Picture source @Visual China
text | Rhino Entertainment, author | Nan Rumin, editor | Pu Fang
2023 has finally come to an end. Although the film market has many unsatisfactory results, it still gave a qualified answer.
finally ended in 2023 with a total box office of nearly 55 billion, ranking fourth in history, second only to 2017, 2018, and 2019. However, it has made great progress compared with the three years of 2020, 2021, and 2022 during the epidemic. Overall, there are still many bright spots in the market's recovery, but there is still a certain distance between being truly healthy and returning to normal levels. Overall, the movie market in 2023 has the following characteristics.
beginning, end and middle
In fact, looking at the box office distribution throughout 2023, polarization is the core word. On weekdays, the market was only at the 20 million level, and it lasted for a long time. Although the lower limit is insufficient, the overall upper limit is still good. The uneven situation of hot and cold actually proves that the purchasing power of the audience is beginning to be insufficient, and they have more stringent requirements for screening movies.
Specifically, there are three highlight moments in 2023, namely the beginning of the year, the end of the year and the middle, that is, the Spring Festival period at the beginning of the year, the New Year's Day period at the end of the year, and the summer period in the middle. In addition, almost all schedules this year have shown an obvious downward trend, which cannot support the market at all. In a sense, this differentiation of schedules also means differentiation of film sources and purchasing power.
html During the Spring Festival in early 2000, it suddenly became the annual box office champion and runner-up. "Man Jiang Hong" and "The Wandering Earth 2" were comparable to Mars hitting the earth, killing the sky and the earth, and finally achieved a perfect win-win, both earning 4 billion + volume. This once again proves that as long as it has quality and buzz, a movie can always be a hit, and the Spring Festival release also proves that it is still the well-deserved No. 1 release in the mainland. The surprises brought by the summer schedule behindare so great that they will even hold up half of the sky in 2023. Throughout the summer, various small dark horses, medium dark horses, and big dark horses were born. In short, it is a gathering place for dark horses. Among them, "Desperate" and "She Disappeared" both achieved astonishing results of more than 3.5 billion, ranking third and fourth respectively in the year.
, including the following "Feng Shen", "Octagonal Cage", and "Chang'an Thirty Thousand Miles", are ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively in the year. This means that the summer movie has ranked 3rd to 7th in the year. Monopoly. It will also include projects with a total value of 600-900 million, such as "Hot", "The Meg 2", "Transformers 7", "School Dad", etc. This epic performance in the summer season is unprecedented.
Finally, it is the New Year’s Eve period that ends the year. Although the entire Lunar New Year period is sluggish, the New Year’s Eve performance is still explosive, laying a solid foundation for the end of 2023. In "Twinkle Twinkle Star" and "The Annual Party Can't Stop!" Driven by films such as ", it finally succeeded in earning more than 700 million on the last day of 2023, breaking the previous record. You must know that for the sluggish 2023, any record is extremely precious.
The First Year of the Hollywood Collapse
In fact, since the epidemic, the Hollywood movie market has been declining at a speed visible to the naked eye, but there is an essential difference between decline and halving. 2023 can be said to be the first year of the collapse of Hollywood movies. It can be described as horrific. The once arrogant "Hole Tiger" was completely defeated, and concepts such as the Protection Month that came into being have also completely withdrawn from history. stage.
mentioned here, it is no longer a simple decline. Various cuts, knee cuts, and even "foot cuts" are emerging in endlessly. Various situations that fall below the lower limit, unexpected situations, and unheard of feats are all in 2023. happened. Hollywood has been completely eliminated by mainstream audiences. It can be said that after the epidemic, the underlying logic of Chinese audiences' movie viewing has undergone major changes.
Since the introduction of split-account films in 1993, Hollywood blockbusters have been unstoppable. For a long time, only a dozen or so films a year were able to suppress hundreds of domestic films, accounting for more than half of the share.In particular, "Titanic", "Avatar", the "Transformers" series, the "Avengers" series, etc. have supported the market and allowed the Chinese people to see what a blockbuster is. Looking back at it now, I feel extremely sad, maybe Hollywood movies have really come to an end.
(Performance of Hollywood blockbusters this year)
Let’s take a look at the tragic Hollywood blockbusters this year. They are completely miserable, with declines ranging from 70% to 90%. Such an astonishing diving range is unprecedented. Among them, the Marvel blockbuster "Captain Marvel 2" only received a volume of just over 100 million. You must know that the previous game made a box office of more than 1 billion, and it actually dropped by nearly 90%.
Looking at the entire Hollywood blockbusters throughout the year, the decline of superheroes is among the "hardest hit areas". From "Shazam 2" and "Black Panther 2" to the currently released "Aquaman 2", all have dropped by 80%. Initially, the audience's attitude towards these films changed 180 degrees in a short period of time. You must know that the gods from "Avengers 4" seem to be right in front of you.
In other aspects, veteran IPs such as "Mission: Impossible 7" have also declined seriously. Including "Fast and Furious 10", which dropped 63% from its peak; "Transformers 7" dropped 67% from the series' high point. It can be said that sharp decline has become a common trend. For future Hollywood blockbusters, 1 billion is already the ceiling level. It will no longer be possible to earn 2 billion or 3 billion. It is completely different from the size of domestic films.
2023, a year of great policy liberalization
2023 has too much special significance and has many characteristics. It is not only the first year after the epidemic, but also a year of great policy liberalization. In order to complete the recovery of the industry, the above-mentioned policy tilt is still very powerful. The relaxation of censorship has undoubtedly greatly stimulated the film market. The most obvious point is "destocking".
From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, projects that had never been reviewed have had the opportunity to see the light of day one by one. Even some movies around 2018 have been released one after another, many of which contain some sensitive themes. Therefore, the policy orientation in 2023 is still very obvious. In order to make the market recover, it can be said that no matter what the cost, it can be said.
From "When the Wind Rises Again" and "Unbroken" at the beginning of the year to "The Gods", "Super Family", "All or Nothing" in the summer, and then to "The Eighth Suspect", these movies have been released again, It is undoubtedly the key to the rapid recovery of the market, including the support of large-scale projects such as "All or Nothing" and "Fengshen". The market increase guided by policies is very obvious.
The National Day film "Solid as a Rock" undoubtedly pushed it to a climax. The large-scale subject matter made the audience very enjoyable to watch, and then the subsequent "Wading in the Angry Sea" is famous for its sensitive subject matter. The projects are all movies that have been in the inventory for four or five years. The return of these movies to the big screen is the biggest change and feature of the film industry in 2023.
In the end, 2023 started with the battle between "Man Jiang Hong" and "The Wandering Earth 2", transitioned in the explosive summer schedule, and finally ended successfully with the audience following the New Year's Eve with "Twinkle Twinkle Star". In imperfection, it is infinitely close to perfection. We look forward to better performance of Chinese films in 2024.
