Even with the blessing of He Saifei's Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress, the movie "Chasing the Moon" still cannot escape the box office "curse" of literary and artistic films. After its release, the box office was dismal, which is disappointing. It is a commonplace that literary and artistic films are difficult to achieve good box office results. Although literary and artistic films are small in size, they are an important force in meeting the diverse needs of audiences and achieving progress and breakthroughs in film art. They should occupy a place in the market. How to solve this dilemma requires the joint efforts of the entire industry chain including film studios, promotion parties, and theaters.
Filmmaker: We have not given up, we are still working hard
"We have not given up, we are still working hard." On March 12, "Chasing the Moon" producer Jiang Tianyuan just finished a meeting with his colleagues to discuss the feasibility of long-term distribution of the film. . On this day, the cumulative box office of "Chasing the Moon" in its five days of release just reached 855,000 yuan.
Stills of "Chasing the Moon"
Regarding the current box office results, Jiang Tianyuan admitted that he can look at it rationally. After all, the real dilemma of literary and artistic films starts from the stage of finding investment. It is difficult to find actors and film, and it is difficult to send the film to the audience in the theater. In front of them, they have already experienced the "Eighty-one Difficulties". ""Chasing the Moon" itself is a niche literary film, it is a dialect film, and it also contains Yue opera themes. It is not an international blockbuster like " Dune 2" released at the same time. We cannot support a larger-volume film from the budget. Publicity." He said that he is not pursuing the final box office of the film, but hopes to let the audience who can appreciate the work see the film. To this end, on the one hand, they are negotiating with theaters for long-term screening, and on the other hand, they plan to use paid on-demand screening in iQiyi Cloud Cinema at the end of the month.
It is difficult for literary films to achieve good box office results. This is a common problem that has existed for many years, and even practitioners are not surprised. Zhang Ming, one of the representatives of China's sixth generation of directors, has been deeply involved in the creation of literary and artistic films for many years. He said bluntly: "Literary and artistic films basically have no way to earn box office, unless they are successful for some very accidental reasons, but generally speaking, they cannot be copied and there are no rules. ." In 2018, the "Pluto Hour" he directed finally barely recovered its cost. Although the 2021 "Hot Soup " starred Chen Duling, it was almost "naked and advertised" after its release, and the box office " died". "Nowadays, theaters are basically monopolized by commercial films and genre films, and literary and artistic films are almost impossible to enter." In addition, in recent years, the prices for acquiring literary and artistic films by movie channels and video platforms have become lower and lower, and government subsidies and bonuses from film festivals have It’s something you can only come by, and it’s even more difficult to recoup the cost of literary and artistic films.
Cinema: There is no way to talk about feelings
"With more than 80,000 screens (nationwide), can't we support a "Chasing the Moon"?!" Producer Guan Yadi lamented that it is difficult for literary and artistic films to win box office. It is not a problem with the film itself, but with the current situation. The theater environment and distribution costs give small and medium-cost literary films too few opportunities.
Click on the Maoyan Professional Edition app, and you have to swipe down to display the box office and film schedule data of "Chasing the Moon" on the page, which means that its box office output is pitifully small. On March 8, the film’s share of scheduled films on the first day of release was only 1.3%, and dropped directly to 0.1% on the second day. No film schedule means there is no box office.
He Saifei at the premiere of "Chasing the Moon".
Film critic Tang Dayuan is the "tap water" of "Chasing the Moon". On the day of the film's premiere, he, who has millions of fans on Weibo, had a live broadcast with the film's star, He Saifei, to promote the film for free. The half-hour live broadcast had more than 600,000 viewers, exceeding Tang Dayuan's expectations. The film was coldly received by theaters, which also made him regretful. "I have been 'diving' among theater managers all year round. They are too naked in selling tickets. They don't look at word-of-mouth or ratings, but only look at data and box office. They won't give you a share just because you are an award-winning literary film. "
" Cinemas also have their own difficulties. "The market is pragmatic, and theaters also need to eat. If you ask theaters to schedule "Chasing the Moon," they will reply, do you know how we survived the three-year epidemic? The pressure on rent, water, electricity, and labor is too great, and they can't express their feelings. Can be 'profit-seeking'."Tang Dayuan analyzed that although a rich and diversified film source is conducive to the rapid development of the market, under the heavy pressure to survive, most theaters have no time to take into account niche literary films and can only give screenings to blockbuster commercial films, although doing so will reverse the trend. Suppressing creation is ultimately detrimental to the development of the entire film industry.
Today, when publicity and distribution are becoming more and more important, compared with commercial films that can spend a lot of money on publicity and distribution, "poor" literary and artistic films are also at a clear disadvantage in this link. Disadvantageous position. Jiang Tianyuan has made many commercial films before, and this time he promoted "Chasing the Moon". He obviously felt the constraints brought by lack of money, and no matter what publicity action he made, he had to use money to support it. He revealed that "Chasing the Moon" In this promotional event of "Month", the main creators are "using love to generate electricity" and have lowered the requirements for accommodation and travel. They come as long as they can, and some even pay for it at their own expense. This is both touching and reflects the reality of small and medium-cost films. difficulties.
Expert: An exclusive publicity and distribution platform for literary and artistic films can be established
The Broadway Film Center located in Dongzhimen has always been known for its strong support for art films, and "Chasing the Moon" naturally enjoyed this treatment. On March 12, the theater An after-hours screening was scheduled for the film. “Our theater itself is geared toward literature and art, and we will try our best to support films like “Chasing the Moon” so that it has a chance to be seen by the audience. "Fu Weijian, the manager of the theater, said that from a purely profit perspective, this show will definitely not make money, but from a sentimental and long-term development perspective, they have to support this type of film. The actions of the Broadway Movie Center may be beneficial to the theater. Screening of literary and artistic films provides a reference.
Long-term distribution will allow literary and artistic films to "slowly flow" in theaters. "At present, whether the government or the industry, support for literary and artistic films is mainly reflected in the creative process. On the real sales side, That is to say, we still need to work harder at the screening stage. "Tang Dayuan suggested that theaters should focus on long-term screening of literary films rather than large quantities. "Even if one or two hundred theaters across the country schedule "Chasing the Moon" once a day for a month, it will be very impressive. This method can allow literary and artistic films to stay with everyone in the theater for a longer period of time, and can also make better use of the theater's idle resources during non-popular periods. "
" "For art films such as "Chasing the Moon", the relevant management departments should not only provide multi-party support, but also take the lead in establishing a publicity and distribution platform to specifically promote art films." "Film critic Zhu Qingtian suggested that we can cooperate with platforms such as Maoyan and Taopiaopiao to set up a separate literary and artistic film section. It is best to combine big data algorithms so that when the audience of such films opens the app, they will see "Chasing the Moon" Waiting for literary and artistic films, "instead of like now, when you open the Maoyan app, there are forty or fifty movies released at the same time, but it may take a long time to find a certain literary and artistic film. "There is no money to promote literary and artistic films. The film management department can set up a special fund to cooperate with platforms such as Maoyan and Taopiaopiao. For films that meet the standards, support will be provided in the platform's publicity and exposure resources, so that more people will realize that these works are being released. .
For the producers of literary and artistic films themselves, how to use limited "ammunition" to achieve the best publicity effect is a key issue left to practitioners. Jiang Tianyuan said that currently short videos are a highly efficient method of communication. method. "Chasing the Moon" has released many trailers, outtakes and other short videos on the short video platform, and has achieved good dissemination results. In the next step, with the support of iQiyi, the film will be combined with a number of literary and artistic films , launching a special program for literary and artistic films online.
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Source: Beijing Daily Client
