text｜Dong Jie editor｜Qiao Qian
"Boycott, I just don't let it go." Speaking of the movie " Yao", Zhang Wei, the manager of a movie theater in Jinan, did not fight.
Like thousands of theater managers, Zhang Wei was also extremely excited at the moment when "Yai Hundred" was finalized, "I have never expected a blockbuster movie to be released like now", but the excitement quickly evolved into Angered. The reason for
's anger is that Fang Huayi, the producer, adopted a wonderful way of distributing "Eight Hundred". In the version circulated on the Internet, "When it is officially released on August 21, theaters with an annual box office of more than 2 million will show movies in the normal way. Cinemas with a box office of less than 2 million will be charged according to the actual box office of the previous year. 3.5% of the verified minimum guarantee amount, and the minimum guarantee fee shall be handed over to the issuer’s designated account before August 19, before the "Yai Hundred" can be screened. Some theaters that have been penalized for intercepting the box office in the previous year, regardless of box office level, All must be paid in proportion to the guaranteed minimum amount."
One stone stirred up waves. The many small and medium-sized theaters that originally wanted to rely on "Yai Bai" to continue their lives suddenly felt that they were abandoned.
According to the theater box office data in 2019, there were more than 11,000 theaters nationwide in 2019. Excluding those closed during the epidemic, nearly 2500 theaters with a box office of less than 2 million, accounting for 23%, are mostly distributed in small cities of third and fourth tiers. In other words, nearly a quarter of the theaters in the country need to pay a guarantee fee to screen movies normally.
Huayi explained that this was to punish “the theater that stole the box office”. For this reason, Liu Ge, the deputy general manager of Huayi Brothers Film Co., Ltd. directly compared the movie theater to “the sideline and cash machine of some people who are battling a dog.” , Which completely exploded the theater managers.
Liu Ge, deputy general manager of Huayi Brothers Film Co., Ltd. Screenshot of Moments of Friends
In the WeChat group that "rejects all cooperation with Huayi", a theater manager said, "A banner has been raised at the entrance of the theater and decided to attack Huayi's unscrupulous Some managers cursed Huayi for being ugly and decided not to show Huayi’s films in the future; more theater managers said they didn’t understand, "Why do you want to make a one-size-fits-all approach? They said it was to punish the theaters that stole the box office. Those who have passed the box office should be presumed guilty?” Huayi responded to the above accusations on August 21, “According to real-time statistics of Tuopu data, there were 11,800 theaters nationwide in 2019. As of August 21, There are 9,649 theaters that have screened films, and 9,497 theaters that have obtained the "Yu Hundred" screening key. "By implication, less than 200 theaters have not paid the guarantee.
However, the 36Kr interview found that the real situation is not the case. Some industry sources told 36 krypton that there are still 2,000 theaters that have not paid the 3.5% guarantee. As for why there are so many theaters showing "Eight Hundreds", a person familiar with the matter said, "Huayi secretly issued keys to many theaters, especially the small theaters of state-run cinemas, one day before the release of ("Eight Hundreds"). But the validity period is only three days. (Release) The first three days are the most critical stage of the sprint to the box office. Huayi is afraid that the data will not be able to go up. After these three days, there is still no key."
As of 18:00 on August 25, " The box office of "Yabai" has exceeded RMB 1.1 billion, and the filming rate is nearly 90%, but many small and medium theaters are still excluded from this carnival.
"The most regrettable thing is that the audience can't see "
". Is this legal? Is it illegal fundraising?" Five days after the new release of "Eight Hundred", the 35-year-old Wang Zhi still couldn't swallow this breath. As a native of Sichuan,
has invested 700,000 to 800,000 yuan since opening a township theater in 2018. The small county town where the two theaters are located has only 60,000 to 70,000 people. Because the number of seats is less than 400, the combined box office of the two theaters in 2019 was just over 2 million (one family more than 1.3 million, one family more than 700,000).
According to Huayi’s distribution method, the minimum premium paid by the two theaters is 20,000 and the maximum is 70,000, which is unbearable for Wang Zhi. "With such a small population, how can it achieve 2 million box office? Isn't it discrimination?" According to the normal accounting standard of
, 5% of the special fund and 3.3% of taxes are deducted, and the rest of the box office, theaters and distribution Fang's accounts must be split between 57% and 43%. That is to say, if a minimum guarantee fee of 20,000 is paid, Wang Zhi's theater will have to earn a box office of at least 40,000.
