Author / Tank
"Who said imported films were stopped? Rumors again! ”
Indeed, although there has been no Hollywood credits for a full month since "Jungle Quest" on November 12, there is still a one-month window to go until the next "Matrix 4" on January 14 next year. But on the other hand, the Bulgarian film "Moment of Glory", the Polish buyout batch film "Blind Organist", the Russian film "Counter-Terrorism Special Forces: Liquidation Operation", the Pakistani animation "Beast Boy of the Fantasy Forest" have been airborne and fixed, and Korean films that have not been introduced for 6 years and Indian films that have not been introduced for 2 years have also been suddenly lifted and released.
On the surface, there are a lot of flowers in the market. In fact, the cumulative box office of imported films in December was only 34 million, most of which were still the results of the key extension of "007: No Time to Die", "Dune" and the Us buyout batch film "The Banker", and the cumulative box office of several small country batch films was less than 5 million, and the contribution to the market was minimal.
Obviously, in terms of introducing film countries, Chinese mainland film market has ushered in a new change.
42 years of Sino-US film exchanges,
Geopolitical film introduction dilemma
Although it is said that films should not be influenced by politics, as one of the most important forms of cultural propaganda, from 1949 to the present, China's film imports have been deeply influenced by foreign policy. Although After the reform and opening up in 1978, the deepening of the reform of the film mechanism in 1993, and the two negotiations with American films, China's introduction of foreign films has become more and more open, but China's foreign policy and geopolitics with neighboring countries have also deeply affected the introduction of mainland films.
If "technical problems" are the biggest problem hindering the release of domestic films, then "political problems" have always been the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of imported films, and there is a possibility of being stopped by a one-size-fits-all at any time.
Between the founding of New China in 1949 and the reform and opening up in 1978, for the sake of ideological control, Chinese mainland did not import any hollywood or films produced by the capitalist countries of Western Europe. Until 42 years ago, in 1979, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the two countries signed the "Sino-US Cultural Exchange Agreement", but American films were not introduced to Chinese mainland on a large scale, but only used the so-called technical exchanges as a breakthrough to conduct pilot screenings in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other cities.
After that, the United States proposed that the United States could fund the establishment of modern theaters in Beijing and Shanghai, and the Chinese side would select the films, buy out the screenings and carry out box office sharing, but in the end the two sides compromised to only buy out the screening and not to divide the box office for the introduction of Hollywood films, so in the 1980s and early 1990s, a large number of Hollywood films appeared in China's first-tier cities, but most of these films were western films that had passed the program introduced through low-cost purchases or gifts.
It was not until 1993 that this situation was changed. On January 5, 1993, the "No. 3 Document" "Several Opinions on Deepening the Current Reform of the Film Industry Mechanism" was officially promulgated and put into effect. The first imported sub-account film "Outlaw" set a new box office record in the history of mainland films with a box office performance of 26 million.
After 28 years of development, American films, represented by Hollywood's six major sub-accounts, have long become an indispensable part of the history of mainland films. In most years, American films accounted for more than 80% of the box office of Chinese mainland imported films, and 8 of the 13 films that had set new box office records in the history of mainland films came from the United States.
More than 20 years ago, China also briefly banned the introduction of American films. On May 7, 1999, a precision-guided bomb fired by a US B-2 bomber hit the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists on the spot, injuring dozens of people, and causing serious damage to the embassy building. After the incident, the Chinese people were indignant, and large-scale anti-AMERICAN demonstrations broke out in many parts of the country. Similarly, this time also hit the performance of Hollywood sub-accounts in the mainland. China Film resolutely stopped screening all imported blockbusters, resolutely showed its posture, and did not release a part of the account film for half a year. Star Wars Prequel 1, which was released in North America in May, was delayed until November before it was released in the mainland.
According to the 2000 Yearbook of Chinese Films, the box office of imported films in 1999 fell by 71% compared with 1998. Since the sub-account film has always occupied half of the entire film market structure at that time, it is inevitable that the economic benefits brought about by the suspension will be damaged. This heavy blow has really caused serious damage to many theaters, especially in first-tier cities.
After 1999, although Sino-US relations fluctuated, Hollywood movies could still be screened relatively smoothly because they occupied the lifeblood of the film market.
However, in the second half of this year, the US sub-account has encountered an unprecedented dilemma. From the end of June to December this year, the import of sub-ledger pieces was stopped three times in a row, which also made the whole industry unbelievable.
