The most myth-creating schedule for Chinese movies is the Spring Festival.
"Spring Festival" is a battleground for military strategists, and almost every year's box office champion comes from it.
It is worth mentioning that the 2024 Spring Festival stalls are still very different from previous Spring Festival stalls. It seems to be full of energy and ready to go.
On the one hand, comedy is still the mainstream. Of the eight films currently scheduled, six are comedies.
On the other hand, there are strong returns from familiar directors and classic sequels from well-known directors.
The confrontation between the new and the old, the mysterious and well-known PK, is destined to spark sparks during this Spring Festival.
Based on the currently disclosed materials and trailers, Mr. Tomato will give you a preview of the currently scheduled movies.
1. Zhang Yimou: Last year’s box office king, can he successfully defend his title this year?
Last year was definitely a good year for Zhang Yimou .
"Man Jiang Hong" during the Spring Festival successfully took in a box office of 4.544 billion, becoming the box office champion in 2023.
"Sturdy as a Rock" was released during the National Day holiday and grossed 1.351 billion at the box office, breaking into the top ten in the annual box office list.
The two movies occupied the two biggest schedules during the Spring Festival and National Day, and won the most box office during this period. It must be said that the older Zhang Yimou gets, the more creative he becomes.
As for the 2024 Spring Festival, he brought his own "Article 20" to be scheduled first.
Zhang Yimou understands his audience, and you can tell from this poster.
One word: Lively.
The poster on the front page must have full confidence in the lineup.
From this festive red poster, we can almost see "half of the world" in the entertainment industry.
powerful actors include Lei Jiayin, Zhang Yi, Zhao Liying, Li Naiwen, Wang Xiao, Xu Yajun and so on.
Comedian stars gathered together, Ma Li, Pan Binlong, Qiao Shan, Jiang Shimeng, Wang Peilu all appeared.
Old drama stars include Yu Hewei, Fan Wei, Ding Yongdai, Chen Minghao and so on.
One poster, 21 actors, involved in all circles, even the sister-in-law Gao Ye was placed second only to the c position.
There is no doubt that this lineup is aiming for the championship.
I would like to say that "Man Jiang Hong" accurately grasps the pulse of history and attracts the audience in a comedy way.
The "Article 20" accurately judged the contradictions in society, and then hit the point with a funny story.
The story revolves around Lei Jiayin prosecutor Han Ming. A hugely divergent case in his hands has become the mainstream of the story, just like the other name of the film "Justified Defense".
This plot has a natural sense of story and drama, and at the same time it can arouse the audience's emotions. There is a lot of space for shooting.
In the whirlpool of legal principles and human nature, Zhang Yimou not only produced a lot of jokes, but also captured the crux of social issues.
Of course, it is impossible to reveal too many details of the story for the time being.
But Mr. Tomato believes in Zhang Yimou’s ability to control the film. This film will be the film with the greatest potential to win the box office during the Spring Festival, and Zhang Yimou will most likely have the last laugh.
02, Han Han: After the fourth round of the Spring Festival, the talent of the talented young man is still there?
, as a representative of writing and excellence, Han Han and Guo Jingming have taken two completely different paths.
Guo Jingming has long since disappeared from the big screen, and Han Han has not been seen for a long time.
This time's " Flying Life 2" is the clarion call for Han Han's strong return.
2019's "Flying Life" is not only a funny story, but also very interesting.
Han Han was also very smart, leaving the end of the movie to Zhang Chi’s final highlight.
Although the ending does not specify Zhang Chi’s life or death, this open ending also gives Han Han room to continue filming the story of "Flying Life".
But judging from the brief introduction of the story, "Flying Life 2" does not seem to be a sequel to the previous work, but a prequel.
The structure of the story is very simple. It tells the funny story of the down-and-out driver Zhang Chi who formed a grassroots team to compete in the Bayinbrook Rally.
Han Han obviously knows the influence of the previous work on "Flying Life 2". Even the trailer is edited between the two movies.
Judging from the picture, it is still the story of racing and the flavor of Han Han.
You must know that "Flying Life" once created the myth of 1 billion box office in 5 days.
But "Four Seas" made the audience's filter for Han Han shattered. There is obviously no market for scar literature. What "Flying Life 2" needs is to combine the passion of racing and the unrestrained comedy and release them together.
