Ang Lee, who plunged into 120 frames with , may have to stop.
Ang Lee's new work "Gemini Killer" was released in mainland China last weekend. Despite the huge publicity, the box office in the first three days of the first weekend was less than 150 million, losing to "Maleficent 2", and the attendance rate was also the lowest in the same period. Douban's 7.1 points is also the second-to-last in director's career.
"Gemini Killer" is after "Billy Lynn's Midfield War" (hereinafter referred to as "Midfield War"), Ang Lee tried 4K/3D/120 frames for the second time. Although chose a more commercial action science fiction theme this time, the production cost was as high as 138 million US dollars, but Lee's high frame rate experiment was greatly compromised by the weak script.
According to the "Hollywood Reporter" quote, the film is expected to lose 75 million US dollars. The number of is also in the forefront of this year's Hollywood blockbusters.
"Gemini Killer" was first released in North America a week ago. The box office in North America was only US$20.5 million in the first week, and the reputation was mediocre: the IMBD score of 5.6 and the freshness of Rotten Tomatoes of 25% were both the worst scores of Ang Lee's films. In the United States, only a handful of theaters support 120-frame projection, and none of them can use 4K/3D/120-frame projection according to Ang Lee’s vision.
Compared with the US market, China is more active in the high frame rate attempts of Director Ang Lee. "Gemini Killer" is not only invested by Fosun Pictures and Alibaba Pictures, but China Films has also launched a CINITY cinema system that can support 4K/3D/120 frames to coordinate with the release of "Gemini Killer". In the last one or two weeks, more than 20 CINITY cinemas have opened one after another nationwide. According to an interview with
DreamWorks, the cost of renovation of the CINITY cinema is more than 5 million yuan. For most theaters, CINITY is a high-end hall or even a flagship hall configuration. At present, the high frame rate film source after "Gemini Killer" is not abundant, but fortunately, CINITY, like other high-end theaters, can be compatible with movies of ordinary specifications for screening.
"It is an inevitable trend for movie theaters to introduce high-standard cinemas. The introduction of CINITY cinema system by Shanghai Film Group is more focused on long-term benefits." Zhu Hong, technical director of Shanghai Film Technology Development Co., Ltd., is optimistic.
The CINITY cinema system with a value of 5 million
The name of CINITY comes from "Cinema+Infinity". This cinema system claims to incorporate the latest technologies in 7 major movie projection fields: 4K, 3D, high brightness, high frame rate (HFR), wide color Domain (WCG), high dynamic range (HDR), immersive sound (Immersive Sound). The most important selling point of
is naturally the high frame rate projection. CINITY is currently the only projection system in the world that supports simultaneous 120 frames, 4K, and 3D technology. Prior to this, Dolby Cinema launched by Dolby can also support 120 frames, but the resolution is only 2K.
In April of this year, China Film and Television signed an agreement with Christie Digital Systems and Global Digital Creative Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly develop the CINITY cinema system. Thereafter, in July, it cooperated with Red Star, Jinyi, Wanda, UME, Broadway, Bona and other institutions. Line contract, each planning to install multiple CINITY cinema systems.
When "Gemini Killer" was released on October 18, CINITY had landed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and expanded to Yunnan, Henan, Shaanxi, Jilin, Zhejiang, Hebei, Sichuan, Chongqing and other provinces. There are 27 cities in 17 cities across the country. Cinema.
There are 12 theaters in Shanghai that can show 120-frame "Gemini Killer", the largest number in the country. Four of them have CINITY cinemas.
Shanghai Studios, as a pioneer, became the "First Crab Eater" in 120 frames when "Midfield War" was released three years ago. This time it also actively participated in the transformation of the CINITY Cinema. Zhu Hong, technical director of Shanghai Film and Television Technology Development Co., Ltd., introduced to Digital Entertainment DreamWorks that the renovation cost of a single CINITY cinema is more than 5 million, and the overall equipment cost of many small and medium-sized cinemas is not that much.
In order to catch up with the cycle, the transformation of the CINITY cinema in Shanghai StudioThe renovation was closed for about 6 days, ahead of the National Day stall, and completed at the end of September.
