--- title: "Can Huayi's IP save Huayi Brothers?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/285494195.md" description: "Huayi Brothers is facing bankruptcy liquidation, and the court has granted a \"pre-restructuring\" opportunity to attempt debt restructuring and attract new investors. Although Huayi has accumulated numerous IPs, the value of these IPs is insufficient to save the company. The article analyzes that Huayi's IPs lack independent value, relying on specific directors and actors, and the influence of these stars has diminished, resulting in their IPs being akin to \"electronic waste.\"" datetime: "2026-05-07T06:05:11.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/285494195.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285494195.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/285494195.md) --- # Can Huayi's IP save Huayi Brothers? Huayi Brothers is quite lamentable... It used to be the crown jewel of Chinese cinema, akin to China's MGM—MGM was once praised for "having more stars than there are in the sky," and more than half of China's stars were once with Huayi. Now, it has been sentenced to "pre-reorganization," just one step away from bankruptcy liquidation. I actually don't understand what "pre-reorganization" means, so I specifically looked it up and found that it is a "rescue" opportunity given by the court, equivalent to entering "ICU," attempting to revive it through debt restructuring and introducing new investors. I can't help but ponder a question— Can the IP accumulated by Huayi over the years save Huayi Brothers? However, after research, I found that these IPs might really be of no help because their value is insufficient. Next, I will analyze Huayi Brothers' IPs from several basic dimensions of IP value. 01 🧬 Dimension One: Gene Decoupling Huayi's IPs are "parasites" rather than "LEGO blocks." This is a harsh reality comparison: when MGM in Hollywood went bankrupt, buyers lined up to snatch its 007 and Tom and Jerry; but if Huayi were to collapse, its Feng Xiaogang series, Detective Dee series, etc., would appear to capital as a pile of depreciating "electronic waste." This is not a matter of luck. It is because— Huayi has not been creating "cultural assets," but rather "one-time fireworks." Fireworks are indeed beautiful when they bloom, but they do not have a lasting "life base." Not just Huayi, the vast majority of film and television companies in China are not creating IP; what they are doing, like Huayi, is also fireworks. Why are they just fleeting fireworks? Because, from a cultural value perspective, they are "parasites" rather than "LEGO blocks." What is a "parasite"? It means these IPs lack independent value and can only depend on "people." For example, Huayi's most famous Feng Xiaogang New Year series relies too heavily on Feng Xiaogang himself, as well as the star power of Ge You and Xu Feng. The audience only recognizes director Feng Xiaogang and actors Ge You and Xu Feng; you cannot just change the director and expect the audience to still buy it. More seriously, both Feng Xiaogang and Ge You have already faded from the limelight. This can be clearly seen from the poor box office of their recent directorial or starring works. Another form of parasitism is historical dependence. For instance, historical films like Assembly, Aftershock, The Eight Hundred, and 1942 have IP value that does not belong to Huayi; Huayi merely borrowed it to make a film, which is a one-off work—once a pit is dug, there is no next pit. Therefore, evaluating the IP value of a film is not just about looking at its box office and influence at the time, but also whether the gene of this film IP is "independent." A top-tier IP must achieve "de-personalization." Look at MGM's 007 series; the director can change, the lead can age, but this "suit + luxury car + spy" LEGO-style module is eternal and can be infinitely assembled and replicated But what is Huayi's IP? It is "parasitic genes." In Feng Xiaogang's New Year's films, 90% of the soul is written as "Feng Xiaogang's witty remarks" and "Ge You's lethargy." This is not called IP; this is called "personal labor output." Once these two individuals become outdated or old, this IP will experience a "cultural gene collapse." Remember, people will only remember the "architects" who build the world framework, not the "accessories" that depend on certain individuals. Huayi has poured all its money into "human relationships" but forgot to create a "skeleton" for the IP that does not rely on people and an emotional attachment independent of the creator. In contrast, MGM, when applying for bankruptcy protection in 2010, actually had a bunch of movie IPs that could maintain their value over the long term. Among MGM's IP assets, the most representative is the 007 series, which does not rely on any specific director or lead actor and can continue to be produced indefinitely. There are also the Rocky series, RoboCop series, Silence of the Lambs series, and Pink Panther series, all of which can continue to be made. MGM also owns Tom and Jerry, a timeless and well-known animated IP, whose derivatives continue to sell and sell well. MGM was not liquidated or dissolved; it only underwent debt restructuring and a change of shareholders, ultimately being fully acquired by Amazon, allowing MGM's brand and IP to continue to develop. Although Huayi was once seen as China's MGM or Warner Bros., in reality, it is neither MGM nor Warner, but rather the Wang brothers' network of connections. 