In the first episode of “Marco Polo,” Netflix’s coming original series, the Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan sits on a throne in his gilded palace and plots the future conquests of his growing empire.
在Netflix即将上映的原创新剧《马可·波罗》(Marco Polo)第一集中，蒙古大汗忽必烈坐在镀金宫殿的王座之上，为不断扩张的帝国制定未来的征服计划。
One adviser questions whether the ruler desires to be emperor of Mongolia or emperor of China. Khan rises from his throne, draws his sword and roars: “Emperor of China? Emperor of Mongolia? I want to be emperor of the world!”
一个军师问这位君主，他是想做蒙古的大汗，还是想做中国的大汗。忽必烈从王座上起身，拔剑长啸：“中国的大汗？蒙古的大汗？我要做世界的大汗！”

Such an audacious declaration could very well have been written for Netflix itself as it pursues global expansion at breakneck speed. This streaming company has pushed aggressively into just over 50 countries and counts more than 50 million total global subscribers. Conquering foreign lands is now crucial as its growth slows in the United States.
这大胆的宣言堪称Netflix自身的绝好写照，目前，它正以惊人的速度在全球扩张。这家流媒体公司已经积极地进入了50多个国家，在全球拥有5000万以上用户。由于它在美国本土的发展已经放缓，在异国开疆拓土就显得尤为关键。
“It is no secret that we want Netflix to be a global product,” said Ted Sarandos, its chief content officer. “That is the mission.”
“我们希望Netflix成为全球性公司，这不是什么秘密，”公司内容总监泰德·萨伦德斯(Ted Sarandos)说，“这就是我们的任务。”
As was the case with Kublai Khan’s 13th-century empire building, Netflix’s 21st-century mission will involve a series of battles as the company encounters vast cultural differences, fierce rivals and high costs, among other challenges.
正如忽必烈汗在13世纪建立帝国时的情形，Netflix要想在21世纪完成征服世界的任务，也需要进行一系列苦战，同样也面临着巨大的文化差异、强大的竞争对手与高昂的花费，当然还有其他种种挑战。
Already, Netflix has stumbled. Infrastructure issues like establishing payment systems for customers proved difficult in Latin America. And about a fifth of the company’s market value has evaporated since mid-October, after it disappointed investors with slower-than-expected subscriber growth that followed its September debut in France, Germany and other European markets. Some analysts have raised concerns that rapidly rising obligations tied to paying for content (totaling $8.9 billion as of September) could leave it in a precarious financial position in the long term.
Netflix已经犯过错。在拉丁美洲，建立用户付费体系等基础设施被证明十分困难。公司于9月登陆法国、德国与其他欧洲市场，但订阅用户的增长速度比预期缓慢，令投资者极其失望，因此10月中旬以来，公司的市场价值随之缩水了五分之一。有些分析者担心，公司因购买内容而承诺的版权费用迅速增长（9月份已达到89亿美元）会令公司的长期财务状况处于危险之中。
Media executives and analysts predict that as Netflix pushes ahead with its global mission, it will face threats from local insurgents, as a growing number start streaming services of their own. It must also outmaneuver competitors like Time Warner’s HBO, which already has a robust international business and announced a streaming deal last week in China.
媒体人士与分析师们预测，随着Netflix不断推行全球扩展计划，它也将面临本土“起义者”们的威胁——许多国家的公司都开始提供流媒体服务。此外它还要想方设法胜过时代华纳的HBO等竞争对手，HBO已是一个强大的国际企业，上周刚刚在中国宣布一桩流媒体合作。
“Netflix is the one that everybody speaks about, but there are lots and lots and lots and lots of others,” said Keith LeGoy, president of international distribution at Sony Pictures Television. “New streaming services are launching every week.”
“所有人都在谈论Netflix，但还有很多很多很多很多别的公司，”索尼影视公司国际分销部门总裁基思·勒格伊(Keith LeGoy)说，“每周都会出现新的流媒体服务商。”
Netflix’s global ambitions mirror a quest across the media industry to offset slowing domestic growth by expanding abroad. “Some people have said that it is checkmate before it started,” said David Bank, a media analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “But it is really, really early days.”
