In recent years, China's film market has been booming. China has become the world's largest film screening market, with the largest number of movie screens in the world. But on the other hand, the rapidly expanding theaters also face the dilemma of low attendance and not many movies that can arouse the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies.
What kind of movies can attract audiences in China today? How can we make full use of the movie introduction mechanism to let Chinese audiences see more good-looking movies? Facing the crisis of "regression" in the Chinese market, how does Hollywood adjust its "Chinese elements" strategy?
In response to these issues, on the occasion of the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival, Observer.com conducted exchanges and discussions with the famous screenwriter Wang Hailin around the film market and content.
Observer Network: At the recent Shanghai International Film Festival, we saw that it was hard to get a ticket for the films screened. Films of various themes from all over the world were sold out. Some people in the industry were very excited and hoped that this kind of "movie Festival model" can be promoted, boost the market, and allow "literary youth" to influence more ordinary audiences. What do you think about this?
Wang Hailin: I think film festivals and screenings are aimed at movie lovers and are relatively "downright". They cannot be called markets. The audience for such films is limited. For example, some of the information films of the Film Archive are hard to get tickets for when they are shown to the outside world, but such a screening only attracts 1,000 people. This market of 1,000 people can easily be satisfied.
For a relatively niche movie, the popularity of the screening and the popularity of the actual introduction into the market may be completely different things. We said before that when popular celebrities go to hold concerts in various places, the concerts can be sold out. It is no problem for fans from all over the country to gather together and fill a venue with tens of thousands of people. Therefore, we give the market a high "nationality" and are popular among the people. It was an illusion, but when they went to act in movies and TV series, everyone found that this was not the case.
At the 26th Shanghai National Film Festival, the colorful screenings and meeting venues were full, and it was hard to get a ticket.
Our country has such a large market, and the introduction of movies has a very high cost, including copyright costs, distribution costs, Publicity costs are very high. To enter the Chinese market, you need to buy out the copyright. For example, the hit movie introduced this year, " Removes Three Evils Every Week" required hundreds of thousands of dollars to be paid to the other party when it was introduced. Of course, in the end, the movie made a lot of money. With a box office of 100 million, what about other "niche" films? If you look at it from a market perspective, it may be a completely different conclusion, and the introducer will definitely consider the business risks involved.
Observer Network: Some people believe that the current problem of the Chinese film market is that it is not open enough. Should we increase efforts to introduce more competitive films like Hollywood movies to further activate the Chinese market?
Wang Hailin: The actual situation now is that the most profitable movies in Hollywood have actually come to the Chinese market, but the problem is that these movies are popular internationally, but they are no longer popular after coming to China. For example, last year's " Barbie " performed particularly well in the global market and earned more than one billion US dollars, but its box office in China was only 100 million yuan.
After China joined the WTO, the United States complained to the WTO about "China's restrictions on the import of American films." Later, in 2012, China and the United States signed a memorandum. In addition to the annual quota of 20 overseas sub-account films, China will also increase the quota of sub-account films. Gradually increase it to 30, which means importing 30 "American blockbusters" every year. We have done so as promised. When President Xi Jinping visited the United States in 2015, China agreed to introduce an additional 17 3D and IMAX movies in addition to the quota. 30+17, that is to say, if American blockbusters make full use of the quota promised by China, more than 40 movies can almost cover all types of American movies that year. If China Film Group introduces all the top 40 American movies every year, many of us will Maybe you've never heard of it.
"Barbie" became the 2023 global movie box office champion, but its performance in the Chinese market was mediocre.
In addition, we also have a "film approval" system, that is, outside of this quota, you can send each film to the film bureau for approval for introduction , my impression is that the number of films approved is 40. The films currently submitted for review do not even reach the upper limit of approval allowed by the relevant departments. The reality is not that China will let in, but that there may not be so many good and capable films. If you make money, film producers are willing to invest in it.
Observer Network: Why do movies that are popular around the world fail to work in China? where is the problem?
Wang Hailin: Hollywood itself has been reflecting on the issue of in the past two years - why do Chinese people no longer like to watch their movies?
I think the core issue is still the content. Compared with the blockbuster era of the past, Hollywood itself has regressed greatly. Therefore, although the global market has not shrunk, the shrinkage in the Chinese market has been very obvious - a large piece of the Chinese box office cake has been cut off by China's domestic films. The only reason is that China’s domestic movies are on the rise.
Observer Network: Did they reflect on the results? Or have you made corresponding changes for the Chinese market?
Wang Hailin: We often say that Hollywood is controlled by Jews. The Jewish thinking is that as long as you can make money by doing business, everything can be adjusted. So we see that in mainstream American commercial films, Chinese people appear less and less as villains. Many big-budget movies will also arrange some Chinese actors to star - for the Chinese market, add a Chinese character. Or like "Mission: Impossible" and "Transformers", they specially come to China to shoot scenes. They want to use the "Chinese elements" that
can use as much as possible, but they obviously do not have a deep understanding of the so-called "Chinese elements". The cultural gap between China and the West is still deep, and there will be "flattery" Case. Marvel's "Shang-Chi" is the most typical example: at first, Marvel wanted to make a superhero movie aimed at the Chinese to please them. Unexpectedly, the Chinese were very angry and even thought that the elements and plot of this movie were "Insulting China".
