Reporter of Every Journal: Bi Yuanyuan Editor of Every Journal: Wei Guanhong “Judging from the two schedules of National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, the main reason is the lack of power of top films to pull the market. Regardless of domestic or imported films, the supply quantit

Reporter: Bi Yuanyuan Editor: Wei Guanhong

"Judging from the two schedules of National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, the main reason is the lack of power of top movies to pull the market. Regardless of domestic or imported movies, the quantity and quality of supply are both important. The audience's needs are rapidly iterating, and differentiation and diversification at the screening end are imperative." On the morning of September 23, China Film Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Film" or "China Film") held the 2024 Film Festival. Fu Ruoqing, chairman and general manager of China Film, said this to the reporter of "Daily Economic News" at the semi-annual performance briefing.

The "coldness" of the movie market is directly reflected in the box office and company performance. Although movie theaters are working hard to schedule more movies, the number of moviegoers is declining, and companies in the industry chain such as producers, promoters, and movie theaters are finding it difficult to make money.

"Daily Economic News" reporters found based on wind data statistics that since the beginning of the year, the stock prices of listed companies in the film sector have fallen.

"The large-scale investment and large-production film projects launched within a certain reporting period will cause significant fluctuations in financial data, which is an issue that listed companies need to study." Fu Ruoqing said. But it also shows that it is imminent to change the film market from within.

Fu Ruoqing Picture source: Picture provided by the company

"There is a misalignment between the film market and the audience"

According to statistics from the National Film Administration, the national movie box office for the 2024 Mid-Autumn Festival (September 15-17, 2024) was 389 million yuan, and the audience The number of moviegoers was 9.57 million, and the box office of domestic films was 332 million yuan, accounting for 85.35%.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, only one film with a box office exceeding 100 million yuan was " Wild Child " (123 million yuan), directed by Yin Ruoxin and starring Wang Junkai, Deng Jiajia, etc. 》《 I wish you happiness! "" and " reborn ", the box office was 49.94 million yuan, 36.22 million yuan, 27.82 million yuan and 19.68 million yuan respectively.

"Wild Child" stills Image source: Douban

Maoyan Professional Edition shows that compared with the 360 ​​million yuan box office of the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival and the 370 million yuan box office of the 2022 Mid-Autumn Festival, the overall box office performance of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is stable. However, it is worth noting that the total number of Mid-Autumn Festival games this year is as high as 1.367 million, far exceeding the number of games in the same period in 2023 and 2022. This also means that the film schedule has increased, but the number of moviegoers has dropped significantly.

’s just-concluded summer season had a total box office of 11.639 billion yuan, a 43.6% decline from 20.62 billion yuan in the same period in 2023. But at the same time, the summer season set a new record for the number of screenings in film history.

The movies are still there, and the number of shows is still there, but the box office and the number of moviegoers are worrying.

In this regard, Fu Ruoqing told the reporter of "Daily Economic News": "The film market has been ups and downs. Every time the market is lower than expected, it means that there is a misalignment between us and the audience's needs. It means that filmmakers have to summarize the problems and solve them accordingly." It’s a critical moment for change.” In Fu Ruoqing’s view, judging from the past two schedules, the main reason is the lack of traction of top films on the market. Whether domestic or imported films, the supply quantity and quality need to be greatly improved; the audience’s Demand is rapidly iterating, and differentiation and diversification on the projection side are imperative.

"First, the audience is seeking innovation and change, and it is difficult to gain recognition by copying the stereotyped path. Second, the public opinion environment is an objective fact faced by current filmmakers, and this cannot be promoted and changed by the filmmakers themselves. There are more Broad social factors." Fu Ruoqing further pointed out that Chinese films will actively respond to the current situation based on the film business itself. First, in terms of creation, we should pay full attention to and study the needs of the audience, insist on high-quality creation, and come up with the most sincere and innovative works, exchanging sincerity for sincerity; second, in terms of distribution, we should study the characteristics of the film one by one. , refine audience demands, and increase cooperation and linkage with both inside and outside the industry. Although there will definitely be criticism, sincerity can win respect; thirdly, for projection terminals, the content carried by theaters will inevitably become richer, especially for outstanding For cultural products with audio-visual effects, theaters are the irreplaceable best choice. China Film will continue to explore new formats such as live streaming in theaters to enrich the audience experience.