Netflix在全球的野心反映出传媒行业通过海外扩张抵销缓慢的国内增长的一种努力。“有些人说这从一开始就是一场死局，”RBC资本市场的分析师大卫·班克(David Bank)说，“但现在这样说真的为时过早。”
Netflix is doubling down on its international bet, preparing to enter markets like Australia and New Zealand next March, and snapping up the global rights for original film and television programs. But perhaps its biggest content wager is “Marco Polo,” its series about the 13th-century traveler’s adventures in the court of Kublai Khan. Netflix owns the international rights for the show, which is produced by the Weinstein Company, an independent studio, and will be available for streaming on all of Netflix’s global outposts on Dec. 12.
Netflix在国际市场投下了双倍赌注，打算在明年三月进军澳大利亚和新西兰等市场，并抢购若干原创电影与电视节目的国际版权。但它在内容方面最大的赌注或许还要算是《马克·波罗》，该剧讲述13世纪一位旅行家在忽必烈汗宫廷中的冒险经历，由独立制片公司韦恩斯坦公司(Weinstein Company)摄制，Netflix拥有国际版权，12月12日起将可以在Netflix全球所有流媒体站点上观看。
At about $90 million for the first season’s 10 episodes, according to industry executives, the East-meets-West epic is not only Netflix’s most expensive original production to date, but also one of the most expensive series today. Only “Game of Thrones,” on HBO, is said to surpass that steep budget.
公司人士透露，这部史诗片是关于东西方的碰撞，第一季有10集，耗资9000万美元，不仅是Netflix迄今斥资最多的原创剧，也是目前最昂贵的剧集之一。据说只有HBO台的《权力的游戏》(Game of Thrones)超过这一高昂预算。
While Netflix has a number of original programs in the pipeline, the success of “Marco Polo” will serve as a referendum on how well its original programming strategy performs on a global stage.
Netflix酝酿原创节目期间，《马克·波罗》的成绩将成为它在全球原创剧战略执行状况的参考资料。
Some rivals and analysts said that replicating Netflix’s early success with the drama “House of Cards” and the dark comedy “Orange Is the New Black” for international audiences could prove challenging. The programs generated buzz, won awards and are credited with attracting subscribers. While Netflix did not own global rights to those productions — meaning “House of Cards” appeared on rival TV networks in France and Germany, for instance — executives say the shows helped bolster awareness and perception of Netflix abroad.
Netflix早期凭借剧集《纸牌屋》(House of Cards)和黑色喜剧《女子监狱》(Orange Is the New Black)赢得了海外观众，一些竞争者和分析师认为，要复制这一成功将会很难。那几部剧集产生了轰动效应，赢得了众多奖项，为公司吸引了订阅用户。但Netflix并不拥有这些剧集的国际版权——举例来说，在法国与德国，《纸牌屋》都是由Netflix的竞争对手电视台播放的——公司人士说，这些剧集为Netflix在海外赢得了关注。
Executives and producers said they hoped that “Marco Polo” — filmed in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia with an international cast of hundreds and filled with gory battles, sexual allure, adventure, martial arts and political intrigue — would resonate with viewers around the world.
《马可·波罗》在意大利、哈萨克斯坦与马来西亚拍摄，动用了几百名来自世界各国的演员，剧中充满血腥战争、性感诱惑、冒险、武打和政治阴谋。公司人士和节目制作人说，他们希望该剧能在全球观众当中引起共鸣。
“At the heart of it is a universal story,” said John Fusco, the creator and an executive producer of the series. “The journey of Marco Polo is the hero’s journey, one that all cultures across the globe can relate to.”
“它在本质上是一个普遍性的故事，”剧集创作者和执行制片人约翰·福斯克(John Fusco)说，“马可·波罗的旅行是一次英雄的旅行，能为世界上所有文化所理解。”
Mr. Fusco is intimate with that journey. Known for his work on “The Forbidden Kingdom,” the martial-arts film, and on the thriller “Young Guns,” he said he was captivated as a child by Chinese culture and has been fascinated with Marco Polo’s story ever since. “You cannot read about that stuff without coming across the name Marco Polo,” Mr. Fusco said.
