The market performance in Q1 2023 is several degrees colder than the same period last year.
In the three years since 2020, the number of online movies with a total of 10 million box office accounts per year has been stable at about 50 - even last year, when the industry especially shouted "cold", it was only one less than the previous two years.
This year, the theatrical film market seems to be expected to warm up, while the online film market has further declined: one-third of the year is about to pass, and there are only 13 online movies with "split account + single point" exceeding 10 million.
The rise and fall are all adjustments that must be experienced in the process, and a certain cycle is still required; But the key problem is that in the large entertainment market, the updated content field is rising rapidly, but the calm online movies cannot remain deserted, and an even more "shot in the arm" is urgently needed.
Author: Lan Er
Editor: Prince Zhi
Format: Wang Wei
After "Qi Men Dunjia" broke the circle and set a record three years ago, the industry is looking forward to the sequel; And the world is a circle, now "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" is coming, similar to three years ago, the entire online movie field is cold again.
"It is precisely because the industry is cold, and it is more meaningful to the industry to make every effort to do a good job of content, and good content has good results." Li Siwen, vice president of Qishu Youyu and chief producer of "Qi Men Dun Jia 2", emphasized this in an interview with Black and White Entertainment.
Roughly since the middle of last year, the online film field has felt the real difficulties in the market and industry; This year, after a short-term favorable environment during the Spring Festival, online movies disappeared in the mass market for three months. Then comes the most crucial issue: confidence. The confidence of the market, the confidence of the public, the confidence of the industry.
"Qi Men Dun Jia 2" hopes to take on the role of "pryer" and "heart booster" again. In the development and production cycle of more than two years, "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" gathered a team with considerable imagination from the director-writer partner team to the cast, re-sorted the iterative logic of online movies, set advanced standards, and once again created a quality ceiling of oriental fantasy works.
Although the inevitable basis behind the upgrade is a large investment in people and property, although it must be a high-risk market node at the moment, "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" intends to face the challenge again.
Almost breathless, it has to be brought up
The current "cold" of online movies can be viewed from two levels.
One, "deserted".
From the most intuitive performance, the market revenue situation is obviously very worrying for the industry. In the three years since 2020, the number of online movies with a total of 10 million box office accounts per year has been stable at about 50 - even last year, when the industry especially shouted "cold", it was only one less than the previous two years.
This year, the theatrical film market seems to be expected to warm up, while the online film market has further declined: one-third of the year is about to pass, and there are only 13 online movies with "billing + single point" exceeding 10 million - insufficient space, weak market, and the annual situation is obviously not optimistic.
There are some very significant problems. For example, the lack of head-breaking works and the absence of "blockbusters" that can attract the attention of a wider audience and public opinion have led to a sharp decline in the presence of online movies in the entire entertainment market, which greatly affects users' attention and viewing interest in the field.
Another example is the lack of continuous supply of good content. We can see that the tens of millions of films are concentrated in the January Spring Festival cycle, and from February to April, the market is particularly lonely. Of course, there is a judgment on the market, many film parties want to take advantage of the explosive entertainment consumption demand in the strong schedule, there is a bunching phenomenon, but then the cliff-like decline, each month can only run a film in the core audience market, this "silence" state is also very worrying.
2. "Calm".
A new round of changes in online movies is being initiated, and internal and external factors make online film practitioners calm down either actively or passively.
From the good side, not daring to open the film indiscriminately, improve the quality and reduce the quantity, is the most prominent embodiment of falling into reality. For example, according to Yunhe data, under the background of the new reduction, the box office proportion of online movies exceeding 10 million in the first quarter is about 13%~14%, which is slightly inferior to 2022 but better than previous years, or continue to optimize the film structure and strive to maintain the quality of the head. Therefore, the in-depth development of mature genres, mainly based on successful creators, has become the most secure state in the current market, and there are few adventurer games.
Another phenomenon worth noting is that the number of online movies filed this year has dropped sharply compared with the same period last year: 37, 42 and 55 were filed from January to March this year, far lower than the 127, 120 and 133 in the same period in 2022. This change is supported by the logic of excellence, but at the same time, there is also another calm state about the industry, that is, the calmness of investment, which makes the film side choose projects more carefully, and also has a great impact on the industrial chain, and a large number of subjects withdraw from the field due to various reasons such as inability to survive, poor operation, and broken capital chain.
