In 2018, Japanese film export revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan, of which box office revenue from China accounted for nearly 40%, 770 million yuan. This also allows more Japanese film companies to target the Chinese market.
The last Conan film of the Heisei era "Detective Conan: Fist of Cyan Blue" was released during the crowded Mid-Autumn Festival in China. Since its release on September 13 in just 44 hours, its box office has exceeded 127 million yuan, setting a record for Conan theatrical version in China. Fans talked about "Conan Reasoning Elements" and "Conan Love Practice Handbook" with great enthusiasm. These topics remain high on the Weibo hot search list.
At the same time, it was Japanese "old man" Takuya Kimura who faced Conan. The movie "The Prosecutor's Sinner" is Kimura's first appearance on the big screen in China 15 years after he participated in "2046". Two days before the show, he excitedly posted a Weibo: "Please look forward to it!"
During the G20 Osaka Summit this summer, the leaders of China and Japan also talked about the topic of the movie at the dinner: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe When I talked about the latest Japanese movie "The World of Kings", I said that this is a story set in the Warring States Period in China; Chinese President Xi Jinping responded: "(China-Japan) film exchange is a very important thing."
The relationship between China and Japan is picking up, and Japanese movies are also ushering in a "highlight moment" in China. Since 2015, China has introduced more than 30 Japanese movies. Among them, there are many animated movies, such as "Doraemon" and "Conan", which have grown up with the Chinese youth. The live-action movies are mostly pure love films and art. Film-based. "Your Name" became the box office champion among imported films from Japan, and "The Thief Family" was the live-action movie with the highest box office. According to data from the Japanese media "Movie Natalie", Japanese film export revenue in 2018 exceeded 2 billion yuan, of which box office revenue from China accounted for nearly 40%, 770 million yuan. This also allows more Japanese film companies to target the Chinese market.
"Your Name"
Japanese movies have been in China for forty years,
entered the cinema this year, and you can see Japanese movies almost every month. It has been 40 years since the last Japanese movie introduction boom.
In the 1950s, the Chinese film industry entered a period of prosperity, and some foreign films were introduced, including Japanese films. In 1956, the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Troupe performed successfully in Japan. The Japanese Film Week was held in China's top ten cities, and films such as "24 Eyes", "Women in War", "Here is Spring Water" and "It is for Love" were screened.
In the next ten years, the introduction of Japanese films stagnated a little. After the reform and opening up, China and Japan signed the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty in August 1978, and the relationship between the two countries entered the honeymoon period. In order to further promote Sino-Japanese friendship, Japanese movies have been introduced on a large scale.
In 1978, at a prime night time, CCTV broadcasted the Japanese movie "The Hunt" without prior notice. In the next few days, the film was shown in major cinemas across the country. Due to the sensation caused by the movie, CCTV also released a notice: "At the request of a large audience, the Japanese movie "The Hunt" will be replayed tonight."
In the minds of Chinese people, "The Hunt" is not just a movie, but more like it. A window allows everyone to see the outside world. There are plots of fighting bears, fighting criminals, fighting an unjust judicial system, as well as taking private jets and couples riding horses, as well as the latest hairstyles, fashionable trench coats, and toad mirrors. In China, where bicycles are still luxury goods, these are like blockbuster bombs that have been detonated among the audience. Later Japanese movies such as "The Testimony" and "The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness" were also highly sought after and became memories of a generation. Japanese actors such as Takakura Ken, Nakano Ryoko, Yamaguchi Baihui, Kurihara Komaki and other Japanese actors became China's "flow directors" at that time.
At the same time, Japanese animation films were also introduced into China. In 1979, "Ryuko Taro" directed by Urayama Kiroro became the first Japanese animation film to enter China. In 1982, the "Panda Story" co-produced by China and Japan featuring panda Taotao as the protagonist was released. Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s "My Neighbor Totoro", "Castle in the Sky" and "Nausicaa" were also introduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In August 1994, the Film Bureau of the State Ministry of Radio, Film and Television issued the "Document No. 348": it is clear that since 1995, China Film Corporation has imported 10 films "reflecting the outstanding achievements of world civilization" through the internationally accepted method of distributionA good movie with contemporary film art and technological achievements. In November of the same year, the American Hollywood blockbuster "Destiny" was introduced to China. Since then, the entertaining popcorn movie has become the new favorite of the Chinese market.