以武侠片《功夫之王》(The Forbidden Kingdom)和《少壮屠龙阵》(Young Guns)闻名的福斯克对这种旅行并不陌生。他说自己从小就迷恋中国文化，一直都喜爱马可·波罗的故事。“阅读和中国有关的东西，就无法回避马可·波罗的名字，”他说。
While shooting “Forbidden Kingdom” in 2007, he and his son, Giovanni, then 13, crossed Central Mongolia on horseback, following the Silk Road and tracing the Genghis Khan trail. Along the way, Mr. Fusco said they encountered story after story about Kublai Khan and Marco Polo and the missions the adventurer took to various Mongolian villages.
2007年拍摄《功夫之王》期间，他与当时只有13岁的儿子乔万尼(Giovanni)骑马横穿蒙古中部，沿着丝绸之路追溯成吉思汗的足迹。福克斯说，一路上，他们听说了很多关于忽必烈汗与马可·波罗的故事，还有这位冒险家到蒙古村庄执行任务的事迹。
“It always circled back around to Marco Polo and Kublai Khan,” Mr. Fusco said. “That always fascinated me because so few people make the connection between the two. Marco Polo has been kind of buried under this cloud of rather banal historical dust when the true story is so much more exciting.”
“故事总是围绕着马可·波罗和忽必烈汗，”福斯克说，“这令我着迷，因为很少有人把这两个人联系在一起。马可·波罗早已被平庸的历史尘埃所湮没，而真正的故事则要精彩得多。”
After pitching the idea around Hollywood, Mr. Fusco eventually heard from Harvey Weinstein, whose company has been expanding its television business.
福斯克在好莱坞到处推销这个故事，最终从哈维·韦恩斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)那里得到了回音，他的公司正在扩展电视业务。
Ben Silverman, chairman of the multimedia studio Electus, recalled having lunch with Mr. Weinstein about five years ago at the rooftop garden of the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, talking about great stories in the public domain that would intrigue viewers across cultures. The two brainstormed about how to create an East-meets-West drama that would include the appeal of a foreign land, but also a Western character who could connect it.
多媒体制片公司伊莱克图斯(Electus)的总裁本·席尔瓦曼(Ben Silverman)回忆五年前曾与韦恩斯坦在贝弗利山庄的半岛酒店屋顶花园共进午餐，两人聊起公共版权领域内一些能吸引跨文化观众兴趣的精彩故事。两人做了一番头脑风暴，想拍出一部以东西方相遇为题材，涉及异国风情，但用一个西方人角色作为串联。
“Immediately, it was Marco Polo,” Mr. Silverman said. “There was genuine excitement about bringing the Asian storytelling style to the global audience.”
“我们马上就想起了马可·波罗，”席尔瓦曼说，“把亚洲的叙事方式带给全球观众，这真让人兴奋。”
The Weinstein Company and Electus announced in 2012 that they had found a home for the series on Starz, the premium cable network, with Mr. Fusco as the writer. At the time, Mr. Weinstein boasted to the Hollywood publication Variety that the program would be “one of the most expensive shows ever done for pay TV.”
2012年，韦恩斯坦公司与伊莱克图斯宣布，这部关于马可·波罗的剧集将在Starz收费有线台播出，福斯克担任编剧。当时韦恩斯坦对好莱坞杂志《综艺》(Variety)夸口说，这部剧将成为“付费电视史上斥资最高的剧集之一。”
Production soon hit roadblocks. Executives wanted to shoot the series in China, but censors raised issues about the violence and sexual aspects of the story. Projected costs started escalating.
但该剧的制作很快遇到了障碍。公司希望在中国拍摄，但审查者们提出片中的暴力和床戏是个问题。预计成本开始上升。
Seeking a bigger budget, producers took the idea to Netflix, which had recently started pouring resources into its own original series. Mr. Sarandos said Netflix was not looking specifically for a show that would appeal to international audiences, but rather human stories that were rich and relatable. He picked up Mr. Fusco’s scripts, which had been inspired by Marco Polo’s own accounts, couldn’t put them down and signed on to the project.
为了获取更高预算，制作人们打起了Netflix的主意，当时它刚刚开始投入资金，打造自己的原创剧集。萨伦德斯说，Netflix并没有刻意寻找能够吸引全球观众的剧集，而是在寻找内容丰富、能让人产生认同感的人性化故事。他读了福斯克受马可·波罗原著启发的剧本，一下被深深吸引住，签下了这个剧。
“The characters that were created and the relationships that were created, you can lift them up from the time and the place and put them somewhere else, they would work just as well,” Mr. Sarandos said. “They were that well written.”
