Our discourse field has never lacked the establishment of various "first years", some are to commemorate, and some are to ridicule.
This year, China’s film market has ushered in the “first year of screen shooting” and the “first year of withdrawal”. The "First Year of Screen Photography" originated from the fact that singer Xue Zhiqian took screen shots in theaters during the Chinese New Year this year. This move caused dissatisfaction among many movie lovers. However, with the support of fans and screen photography enthusiasts, it promoted uncivilization in disguise. This behavior caused a war of words between the two groups of people with different positions. In desperation, movie fans joked about this phenomenon as "the first year of screen photography". And "The First Year of Cancellation" is a joke on the theater movies that have been frequently withdrawn this year.
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" There is nothing that a hot pot cannot solve "
The mystery of "running away"
Recently, "Nothing" starring Yang Mi, Yu Qian, Tian Yu, Yu Ailei, and Li Jiuxiao was directed by Ding Sheng. "What a Hot Pot Can't Solve" was released on May 1. However, in less than a week, the producer announced its withdrawal and issued an announcement stating that "since the film was released, due to various environmental factors, the film has not been updated. To meet multiple audiences, after carefully studying the current situation and in order to meet the needs of more audiences, our "Hot Pot" will be withdrawn on May 6 (theaters that have already opened screenings can continue to show it) and will be rescheduled on another day. See you all.” On May 8, the film's director Ding Sheng responded to the film's withdrawal when participating in an exchange event for the film's main creators: "First, it is difficult to publicize and release, and second, there is a threshold, and it is not particularly easy to watch. Some viewers can't calm down. First, If you play with your mobile phone for a while, you will be late, so you will not be able to understand the film." He also said, "The film wants to talk about rules, but it encounters irregularities. Please don't ask questions about this aspect. We can't help it. "I can only say that it is a bit regretful, and I hope to see you again soon." What is unexpected is that the film will be launched on Youku on May 11, and Youku members can watch it for free without paying extra. Many netizens said they could not understand this series of operations.
Nandu reporter contacted Liancheng Yiju, an industry observer and self-media person. He said that the entire withdrawal of "Nothing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" was "really incredible and difficult to understand. Because it has already been released on a large scale. Under this situation, withdrawal cannot change the reputation of the film, nor can it obtain more film schedules during the second release. In addition to suffering losses, it will also attract a lot of criticism. There have been no successful cases in similar situations in the past. The withdrawal operation is really confusing and seems very irrational. I don’t know if the so-called environmental factors in the withdrawal announcement are excuses or specific circumstances. Director Ding Sheng also mentioned the existence of "uncompliance" in the post-screening communication with Nortel. The director said he could not say what the "rules" are, so the outside world can only make some speculations. Except for the director, the producer and the promoter, it is difficult for others to know the real reason. But in the final analysis, it is natural. Due to the sparse film schedule and limited box office, the actual market feedback was significantly different from the previous high expectations, which may have affected the mentality. In the end, the film was withdrawn to try to save some face.”
Fortunately, this film has a lot of face. The withdrawal will have little impact on theaters. Liancheng Yijuan added: "Since there are already very few films scheduled at the time of withdrawal, it will not actually have much impact. And because the film directly provides a one-month key instead of Segmented keys, so theaters that have already scheduled movies and purchased tickets or want to continue scheduling movies can still continue to show normally, so it will not have any actual negative impact. It just looks like this kind of hit and run. It’s just a bit disgraceful.”
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Movie withdrawals are nothing new, but this year there have been a lot of
withdrawals of “Nothing Can’t Be Solved by Hot Pot”. One of the reasons is that it is not the first time. Although movie cancellations are nothing new, they are especially common this year. During this year’s Spring Festival, 8 films were originally scheduled to be released on New Year’s Day, but 4 films were withdrawn along the way. Of the 11 films originally scheduled to be released on May Day, a total of 4 films had been withdrawn by the closing day.This phenomenon of new films being packed into a certain important schedule and announced with great fanfare, but eventually being "run away" one after another due to poor box office performance, makes the audience feel a little bit tricked.
Since "we will fight another day", how to release it in the new schedule is very critical. Combined with the cases of films being withdrawn and then re-released in recent years, they are generally unsatisfactory. " China Ping Pong: Jedi Counterattack ", which was originally scheduled to be released on the third day of the lunar month of 2023 (January 24), was announced to be withdrawn and rescheduled two days after its release. The producer Hengye Pictures announced: "Due to the publicity and distribution team's decision-making, There were major mistakes and serious deficiencies in the preparation and promotion work, which caused the film to fall into a particularly passive situation during the Spring Festival, which prevented a sincere work from receiving more comments from the audience. I am deeply saddened by this." Released on February 17, 2023, the film's schedule accounted for 11.8%, but the attendance rate was only 5.4%. Although it was rescheduled after being withdrawn, "China Ping Pong: Jedi Strikes Back" grossed 100 million yuan at the box office, but not counting the publicity and distribution expenses spent on the withdrawal and rescheduling, a movie originally scheduled for the Spring Festival only received 100 million yuan Yuan box office is actually in a state of Waterloo.
The situation of " Mr. Red Carpet ", which was withdrawn from the Spring Festival this year, is even worse. This star-studded blockbuster, under the strong pressure of other blockbusters, never exceeded 100 million at the box office during the Spring Festival. After being withdrawn and rescheduled, the film's box office still failed to exceed 100 million. On the first day of rescheduling, it only made over 2 million yuan at the box office. If it had not been withdrawn and delayed, it might have had a chance to exceed 100 million yuan. "Mr. Red Carpet" can be regarded as one of the more failed movies after being withdrawn and rescheduled.
A more successful example of a re-scheduled video is " Let's Shake the Sun Together ". This movie focusing on terminal illness will appear in this year's Spring Festival, which is a mistake in itself. Its appearance was more due to the fact that after the film market wanted to try to implement branch distribution, the film company was suspected of bundling the product with the big movie " bears ". Unexpectedly, it would be difficult to achieve branch release for a while. After the theaters arranged their own films, "Let's Shake the Sun Together" lost the guarantee of film arrangement and had to choose to withdraw and reschedule its release to March 30. But fortunately, this movie still achieved a box office of 274 million through its quality. For a small-budget movie, this is a gratifying box office result.
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will be withdrawn and how
will make a comeback will be more important.
Generally speaking, re-fixing after withdrawal is basically a gamble with a low winning rate. Everyone wants to take advantage of the schedule bonus, but in a fiercely competitive environment, polarization and winner-take-all may be the worst situation. Choosing when to re-schedule after withdrawal is one science, and how to re-post it is another. Because in the minds of the public, if the audience knows in advance that this is a withdrawn movie, they may be biased; if the audience does not know the movie, then the promotion has to start from zero. When a movie is released, every step is like walking on thin ice, and even every step is a desperate move. As of now, there is no news about the re-release of " Huangpi: The God of Wealth Cat " and " Bajie: Canopy Lower Realm " that were canceled during the Spring Festival.
In the future, it is expected that there will be cases where movies squeeze into popular schedules and then eventually "fall off". But it would be a bit exaggerated to say that this is an act that disrupts the order of the film market. Film companies must follow market logic, so the high-loss behavior of withdrawing films will not be mainstream. Since it follows market logic, some movies should be allowed to withdraw from the schedule out of timely stop losses. "Only coming but not leaving" will do more harm to the film market. The recent cancellation incident is actually a lesson for all film companies not to be superstitious about schedule bonuses. A healthy market allows some businesses to make mistakes. In the great waves, how to make a comeback after making mistakes is a key node that tests the survival of the fittest.
Written by Nandu reporter Liu Yifan