At that time Sino-Japanese politics Relations became tense, and the Japanese movies on the Chinese screen were no longer the same. In 2001, when Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine, Sino-Japanese relations dropped to a freezing point. Since then, friction has continued, especially when the Japanese government "purchased" the Diaoyu Islands in 2011 After that, Sino-Japanese relations fell into a trough for a long time.
Until 2015, as the relations between the two countries recovered again, Japanese movies ushered in its long-lost spring. “For a long time before 2015, the import of Japanese movies was very high. Therefore, when it enters the Chinese market again, the market will inevitably show a kind of compensation psychology. "Zhi Feina, an associate researcher at the Institute of Film and Television Arts of the Chinese Academy of Art, told Phoenix Weekly that due to the stagnation of the cooperation between the two parties earlier, several Japanese films in recent years have caused a large response in the market.
Japanese animation such as "La Dream" and "Detective Conan" entered the Chinese market and gradually became the new icon of Japanese movies. In the past year, most of the Japanese movies released in China are animation works.
"Duo" released in May 2015 "La A Dream: Walk with Me" won 530 million box office, allowing the film companies of the two countries to see huge business opportunities for Japanese films in China. In 2016, "Your Name" set a new box office record for Japanese films in China with a box office of 576 million yuan. Two live-action movies have also entered the Chinese market, namely the inspirational youth film "Bottom Hot Girl" and the science fiction film "Parasite Beast". It has been 6 years since the last time the Japanese live-action film "Norwegian Forest" was introduced.
"Japan" Animated movies and live-action movies are completely different in China. "An industry insider told Phoenix Weekly that Japanese animation is highly recognized in the Chinese market, and live-action movies are relatively difficult. Even so, the above phenomenon still injected a "cardio booster" into Sino-Japanese film cooperation. In 2017 and 2018 China has introduced 9 and 15 Japanese movies respectively.
"Detective Conan: Fist of Cyan Blue"
Japanese company "looks at" Chinese ticket warehouse
As China surpassed Japan in 2010 to become the world's second largest economy, two Years later, China once again surpassed Japan and became the world's second largest film market after the United States. The "Statistics of the Japanese Film Industry" released by the
Japan Film Makers Association shows that the box office of Japanese movies has been lingering in the 40 years since 1978. At around 200 billion yen per year. In 2018, the box office revenue of Japanese movies was 228.5 billion yen (approximately 14.9 billion yuan), while the box office in mainland China has reached 60.976 billion yuan. The cultural counselor of the Japanese Embassy in China, Fukuda, commented Said: "In the past 40 years, Japanese film creators have not specifically explored overseas markets. Japan can satisfy them. "
has a handful of black horses at the box office in Japan in the past decade: In 2010, the 3D cyclone of "Avatar" swept Japan, and the box office rose to 220 billion yen. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the box office revenue of Japanese movies declined until In 2016, the release of "New Godzilla" and "Your Name" brought the box office back to 220 billion yen.
In this regard, the vice chairman of the China-Japan Cultural Industry Exchange Association, Ata Shi, explained: "As Japan ages With the aggravation of the problems of globalization and declining birthrates, the film market has also shown a trend of shrinking year by year. Japanese live-action movies have shown a kind of internality, and works with this characteristic have gradually increased. "
's domestic box office has encountered a growth bottleneck, and major Japanese film companies have begun to turn to overseas markets. Shochiku Co., Ltd. President Junichi Omoto said: "No matter how good the revenue in 2018 is, it will only be more than 200 billion yen. We should seek high levels. The expansion of overseas markets requires the global development of films and dramas. "Toho Co., Ltd. President Tani Nosei said: "We exported the intellectual property rights of "Godzilla" to Hollywood, and gradually formed a series of monsters, which received a good distribution of income. We are confident to continue in this way. "
As early as 1986, Japanese animation films entered Hong Kong. "The Godfather of Blockbuster" Jiang Zhiqiang, who has released movies such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero", saw Hayao Miyazaki's "City in the Sky" at the Hong Kong Film Festival. I immediately decided to buy. At that time, Disney animation films were very popular in Hong Kong. Jiang Zhiqiang pushed Miyazaki’s animation to cooperate with DisneyEqual status. He also established a good personal relationship with Hayao Miyazaki, and Hayao Miyazaki gave him all ten films for distribution.
During the same period when dealing with Hong Kong counterparts, Hayao Miyazaki and his colleague Takahata at Studio Ghibli also visited mainland China, but returned with regret. In 1984, they visited Beijing and Shanghai, and visited the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio. Takahata also presented the film of "Nausicaa" to Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio and had an in-depth conversation.
