text | Liu Qingshidan
id | bmr2004
cover | Visual China
has been released for 23 days (March 3, 2024). The Spring Festival box office champion " hot and spicy " has accumulated a box office of over 3.397 billion, surpassing the film "Chinatown" "Detective 2", entering the top 14 box office in Chinese film history.
At the same time, the 2024 Spring Festival stall has also become “the strongest Spring Festival stall in history.” According to Beacon Professional Edition data, during the 2024 Spring Festival period (February 10-17), the national movie box office was 8.016 billion yuan, and the number of moviegoers was 163 million. Compared with the 2023 Spring Festival period, the box office and attendance increased by 18.47% and 18.47% respectively. 26.36%, both setting new records for the same period.
As of February 25, the total box office of the four 2024 Spring Festival films "Hot and Spicy", " Speeding Life 2", " Article 20" and " Bears: Reverse Time and Space " has exceeded 10 billion yuan.
It is worth mentioning that this "strongest Spring Festival stall in history" has too many "unusual" features.
Specifically, the 2024 Spring Festival stall has become the "longest Spring Festival stall in history" with an 8-day holiday, which has more advantages than previous Spring Festival stalls; at the same time, there has been an unprecedented "tide of withdrawals" in the Spring Festival stalls this time, and there have been 4 movies have been withdrawn; with only 4 Lunar New Year films left, this Spring Festival movie has still become the "strongest Spring Festival movie in history"...
The film industry is developing rapidly, regardless of film technology, subject matter, perspective, or marketing methods. Continuous upgrading has presented an increasingly exciting and diverse competitive scene, and the overall film and television industry has made a strong recovery.
01
"The First Year of Withdrawal"
The unprecedented "withdrawal wave" of Spring Festival releases this year reflects a trend - the consumption of film and television content is increasingly showing a polarizing effect. With the help of related social media and other traffic resources, the entire social issue is more focused on top videos.
In 2024, a total of 8 films will be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, including "Hot" starring Jia Ling, "Flying Life" starring Shen Teng, and the series of animated films "Bear Infested: Reverse Time and Space", etc.
However, 4 of the 8 movies scheduled for the Spring Festival this year have announced their withdrawal.
First, on February 14, Fang Lianrui Pictures, the main producer of " Let's Shake the Sun Together ", issued a statement saying that (Lianrui Pictures) made a major mistake in selecting the schedule and failed everyone's hard work... The movie "Let's Shake the Sun Together" "Shake the Sun" has decided to withdraw from the Spring Festival schedule and postpone its release to March 30.
html On February 16, "Huang Pi: The God of Wealth Cat Descends from the Sky" stated that "I have to say goodbye to you in advance, and we will see you again later."; on the evening of the same day, " Mr. Red Carpet " announced that "after careful consideration by the team, the movie "Red Carpet" "Mr. Blanket" will withdraw from the Spring Festival schedule and choose a new schedule to meet you... We will talk about it another day."On February 17, the last day of the Spring Festival, "Bajie: Canopy Lower Realm" also expressed its apologies, "After discussion with the team, it will withdraw from the Spring Festival and choose a date to meet with children across the country."
Since then, half of the 2024 Spring Festival releases have been withdrawn, so it has been jokingly called the "first year of withdrawal" by netizens. The only four remaining films have supported "the strongest Spring Festival season in history."
According to Beacon Professional Edition data, "Hot and Furious" and "Flying Life 2" are the top films, contributing 64% to the box office. The closely followed "Bear Bears: Reverse Time and Space" once again broke the box office record of the "Bear Bears" series, with a box office contribution of 17%.
Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integrated Innovation and Development Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, pointed out that the unprecedented "wave of cancellations" during this year's Spring Festival reflects a trend - film and television content consumption is increasingly showing a polarizing effect. In addition to feature films, the promotion of related social media and other traffic resources has made the entire social issue more focused on headline films.
"In this case, films that generally rank after fourth at the box office will have less market share and less social resources. It can be seen that this year's Spring Festival stalls' wave of withdrawals has occurred After that, many films will be more cautious about whether to participate in the Spring Festival or various holiday competitions, which will affect the film schedule decisions for the whole year and next year." Chen Duan said.