Zhu Hong introduced that the transformation work is mainly to replace the server, the projector, and replace it with the RealD screen, which currently plays the best 3D movie, but the audio and other equipment did not involve changes.
CINITY’s theater renovation has certain requirements. If an ordinary theater is to be transformed into a CINITY theater, the projectors and servers need to be replaced with models that currently meet the standards. Screens, 3D equipment, audio, etc. must also meet certain standards, otherwise they must be upgraded and replaced. What are the benefits of such a large investment of
?
Compared with three years ago, "Midfield War" is hard to find. This time the audience's pursuit of "Gemini Killer" is not so high: After the enquiry of the DreamWorks DreamWorks, they noticed that many theaters installed the CINITY system, "Gemini The box office revenue of "Hitman" in the three days it was released was more than a few hundred thousand yuan, but only more than one million yuan. To know that in "The Battle of the Midfield" three years ago, a movie theater could generate nearly 20 million box office revenue.
On the one hand, because three years have passed, the audience has more choices. Compared with three years ago, there were only two theaters in the mainland, Beijing and Shanghai, which met the screening requirements. Today, there are at least 20 CINITY theaters nationwide and dozens of Dolby theaters.
was just in time for the "Gemini Killer" to be released in the CINITY cinema, and there were screening accidents in many places. There were as many as 12 re-screenings on the day of the premiere at Kunming Baimeihui Cinemas, but the screening failed in the end. Nanchang Tahoe Studios once skipped and dropped frames, which caused 3D to change to 2D and had to pause playback.
Zhu Hong said that the Shanghai Cinema had 120 frames of playback experience before, and the CINITY Cinema had no problems in the past four days.
According to his explanation, there was a screening accident. On the one hand, because the cinema did not have 60-frame or 120-frame playback experience before, and the key was validated before the equipment was debugged, the premiere went straight. On the other hand, because the format of the patch advertisement is still 24 frames, which is different from the format of the film feature, it will easily cause frame skipping.
Of course, the more important reason behind this is that the audience's evaluation of "Gemini Killer" is not ideal. Facing the rapid spread of word-of-mouth, many viewers chose the more family-friendly Disney movie "Maleficent 2". The performance of
will have an important impact on future theaters' consideration of whether to introduce CINITY, after all, 5 million is not a small number. At present, most of the CINITY cinema systems are introduced by domestic powerful cinemas, including: Shanghai Lianhe Cinemas, Jinyi, UME, Wanda Cinemas, etc.
A small and medium-sized theater manager in Shanghai also told Shuyujun that there is no plan to invest in CINITY theaters this year, and he is on the sidelines for the time being.
"High frame rate movies allow the plot to serve technology, and the relationship between technology and plot may be upside-down. In addition, when will the market continue to supply high frame rate film sources, and when will a big-selling high frame rate appear? It’s still a matter of time to rate movies, so we want to wait a little longer.”
China leads the way in high-frame-rate screenings. Why are foreign countries not active? What is the prospect of
high frame rate projection system? At least not so optimistic abroad. The
CINITY system has also been promoted in the United States before, but there is currently no confirmed order. Although the distributor Paramount lobbied the major theaters to upgrade the equipment a few months before the movie was released, the effect was minimal.
As of the release of "Gemini Killer", no theater in the entire United States can show "Gemini Killer" in the format of 4K/3D/120 frames. Only 14 theaters operated by AMC in North America can support 2K/3D/120 frames. The same is true in Europe, where only three Dolby cinemas in the UK can show 2K/3D/120 frames.
This has a lot to do with the market response of previous high frame rate movies.
In the movie "The Hobbit 3: The Battle of the Five Armies" released in 2014, director Peter Jackson tried to shoot at 48 frames per second, but was criticized for losing the sense of cinema. The film crew had to change it back to 24 in the sequel. frame.
was followed by "Midfield War" directed by Ang Lee. The niche and experimental nature of the literary film limited the scale of the film. The final film suffered a serious loss. The global box office barely exceeded 30 million US dollars, and the North American box office was only 170. Ten thousand U.S. dollars. The loss of "The Midfield" further exacerbated HollywoodA conservative attitude towards high frame rate movies.
