Interface News Reporter | Zhang Youfa
As the first a24-produced movie to be released in mainland China, the performance of " American Civil War " was undoubtedly disappointing.
, a film directed by Alex Garland and telling the fictional story of the Second American Civil War from the perspective of a photojournalist, only grossed 2.79 million at the box office on its first day of release in China (June 7), ranking first on that day. No. 7 at the box office. By the second day, the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the movie's box office dropped to eighth place, with only 5.3% of the film schedule and 3.5% of the attendance.
The first-day box office of the Dragon Boat Festival movie Source: Lighthouse Professional Edition
This is in sharp contrast to the performance of "American Civil War" in North America and other overseas markets. The film premiered in the United States on April 12 and became a24's highest-grossing film in the United States during its opening weekend with a box office of $25.7 million.
"The Civil War" topped the box office when it premiered in Brazil, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Finland. With the help of overseas markets, the global box office of the film exceeded 100 million US dollars in early May, becoming another a24 work with a global box office of over 100 million US dollars after " Instant Universe ".
According to overseas media reports, the cost of "American Civil War" is approximately US$50 million, which is a24's most expensive film to date, reaching about twice the investment of the previous most expensive film. Therefore, foreign media have also reported the profit and loss of "American Civil War" The balance point is set at a box office of US$100 million to US$125 million. It can be deduced from this that the current global box office of "American Civil War" is close to its break-even point.
a24, an independent film label that was once considered to be highly stylized, is launching more large-scale projects like "American Civil War". As costs increase, the performance of overseas markets has increasingly become an important factor in project profitability.
This is closely related to the changes in a24 in recent years. Since its establishment in 2012, the company has been focusing on the distribution of independent films with niche themes. In 2017, its production "Moonlight " won the Oscar for Best Picture. After that, a24 became an award harvester at major film festivals, and also became an independent film company in the eyes of the outside world that subverted the logic of Hollywood.
At this stage, a24 has become a reference for many domestic companies. In 2020, Alibaba Pictures officially announced the content label "possible production", and its reference object is the a24 company from North America. For the Internet Film Industry, a24, which has a huge user operations department, is more like a company from Silicon Valley, which naturally makes it an object of study.
To be specific, a24 at that time focused on small content creation and did not produce big IP or big star movies. In terms of the crowd, we pay attention to the preferences of young people, and in terms of marketing methods, we completely use Internet channels for publicity. Using Internet logic to create content that young people like is also the direction that China is trying to transform the traditional film industry.
But in recent years, Internet-minded a24 has also begun to face traditional problems in the content industry.
First of all, the uncertainty in the content industry cannot be completely offset by Internet marketing methods. Compared with commercial films supported by IP and stars, the profitability of author films is inherently more uncertain. In recent years, many a24 projects have been at a loss. Among them, the 2023 "Bo Is Scary" brought a loss of more than 35 million US dollars to the company.
Secondly, there is the commercialization pressure brought by capital operation. In 2022, a24 received a $225 million round of financing led by stripes, founded by New York investor Ken Fox. The deal was struck during the indie investment bubble, when a24 was valued at a staggering $2.5 billion.
This has put pressure on a24 to transform. Reports last year showed that a24’s executives and talent agencies responsible for purchasing works were searching for action movies and big IP projects to add more commercial films to its art film slate. A valuation of US$2.5 billion requires a24 to move further into the mainstream.
In addition to the unprecedented cost of "American Civil War", at the end of last year, a24 announced that it would cooperate with game producer Hideo Kojima's kojima productions (Kojima Productions) to adapt the hit game "Death Stranding" into a live-action movie. It was announced at the same time There is also a fighting biopic "Crusher" co-developed with "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson.
All these have attracted speculation and doubts about a24 from the outside world. The doubts come from two different directions: Will the original temperament of an independent studio be diluted by big-budget star movies? Can a24's so-called big productions truly compete commercially with the blockbusters of the five major studios?