"This visit made us feel disappointed in China." Gao Hata Hoon recalled afterwards, "We originally respected the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, but the studio executives only cared about the issue of piece rate payment. China has just ushered in modernization, but Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio has lost its original style." A person familiar with the situation told Phoenix Weekly that the two Japanese animation masters who have a socialist complex are due to their own capital. I was dissatisfied with the working state of the ideological society, and came to China with a pilgrimage mentality, hoping to see the enthusiastic creation scene, but was disappointed. Until his death, Takahata Hoon never stepped into China.
But Chinese fans of Ghibli always hope to get a movie ticket for Hayao Miyazaki. After a lapse of 18 years, "Spirited Away", the world-recognized "once in a lifetime" work, finally landed in Chinese theaters this year. It beat "Toy Story 4", which was released in the same period, and finally won RMB 480 million. box office. The issuer of
also specially invited Zhou Dongyu, Jing Boran and other stars for dubbing, and the posters also used the works of Chinese designers. The editor-in-chief of Japanese animation media "Anime! Anime!" commented that Japanese animation companies generally avoid using localized original posters. They are surprised that Studio Ghibli can accept this behavior. Pay attention to".
"The Sinner of the Prosecutor"
was introduced from Japan to the "hidden rules"
"100 million completed, 200 million opened champagne, 300 million dreams." This is the first box office prediction for the animated movie "Your Name" on the Chinese Internet. . In the end, its box office reached 576 million yuan.
"Your Name" directed by Xin Haicheng was introduced by Caitiaoya Pictures, a subsidiary of Guangming Media, and purchased the Chinese screening rights of the film from Japan’s Toho Co., Ltd. for approximately RMB 19 million. The latter does not participate in China. The box office share. Chinese buyers who have had many dealings with Hollywood film companies have accumulated a lot of experience through the following channels: China buys out film rights; Chinese brands plant Hollywood blockbusters; Chinese capital invests in Hollywood movies; Chinese and foreign co-produced movies.
However, when encountering conservative and rigorous Japanese companies, these Chinese buyers find it difficult to deal with them. Japanese companies are more willing to cooperate with professionals they are familiar with, and Enlight Media can only introduce "Your Name" from Toho through a Japanese business agency.
"Although Japan is our neighbor, Japanese film colleagues don't know us the least." Zhang Jin, CEO and founder of Zoran Pictures, who worked with the Xinhaicheng production team, told Phoenix Weekly, "China, France, China, Britain, China The United States has a very mature film and television cooperation model. We only need to do business cooperation. But when we talk about cooperation with Japan, we face many problems, such as different working methods, habits, and trust issues."
Zhang Jin recalled that he was surprised when he first met the senior directors of Toei Club in the conference room: "A row of seniors over 70 years old sat opposite." One of the directors told him that the reason why he refused to cooperate with China in the past was because a well-known Chinese director failed to fulfill his promise to him in the early years. After that, he no longer cared about the Chinese film market and didn't know anything about it.
"The Japanese film industry is relatively conservative, and most companies do not have the desire to expand in the Chinese market, which makes cooperation very difficult." Zhang Jin explained that distrust is due to not understanding. The less you understand, the less trust you have. Form a vicious circle. After that meeting with
, Zhang Jin spent two years visiting his house every month, sharing relevant information with his Japanese colleagues, and slowly building trust. One day, Toei Animation Chairman Kozo Morishita said to him: "We are planning an animation film. Are you interested in participating?" The animation film expected to be released in early 2021 will be Toei's first attempt to cooperate with China. Produced jointly by the company.
A Chinese company that has just arrived and wants to talk to a Japanese company about copyright will also encounter many "hidden rules":Only by communicating well with the intermediary can we meet the representatives of the Japanese company. The intermediary is usually a Chinese who has lived in Japan for a long time. In addition, you must first pay a "sincerity money" before discussing things to prove that you are sincere in discussing cooperation. Regardless of the final result, the sincerity gold is non-refundable.
