's National Day file this year is undoubtedly the coldest in recent years. The coldness of
is first reflected in the number of videos. After 's "King of the Sky" was withdrawn, the top commercial blockbuster was only " Homecoming ", and the box office of " Ordinary Hero " and " Iron Will " has still not exceeded 100 million.
Secondly, in the first three days of the holiday, the total box office of the film market was 784 million, the lowest since the same period in 2017. 's box office of 600 million in a single day in the first two years is visually impossible to reproduce in the short term.
This year's National Day file, the head effect is particularly obvious. In previous years, although the head was eaten with meat and the waist was eaten with soup, there was more or less minced meat in the soup. This year, it has become a clear soup with little water.
In 2019, " Me and My Motherland " competed with " China Captain ", and the final box office of " Climber ", which did not meet expectations, also broke 1 billion; in 2020, " Jiang Ziya " " I and my hometown compete for the crown, not to mention " wins the championship ", the dark horse film " is home at one point " has also attracted a lot of attention.
This year, outside of "The Journey Home", it seems to be empty.
The average ticket price on the first day of the National Day stall this year was 41.3 yuan, compared with 46.5 yuan in the same period last year. The number of viewers on the first day was 6.45 million, compared with 13.53 million in the same period last year. Not to mention the difference between 260 million and 630 million at the box office on the first day.
This is not a good sign. The National Day stall has officially become a three-pronged stall with the Spring Festival stall and the summer stall, which started in 2019. That year, "My Motherland and Me", "Captain of China" and "The Climber", "Three Horses in the Same Slot", pulled the single-day box office of the National Day file from 300 million to 800 million. It is also from the National Day in 2019 that the schedule has gradually become the most important factor in determining the box office cap of a film.
Now, seeing such a big schedule, there are not enough good films to enter the market, just like a farmer seeing a large tract of fertile land abandoned...
The market is cold, but if you think about it carefully, you don't need to be too pessimistic. For one thing, this year's National Day film was decided too suddenly. The schedule is set a week before the screening, and almost all movies are too late to promote, and "naked hair" will inevitably affect the box office. Secondly, the coldness of the movie market does not mean that the audience has lost confidence in the Chinese movie . The cat's eye prediction of " alone on the moon " has achieved a reversed drop. In mid-September, it was less than 3 billion, and September 30 became a 3.123 billion.
However, there are still some issues worth exploring. For example, why is it the same as the main theme movie, "The Way Home" can overwhelm "Ordinary Heroes" and "Iron Will", and become the "standard king" of this year's National Day file? How should the main theme movie be made to attract the audience to the greatest extent? What kind of warnings did this year's National Day file provide?
The main theme of the commercial blockbuster is further advanced
This year's National Day file is supported by "Homecoming". Not only is it reflected in the box office, but more importantly, "Homecoming" has found a way to commercialize the main theme movie that is completely different from platter movies and "Bona-style" blockbusters.
The main theme commercial blockbusters in the past few years generally have two types. One is a platter movie represented by "My Motherland and Me", "My Hometown and Me", " Me and My Father ", and the other is "Chinese Captain", " Chinese Doctor ", "" "Changjin Lake " as the main theme of "Bona style". These two types are fundamentally different.
The former is based on the main theme, and it just absorbs the narrative of genre films to enhance its appeal; the latter, first of all, is the commercial film , which is what we often call genre films, but injects patriotism, nationalism and other functions. The factors that cause the public emotional resonance are all like "Wolf Warrior 2", " Red Sea Operation " and " Wandering Earth ".
"Homecoming" is a standard theme movie, but it's more dramatic than a genre movie. Even, its plot is better than "Wolf Warrior", which is also a evacuation film.2" has ups and downs. What's even more rare about
is that it doesn't have any catharsis of personal heroism. In 2022, superheroes are gradually being abandoned by Chinese audiences. "Wolf Warrior 2" is released this year, and it may not be able to create a myth of 5 billion box office. This is not only reflected in domestic movies, but also because of the coldness of " New Batman " in China.
Actually, the situation of the three main theme movies on National Day this year can give us three inspirations.
is the first, the main theme of the movie wants to make people emotional, first of all, it must be restrained.
A good story must have a theme, and the process of telling should let go of the theme. A few years ago, someone summed up the acting skills of Huang Xiaoming , as long as he doesn't think he is handsome, he is the most handsome. The same goes for good sensational films. If a movie wants to have empathy , the first step is to learn restraint. If the husband does not fight, the world cannot fight with him.
"Homecoming" does this very well, and this is where it goes further than the other two main theme movies. The whole movie has only the opening and ending, when Zhang Yi shouted "raise the flag in your hand, I will take you home", it makes people feel that this is a main theme movie. Other times, the drama takes over the story.
The most embarrassing scene in "Ordinary Heroes" should be a group of people singing "Wahaha" on the plane. As netizens said, after producing the main theme blockbuster for several years, Bona's business skills have become perfect, but this scene is a bit self-defeating. Singing after escaping in "Captain China" is in line with reality. What is singing here?