02 🎢 Dimension Two: Emotional Resistance Why can't Huayi's IP do well in theme parks? Theme parks/live entertainment/cultural towns were once a very important second growth expectation point for the Huayi empire, aside from movies. However, contrary to expectations, after investing tens of billions, it ended in dismal failure—first being forced to sell at a loss, and the latest revenue from live entertainment licensing is only a mere 170,000 yuan, almost equivalent to zero, with billions invested, only yielding a few coins. This indicates that Huayi's IPs have no derivative value. It's not that they don't have it now; they never had it. Why does Huayi Brothers' IP lack derivative value? Because the Wang brothers truly do not understand what the derivative value of IP is. The Wang brothers come from a Beijing courtyard, and what they learned from a young age is that fame and fortune are determined by the power dynamics, which in turn are dictated by human relationships. What they are best at is establishing power dynamics through relationships and connections. The Wang brothers excel at networking, at socializing, at this adult world's "cleverness." However, the underlying logic for all theme parks that survive globally is only one: "emotional resonance for the whole family." All theme parks in the world must have IP and entertainment experiences that serve children and families, bringing joy to children and families, for the theme park to operate sustainably. Huayi Brothers has never produced a truly family-friendly movie that pleases children and families, which is fatal for running a theme park, yet they insist on developing large theme parks What does Huayi provide to visitors in the theme park? It is the awkwardness of blind dates from "If You Are the One" and the eerie horror of "Detective Dee." How could this kind of "adult poison" possibly generate value for a theme park? The derivative value of IP is not simply determined by fame and box office, but by "emotional stickiness." Would you let your child play on a slide in the tomb of Detective Dee? This is a dead end in evolutionary logic. Huayi's dismal outcome in theme parks and real-life entertainment is fundamentally due to people's "emotional resistance," or rather, the inability to achieve "emotional transfer." It cannot transfer the emotions felt during viewing to the theme park. Its IPs all have inherent serious flaws. It still wants to create a dozen "Huayi Cultural Towns," but Huayi does not have its own independent cultural system, so how can there be "cultural towns"? As a result, none were created. Thus, Huayi Brothers' second growth point ended in dismal failure. 03 🌳 Dimension Three: Logical Entropy Increase Huayi's IP did not become a cultural vitality tree. A healthy IP should be like a tree, with roots as the cultural foundation, the trunk as the worldview, and branches and leaves as content branching capabilities. But as Huayi planted, it planted the tree crookedly. The most typical problem lies in the "Detective Dee" series, which Huayi had high hopes for and claimed to build into a cultural universe. The starting point of Detective Dee is very clear: to leverage the cultural foundation of the Tang Dynasty to shoot a series of blockbuster films in the detective genre. But the reality is that only the first film is a true detective story with a mystery to solve. From the second film onward, it no longer properly tells a detective story. By the third film, it has even less to do with detective work. What the "Detective Dee" series has is just bizarre images flying around and incoherent plot lines, which is called "logical entropy increase," completely ruining this cultural vitality tree. This is also why Detective Dee cannot become 007, because it has never been as honest and serious as 007, telling a good mystery-solving story in each installment. Therefore, the Detective Dee series cannot become the Detective Dee universe. Every IP universe has its own "physical laws" and cannot be acted upon arbitrarily. When you no longer respect the universe rules you set, the audience will exercise their "species elimination rights," and your so-called Detective Dee universe will not be established. In summary, Huayi Brothers has tried to plant many cultural vitality trees over the years, but they all started seriously, became chaotic in the middle, and ultimately gave up. I suspect that the Wang brothers have never truly regarded their films as IP; in their eyes, they only see Feng Xiaogang and Tsui Hark as cash cows, rather than viewing IP as a cultural vitality tree. In conclusion, when the people and social connections that Huayi Brothers have relied on for so long become outdated, the IPs and cultural vitality trees that could have helped them through tough times have not truly been cultivated. I sincerely hope Huayi Brothers can overcome their difficulties, but at this moment, it really does not look optimistic 04 🌳Dimension Four: Cultural Essence Cultural Vitality Tree, Making cultural assessment easy and convenient. Let’s introduce what the Cultural Vitality Tree is? The Cultural Vitality Tree is a cultural assessment model based on the first principles of physics. It can evaluate all "cultural content products that have content dissemination as the core growth mechanism." It addresses a very specific question: "Is this thing suitable for being made into continuously produced content? How long is its vitality?" The "Cultural Vitality Tree" model is divided into 6 dimensions—— Dimension Name Problem Addressed ①Root Cognitive Legitimacy / Cultural Matrix Why do I believe it ②Trunk Structural Stability / Worldview Can it be talked about long-term ③Branch Content Branching / Storytelling How much can be told ④Leaf Slicability / Fragmentation Ability Is it suitable for short content ⑤Fruit Identity Return / Subcultural Circles Are users willing to share, does the algorithm like it ⑥Wind Platform Amplification / Content Recommendation Mechanism Does the trend of the times support it, is there potential energy 🌱①Root | Cognitive Legitimacy Root Cognitive Legitimacy Root Root Assessment: Does this cultural content have a sense of origin that is "believable enough"? Judgment Points - Can it clearly explain "where it comes from" - Does it borrow authoritative narratives (academic/history/expert/data) - Does it not need to be strictly verified The key is not "truth," but: "It doesn't sound like nonsense" Typical Manifestations - Myths, cultural consensus, religion, psychology, behavioral science, statistics, AI, scientific terms - Vague but authoritative 🌳②Trunk | Structural Stability Structural Stability Trunk Trunk Assessment: Is the core structure stable and reusable in the long term? Judgment Points - Is the structure limited and fixed - Does it not rely on continuous updates - Can it remain unchanged for 5 years, 10 years High Score Characteristics - Enumerative (e.g., 16-type MBTI personality) - Fixed modules (religion, classic culture) - Not afraid of "becoming outdated" 🌿③Branch | Content Branching Potential Content Branching Potential Branch Assessment: How much content can this structure "grow"? Judgment Points - Does it naturally support: - Comparison - Combination - Conflict - Scenario-based - Is there exponential content space 🍃④Leaf | Micro-content Slicability Micro-content Slicability Leaf Evaluation: Is it suitable to be broken down into very small content units? Judgment Points - Can a single piece of content be established within: - 10 seconds - 1 image - 1 sentence - Is it templated? - Does it not require context? This is very suitable for the current dissemination environment, especially from the perspective of short videos & algorithm friendliness. 🍎⑤Fruit | Identity Recognition and Emotional Yield Identity & Emotional Yield Fruit Evaluation: What recognition do users or viewers gain after "using or watching"? Judgment Points - Does it produce: - Identity confirmation - Sense of being understood - Positive self-narrative - Does it avoid humiliation, denial, and pathologization? Core Standard: Are users willing to "publicly share" this result? Willing = High score Unwilling = Directly judged as death penalty suspended 🌬⑥Wind | Era Momentum and Platform Recommendation Platform Amplification Fit Wind Evaluation: Is it suitable for the tide of the times and being "amplified" by platform recommendations? Judgment Points - Is it compatible with: - Recommendation algorithms - Discussion in comment sections - Reposting and secondary creation - Is it easy to form: - Factions - Self-deprecation - Meme culture Through the above 6 dimensions, the Culture Thrive Tree model (CTT) only judges one thing: "Is it a culture or IP friendly to content growth?" Even when analyzing brands, it analyzes this point. Finally, I want to tell all friends— You can also use the Culture Thrive Tree to evaluate any IP and cultural phenomenon. According to the above image, open the "Feishu" app or webpage, click on "Knowledge Q&A" on the left side of "Feishu", select "Shared Knowledge Base" - "Knowledge Base Square", and enter "Culture Thrive Tree" in the search box to find the AI intelligent body knowledge base I have created. Then, you just need to enter "Evaluate \*\*\* using the CCT Culture Thrive Tree model"— You can evaluate any brand, idea, cultural phenomenon, IP, etc., obtain a cultural vitality score and report, and determine whether it is worth long-term investment and whether there is rich development space. You can compare multiple objects at the same time to understand which content has more advantages. This is a bold attempt to combine personal knowledge and public wisdom, transforming it into an AI intelligent body, and it is worth trying Welcome to try it out, and after the trial, please let me know your "feedback," and I will continue to improve this AI entity ### Related Stocks - [300027.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/300027.CN.md) - [AMZN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMZN.US.md) - [WBD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/WBD.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [REG - Frontier IP Group - Holding(s) in Company](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290843038.md) - [REG - Frontier IP Group - Holding(s) in Company](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290939748.md) - [REG - Frontier IP Group - Posting of Circular and Notice of General Meeting](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290517425.md) - [REG - Aberdeen Group PLC IP Group PLC - Form 8.3 - IP Group plc (OPD)](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290578600.md) - [REG - Evli PLC IP Group PLC - Form 8.3 IP Group PLC](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290829445.md)