The commercial failure of "Gemini Killer" today may make this attitude last longer.
In contrast, China is already the most active market for accepting high frame rates.
When "The Battle of the Midfield" was released, Beijing Bona Studios and Shanghai Studios urgently rented laser projectors and high frame rate servers from abroad to temporarily remodel the theaters. At a time, it was hard to find a ticket for a 120-frame movie, and many fans from other places also went to these two movie theaters to watch the movie. With only two 120-frame screens with technical specifications,
achieved a total of 30 million ticket sales in the two cinemas, accounting for 18% of the film’s total box office in the country.
may also be such a box office performance, so that China has the confidence to launch the CINITY system this year to meet the wider demand for high frame rate viewing.
In the CINITY cinema, the Mexican car chase in "Gemini Killer", the melee combat in the crypt, as well as the final shootout and explosion fragments, all brought the audience an unprecedented new viewing experience. Lu Yang, the director of the
"Embroidered Spring Knife" series, said in an interview with "People" after attending the film premiere that "120 frames will definitely be a direction for the film." Huang Jiakang, director of
"White Snake: Origin", believes that "120-frame technology is not the only one. While we are developing technology, we are not saying that we have denied the 24-frame technology, but that we have one more possibility to choose. ".
And objectively speaking, compared with the situation in the three years of "Midfield War", CINITY's technology has made great progress. The equipment introduced by
"Intermediate Story" three years ago is not compatible with ordinary movies, and can only be dismantled after broadcasting and left aside, which is a "one-off sale". The CINITY cinema system is compatible and can also play ordinary 24 frame movies. The cost of hardware such as
, including 3D glasses, is also lower than that of "The Midfield". "
" used Dolby 3D glasses in the previous "Midfield War", and the cost of a pair is five or six hundred yuan. Taking Hall 1 of the Shanghai Studio as an example, considering the loss rate, we usually prepare for 1,058 seats. 1500 glasses, which is a lot of money in itself. This time "Gemini Killer" uses ordinary polarized 3D glasses, and the cost is less than ten yuan, which is a big saving." Zhu Hong said.
Where is the next high frame rate movie? "Chinese Women's Volleyball" is expected to follow up
In addition to cost and technology, the supply of high frame rate film sources is also an important factor affecting the promotion of CINITY. After "Gemini Killer", where is the next high frame rate movie?
Li Ang said that as long as there are people willing to invest, he will keep shooting. He is still eager to shoot the boxing movie "Battle of Manila" with 120 frames.
However, two consecutive 120-frame movies have suffered box office failures. Whether "Battle of Manila" can get the support of investors, or whether it will be shot at 120 frames, may have many questions.
In Hollywood, Cameron is trying to shoot "Avatar 2" at a high frame rate, but the frame rate of the film may only be 48 frames, and the release cycle has been repeatedly delayed.
also considered this before the launch of CINITY. According to Huaxia, during the research and development, there is an industry chain design for shooting and producing high frame rate movies, and it will devote itself to developing more high frame rate film sources. Mainly domestic films, Huaxia Films is responsible for selecting suitable films into CINITY format.
According to the understanding of DreamWorks, the "Chinese Women's Volleyball Team" scheduled for the first day of the new year next year will also be filmed in a high frame rate format.
According to China's plan, there will be 24 high-frame-rate movies in 2020, increasing to 36 in 2021, and 48 in 2022. "China Films said that it will strive to achieve full-year coverage, and high frame rate movies will be broadcast in our CINITY cinema every month." Zhu Hong said. The
high frame rate movie will be a very rapid increase from one movie in three years to 24 movies in a year. Whether it can be realized smoothly is not only related to the prospect of the CINITY cinema system, but also related to whether the logic of the entire ecology of high frame rate film technology can truly be spoken.
Perhaps as Ang Lee and other filmmakers are concerned, cinemas are currently facing the impact of online platforms. Introducing a high-standard cinema is one of the few ways to keep the audience in the cinema.