However, due to the 50% attendance rate under the epidemic and the limitations of hardware equipment, it is difficult for Wang Zhi to recover the cost, so he did not pay the insurance premium. "Eight Hundred" has been in theaters for three days. Unlike many small theaters that were lucky enough to get the key, Wang Zhi's theater could not wait for the key. "There shouldn't be any more."
"We don't back to the courtyard." Online, there is no right to speak. Many large theaters will negotiate with Huaxia (the general agent of Yaobai’s issuance), and there will be discounts on the guarantee fee, and even many of them will be borne by the theaters."
I communicated over the phone and said that I am a township theater, can I take care of it a little bit, "but the other party has been very tough in communicating with each other a few times, and insisted on a minimum of 20,000, otherwise the key will not be given." Said that "mainly the country has been vigorously supporting these years." According to the policy, if it is opened in a township and a movie theater supports 100,000 yuan and uses laser projectors, each machine can be subsidized by another 20%, and 80% of the cost can be covered.
"Although it doesn't make much money, compared with going out to work, (the theater) at least does not need to be exposed to the wind and sun, and can do a part-time job in free time", but the situation has taken a turn for the worse. During the 174 days when the
epidemic ceased, Wang Zhi quit all his full-time employees. Although the landlord waived the rent for three months, the net loss was still 40,000 yuan, which was equivalent to his one-year income.
has been Wang Zhi's happiest two years since he opened the cinema. "When we first opened, because the township was relatively remote, some old people didn't know what 3D was at all. Now they know that when they watch a movie, wear glasses and the picture can be drawn in front of them."
said that what he regrets most is not putting "Eight Hundred", "After all, Qixi Festival will be here soon, and there will be many blockbuster films released one after another. I can recover some of the losses. The most unfortunate thing is the audience. Such a good film is not seen by everyone. It is a great mental loss."
The reality is that more and more small theaters have paid the guarantee fee under the coercion and lure. This is what Wang Zhi is most worried about. "If this attempt is successful, will all the blockbuster movies learn this way, then we really can't survive."
Now Wang Zhi is already preparing for the Qixi Festival film arrangement, he told 36 krypton, the next month, He will fill up movies such as "Little Women", "I'm Waiting for You at the End of Time", "Buckwheat Going Crazy", "Creed" and other films, "but we are determined not to rank "Eight Hundred"."
"We didn't steal the box office. Why don't you let it be released?”
1000 kilometers away in Tianzhu County, Gansu, the theater manager Onion is also worried about the guarantee fee. As a member of the Gansu branch of Pacific Cinemas, Onion and the other seven theater owners received a notice from the theaters on the afternoon of August 17th, asking for a 3.5% guarantee premium. Although I had heard of it before, the moment I received the notification, Onion couldn't help swearing swear words in the group.
waited more than a year for this day. Before the release of "Yai Hundred" in July last year, he deliberately ran out to watch the infield with friends, "I thought this film was very shocking at the time, and it would definitely be popular." Although the publisher only gave a single poster at the time, but Because of the confidence in the film, Onion paid for a lot of publicity out of his own pocket. "The official account, roll-up banners, and banners have all been done. Why did you suddenly turn your face and deny people this year?" Onion complained to 36Kr. When
first received the notice, Onion also felt that his back to the Pacific Cinemas line must be a turnaround. He immediately assembled various theater owners to request negotiations with Huaxia (the distribution agent of Yaobai), but communicated within a few hours. , The agreement was not reached, "The theaters will not help pay, and China Xia also does not agree that we will not pay (the guarantee fee)." Until now, Onion still has not been able to get the key to the "Yaobai" screening.
Onion also firmly rejects Huayi's "punishment of box office stealing". According to his understanding, of the dozen or so theaters in Tianshui City where he is located, only two or three of them actually stole the box office. "The vast majority of them didn't steal it. Why don't they let it be released?"
was also very disappointed with Pacific Cinemas. At the beginning of the notice, the theaters tried their best to discourage theaters with an annual box office of more than 500,000 from paying the minimum guarantee fee. "But we calculate and post, at least 40,000 box office can be paid back, according to 35 yuan a ticket, less than 1,200 During the epidemic, it’s difficult to achieve this attendance rate during the epidemic."
"They (theatrical lines) just stand up and talk without backache. At this time, wearing a pair of trousers with the publisher, it is impossible to stand on our side."Because of this incident, Onion has begun to consider not renewing the contract with Pacific Cinemas after the contract period, and find another way.
