With the release of "Antiques Bureau Central Bureau" on December 3, the curtain of this year's Lunar New Year file was officially opened, and as of now, a total of 37 new films are scheduled for the December slot, but careful viewers have found that warm and humorous comedy films can be described as "rare" in this year's New Year slot, and replaced by diversified film types, which is not unrelated to the quiet changes that have taken place in the New Year slot in recent years.
Comedies are no longer tied to the Lunar New Year
Since 1997, Feng Xiaogang's "Party A and Party B" opened the concept of mainland Chinese New Year files, and the New Year files have gone through 24 years. The traditional Chinese New Year file refers to the period at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. In its glory days, zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Feng Xiaogang, Zhou Xingchi and other directors once laughed at the party, and the New Year file once occupied one-third of the annual box office.
The traditional Lunar New Year file is dominated by domestic films, and with blockbusters and selling comedies as the main box office hits, in the early years, "Feng's New Year" made people laugh in the theater, and the warmth of "laughing and tears" swept away people's fatigue in the past year; and Xu Zheng's "Tai 囧", Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy, and Zhou Xingchi's nonsense movies also achieved good results in the New Year file, becoming the biggest driving force to attract audiences to the theater to watch movies.
However, since recent years, the box office effect of the Lunar New Year file has obviously declined, and the Spring Festival file, which is quite close to the New Year file, is obviously more suitable for the festive atmosphere of family viewing, so the Spring Festival file has replaced the strong position of the New Year file and has become the preferred schedule for many key films, thus, the position of comedy has also shifted, Xu Zheng, Shen Teng, Huang Bo's science fiction comedy "Crazy Alien" chose to be released on the first day of the New Year in 2019; Jia Ling's fantasy comedy "Hello, Li Huanying" In 2020, the Spring Festival stall has become a hit.
Comedy and the Lunar New Year are no longer closely tied, and the composition of the films in the schedule has also undergone a great change. A total of 37 new films were scheduled for December this year, which is a bit deserted compared to last year's 64 and the previous year's 69. Among the types of the film, there are suspenseful "Manslaughter 2", there is love, there are police bandits, only "Li Mao Changing Prince" released on December 31 is the real main comedy, Ma Li, Chang Yuan, Allen led the luxury comedy lineup "Happy Driving", so that everyone in a year of hard work and busyness to temporarily stop worrying, with a good mood for the New Year, but also let people vaguely recall the past New Year file, the theater is full of thick laughter.
There are no Hollywood movies in this year's Lunar New Year slot
In December 2016, there were several imported films such as "Your Name", "Hacksaw Ridge", "Captain Sully" and so on, which was a small temptation for imported films to enter the New Year file. In 2017, the introduction of films entered the house on a large scale, and on December 1 and 8 alone, five imported films such as "Darkest Hour" and "Fireworks" were released. At the end of 2018, there were still many imported films, "Aquaman" easily got a box office of 2 billion yuan in the Chinese market, and "Spider-Man: Parallel Universe" had a Chinese box office of more than 400 million. From the 2019 Lunar New Year file, domestic films have returned to the protagonist, occupying an absolute advantage in quantity.
With the rapid development of the Chinese film industry and the audience's love for "Chinese stories", Hollywood films have been difficult to become hot spots, and the box office performance of "Dune" and "007: No Time to Die" released in October has been lower than expected, which has shown that Chinese audiences are seeking a new viewing experience, and realistic word-of-mouth masterpieces and new mainstream domestic blockbusters have become the audience's favorites.
A Korean movie in the Lunar New Year slot, Oh Moon Hee, was quietly released on December 3, a Korean film that landed on the Chinese screen after a gap of six years, and the last Korean film to be introduced and released by China was "Assassination" starring Jeon Ji-hyun and Lee Jeong-jae in September 2015. "Oh, Wen Ji" tells the happy story of the son Dou Yuan, who is not afraid of danger, and the demented mother Wen Ji, the only witness to the accident, looking for the hit-and-run who hurt her granddaughter Pumei at the same time, the film has laughter and tears, there is affection and emotion, suitable for the atmosphere of the New Year file.
December 31 ushered in the most competitive day
As of November 30, the box office of Chinese films in 2021 has reached 44.281 billion yuan, and the release of these films in the December Lunar New Year file also determines whether Chinese films can break through the 50 billion mark this year.
The distribution of films in December is not even, with "Manslaughter 2" released on December 17 and 13 new films such as "Flames on the Plains" coming out from december 24.
"Manslaughter" released in 2019 can be called a dark horse, and this year's "Manslaughter 2" is produced by Chen Sicheng, directed by Dai Mo, starring Xiao Yang, Ren Dahua, Wen Yongshan, etc., also remade from foreign films, but did not remake the Indian version of "Manslaughter 2", but remade the American crime movie "Imminent", after localization processing, I hope to live up to the expectations of the audience.
Released on December 24, "Flames on the Plain" is a quite literary and artistic love crime film, produced by Diao Yinan, directed by Zhang Ji, starring Zhou Dongyu and Liu Haoran, starring Mei Ting, Wang Xuebing, Yuan Hong, Lü Yulai, Chen Minghao, etc., with a good lineup and attracting much attention.
On December 31, there were movies such as "Anti-Corruption Storm 5: The Final Chapter", "Love in a Year-based Unit", "Li Mao Changing The Prince", "Loyal Dog Hachiko", etc., which can be called the most fiercely competitive day in this year's New Year file, but several movies also have their own highlights, and in the end, who can highlight the siege or suspense.
The variety of styles in this year's Lunar New Year file also means that Chinese filmmakers are using their own exploration and attempts to inject fresh blood into the Year-end New Year file, which also shows the vigorous vitality of the Chinese film market. In a broader sense, the real treasure mine of Chinese films is not hidden in a certain slot, but in movies.
Some Chinese New Year films and release times (subject to actual occurrence)
December 3: "Oh, Munji", "Antiques Bureau Central Bureau", "Your World Without Me", "Endless Climbing", "We Are first secretaries", "As long as you live better than me"
December 4: The Stupid Bird Adventure
December 5: "Thyrestrial Grass"
December 9: Moment of Glory
December 10: "We Were Once In Love", "The Secret Is Unspeakable", "Blind Organist", "The Fourth Wall", "Anti-Terrorist Special Forces: Liquidation Operation", "Good Night, Chongqing"
December 11: Rock Mastiff: Blue Glow
December 17: "Manslaughter 2", "Lion Boy", "Don't Cheat", "Fear of Marriage: Escape Plan"
December 18: "Cycling"
December 21: "High-Speed Rail Testify"
December 24: "Flames on the Plains", "Love Myth", "Heroes of the War", "You Guess I'm Not a Hero", "The Phantom of the Lonely Mountain", "You At That Time"
December 30: "The Road To the Dream"
December 31: "Anti-Corruption Storm 5: The Final Chapter", "Love in Year", "Li Mao for Prince", "Loyal Dog Hachiko", "Embrace You Through Winter"
Text/Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter Xiao Yang