Bu Xiting, deputy director of the Cultural Development Research Institute of Communication University of China, also believes that the Spring Festival box office is mainly concentrated on the first few leading films, such as "Hot and Spicy" and "Flying Life 2", which makes other films in the schedule and production process. There is huge pressure on the box office. Under this circumstance, in order to avoid direct competition and reduce losses, some films choose to withdraw their films to find a more suitable release time, which is also a way to solve their difficulties.
In Bu Xiting’s view, the laws of the Spring Festival movie market are advancing with the times and constantly changing. With the diversification of audience tastes and changes in the market environment, the film industry needs to constantly adjust its strategies to adapt to new market demands. The wave of withdrawals also reflects the self-adjustment phenomenon of the film industry in special times. Under the current downward pressure on the global economy, producers and distributors are becoming increasingly cautious in the face of market changes and are willing to make adjustments based on actual conditions.
02
The rise of realistic-themed movies
The increasing proportion of realistic-themed movies in the Spring Festival is the result of multiple factors such as market demand, audience consumption demand and the social responsibility of film art.
No comedy, no Spring Festival. Beacon Professional Edition data shows that among the top 10 box office films during the Spring Festival (including films released before the Spring Festival), 7 are comedies, and the top three box office films are "full-scale comedies."
On the one hand, because the Spring Festival schedule has a strong "family fun" attribute, the concentration of comedy movies in this specific period actually reflects the strategic layout of the film market to a certain extent and is a natural result of market demand and the development of the film industry.
On the other hand, in addition to comedy, we can also see the rise of realistic themes. Whether it is "Hot and Spicy", which tells the story of a fat girl's counterattack, or "Article 20", which focuses on self-defense, or "Let's Shake the Sun Together", which is adapted from documentary articles, they all focus on the interests of ordinary people. Angry, sad and happy.
In addition, there is also "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" which is known as "a movie dedicated to migrant workers". ", as well as major reality-themed or realism-themed movies that will be released in rotation in 2023, such as "The Lost Her", "All or Nothing", "The Octagonal Cage", "School Dad", "Parrot Killing", "Wading in the Angry Sea" and " "Third Brigade", "I am a mountain", etc.
Bu Xiting believes that from the perspective of genre analysis, the proportion of realistic-themed movies in the film market is indeed increasing. Analysis of this phenomenon can be considered from the following aspects:
First of all, the emergence of realistic-themed movies is related to changes in the audience's movie consumption habits. With the development of society and the further improvement of audience aesthetics, people are increasingly inclined to watch movies that reflect real life, touch on social issues, and arouse resonance. This type of movie often has strong practical significance and social depth, allowing the audience to think, reflect and sympathize with real-life issues while entertaining the movie.
Secondly, the increase in reality-themed movies is also related to the sensitivity and concern of film producers for market demand. In order to attract audiences, film producers often choose subjects that can arouse widespread attention and discussion. Realistic-themed movies often achieve good responses in the market because they are close to life and easily resonate.
Furthermore, the emergence of reality-themed movies also reflects the social responsibility of film art works. As a cultural product, movies not only bear the function of mass entertainment, but also bear the responsibility of conveying values and guiding social atmosphere. Realistic-themed movies convey positive energy, guide the public's attention to social issues, and promote social progress by telling real stories.
"Of course, the rise of reality-themed movies does not mean the decline of other types of movies." Bu Xiting emphasized.
Regarding the Spring Festival movie market, Bu Xiting pointed out that the Spring Festival movie market still needs diversified genres to meet the needs of different audiences. For example, movies in science fiction, action, comedy and other genres still have a stable audience base, and they continue to make breakthroughs in technological innovation and visual effects, bringing different viewing experiences to the audience.
“In short, the increase in the proportion of reality-themed movies in the Spring Festival is the result of multiple factors such as market demand, audience consumption demand and the social responsibility of film art.This trend is likely to continue, but it also requires film producers to continue to explore and innovate other types of films while maintaining the quality of realistic films to achieve diversification and healthy development of the film market. "Bu Xiting said.
03
Fierce marketing
In an era that focuses on emotional value, over-marketing is too much. Only through emotional resonance with the audience can marketing activities better convey the theme and emotion of the movie, thereby attracting the audience to consciously enter the cinema.