In 2018, the Sino-US trade war began. During this period, Sino-US relations continued to deteriorate, reaching a climax in 2020, but in fact, it did not prevent the introduction and release of the sub-account films, but on the contrary, the sub-accounts in 2018-2019 obtained better scheduling treatment than a few years ago, and even many of them enjoyed the treatment of "the world's earliest".
In the eyes of the outside world, in 2020, when Sino-US relations are the worst, including "Creed", "Mulan", "Crazy Primitive Man 2", "Wonder Woman 1984", "Psychic Journey" and other films have also been normally introduced. In addition, in March this year, the United States and China met in Anchorage. The results of the talks are not optimistic in the eyes of the outside world, but this still does not hinder the release of films such as "Godzilla vs King Kong" and "Fast and Furious 9".
In 2016, South Korea deployed THAAD, and South Korea's batch of films was completely stopped; since the end of June last year, China,India and Galwan Valley friction have been held, and Indian batches have been completely stopped. Every geopolitical signal has an immediate effect on the introduction of the film. However, at present, the attitude of the relevant departments towards Hollywood sub-accounts is still unclear.
It can be said that under the current circumstances, there are still many frictions between China and the United States on trade, politics and other issues. But longitudinal comparison of the past, these frictions have always existed, not much more serious than in the past, at this stage, the introduction of comprehensive (delay) stop (slow) import accounts, but also make it impossible for the outside world to interpret it too deeply.
The box office market continues to bottom out,
Small country films cannot replace Hollywood
The only thing that is clear is that in mid-December, the box office market has continued to hover at the freezing point.
Theaters are complaining, and the cinema film industry is on the verge of extinction. At this time, the import sub-account was pressed again by the pause button, pouring a basin of cold water on the industry again and again.
If Hollywood's sub-accounts are suspended, and other small countries accelerate the introduction of films, will there be a good market effect?
The answer is not optimistic. Up to now, a total of 48 imported films have been released this year, with a total box office of 1.71 billion, accounting for less than 4% of the market so far this year.
In the past two years, the entire batch film market can be described as "dismal". Of course, the impact of the epidemic is the most direct, but from another point of view, the pomp and circumstance of 2017 is indeed difficult to replicate. Most of the films are non-English films from niche countries, and there is also a certain threshold for domestic audiences.
Since the "How to Be Home" in may 2019, small country batch films have not appeared in the past three years. Since then, there have been no films outside the United States and Japan that have achieved box office results of breaking 100 million. The batch market is indeed getting sluggish.
It is undeniable that the lifting of the ban on South Korea and India is good news for the film market that has continued to decline in the past two years, if the vast majority of South Korea and India's blockbuster films can get the introduction opportunity next year, it is not difficult for the two countries to achieve a cumulative box office performance of 2 billion+ but it is not obvious for the import film market to make up for it, and it should be known that this is only the box office magnitude of 2-3 superhero blockbusters before the outbreak of the epidemic. In previous years, Hollywood sub-films that could contribute 20 billion yuan at the box office have no possibility of replacement in the short term, whether it is domestic films or small countries buy out batches.
Between Chinese and American films,
A strategic-level dialogue is needed
It is undeniable that Chinese and American films are decoupling at full speed.
Although China becomes the world's largest film market in 2020, this laurel will continue to defend its title in 2021.
But the definition of cinema has long been different from the past. If you add the revenue and output value of Hollywood streaming movies, the United States will continue to maintain its position as the world's largest film market, and it will not waver for a decade.
Hollywood just can't make money in China, but that doesn't mean Hollywood can't. As the world's two largest film markets, China and the United States account for almost half of the world's market share, including film production and box office output, whether these two countries can recover as soon as possible after the epidemic has far-reaching significance for the entire world film market.
There will certainly be a variety of differences and differences between China and the United States, and within these two countries, this difference and difference is easier to show through film, and film, as a cultural product and a pure commercial assembly line commodity, will play a role that is difficult to match in other channels for communicating between the two countries in terms of politics, economy and culture. The Sino-US film memorandum has expired nearly five years ago, and no new agreement has yet been reached. Perhaps, between Chinese and American films, there is also a need for a strategic dialogue. Establishing a new platform and establishing a long-term dialogue mechanism is a win-win outcome for both China and the United States.