"American Civil War"'s global box office of over 100 million, as well as its reservations about the author's expression, initially answer these questions. However, the failure of the film in the Chinese market still hinders a24 from further raising its commercial ceiling.
Before "American Civil War", a24 movies focused more on local identity politics in North America. These issues were difficult to attract the attention of the Chinese market.
For example, a24 has produced Chinese-themed movies " Don't Tell Her " and "The Instant Universe", which seem to be very close to the domestic market, but they have not been given the opportunity to be released in the country. On the Douban platform, "Don't Tell Her" and "The Instant Universe" received ratings of 7.2 and 7.6 respectively, which are not very good in terms of reputation.
Source of the stills of "The Instant Universe": Douban stills
Film critic Bomi once mentioned in a podcast the difference between "The Instant Universe" and the previous generation of Hollywood Chinese-language movies. It is more accurate to say that these movies are not Chinese movies. It's a Chinese movie. Chinese Americans are presented as an ethnic minority in the United States, and the problems of Chinese Americans are internalized as American problems.
"Journey to the West" produced by Disney is a more typical example of this contrast. This drama tells the story of the growing pains of Chinese-American youth under the guise of "Journey to the West". Soon after Disney+ was launched, it received 96% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. Freshness, imdb score also has 7.1. In China, Douban gave "Journey to the West ABC" a low score of 5.8 points.
"American Civil War" provides a new idea for a24 to enter China. In the previous publicity and release sessions, the movie has already caused a lot of discussion on domestic social media and short video platforms because of its topicality. On the Douyin platform, the scheduled trailer released by the film’s official account received 350,000 likes and 74,000 reposts.
Last year's "Barbie" proved that even for imported films, topicality is overwhelming the visual spectacle and has become an important reference dimension for domestic audiences to make movie viewing choices. Interestingly, Greta Gerwig, the director of "Barbie", had her early work "Lady Bird" distributed by a24.
Like the feminism in "Barbie," "The Civil War" also sparked interest among domestic audiences. In discussions in the United States, "American Civil War" is seen as a prophecy and reflection on the division of ethnic groups in the country, but for audiences in mainland China, the film is more like a fun way to discuss American politics. Lines such as "What kind of American are you?" have also been widely discussed on social platforms.
Weibo current affairs blogger "Don't Meng faintly laughs at the death of Sichuan" once mentioned: "I'm already looking forward to what's going on in "American Civil War". Hollywood has finally succeeded in attracting the Chinese market. As for big customers, they have to take the initiative. It is natural to provide Party B with demands and discipline their product output. As long as it is not edited, it will definitely contribute to the box office. "
But after the movie was released, many viewers were disappointed to find that the feature film and short video platform of "American Civil War" There is a situation where the goods are not correct for the announced pieces. This is also one of the reasons why the movie ended up with a rating of only 6.7 on Douban and a dismal box office. "American Civil War" is only in the announcement video on the short video platform, which satisfies the Chinese market. Judging from the content of the feature film, this is still a film that speaks for itself in the domestic politics of the United States.
In an interview with "The Atlantic Monthly", director Garland once said that it is "immoral" to require the film to clearly express political ideology. This is not only a cruel war drama, but also an argument against political polarization. He says his films "come from anger."
This kind of anger towards the daily politics of the United States is difficult to resonate with domestic audiences. It is expected that "American Civil War" failed in mainland China.
For Hollywood, it needs to launch more topical movies to regain the market it has lost in China. In recent years, Hollywood films have continued to lose their share of the domestic box office. In 2023, imported movies will account for only 16.2% of China’s box office. So far this year, Hollywood movies have still been weak.
Although it failed at the box office, the early discussion triggered by "American Civil War" in the Chinese market was a revelation to Hollywood. As the cultural context changes, the issues that Chinese and American audiences care about are undergoing major changes. In the past, the Hollywood commercial film model of superimposing universal values on visual strangeness has been difficult to arouse greater interest among Chinese audiences.
Hollywood needs to think about whether, besides the topics of feminism and the American Civil War, there are other subject matter possibilities that would appeal to domestic audiences.
