect and room for development. There needs to be further exploration of domestic cultural resources. And Wolf Totem， a moving national epic that epitomizes the spirit and civilization of the grasslands， is undoubtedly such a treasure trove.

What next after the copyright reversion？ Despite the many ups and downs， Jiang Rong， 75， still said that he is full of expectations： “Wolf Totem is a big novel. I’m pleased that readers have loved this work since its publication 17 years ago. The spirit of Wolf Totem， especially the harmony between man and nature， has become a consensus and a sentiment of our times， proving the timelessness of the work. This is why I hope that more talented and financially resourceful people in the film industry can step up efforts to adapt Wolf Totem. To tell good Chinese stories to the rest of the world， there must be a medium that transcends cultures and beliefs. Animals， especially wolves， are perhaps the best story medium.”