, like Wang Zhi, the original intention of Onion to sell this theater is also because of national policy subsidies. He has a deep affection for the industry as a film screening. After changing hands and operating at a disadvantage, Onion chose to spend 600,000 reels in 2017 to upgrade the old theater, with 3 halls and 260 seats. Last year’s The box office is also 930,000.
is a small county in the depths, and it is really not easy to be a theater. Onion told 36Kr that the annual Spring Festival stalls, National Day stalls and blockbuster movies are the main box office sources for small theaters. "Take last year as an example, " "Wolf Warrior 2" accounted for 360,000, and the Spring Festival file was 340,000. The remaining 230,000 was evenly distributed in ten months. You can imagine that we need one more blockbuster blockbuster. "According to this year's market, Onion estimates that the box office can reach 400,000 yuan, thank God," said the loss is less than 2 to 30,000. "
has seen more and more peers who have not paid the guarantee and got the key these days. Onion is very anxious. However, compared with the toughness who has been scolding Huayi before, now he has eased a lot.
Tian also got the key, will you choose to show it? Onion said, "Maybe, maybe not, but no one will have trouble with the money. Who will let people take the initiative? "
" If all follow suit, it will be a matter of time before the theaters reshuffle." The
small and medium-sized theaters suffered from this new release method, and the big theaters were also very worried. The
Dadi theaters had 1,270 theaters across the country, although they were involved. The percentage of theaters that pay the guarantee fee is very small, but He Shubing, the person in charge of a certain area, still expressed concern.
"This policy must have been acquiesced by the superiors, otherwise Huayi would not dare to do this," He Shubing said, "and from beginning to end. We did not receive a paper notice. It was the cinema chain that was communicating privately with the issuer. As to whether or not the 3.5% guarantee fee is guaranteed, it all depends on the cinema chain. "
" Since it is a tacit consent, will big producers like Bona and Light follow suit? If we follow this in the future, many theaters with a box office of less than 2 million yuan will be catastrophic, and they will go bankrupt. "
is a leading theater line and has a platform endorsement. This time, Dadi Cinemas won the biggest discount for the theaters that pay the minimum guarantee fee, but He Shubing cannot guarantee the same situation next time, whether such a discount will still be available.
before. The Chinese film industry has discussed the “feasibility of branched cinema screening”, but it cannot be implemented for various reasons. He Shubing said, “Huayi’s attempt at this time is likely to be the budding of branched release. If it is implemented in the future, The reshuffle of the theater is a matter of time. "
is indeed necessary to worry about this. Although it caused huge controversy in the early stage, according to the data given by Huayi, many small and medium-sized theaters that swear to the death in the early stage have made compromises, which to some extent shows that this policy has worked. .
, but it’s really not easy to implement. From the perspective of theaters, which theaters will be released first and which will be released later, involves many interests and games. "If a city has multiple theaters with different theaters, one theater The line was put on first for two weeks, and other theater lines may have no profits," He Shubing said. From the issuer’s point of view, such an operation cost is also extremely high. A Huayi internal staff told 36Kr that on August 14th- During the screening period on the 20th, Huayi was almost paralyzed and chaotic. Because "Yai Hundred" adopted the form of "one key per day", many theaters did not even get the key before the film was shown. "Staying, black screen during playback, invalid key is commonplace."
"After doing it once, I never want to do it again. It was running at full capacity for 10 consecutive days, and the phone was blown up", said Hua The employee of Yi said. According to his disclosure, after being pointed out by thousands of small and medium-sized theaters, on the fourth day of the show (August 24), Huayi had already compromised on the guarantee fee. Cinemas can get a 20% discount or even less on the basis of the 3.5% guarantee fee.
In the eyes of many people in the industry, it is purely considering commercial interests. After the hardships, "Yaibai" obviously has a better "make money schedule", but choose At the end of August, when there are only a few new films and large-scale movies of the same size, the posture of "saving the market and saving oneself" has been quite obvious.
However, as the producer, Huayi’s new release method has indeed "injured" a lot of problems. Small and medium theaters. With the soaring box office, I don’t knowWhether Huayi will continue to "compromise" in the future, after all, in this troubled autumn, the Chinese film industry cannot bear any more blows.
(At the request of the interviewees, the interviewees Wang Zhi, Onion and He Shubing are all pseudonyms)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-