Chao News Client Commentator Zhu Zheping
The film market continues to return to prosperity. On January 1, the National Film Administration announced that the total national film box office in 2023 would be 54.915 billion yuan, of which domestic film box office would be 46.005 billion yuan, accounting for 83.77%; the number of moviegoers in urban theaters would be 1.299 billion. This is the first time since the epidemic that the annual box office of Chinese movies has returned to a high of 50 billion yuan. The recognition of audiences spending real money to buy tickets is the best proof of the strong recovery of our country's film market and has greatly enhanced the confidence of the Chinese film market.
It is worth mentioning that domestic films have dominated the top ten at the domestic box office, overwhelming imported films. A number of domestic films, such as "Amores", "The Wandering Earth 2", "All or Nothing" and "The Lost Girl", are rich in genres and diverse in subject matter. They may pay attention to social reality, focus on traditional culture, or demonstrate first-class production standards to meet the diverse viewing needs of the audience. , attracting many movie fans to "second-time" and "third-time" fans. These "acclaimed and well-received" films demonstrate the vitality of the Chinese film market and also show us the audience's favor for domestic films that tell local stories.
Some of the most popular domestic films in recent years have focused on local realism themes. For example, "Desperate" focuses on transnational criminal activities such as online fraud, setting off a "national anti-fraud" craze, and its strong topicality has become the film's "traffic password"; "The Disappearance" relies on its profound insights into female topics and violent social events. "The Octagonal Cage", which is adapted from a true story, explores the stories of small people and creates a group of touching grassroots characters.
These realistic-themed films, with their observations of social reality and writing of individual emotions, have successfully aroused a high degree of discussion and emotional resonance among the audience. Movies are the most intuitive and vivid artistic presentation of an era. These films sell well at the box office and are constantly discussed, proving that they are rooted in real life and use a sincere attitude to create films that are close to the masses and close to life, without worrying about lack of market and reputation.
Some films mine rich minerals from the soil of reality, while others draw nutrients from traditional culture. The animated film "Chang'an 30,000 Miles" uses Tang poetry as the medium, uses romanticism to show the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and conveys the beauty of China's excellent traditional culture; "Fengshen Part 1: Chaoge Fengyun" is adapted from classical literature and re-creates it from a contemporary perspective. Interpreting "the Chinese people's own mythological epic". What is surprising is that these films use "hard-core" production standards and special effects technology to support cultural expression and greatly enrich the magnificent imagination of Chinese traditional culture. This is also a reflection of the progress of China's film industrialization level.
These films have achieved good box-office and word-of-mouth reviews. The revelation is that for the film industry, China’s excellent traditional culture has never been a pile of old scraps, but an inexhaustible cultural treasure house. We must persist in promoting the creative transformation of excellent traditional culture. , innovative development will surely awaken the cultural genes flowing in the blood of the Chinese people, show strong market appeal, and will also be the confidence for Chinese films to open up the international market.
The development of Chinese films today reflects abundant market vitality and sustainable innovation capabilities. However, it is still important to realize that China's film market as a whole is still in a recovery period. The movie box office in 2023 has increased significantly by 70% compared with the past three years, but has not yet returned to the peak of 64.266 billion yuan in 2019.
What is gratifying is that the latest data shows that the box office of New Year's Day movies in 2024 reached 1.533 billion yuan, setting a new New Year's Day box office record and giving us higher expectations for the 2024 movie market. Rooted in the Chinese people's own history and reality, telling every story with heart and emotion, and overcoming obstacles step by step on the road to film industrialization, I believe that Chinese films will surely create more "record-breaking moments."
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