Another example is the aesthetics of character makeup. The Chinese are very sensitive to the fact that actresses in Hollywood movies deliberately choose single eyelids, dark skin, high cheekbones, and "oriental makeup". They think this is discrimination against Chinese people and deliberate vilification. But I read an article written by a French left-wing scholar. In fact, some people with left-wing ideas in the West think that "high nose, big eyes and white skin" is a Western mentality. If you find an Eastern actor who also follows Western aesthetics, it will be a sign of "diversity." Disrespect – you can’t let Western-looking people represent the East – so sometimes this “Orientalist” aesthetic is pushed by the left. But actually this is a cultural misunderstanding. We Chinese also like white skin and big eyes.
"Shang-Chi", which originally wanted to please the Chinese market, offended the Chinese audience.
After experiencing several fierce rebounds in the Chinese market, the knowledgeable people among them are now further reflecting and will pay more attention to and have a deeper understanding of the values and values of the Chinese people. Thought tendency. Some time ago, a Hollywood movie asked me to revise the script for them. They invited a famous Hong Kong male star to star in an anti-Japanese script. After the actor's team read the script, they said that the male lead he played in the script was a Kuomintang general, and he would not play the role because the drama was to be released in mainland China unless he played a Communist general. So Hollywood immediately changed the script and made major adjustments to the original story. The male protagonist became a cadre of the Communist guerrillas behind enemy lines...
From this we can see that Hollywood always puts the market first on this issue. If the Chinese market can accept it, anything can be adjusted and anything can be said. For example, the latest " Kung Fu Panda 4" has greatly improved the research and performance of Chinese culture.
Observer Network: So in the face of this change, Chinese audiences do not need to reflect.
Wang Hailin: of course. They want to make money from us, of course they will find their own way.
Observer Network: What do we need to learn most from Hollywood at the moment?
Wang Hailin: What needs to learn most is, firstly, their mature genre narrative of commercial films, and secondly, their strong global distribution network. If Chinese films are to compete globally with American films in the future, in addition to content, the gap between us in the layout of these hardware will be very large.
Observer Network: However, China’s theater chains currently face great difficulties in the local area, and last year’s branch screening reform was not very successful. If we adopt a more flexible introduction method and allow more outstanding films from niche, non-American, and even third world countries to come in, can the current crisis be alleviated?
Wang Hailin: Speaking of branch screenings, our mainstream commercial theaters are currently unable to make ends meet and are unsustainable. It is still a bit difficult to build an art theater chain. We now have the world's best screen hardware. How to continuously provide good commercial films to fill these screens is the most important issue.
The current crisis is not that Chinese movies are not good, but that imported movies are not good. In the past, our theater chain relied on overseas films for "blood transfusion". Whenever we couldn't get enough, we would buy two American blockbusters, and then it would slow down in this month. Nowadays, these blockbusters no longer make money in China, and there is no substitute for them. It is certainly not possible to bring them to art films or other movies that are even less profitable.
In fact, for those niche films with money-making potential, those imported film dealers who are qualified to approve films are very shrewd and keen. For example, after watching the movie "The Three Evils", people immediately decided to boldly introduce it because they assessed that the film was acceptable. " American Civil War " released some time ago won the weekly box office championship in the United States, and China quickly approved the introduction of the film. Therefore, I am not worried that those Japanese and European films that are niche but have potential will not have a chance to be introduced, because in most cases, even if they are outside the quota, film producers will use the film approval mechanism to let these films in. But if these movies don’t make money, or if the cost of introducing them outweighs the benefits, then it still won’t work.
Observer Network: Finally, when it comes to genre films, the "lack of money" trend affected by the general environment has also entered the film market. Does this indicate that special effects blockbusters like the "Feng Shen" series will be difficult to see in the next few years, and comedy stars represented by Shen Teng and Jia Ling will play leading roles in high-box office movies?
Wang Hailin: There has been a trend of financialization of movies in the past few years, so investment in movies has also increased. In this context, movies have become a financial product, and whether the box office is high or not has little to do with whether it makes money. Now, the trend of financialization has been obviously suppressed, so it is difficult to have a film with an investment of hundreds of millions or even more than 500 million.
As for comedians, in fact, looking around the world, the most expensive ones will always be comedians - Hong Kong has Stephen Chow, and the United States has Jim Carrey. Comedy movies will always be the most popular movie genre, and this has never changed. .
Comedian Shen Teng and Ma Li
So in general we have to have confidence in Chinese movies. In many cases, movies are both a spiritual product and an industrial product. We are the world's largest industrial country and a country with a large population. This kind of industrial foundation and advantages will always exist. I have always had a view that the future and mainstream of world cinema will only exist in three countries - the United States, China and India. Now, I still think so.
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