Second, shooting grand narratives, rather than deliberately aiming the camera at small people, it is better to boldly go deep into group issues. The most dramatic episodes of
"The Journey Home" are the two Russian turntables. Zong Dawei (played by Zhang Yi)'s personal growth is written through the before and after comparison between daring to shoot and daring to shoot. But in my opinion, the most empathetic part of the whole film is the process of a group of people going to Dillat. This is a journey of "Learning the Scriptures from the West". There are also groups in
"Ordinary Heroes", but they are photographed as symbols. When they need evil drives, they mess around, either stand on the moral high ground to criticize others, or curse because they are woken up; when they need kind support, they become representatives of positive energy. The chameleon -like performance makes people suspect that "Ordinary Heroes" and "Chinese Captain" are the same group of passengers.
Third, the main theme movie is not the same as the science and education movie. Only when it is dramatic can the audience enter the theater. The essential reason why
"Ordinary Heroes" failed to reproduce the former glory of the "Bona-style theme" is flat. This is a movie that you can guess from beginning to end after reading the synopsis. Moreover, the events it focuses on are not as profound as "Chinese Captain" and "Chinese Doctor". Without a dramatic story, it is destined to have no memory points.
"Iron Will" also had this problem. The biggest problem with this movie is that it's old. The subject matter is outdated, the story is outdated, the routine is outdated, and the performance is outdated.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Hollywood made a series of "promote our country" style films. Among them, there is a movie called " fantasy nuclear war " that I remember vividly. The United States mistakenly shot a nuclear bomb at Moscow in the former Soviet Union. When the bomber was still unable to return home after all its efforts, the president of the United States ordered the nuclear bomb to be shot at New York.
Movies are of course just movies, and the reality of life cannot be compared to the reality of art. Your soldiers are unswerving in carrying out your orders, and I will take the bottom line under the checks and balances of my power. This brings a staggering theatrical experience, but also triggers fear and reverie about peace.
In the final analysis, literary and artistic creation is to add the wings of imagination, transcend the fetters of reality, and reach the heights of extraordinary rise. The various existing glue sticks and nitpicking have constituted a huge impediment to the development of domestic films.
National Day file brings two thoughts
This year's National Day file, there are 7 movies released. There are only one and a half episodes that have attracted attention: a "Return of Thousand Miles",Half of "Ordinary Heroes", "New Big Head Son and Little Head Dad 5: My Alien Friend" is a bonus. This series is usually released in the summer, with a fixed audience, and the box office is constant at around 100 million.
The three main theme movies of this year's National Day file are not products of the same era in essence. The "Iron Will" style is the oldest, and the ideal release date for this film is 1992. "Ordinary Heroes" is still Bona's traditional production method, which is not successful, but the audience has not received much. "Homecoming" is the most "advanced" one, and it makes the main theme movie a key step in a strong plot.
Through this National Day file, industry practitioners can get at least two inspirations.
First of all, it is undeniable that the main theme movie still has the potential to achieve a high box office (Maoyan Professional Edition predicts that the box office of "The Journey" is 1.713 billion), but this schedule should have more abundant types entering the market.
This year's National Day file is the most homogenized National Day file in recent years. In 2016 National Day, there were romance films " passing by from your world" and action films " Mekong action "; in 2017, there were comedy films " shy iron fist " and " sewing machine band ". ", and " England vs. "; in 2018, there were the crime film " Wushuang ", and the comedy " Li Cha's Aunt "; in 2019, there were "Me and My Motherland" and "Chinese Captain" "; in 2020, the animation blockbuster "Jiang Ziya" will compete with the platter movie "My Hometown and Me" and the sports blockbuster "Win the Championship"; ". If the homogenization is serious, it is easy to create a sense of fatigue.
Secondly, in this era when propaganda determines the basic plate and quality determines the high point, suddenly setting the file is equivalent to moving the starting line back by 50 meters.
This National Day file, there is also a special movie, that is, the disaster movie "Search and Rescue" which was released on a staggered peak.
When "Homecoming", "Ordinary Heroes" and "Iron Will" were all set for September 30, "Search and Rescue" chose to be released on October 3. Some people may think that the opponents in the early stage are too sharp, and it is always good to avoid the limelight. However, the premise of staggered release to achieve high box office is that the film must have a certain appeal. The National Day holiday is only 7 days away, the winner has already achieved the lead, and the budget of non-deep movie fans has been spent. It is not easy to arouse the enthusiasm of watching a movie for a child-seeking movie. In fact, "Search and Rescue" made less than 5 million at the box office on its first day of release.
If nothing else, the total box office of this year's National Day file probably won't break 2 billion. Compared with 4.466 billion in 2019, 3.637 billion in 2020, and 4.387 billion in 2021, it can be described as a cliff-like decline. "Lonely Walking on the Moon" proves that the audience's basic market is still there, and the downturn of the National Day file reflects the problem of insufficient supply.
Douban has a topic: Why don't you watch cinema movies? Practitioners may be able to find the answer from the 299 articles under the topic.
[Text/Ma Er]