Mr. Tomato is only worried about two problems.
At the actor level, everyone is worried about the issue of "content". If the content is not high enough, "Flying Life 2" will be disappointing.
In addition, compared to "Four Seas", Shen Teng's son changed from Liu Haoran to Fan Chengcheng . The addition of traffic stars is a double-edged sword. He can bring a huge fan viewing group, but if Poor performance may also lead to a negative reputation for the movie.
This is a risky move.
In terms of story, Mr. Tomato hopes that this is the legendary story of a generation of drivers, rather than the lonely memories of the previous car god.
Don’t let the audience feel sad in the theater during the Chinese New Year.
03. Ning Hao: When black comedy meets Andy, what dazzling sparks can be created?
Everyone's impression of director Ning Hao may still be based on "Crazy Stone", "Blissful" and "Crazy Alien".
But in fact, many popular movies this year have Ning Hao behind them. Ning Hao is the producer and executive producer of "Desperate", which created a craze in the summer; Ning Hao also serves as the executive producer of Yu Hewei's "Second Hand Masterpiece".
During the Spring Festival, Ning Hao collaborated with Andy Lau and returned to directing. This " Mr. Red Carpet " is a must-see in the opinion of Mr. Tomato.
In the movie, not only the king Andy Lau is in charge, but also Ning Hao’s unique satirical art.
The story tells that Andy Lau has been in the film industry for many years, but has never won any film awards. In order to gain fame and fortune, he unconscionably starred in peasant themes, and then caused many farces.
This time Ning Hao not only directed, but also participated in the performance, playing the role of director Lin Hao.
Judging from the tone of the story, Ning Hao spared no effort in domestic entertainment and even in satirizing the entire entertainment industry. Many details in the
film reveal the focus of this satire.
For example: The life of a star on the street is completely different from his private life, and his personality is always concave.
For example: actors who join the group with money will insert advertisements all the time.
The unspoken rules for celebrities in the entertainment industry to date beautiful internet celebrities, etc.
In addition to the content level, "Mr. Red Carpet" has other different meanings.
Ning Hao's initial success was due to Andy Lau's investment. He has always wanted to attract Andy Lau to collaborate on a movie.
Then there was "Mr. Red Carpet".
After "Stealth", Andy Lau plays a villain again, which can be said to have completely wiped out domestic entertainment stars.
And the film does not just stop at satirizing the phenomenon. Ning Hao almost uses his own lens to express his confusion and creation over the years. Dilemmas are all put on the big screen.
This makes "Mr. Red Carpet" have the comedy of the "Crazy" series, but also has a certain degree of satire and depth.
However, it is still unknown whether such a film will be popular during the Spring Festival.
Andy Lau still has appeal, but the prerequisite is that it must be a good movie.
Mr. Tomato certainly chooses to believe in Ning Hao, and also hopes that this Spring Festival episode "Mr. Red Carpet" can cause a catfish effect and intensify competition in the entire market!
04, Jia Ling : She lost 100 pounds and made a mysterious return. Do you want to recreate the box office myth of female themes?
In 2021, the film "Hello, Li Huanying" made the fledgling Jia Ling become the hottest female director in China.
But Jia Ling knew how to survive. After that, she lay dormant for three years. When no one was talking about her box office miracle, she came back with " Hot and Spicy " , which was directly scheduled for the Spring Festival.
Xuanfa Looking at the poster, it is obvious that Jia Ling is focusing on herself this time.
currently has two versions of posters released, one showing her chubby figure and the other showing her funny face.
Jia Ling knows that she has become a business card, and the "comeback" gimmick alone can bring more than 100 million box office to "Hot and Spicy".
And the topic "Jia Ling suddenly lost 100 pounds" has also filled the atmosphere of the entire social media and short videos.
Audiences are looking everywhere for her appearance after losing weight, but there is no exact photo exposed on the entire Internet, which shows how secretive Jia Ling is about publicity.
"Hot and Spicy" is still a female theme that Jia Ling is familiar with.
But in recent years, female themes have been poorly filmed. To create new ideas, we must start with the story itself.
The movie is adapted from "One Hundred Dollar Love" starring Sakura Ando . It tells the story of a useless heroine who changes her destiny through boxing.
Obviously in order to add inspirational elements, Jia Ling made appropriate adaptations to the story.
not only adds fitness inspirational plots, but also has many funny passages.
