February 27, 2023 | Total Issue 3160
Although there are already more than ten online movies with a box office of more than 10 million in 2023, the overall data is almost cut compared with previous years.
"The Legend of Qiao Feng, which has high expectations", has a total box office of 17.15 million yuan so far. In the same period last year, "Relying on the Sky and Slaying the Dragon: Nine Yang Shengong", although the reputation was not good, it won a total box office of 27.16 million yuan in the cloud cinema.
Although there is room for long-term sales of online movies, it is not ruled out that there will be blockbusters in the future this year, but the overall grim situation of online movies still needs to be actively faced by the industry. Of course, there are many reasons for this, the most obvious of which is the strong recovery of theatrical films.
01
In January 2020, due to the sudden onset of the epidemic, the Spring Festival stall was "no-show". Xu Zheng's new work "Mother" "Mother", which was originally scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival, was transferred to the Internet. Even people who put "net big" at the bottom of the chain of contempt on weekdays have to pick up their mobile phones and start a new journey of watching movies online.
The free "Mother" received 600 million views in 3 days, and "Fat Dragon Crossing the River", which was converted to a single film payment on the Internet, received 120 million cumulative effective views on the entire network, completely disrupting the user boundary between theatrical movies and online movies. In the following three years, the epidemic came and went, and the cinema closed and opened, and opened and closed. Theatrical movies are completely suppressed by online movies in terms of stability.
The weak introduction of films caused by Marvel's absence, and the occupation of important schedules by a large number of main theme films, have led to theatrical films failing to provide enough choices for audiences in entertainment and genre in the past three years. Online movies with high entertainment and distinctive genres seize the opportunity to maximize the value of "flat replacement" (affordable alternatives).
02
From iQiyi's first proposal of the concept of "online movies" in 2014 to the official certification of the name "online movies" in 2019, online movies have always presented the natural "flat replacement" attribute of theatrical movies.
In the title, there are many copycats. theatrical movies include "Beijing No. 81", and online movies include "Chaowai No. 81"; Theatrical movies include "The Taoist Priest Goes Down the Mountain", and theatrical movies have "The Taoist Priest Goes Out of the Mountain"; Theatrical movies have "Hong Kong", and theatrical movies have "Haven".
In terms of subject matter, it is brushed aside. For example: "Micro Girl", "The Return of the God of Gamblers", "Mr. Yin and Yang", "Bad Policewoman", etc., can always make people mistakenly think that they can't enter the theater scale.
On IP, unlimited copies are new every year. For example, the four major IPs of "Ghost Blowing Lantern", "Di Renjie", "Fengshen "and "Journey to the West" will launch several new films every year, completely filling the interval between the appearance of these IPs in theaters.
On the actor, the familiar face star has seen enough. Many stars who have been familiar with faces through movies, television, variety shows, sketches and other channels, but are not able to star in theatrical movies, are active in the field of online movies to meet the audiences who love them. For example, Hong Kong artists Chen Haomin and Qian Xiaohao, sketch comedians Xu Juncong and Cui Zhijia, and Xu Dongdong, who can make "impressive" every cameo on the big screen.
In addition, there are many extraneous and derivative works in the field of online films, which have expanded, supplemented, and even recreated theatrical films and popular dramas. For example, in addition to several films of "Old Nine Gates", and for example, the 2020 online movie version "Qi Men Dun Jia" derived from the same title of the 2017 theatrical version of "Qi Men Dunjia".
03
Although "Ghost Blowing Lantern: Xiangxi Secret Collection" pushed the box office record to 56.83 million, although many head companies such as New Studio, Taomeng, Yingmei, and Qishu Youyu have been born, although the TV Drama Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has carried out research to promote the high-quality development of online movies, although the single-film payment model has become the norm, and although video platforms have adjusted and optimized the billing scheme from time to time, online movies have not completely changed the "flat replacement" attribute.
In recent years, among the online movies, the only ones that can really have almost no connection with theatrical movies are probably the "Chen Xiang Six and a Half Series" and "Erlonghu Series" that were born out of online self-made short videos. They have the least intersection with theatrical films. The audience intersection of other online movies and theatrical movies is large enough to affect the overall situation.
This year's New Year battle has allowed people to see the "certainty" of the recovery of theatrical films. The backlog of dozens of theatrical film inventory in the past three years has been actively invested in finalization and promotion. In March, 3-6 new films will be released every week.
Coupled with the arrival of imported films that cannot be "replaced" by domestic online movies such as Hollywood superhero movies and Japanese animated films, people's "demand" for online movies is bound to be greatly reduced.
04
In recent years, no matter who speaks, it has always emphasized that online movies need to improve quality and create high-quality products. However, what is the quality of online movies that needs to be improved? Is it the quality that can be improved by spending money, or is it the quality that does not depend on spending money?
The answer can obviously only be the latter. Because as a "flat replacement", it is completely meaningless for online movies to compete with theatrical movies and special effects.
For celebrities, value is something that is difficult to rise back if it falls. Not to mention directly starring in online movies, that is, the starring movies are forced to "reform the network", and the box office appeal is also seriously damaged. Taking a step back, if the starring role of the big coffee is finalized, then why not "Internet reform"?
On the other hand, special effects that really burn money are not necessarily good in the field of online movies. For example, last year, there was a "Suzaku War Chronicle" with a very stunning level of special effects, and the final cumulative score was only 6.7 million. Looking at the special effects on the mobile phone, it is really the kind of 3D modeling big monster that is the most eye-catching.
After the theatrical film market gradually returns to the pre-epidemic level, the environment of online movies will most likely return to the pre-epidemic state, and it may even reproduce the atmosphere of making copycats that rubbed the popularity of theaters back then.
05
In fact, the past three years of online movies are not false prosperity, although there are not many, but at least the birth of "tough guy gun god" and "no one in sight" such word-of-mouth breaking circles, and is expected to attack theatrical movies.
The new film "The Future Please Come Please" directed by Hu Guohan, the director of "Tough Guy Gun God", appeared in Wanda Pictures' list of films to be screened in 2022-2023. The sequel "No One in Sight 2" created by the original cast of "No One in Sight" has been announced to land in theaters this year.
Although online movies need to serve as the "replacement" of theatrical films for a long time, the film talents cultivated by online movies have the opportunity to counterattack and appear on a larger theatrical film stage.
【Text/Full Hoard】