Rhino Entertainment Original
Article｜Editor by Xiaofu｜Piao Fang
" Avatar 2" really has more than three hours?
A few days ago, a number of overseas information websites showed that "Avatar: The Way of Water" (hereinafter referred to as "Avatar 2") has 190 minutes of information. Even if the length of the end credits is removed, the content of the main film is about 180 minutes, a full three hours, which confirms the information disclosed by director James Cameron to "Empire" magazine.
, this much-watched Hollywood blockbuster has officially announced that it will be released in many countries and regions around the world from December 16th. Although the mainland is not currently included, according to the relevant news signals that flowed out some time ago, the probability of the mainland introducing or even being released simultaneously is not low.
After the length information of the film was exposed, there were a lot of discussions on the audience's tolerance on the Internet. As early as a few months ago, Cameron had already hit back in an interview, and he didn't care how much the length of the film would affect.
The director is confident and confident. Whether the audience in the mainland market will buy it is another matter.
Audience: Bend and stretch
"I don't want to hear anyone bemoan the length of the show, after all they can sit down and watch for eight hours."
As Cameron said, in enough content In front of the audience, sitting for two hours or three hours does not make much difference to the audience, and the audience in the mainland market is no exception.
The box office figures of many films are sufficient to prove this point.
, the current box-office champion " Changjin Lake ", which was released on National Day last year, has a length of 176 minutes. The unique schedule environment and high degree of completion have helped the film to reverse the decline for seven consecutive days in the National Day file, and it has been smooth. It won 5.775 billion box office. In terms of films introduced by
, the current box-office champion “Avengers 4: Endgame” (hereinafter referred to as “ Avengers 4”), which is currently the box office champion in mainland China, has a length of 181 minutes, which is basically the same as “Avatar 2”. class.
relied on the strong audience base accumulated by Marvel's ten-year layout. At that time, when the film premiered in the mainland, it was difficult to find a ticket at zero point, and the ticket price even rose to 300 yuan or more, which became a hot topic for the whole people at that time. Even so, the enthusiasm of the audience was overwhelming, and finally the film's box office hit 4.25 billion yuan.
In addition, "Avatar 2" is not the longest of Cameron's own films. The "Titanic" directed by him is as long as 194 minutes, and the cumulative box office of the two rounds in the mainland is also 1.306 billion yuan. And even the first "Avatar" is actually a 162-minute "feature film" - this does not prevent the film from earning a total box office of 1.715 billion yuan in the mainland.
In addition to these more representative films, the number of films with longer lengths is also on the rise in recent years.
casually look at the top few box office charts every year, " me and my father " 158 minutes, " me and my hometown " 153 minutes, " Changjin Lake Water Gate Bridge " 149 minutes, "" Yaobai " 147 minutes...a good movie, tens of minutes more and less than tens of minutes is really not a big hindrance.
Of course, this evaluation standard is in the hands ofIn the hands of the audience, the 179-minute "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", which was re-screened last year, accidentally rolled over. It was originally intended to be re-released as a classic film that boosted the vitality of the market, but it was unexpectedly questioned by the audience, not to mention the decline in ratings, and many people complained that "the content is dragged and the film is too long".
The introduction film " New Batman " released in the first half of this year is also a 175-minute atypical superhero movie. Under the influence of multiple factors such as content and market, the film received only 163 million at the mainland box office, with a Maotao score of 8.0.
Objectively speaking, three hours is not a "short time" for every audience, and it is a problem to arrange the viewing time reasonably. Therefore, for films whose content is not so in line with the taste of the movie, the length of the film is too long, which obviously becomes a deduction item.
So what about Avatar 2?
is a sequel that stands on the shoulders of giants. Even after 13 years, it is still a compelling enough existence. Both mainland audiences and overseas markets have very high expectations for this film. The fact that the filmmakers selected the Christmas file, an important time comparable to the Spring Festival file, for release in North America can also show their great confidence in the film.
In addition, the number of new films in the mainland market has plummeted since the beginning of this year, and only a handful of Hollywood blockbusters have been introduced, and mainland audiences' enthusiasm for "Avatar 2" will also increase accordingly.
Why sit for three hours for a good movie?
Cinema: Must choose
Audiences are not afraid to watch feature films, but the pressure is on the cinema.
First of all, the most direct impact of the 190-minute ultra-long film length is the number of daily screenings.
Converted according to the length of ordinary movies, the duration of "Avatar 2" is basically equivalent to the volume of one and a half movies. Although it is possible to improve the ranking efficiency by cutting off the end of the film, it will inevitably reduce the number of daily rankings.
In the most ideal state, the release time of "Avatar 2" coincides with the Chinese New Year. If the market returns to normal, there will be many films competing for the same period. Even if the film is postponed, there will be "chasing and blocking" of new films on New Year's Day in the future. What to arrange and how to arrange it, theater practitioners can study it carefully.
Secondly, in addition to the reduction of the number of screenings due to the super-long film length, there is also an increase in the ticket price of a single game. This is the inevitability of the laws of the market.
is like the Spring Festival stalls with high ticket prices every year. It is the relationship between supply and demand that determines that special films in special times will inevitably have high prices. There was "Reunion 4" 3 years ago, "Avatar" 13 years ago, and the upcoming "Avatar 2" will definitely have it.
On the one hand, the longer film length determines that the theater will consider related cost losses in the ticket sales process, thereby raising the unit price of the ticket. This is a phenomenon that occurs in theaters in every market around the world.
On the other hand, the "Avatar" series, as a film at the "industrial and technological revolution" level in the film industry, single-handedly opened the 3D era of the global film market in the first film, and this sequel continues to subvert the standard of the film industry. , using a full-frame camera 4K digital photography technology and a shooting format of 48 frames per second. The 3D presentation of the underwater world, which will be the main stage of the story, is also the most concerned part of "Avatar 2".
, as a blockbuster with huge investment in visual effects, the special hall with better viewing experience is naturally the main selling point, and it may even be like the previous "Avatar".
The law of the market cannot be reversed. Whether the audience eats this set depends entirely on Cameron's craftsmanship.
Conclusion
It is true that for a project of such magnitude as "Avatar 2", no matter what the content is, no matter what the final schedule is, the fact that it can be released is already positive enough.
Now all the worries we are talking about are like "happy troubles", the first is to introduce the fixed file first. Fortunately,
has cooperated with China Film to hold a CINITY technology demonstration seminar a few months ago through the film, and it is clear that the film will be added to the high frame rate CINITY version when it is released in China. From this point of view, the probability of "Avatar 2" being released in the mainland market is not low.
Although considering negative factors such as the low popularity of the film market at this stage and the decline in audience enthusiasm caused by the rebound of the epidemic in various places, it is difficult for "Avatar 2" to refresh the introduction film created by "Reunion 4" in 2019. Box office records. But it is not too difficult to win the box office champion of an annual introduction film steadily.
After all, our movie market desperately needs new movies.
There are many signals now that the mainland film market is not far from the end of this wave of film shortages. We still have a lot of good projects waiting to meet the audience, and once the turnaround comes, everything will be fine.
Let's hold our nerves and wait a little longer.