Fu Ruoqing said that China Film is very confident about the subsequent development of the film industry and film market.

In the first half of the year, film companies "betted" on the National Day schedule

The Mid-Autumn Festival schedule has just ended, and the National Day schedule is coming one after another, and many blockbuster movies have begun intensive promotion. Lighthouse Professional Edition data shows that as of September 23, there have been " Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death ", " Crisis Route ", "Entry and Exit Safety", "749 Bureau ", "Road to the Fire", " Only This Green " ”, “Breaking Good Guys”, “New Big Head Son and Little Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure” and other 10 films are scheduled to be released during the National Day.

"Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death" Picture source: Picture provided by the company

Fu Ruoqing introduced at the performance briefing that on September 30, the movie "Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death" produced by China Film Group will be released. This is the second part of the "Volunteer Army" trilogy directed by Chen Kaige, starring Zhu Yilong, Xin Baiqing, Zhang Zifeng and other actors. On October 1, the movie "Only Green" produced by China Film Studio was released. Starring the original cast of the dance-poem drama of the same name, the film shows the legendary life of Ximeng, a young painter from the Northern Song Dynasty.

"Only This Green" Picture source: Picture provided by the company

Guolian Securities Research Report stated that the National Day file will continue to diversify supply in 2024, but the head volume will be slightly lower year-on-year.

Looking back at the National Day box office over the years, the box office scale from 2019 to 2021 has climbed from the previous level of 2 billion yuan to the level of 4 billion yuan, mainly due to the concentrated release of supply-side theme blockbusters. In the past three years, films with a box office of more than 1 billion yuan during the National Day period include "My Hometown and Me" and "Captain of China" in 2019, "My Hometown and Me" and "Jiang Ziya" in 2020, and "Changjin Lake" in 2021 》.

After 2022, due to the lack of top content on the supply side, the National Day box office fell back to the range of 1.5 billion to 3 billion yuan. Among them, the box office during the National Day period in 2023 was 2.735 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 83%, mainly due to the low base in 2022, the simultaneous boost of demand and supply side, and the longer holiday period (the National Day holiday in 2023 is 8 days).

The National Day schedule is the largest schedule in the second half of this year and is crucial to the performance of film companies.

wind data shows that since the beginning of the year, the stock prices of film companies have fallen. Among them, Chinese movies fell by 18%, which is considered relatively "resilient"; Huayi Brothers, Beijing Culture, and Wanda Films fell between 20% and 30%; Shanghai Films, Baina Qiancheng, and Happy Blue Ocean fell by 30%~ 40%; Bona Pictures, Hengdian Film and Television, and Jinyi Film and Television fell by more than 40%.

Fu Ruoqing said frankly that large-scale investment and large-production film projects are launched within a certain reporting period, resulting in significant fluctuations in financial data, which is an issue that listed companies need to study. In recent years, China Film Group has also been trying a variety of measures to expand more sources of income and use diversified investments to hedge risks and balance returns. For example, in terms of creative layout planning for projects of different sizes and themes, rolling and echelon planning Consideration of delivery time.

China Film Deputy General Manager and Secretary to the Board Ren Yue added that due to the overall decline in the national film market, the company's screening business revenue and profitability will be lower than in 2023. The company has been promoting diversified supply to theaters. For example, China Film’s cinema live streaming function has covered more than 6,000 cinemas across the country and is still being expanded. On this basis, sports and music programs such as the Olympic Games and the Vienna New Year's Concert were also introduced to the theaters, and the attendance rate of many live broadcasts was close to 100%.

Ren Yue Picture source: Picture provided by the company

"In the next step, we will also introduce more diverse cultural content, such as international sports events, hard-to-get concerts, etc., so that multicultural content can interact with movies. ." Ren Yue said.

Daily Economic News