In addition to Jia Ling who lost 100 pounds during the Spring Festival this year, the biggest surprise is "Bear Infested". The tenth film in the series performed better than expected at the box office, surpassing the works of Zhang Yimou and Andy Lau, and directly ranked among the top three.
"Bear Infested" became a dark horse, but did it all depend on the support of his peers? Or are there really "two brushes"?
" Bears Reversal of Time " overwhelms Zhang Yimou
The pre-sale period for the 2024 Spring Festival stalls, which lacks super blockbusters, is full of suspense, but unexpectedly, just four days later, the position of the Spring Festival stalls has been basically settled.
According to Maoyan Professional Edition, as of 18:41 on February 13, " is hot and hot ", " speeding life 2" and "Bear Infestation·Reverse Time and Space" are in the top three, among which "Bear Infestation·Reverse Time and Space" is the top three. It not only beat Zhang Yimou's "Article 20" and Andy Lau and Ning Hao's " Mr. Red Carpet ", but also set various records in mainland film history.
had the highest attendance rate on its premiere day, and directly broke the three-year box office record for an animated film in mainland China in the past three years. It is also the best-performing animated film in a single day during the Spring Festival. So far, "Bear Infested: Reversal of Time" ranks among the best in mainland film history. The Spring Festival cartoon tops the box office list, and Maoyan Pro predicts that its total box office in the mainland will exceed 2.3 billion.
Although many netizens use dark horses to describe "Bear Bears: Reverse Time and Space", in fact, the industry has always been very optimistic about "Bear Bears". In addition to Fang Huaqiang, the holder of the "Bear Infested" IP, more than 20 companies including Wanda Film and Television, Hengdian Film and Television, and China Film participated in the film, and their capital strength cannot be underestimated.
This kind of determination comes from the certainty provided by "Bear Bears". The "Bear Bears" series of movies that have been "ignored" are actually hidden bosses. The cumulative box office of the first nine movies has exceeded 5.7 billion, and it has also set a new record for Chinese animated films. Release records in the UK, Germany, Russia and other countries.
Huaqiang Fantawild, which holds the "Bear Infested" IP, is the biggest winner. According to the first half of 2023 annual report, Huaqiang Fantawild achieved revenue of 2.87 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 43%, and a net profit of 290 million yuan, compared with the same period last year. The loss was nearly 130 million yuan, a significant year-on-year turnaround, breaking the trend of continuous losses since 2021. Huaqiang Fantawild's "Bear Infested" IP contributed a large amount of revenue to the company. In the first half of the year, revenue from digital animation was 370 million yuan, an increase of 55% over the same period last year.
Why is "Bear Infested" so effective?
Among the many Spring Festival films, "Bear Bears Reversal of Time" enjoys its own "unique bonus". Although the movie-watching crowd has always been mainly young people, "watching movies" during the Spring Festival is a "family-style" Entertainment activities must take into account the needs of various family members. Children are a stable and unique group of movie viewers during the Spring Festival.
The "Bear Bears" series of movies accurately meets the Spring Festival movie viewing needs of "families with children", but this is not simply a story about "misplaced competition".
For most people who are not familiar with the "Bear Bears" series of movies, this is just a "movie for children", but Huaqiang Fantawild's ambitions go beyond that. In recent years, the "Bear Bears" series of movies have been iterating on content, gradually shifting the target audience from young children to all ages.
"The Bears: Wild Continent" tells the meaning of happiness, "The Bears Return to the Earth" promotes the concept of environmental protection of the earth, "The Bears: Come with Me "Bear Core"" and "The Bears: Reverse Time and Space" both use artificial Intelligence is the core of the content. Judging from the theme of the film alone, "Bear Bears" is already catching up with current trends and exploring profound issues.
The fact that the "Bear Bears" IP can last for a full ten years is also related to the stability of the team's main controller. In contrast, "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf", as a domestic animation IP that became famous earlier than "Bear Bears", "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" After a series of capital operations in "Big Big Wolf" around 2010, the main creative team gradually lost, and a large number of early main creative personnel left. "Bear Bears" has more possibilities for "long-term planning" in a relatively stable environment, thus establishing its position in the Chinese animation industry.
How far is "Bear Infested" from Oriental Disney?
Chinese creative or content companies always cherish the dream of becoming "Chinese Disney", and Huaqiang Fantawild is no exception.
Huaqiang Fantawild, which has made great achievements in major movies, is also trying to develop its own offline real-life entertainment. On February 11 this year, the Bear Haunted Happy Harbor in Linhai, Taizhou officially opened. It is the first bear-infested park created by Huaqiang Fantawild. An IP-based amusement park, this is also the first time that Huaqiang Fantawild has integrated an open commercial block into the park. Previously, most of the parks owned by Huaqiang Fantawild were closed parks, but the model of this open park is similar to that of Shanghai Disney Resort.
From this perspective, Huaqiang Fantawild is moving closer to its goal of "Chinese Disney".
But on the other hand, the emergence of "Disney-style park" does not mean that Huaqiang Fantawild has changed from "quantitative change" to "qualitative change". The key to Disney's success lies in its massive IP reserves and continuous content innovation capabilities. What Huaqiang Fantawild can really call its IP is "bear infested".
In addition, although the content of the "Bear Bears" series of movies has received more recognition, it is still far from the top international animation IPs. For example, although "Bear Infested: Reverse Time and Space" currently has a Douban score of 7.1, many viewers in the hot reviews pointed out that the film has a "strong Marvel flavor" and the plot is highly similar to "Avengers 4".
Huaqiang Fantawild wants to become "Oriental Disney", "Bear Bear" does not need to become the next "Marvel".
Source: Blue Whale Finance
