Blue Whale News July 15 (Reporter Tang Shiyun) ’s tepid summer season finally welcomed seed players. Shen Teng and Ma Li have co-starred for the first time in many years. This national duo once again showed great box office appeal. The new film " " became an instant hit after it was released. The film has not yet been officially released, but it has already become the runner-up in the summer season.
The film became an instant hit after being released, and it has exceeded 500 million before being released. On July 13, the film earned 156 million yuan in box office on the first day of screening, accounting for half of the national box office on that day. This is also the first time that the single-day box office has returned to more than 300 million yuan since the May Day holiday. The impact of hot hits on the market can be seen. The
film will be released tomorrow. As of press time, its screening and pre-sale box office has exceeded 504 million. The score of "Catch a Baby" was released on Douban today. More than 75,000 people participated in the rating. The current score is 7.5. Not a bad score for a comedy.
Some of the short comments on the homepage of the film are currently polarizing. Some viewers have harshly criticized the content, while others believe that "don't talk about the meaning, don't think too much, it's funny and it deserves five stars."
Theater chains and the market also have high hopes for this film.
According to Beacon Professional Edition data, "Catch Me" accounted for 29.8% of the film schedule on the first day of screening, which is much higher than the still popular summer hit " silently kills ". In the following two days, the film's film schedule jumped to 34.1% and 37.4%, ranking first in the schedule. However, at this time, the film has not yet been officially released. At the same time, the attendance rate of "Catch Me" also ranked first among the films in the same period, higher than "Despicable Me", "Silent Kill", "Inside Out 2" and so on.
Lighthouse Professional Edition shows that the predicted box office of "Catch a Baby" is roughly between 2.9 and 3.2 billion. The industry generally believes that the film is expected to hit the summer championship. In addition, " decrypted ", a collaboration between Chen Sicheng and Liu Haoran, and "Retrograde Life", which focuses on the theme of delivery workers, are also the focus of market attention, and their box office performance is worth looking forward to.
However, both films will be released in early August, which means that "Catch a Baby" will have relatively ample time to reap the box office results.
Shen Teng + Ma Li = Wang Zha?
"Catch a Baby" became a hit upon release, largely due to the box office appeal of the two leading actors Shen Teng and Ma Li.
In 2015, "Charlotte ", a collaboration between Shen and Ma, won a box office of 1.447 billion, and the combination of Shen and Ma became deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. After this film, Shen Teng and Ma Li rarely starred together. Although two people are also starring in the 2022 summer film " Alone on the Moon ", Ma Li's role is relatively limited. Even so, "Walking on the Moon" was still the summer champion that year, ultimately earning 3.103 billion in box office.
Standing on Shen Ma's shoulders, "Catch a Baby" tells the story of a rich family pretending to be poor to cultivate an heir. The last time I heard a similar narrative was when Zhang Zilong, the Prince of Latiao, said that his billions of family fortune had been concealed for 20 years and that he lived in a village until he was 8 years old. The setting of the
movie is more dramatic. Ma Chenggang, played by Shen Teng, and Chunlan, played by Ma Li, pretend to be poor, wear shabby clothes and live in an old house, trying to cultivate a tough and outstanding heir in a poor environment. The seemingly ordinary courtyard is actually an educational base built by Chao Qiang. The youngest son Ma Jiye is secretly protected by a group of people, so some viewers compare it to "The Truman Show" + "Starting Line".
Because everything is disguised, the joke of the story comes from this. Judging from the current audience feedback, "Catch a Baby" is a film with a lot of laughs, and it does not have the poop and piss jokes and clichéd jokes that were criticized in previous Mahua works.
"Catch the Baby" is directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo after the film "Charlotte" (Douban 7.9 points, 1.447 billion box office) and "The Richest Man in Xihong City " (Douban 6.6 points, 2.547 billion box office) The third collaborative feature. The aforementioned two works constructed a Xihong City universe and also accumulated a good reputation for Yan and Peng's partnership. With the reputation of Yan Fei and Peng Damo, the box office performance of "Catch a Baby" is not surprising.
In addition to the funny results, "Catch a Baby" is a story with a heavy core and is thought-provoking.Most of the controversy surrounding the film also focuses on parents' desire for control and the educational outlook of the East Asian world. A popular short comment on Douban bluntly stated that almost all the jokes are based on deceiving children, "They killed Ma Jiye." The
controversy will also bring attention and topicality. With the official release of "Catch a Baby", its word-of-mouth effect may be further fermented.
Happy twist again?
Although Shen Ma also appears in the main creative team, "Catch a Baby" is not a happy twist work in the strict sense.
Ranking first in the list of producers of "Catch a Baby" is Haikou Xihong Hutong Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xihong Film and Television Culture (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. The latter is a company established by Peng Anyu (Peng Damo) and Yan Fei in 2016. Yan and Peng hold more than 60% of the shares, while Happy Mahua only holds 15% of the shares.
"Catch a Baby" is also produced and distributed by companies such as Wanda Film and Television, Maoyan Weiying, Happy Twist, Ruyi Film and Television, and Alibaba Pictures. Therefore, although Happy Mahua is one of the investors, the main operator of "Catch the Baby" is still Xihong City Film and Television.
In recent years, the most discussed topic around twist-based works is, why does happy twist make people unhappy?
With "Charlotte Trouble", Happy Twist became a blockbuster, and film and television became its main business besides drama. It subsequently launched works such as "The Donkey Gets Water", "The Shy Iron Fist", "Li Cha's Aunt" and "Half Comedy". However, the quality of these works varies greatly, with Douban scores ranging from 8.3 to 3.7.
Judging from years of market feedback, contracted stars such as Shen Teng and Ma Li are Happy Twist’s biggest trump cards, and they are therefore used by Happy Twist as a promotional tool to attract audiences into the theater. But on the other hand, Shen Teng and Ma Li are only contracted actors and have not formed a strong binding relationship with Happy Twist. The traces of "mahua" on their bodies are getting lighter and weaker, and their roles in many mahua-type works are relatively limited.
For "Warm Hug" released in 2020, Shen Teng, who appeared for only ten minutes, became the biggest promotional highlight of the film. In the end, the film only received 860 million in box office and received a Douban score of 5.2. The more critical problem facing
Happy Mahua is the lack of creative ability of the team.
In the early years, turning dramas into movies was Happy Twist’s signature skill. However, when content creators start to copy themselves, their stories and characters will inevitably fall into a rut. In recent years, most of Happy Twist's movies are not adaptations of dramas, but purchase the copyrights of foreign movies or comics and create them again, such as " Super Family ", "Walking Alone on the Moon", " This Killer Is Not So Calm ", "Western The Richest Man in Hong City".
In terms of drama talent pool, Happy Twist has a rich lineup of directors, but their levels are also uneven. In 2022, Xing Wenxiong's "This Killer Is Not So Calm" and Zhang Chiyu's "Walking Alone on the Moon" both showed excellent box office results and restored the reputation of Happy Twist. But by last summer's release, "Super Family", which had high hopes, was really disappointing.
If happiness comes and goes, will the audience resolutely choose Happy Twist next time?