And just like her own figure, Jia Ling covers her head very tightly.
So far, it’s just one pull-up and one bench press. The jokes between the two are still the same type.
This also makes Mr. Tomato have two worries.
The first is the theme of "Hot and Spicy". Is it too much or not?
Because "Hello, Li Huanying" has a maternal love background and can arouse the audience's empathy, even if there are some clichés, the audience can accept it.
In comparison, the emotional rendering of "Hot and Spicy" may not be that strong. Once the mood fails and there are not many jokes, the movie's appeal to the audience will naturally decrease.
The second is a remake.
Among the movies released during the Spring Festival this year, only "Hot and Spicy" is a remake.
In recent years, there have been very few high-quality remakes.
abandoned the original script and used a remake as the basis. With Jia Ling's non-professional directing ability, it is very important whether it can be adapted appropriately and whether it can arouse the audience's emotions in the right place.
At present, without seeing the finished film, we cannot yet draw a conclusion.
But the combination of Jia Ling, Zhang Xiaofei, Lei Jiayin and is still very exciting.
If the movie catches on with local popularity, compared with other large-scale movies, "Hot" will definitely have the ability to compete.
05, Han Yan: The Spring Festival is about laughter and tears, but you need to rely on emotion to become the winner?
Although the Spring Festival schedule is suitable for liveliness and celebration, it does not mean that it cannot tolerate movies with tragic elements.
We often say that the core of comedy is tragedy, whether it is joy or sadness, it depends on how it is shot. As for the subject of "anti-cancer", it is the most reassuring to leave it to Han Yan.
As the final chapter of the "Trilogy of Life", "Let's Shake the Sun Together" can be released on the Spring Festival release, which is commendable.
First of all, being seriously ill and relaying life is inconsistent with the tone of the Spring Festival.
The story of the movie takes place between two young people who are seriously ill, one is the "brainless" student Lu Tu (played by Peng Yuchang), and the other is the "unhappy" student Ling Min (played by Li Gengxi).
The process and details of their getting along are the main content of this movie.
Whether a movie is happy or sad actually depends on how the director shoots it.
Judging from the trailers released so far, although it is a tragic story, the main background of "Let's Shake the Sun Together" is still comedy.
filmed the waiting for organ matching as a "video kidney transplant" segment, and also used extremely absurd techniques to create a conflict between two young people. Not only did they not seem to feel any discomfort, they also looked a bit coke.
Although it has serious elements and explores death and hope, like the other two films in Han Yan's "Life Trilogy", this film is healing and upward.
From this perspective, there is nothing wrong with "Let's Shake the Sun Together" being placed on the Spring Festival schedule.
Secondly, there are too many large-scale movies during the Spring Festival, and this kind of low-cost comedy is likely to accompany them.
Every year during the Spring Festival, attention and public opinion are focused on the works of great directors like Zhang Yimou.
Because the Spring Festival is a big time, there is a fundamental difference between small-scale and large-scale works in terms of promotion and lineup configuration.
The cake is so big. If it is divided by others, low-cost films may not even be able to pick up the dregs. This is a problem.
Two potential risks make many people not optimistic about this movie.
However, the fact that it can be released in the Spring Festival shows that the creators have full confidence in the quality of the film.
Director Han Yan has always been synonymous with "quality".
He is good at controlling delicate emotions and is good at photographing the small touches and small blessings in ordinary life that can touch ordinary people.
Not to mention others, one "Life Events" (producer) and one "I Love You" have moved thousands of netizens and also created a blockbuster effect. Once
's reputation ferments, a dark horse counterattack is not impossible.
Secondly, the pairing of Peng Yuchang and Li Gengxi are naturally popular with the audience.
Peng Yuchang has his own comedy attributes, and is developing more and more in the direction of Huang Bo, while Li Gengxi's sense of youth is a natural fit with the temperament of the film's heroine Ling Min.
Once a chemical reaction occurs, this movie will also have great power to stir up the situation during the Spring Festival.
Mr. Tomato is still looking forward to this.
06, Tang Jili: The founders of the Spring Festival stalls collaborate again, Jackie Chan Big Brother becomes younger and competes at the box office?