Spring Festival The box office war has come to an end, but the "marketing war" has lingering consequences.
In the past two years, the film promotion and promotion strategies of major films have been continuously upgraded. In addition to various premiere "specials", there are also various road shows , large-scale screenings, online short video dissemination, etc., movie marketing is crazy, and various "marketing wars" are also intensifying. In terms of
short video marketing, the box office champion "Hot and Spicy" this time during the Spring Festival is due to "weight loss marketing" " and "Jia Ling lost 100 pounds" became the first movie hit at the beginning of the year; "Flying Life 2" led to the formation of a Sina group live broadcast by Shen Teng, Sun Yizhou , Wei Xiang and other comedians; "Twenty Articles" has long-term customization of Weibo's exclusive "Xiaolule" calendar blind box to guide fan interaction; "Let's Shake the Sun Together" even launched the "Shake the Sun Chaos Planner" activity to solicit wedding planners online...
was earlier There have been many movie marketing cases before.
For example, the film crew arranged various "special shows". "Twinkle Twinkle Star" restored the famous snow scene in the drama in theaters, making it difficult to get a ticket for "Snow Field" in theaters across the country. Many theaters even purchased snowmaking equipment voluntarily; the premiere of "The Annual Party Can't Stop" arranged a "beer field", and the audience at the show could get a can of beer; "If You Are the One 3" launched an "orange field" with If it's not "orange", please don't bother...
For example, "The Octagon" quickly penetrated into the sinking market with its advance screening, and the film won 420 million box office before it was released; "Taylor Swift: Time Tour" "Concert" launched the "live disco", causing excitement in the theater, comparable to a concert...
's ferocious "marketing war" also caused a lot of controversy. "The Octagon" and "Desperate" were questioned and sabotaged in large-scale advance screenings The market order has been disrupted; the "weight loss marketing" of "Hot and Spicy" has also been questioned as excessive marketing.
Bu Xiting pointed out that recent movie marketing activities have indeed attracted widespread attention and controversy. Although these marketing activities are intended to increase the popularity of the movie and attract audience interest , increase box office revenue, but excessive publicity can also cause adverse consequences.
In his view, "effective marketing" is needed during the critical period of the movie's box office war. Effective marketing activities can significantly increase the popularity of the movie and attract more potential audiences. Increase box office revenue. At the same time, innovative marketing methods can also bring new vitality to the film industry and promote the development of the industry.
However, excessive film marketing may cause resentment among audiences. Especially when the marketing method is not closely related to the movie content, it may cause a psychological gap or even a contradiction between the audience's expectations and the actual movie-watching experience. In addition, high marketing costs may also put pressure on the film's profitability.
"In an era that focuses on emotional value, over-marketing goes too far. Only through emotional resonance with the audience can marketing activities better convey the theme and emotion of the movie, thereby attracting the audience to consciously enter the cinema." said Bu Xiting.
Bu Xiting pointed out that in the film marketing process, we must pay attention to market research, budget control, risk assessment, ensure consistent content and marketing, use diversified marketing, and real-time monitoring and adjustment. Through these strategies, the film promotion team can effectively control risks and maximize the benefits of film marketing while pursuing innovation and attracting audiences.
04
Strong recovery
Under the pressure of economic downturn, the content industry will grow against the trend, and the film and television industry will usher in a wave of prosperity based on people's spiritual needs.
From the "second Spring Festival schedule in history" and "the strongest summer schedule in history" in 2023, as well as the record for the number of National Day schedules in Chinese film history, to the "longest Spring Festival schedule" and "the strongest Spring Festival schedule in history" in 2024, the film industry Strong recovery.
Bu Xiting pointed out that the current film industry is showing various development trends in recovery.
First of all, “content is king” in movies. In recent years, audiences have increasingly demanded higher quality film content. Excellent scripts, profound themes, and superb acting skills have become the keys to attracting audiences. Domestic films have begun to focus on originality and depth. The success of works such as "River Red" and "The Wandering Earth 2" reflects the audience's recognition of high-quality content.
Secondly, movies encourage “diversity of genres”. Domestic film types are increasingly diverse, ranging from traditional comedies and action films to science fiction, suspense, war and other diverse themes, meeting the needs of different audience groups. This diversification trend helps attract a wider audience and enhances market vitality.