“剧中的人物与人物关系可以超越时代与地域，放到任何地方都同样适用，” 萨伦德斯说，“他们刻画得非常好。”
The resulting production is on a scale much larger than the series planned at Starz. The construction crew included 400 people, with an additional 160 in the art department. The team built 51 sets in Malaysia, including Kublai Khan’s opulent throne room. For battle scenes, hundreds of extras appeared costumed and on horseback.
最后的成果比原计划在Starz播放的剧集规模更加宏大。光是布景建造就雇佣了400人，还不算艺术部门的160人。这个团队在马来西亚建造了51处布景，包括忽必烈汗豪华的王庭。战争戏中使用了数百名骑马、穿戏服的临时演员。
A global search to cast the role of Marco Polo came down to the wire. Producers had looked at more than 100 actors, holding auditions in London, Australia and Los Angeles, but still hadn’t found their star. Mr. Fusco’s wife, an acting coach and a teacher of Shakespearean drama, stayed up one night, went through the audition tapes and found a little-known Italian actor named Lorenzo Richelmy.
直到开拍前一刻，剧组还在全球寻找饰演马可· 波罗的演员。制作人们面试了100多名演员，在伦敦、澳大利亚和洛杉矶都举行了试镜会，但是仍然没能找到适合的演员。福斯克的妻子是演员指导，也教授莎士比亚戏剧，一天晚上，她熬夜观看试镜录像，发现了名不见经传的意大利演员洛伦佐·里奇尔米(Lorenzo Richelmy)。
Mr. Richelmy, 24, flew to Malaysia and landed the role. He started an intensive training program that included four hours in the gym, martial arts and horseback-riding lessons each day.
24岁的里奇尔米飞往马来西亚，接受了这个角色。他接受了一系列高强度训练，包括每天四小时的健身、武术与骑马课程。
Producers brought on a team of cultural advisers and historians to ensure that the narrative would be authentic enough to hold up to viewers worldwide. They noted details, such as how men would bow before the emperor and how to hold shields when riding horses. Filming wrapped up in Malaysia in August after a five-month shoot that started in the canals of Venice.
制作人们还聘请了一组文化顾问与历史学家，保证故事真实可信，能令全球观众接受。他们关注细节，诸如人们怎样在大汗面前鞠躬、骑马时怎样执盾等。剧集开拍始于威尼斯的运河河畔，五个月后的八月份，又来到马来西亚全力进行。
“We just tried to make the most exciting, entertaining show we could about this very special world and hope that it would be accessible in a lot of different markets, in a lot of different regions,” said Dan Minahan, an executive producer of the series.
“我们只想试着拍出最刺激、最有趣的剧集，反映出这个非常特别的世界，希望它能打入许多不同的市场和地域，”剧集的执行制作人丹·米纳罕(Dan Minahan)说。
Netflix, which has said it would spend more than $600 million in 2014 to woo people to try the service, has an extensive marketing campaign for “Marco Polo.” It will take cast members to the Comic Con conference in Brazil, for example, and display costumes and props from the series at a mall in Mexico. Other promotions include television, print and digital ads. The tagline is “Worlds will collide.”
Netflix声称将在2014年斥资6亿美元争取观众使用该台的服务，它为《马可·波罗》也展开了盛大的市场宣传攻势。比如说，剧组成员将参加巴西的动漫展、剧中的戏服与道具将在墨西哥一处场地展出。还有其他电视、纸媒与数码媒体广告。宣传语是“两个世界即将碰撞”。
The buzz around the show will also serve as a promotional tool for Netflix as it enters new markets, Mr. Sarandos said. Although it doesn’t currently operate in Asia, it hasn’t ruled out the possibility.
萨伦德斯说，Netflix正在打入新市场，因此对于这部剧集的宣传也是对Netflix的宣传。尽管公司目前在亚洲没有业务，但公司并不排除这种可能性。
Mr. Sarandos likened Netflix’s global expansion to Marco Polo himself. “At some point or another we have all been a stranger in a strange land,” he said. “Netflix is that stranger in a strange land.”
萨伦多斯把Netflix的全球扩张比作马可·波罗的冒险。“在某些方面，我们都是奇异国土上的陌生人，”他说，“Netflix现在就是奇异国土上的那个陌生人。”