"Copyright agency is a common practice in Japan, not only in movies, but also in the book industry. They believe that cooperation can be guaranteed only through agency. The major US film companies have branches in Japan, so no intermediary links are involved." Fina explained. In the process of
cooperation, the different cultural habits and working methods of China and Japan have also become obstacles to cooperation. Generally speaking, Chinese companies think that after the talks are unsatisfactory, they will not continue to contact, but this is unreliable in the Japanese view. Regardless of whether it cooperates or not, the Japanese side needs to be informed by the other side. Under the extremely strict trust mechanism, Japanese companies have encountered too many cases of cooperation that cannot be ignored, which makes them lose patience with cooperation with China. Once
enters the link to purchase copyright, the Chinese side will receive multiple emails from Japan: including who the director is, when it starts, who is the actor, how much the production cost, when it will be released, how much is announced, etc. Series of questions. Only after multiple confirmations can the two parties further negotiate prices. Although
has these "hidden rules", Zhang Jin still believes that as long as it is adjusted to the same channel, the cooperation between China and Japan will become smoother. "Japanese companies are very sincere, regular and honest. Generally, they will complete on time and on time."
"Chinese Animation New Era" attracted the attention of Japan
. What Zhang Jin did not expect was that he had a meeting with the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga last June. A meeting between China and Japan led to the establishment of the China-Japan Cultural Industry Exchange Association.
“There is a need for a mechanism between China and Japan to help Chinese companies quickly establish a foundation of cooperation and trust with Japan, thereby facilitating the completion of the project.” During the half-hour meeting, Zhang Jin expressed to Suga Yoshihide the importance of establishing the association Original intention and desire to support it. He later learned that Yoshihide Suga personally called the four major Japanese film companies to facilitate the incident, "Although the four companies of Toho, Toei, Shochiku, and Kadokawa are competitive, they are very united. If you participate in an organization, , Will definitely join together".
On October 25th last year, the China-Japan Cultural Industry Exchange Association held its first meeting in Tokyo. Toei Co., Ltd. President Yusuke Okada said: “The four clubs headed by me basically represent the Japanese film industry. What I say is what I say on behalf of the four companies and on behalf of our industry. We must do what we say." The reason why Japanese movies are coming this year is also related to the downturn of American blockbusters. Many "US-related" TV dramas were urgently withdrawn. The eighth season finale of the US drama "Game of Thrones" failed to air as scheduled. "Avengers 4" was frequently delayed before its release. The Sino-US trade friction seemed to be the fire. Burned into the film industry.
Even so, for Japan, it is still unknown whether China's ticket warehouse is strong. The subject matter of Japanese movies is basically pure love, reminiscence of friendship, and relived family warmth, etc. The risk of reviewing the film is relatively small. All of the live-action movies that appeared this year are those that are light, slow, and vivid, with unique charm that resonates with the audience. "Long Farewell", "Days Are Good Days" and "The Thieves Family", which came back from Cannes, all use a light-weight way to open up the topics of life, aging, parting and even death.
"But to be honest, China has not yet formed the power to watch Japanese movies on a large scale." According to Zhi Fina, the ticket warehouses for Japanese movies are mostly concentrated in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and places that have more contact with Japanese culture. Cities, other cities have limited audiences. Hollywood movies also have a large audience in China's second- and third-tier cities, but it is difficult for these people to watch a Japanese movie at the same price. "
Faced with frequent rumors about the Chinese remake of the Japanese movie "Love Letter", "My Robot Girlfriend", and the Japanese remake of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", many people in the industry also reminded that the Chinese and Japanese society is at different stages of development. There is a certain gap in mentality. In the future, how to choose a suitable subject matter and find someone who can control it is very important. The rise of
Chinese domestic animation also makes people see new business opportunities. Recently, the Chinese original animation "Nezhazhi" has just exceeded 4.9 billion box office. "The Devil Boy Comes into the World" has been strongly sought after by Japanese public opinion. Many Japanese netizens said: "China has many myths and stories, and good works will be very popular in Japan. I hope the film can be released in Japan. "Someone even said: "China’s technological advancement is too fast. According to this trend, Japan’s 5It was surpassed within a year. "
" Affected by the Jingani arson incident, the power map of the world animation film may be greatly rewritten in the future. "Some Japanese media commented that Japan always has a fantasy that "popular movies can only be produced in Japan". Now the situation has long been different. "Many high-quality animated movies are being produced in batches in China. "
started using a Japanese team to produce Chinese stories. This is another attempt. The animation "Youth of Four", which was released last year, is like an experimental film produced by Xin Haicheng’s production team CoMix Wave Films. As the stage, three stories with the theme of "food, clothing, housing and transportation" were told. How to attract Japanese society, especially young people, to understand and like Chinese stories in the future will be a new challenge.
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