Third, movies must be "technically innovative". With the development of science and technology, film production technology continues to advance, such as CG special effects, 3D technology, high frame rate shooting, etc., providing more possibilities for film creation. Technological innovation also makes movies more visually stunning and enhances the movie-watching experience.
Fourth, the movie market is recovering. The total box office of the Chinese film market in 2023 hit a record high, showing that the market is gradually recovering. The increase in the number of moviegoers, the number of screens, and the number of films with box office sales exceeding 100 million yuan are clear signs of market recovery.
Fifth, movies need "policy support." The government's increased support for the film industry, including tax incentives, financial support, relaxed market access and other policies, can create a good external environment for the development of the film industry.
In addition, Chen Duan pointed out that there is a relative lack of industrial blockbusters during the Spring Festival in 2024, but the box office is still strong and has even reached a new high. This actually shows that movies are essentially a spiritual and cultural product, and they can capture the market as long as they can directly touch people's hearts. In turn, low-investment movies must also have more "emotional leverage" that can stimulate people's empathy, resonance, and resonance, thereby amplifying the final box office effect.
"For example, the newly released "The Three Evils" was released at a low cost of 10 million, but it was able to gross over 100 million at the box office on the first day, which is very representative." Chen Duan said.
Chen Duan also mentioned that due to the impact of the epidemic and the economic cycle, in the face of the internal and external environment in the past two years, it is especially necessary to give people spiritual comfort from the perspective of ordinary people and from the perspective of realist themes. Under the pressure of economic downturn, the content industry will grow against the trend, and the film and television industry will usher in a period of prosperity based on people's spiritual needs.
can see that with a "good start" from 2023 to 2024, the film and television industry is recovering strongly. This is not only related to the development of the market economy, but also to the call of people's spiritual culture, soul and emotions.
05
Meet the challenge
Among the future development trends of the film industry, the development of new technologies will bring new changes to the film and television industry, and the elimination process of survival of the fittest will occur.
China's film and television industry has long been seeking development amid changes, and the new round of impact is closely related to technology.
Chen Duan pointed out that although the film and television industry will usher in a period of prosperity based on people's spiritual needs, not everyone in the original industrial ecology or industry chain will benefit from this period of prosperity.
can see that new artificial intelligence technologies represented by sora are having an impact on many industries. aigc (ai-generated content) has strong video content generation capabilities and will have some substitution effects on the original film industry chain. For example, after the rise of the digital music industry chain, the original record industry has shrunk.
Therefore, in the future development trend of the film industry, the development of new technologies will bring new changes to the film and television industry, and the elimination process of survival of the fittest will occur. For example, special effects blockbusters that relied on high investment in the past are "declining in value" because similar effects can be achieved at low cost and more easily through AIGC, so this will put higher requirements on the film content itself.
"Under this situation, the film and television industry needs to continue to innovate, such as continuing to open and extend new content around the strong IP in the past, and grasp the audience base; such as making a fuss about marketing and narrative strategies and narrative techniques; such as through the implantation of creative knowledge structures. investment, as well as the organic integration of multiple genres of films, and innovation in high-dimensional content fields," Chen Duan said.
Bu Xiting also believes that on the one hand, the film market potential has increased.
With the continued economic growth and consumption upgrading, the Chinese film market still has huge growth potential. In particular, the demand for movie viewing in third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas has not yet been fully tapped, providing a new growth point for the film market. The increase in international cooperation in film, the prominence of film integration and media communication, and the innovation and upgrading of film content have also become new opportunities.
On the other hand, the film market in 2024 will still face various challenges.
Although the market is recovering, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Film producers need to reasonably control costs and improve operational efficiency while ensuring content quality.
In addition, the rise of emerging entertainment forms such as short videos and online dramas has had a certain impact on the film market; policy changes and strengthening supervision may have an impact on the film market. Film producers need to pay close attention to policy trends to ensure that their works comply with relevant regulations and avoid unnecessary risks.
"In short, the film market in 2024 is full of opportunities and challenges. The film industry still needs to actively adapt to market changes and grasp policy guidance while maintaining content innovation, in order to achieve sustainable and high-quality development of the film industry." Bu Xiting concluded road.