Jackie Chan and Tang Jili 's "Myth" prequel "Legend" has been confirmed to be added to the Spring Festival schedule.
being able to land on the Spring Festival schedule shows Tang Jili’s confidence in this movie.
In fact, Jackie Chan is the pioneer of the Spring Festival stalls, and "Red Zone", which started the Chinese New Year stalls, was a collaboration between Jackie Chan and Tang Jili.
Since then, it has been a long-cherished wish of many viewers to see Jackie Chan during the Spring Festival.
The story is a prequel to "The Myth". It tells the story of Professor Chen, an archaeological expert played by Jackie Chan, who accidentally discovered that the jade pendant worn by his students was very similar to the one worn by the woman in his dream, so he took the scientific expedition team on an adventure journey to find this mysterious woman. , a story that solves a mystery.
Regardless of the story structure or plot, it is very similar to the "Myth" of the year.
However, Jackie Chan, who was only 51 years old at the time, is 69 years old this year.
And the heroine who partners with him has also changed from Kim Hee Sun to Guli Naza .
Is this a twilight love story of a 70-year-old man?
has not yet been determined, but the film's promotion mentioned that AI technology will be used to return Jackie Chan to his appearance when he was 27 years old.
It is easy to make people look old, but it is difficult to restore youthful appearance from old age. I wonder whether the effect of "Legend" will be satisfactory.
Judging from the materials released so far, Mr. Tomato is still a little worried about this movie.
First of all, Fu Huadao looks full of scenery. Most of the scenes should not be shot in real life, but the effect of green screen cutout is not satisfactory.
So, from a distance, it has a sense of déjà vu from the web drama "Tomb Robbers Notes".
Furthermore, in a snow-capped mountain ice cave, everyone around him is wearing thick down jackets. What does it mean that this female team member has bare legs?
Secondly, Jackie Chan, who is nearly 70 years old, can he still fight? In the
trailer, Jackie Chan's fighting is indeed much slower. A large number of fighting scenes may be given to other young actors.
After all, age is there, and you can’t accept it.
However, if you watch a Jackie Chan movie and there is no Jackie Chan action, isn’t that just picking up sesame seeds and throwing away watermelons?
Many viewers will consider this question.
Therefore, the only thing that can make "Legend" stand out is quality. Tomato doesn’t dare to speculate on the current quality of
. Let’s wait and see for the film.
07, "Bear Bears" and "Pleasant Goat": the Spring Festival stalls for ten consecutive years, often surprises
"Bear Bears" and "Pleasant Goat" are the two peaks of domestic young animation IPs, and their status is almost unshakable.
Every year, the movie "Bear Bears" is a "must-have program" for children during the Chinese New Year, and sometimes there are even surprises.
Last year's "Bear Infested·Accompany Me "Bear Core"" Douban scored as high as .1 points .
The quality of this year's "Reverse Time and Space" should not be bad.
You must know that 0 movies of "Bear Bears" have been filmed.
Unconsciously, this IP has been with us for ten years. The first batch of children who watched "Bear Bears" have also grown up.
For families with children, "Bears" is undoubtedly the best choice.
For so many years, "Pleasant Goat", which is opposite to "Bear Bears", also has a place in the Spring Festival movie.
Over the years, "Bear Bears" and "Pleasant Goat" have been both friends and competitors.
Two IPs. The two movies often have direct confrontations, and this time is no exception.
However, the centralized release of the two cartoons also provides the most appropriate choice for children during the Spring Festival.
Mr. Tomato has summarized the eight movies that have been scheduled for the Spring Festival.
There may be new films added in the future, but the Spring Festival stalls are basically this big, and the pattern has been formed.
The first echelon: "Article 20" "Hot and Spicy"
The second echelon: "Flying Life 2" "Mr. Red Carpet" "Legend"
The third echelon: "Let's Shake the Sun Together" "Bear Infested" " Pleasant Goat》
This year’s Spring Festival is still a fierce battlefield.
Those familiar stars (Lei Jiayin, Shen Teng, Zhang Yi), familiar directors (Zhang Yimou, Han Han), familiar story structure - who can break out of the siege, and who can have the last laugh?
Mr. Tomato always believes that no matter how luxurious the cast is or how aggressive the publicity is, in the end word-of-mouth is the key to attracting audiences to watch in theaters and obtaining high box office.
In short, just look forward to it!
(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Miaomiao)