On the whole, the field of online film is in another stage of sorting out the development logic, and the rise and fall of it are inevitable adjustments in the process, and a certain cycle is still required; But the key problem is that in the big entertainment market, the updated content field is rising rapidly, and the calm online movies cannot be kept cold, and the poor tone still has to be mentioned.
At this point three years ago, it was "Qi Men Dunjia" that played a role in boosting qi; And now, three years later, "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" intends to stand up for the same role. This is not a groundless coincidence of history, but the positioning or "mission" of Qishu Youyu to this series of presets, which is to close the logic of the laws of the industry.
"The goal of the second part and the first part is the same, that is, to be the highest quality, the best content, and the highest box office in the same period in the industry, so that the platform and users are satisfied. Although in the preparation stage of "Qi Men Dun 2" in 2021, we predicted today's market and thought that it had a signal of decline, we continued to strengthen the positioning of this film. We can lower our expectations for film margins, but once again use it to leverage audiences and motivate the industry. Li Siwen told us.
From the planning in 2020, to the preparation in 2021, the shooting in 2022 until the recent production, the overall cycle of "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" is far above average, but it is not the "pressing" that people think to avoid the cold cycle of the industry, Li Siwen said "We just do it all the time, to the extreme within the scope of our possibilities, hoping to rush to the best possibility".
"It's getting harder and harder to iterate", what efforts has been put into "Qi Men Dun Jia 2"?
As seen earlier, the current adjustment and optimization of online movies is especially eager for "good content", and the benchmark of "good content" of online movies is also being re-established.
In Li Siwen's view, "iteration is getting more and more difficult." The core is that the "iterative logic" of the past has insufficient upside and energy. About "Qi Men Dun Jia 2", it is actually an attempt to re-find "boutique" in the logical change. As the highest-achieving film in the calibration industry in the same period, it not only takes the upgrade of production costs as an important basis, but also takes the upgrading of content polishing as the first demand.
Oriental fantasy is a very classic genre theme in online movies, and in Li Siwen's view, the important reason why this genre theme is not too hot now is precisely because the previous "content is not good enough", which consumed the audience's expectations; To do "Qi Men Dun Jia 2", the first thing to solve is the key shortcomings in its first part, such as the integrity of story expression, the refinement and improvement of character growth and character relationships, and the full construction of emotional suspense.
Therefore, the main creative team invested more energy in polishing and upgrading at the script stage. Screenwriter Yu Ao's previous masterpieces include the "Painting Rivers and Lakes" series, and after participating in the "Annual Comedy Competition" in the past two years, her ability has been recognized by the industry and the audience.
Director Xiang brothers and Yu Ao partnered, the former did a good job of "Qi Men Dun Jia" original excavation of traditional culture, the construction of unique oriental aesthetic style, while further exerting fantasy imagination; The latter tells the story solidly, depicting delicate emotions from a female perspective, while playing his own expertise as a professional comedy screenwriter; And the two sides can collide and complement each other from different dimensions in the details of fantasy and chivalry.
In such cooperation, "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" did come up with a fantasy work that is on par with theatrical quality. This kind of "theatrical level" does not mean grandeur, but refinement: exquisite story, accurate characters, exquisite visual effects, excellent aesthetics.
This film has both fantasy and martial arts cores. From the fantasy level, the film is further elaborated and enriched based on key structural elements such as "Qi Men Dun Jia" IP and "Fog Hidden Gate"; The understanding and presentation of elements such as Tai Sui, insect demon, Yin and Yang gossip are very integrated, among which the important "supporting role" Tai Sui appears in the state of Chinese "venom", and the changes and promotions in the plot are very watchable. From the story level, the film is more inclined to the martial arts world view, which is more friendly to the public, which talks about the theme of "protection" in Chinese culture, from the great protection of all living beings in the foggyin gate to the small protection between individuals, the story is multi-layered and full; The love and dedication in the big guardian are embodied in the small guardian, making the emotions more real and moving; The key reversal of the story, rigorous thread burial, and closed loop before and after, will bring the viewer a double impact high point in plot and emotion.
The cast of "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" is undoubtedly a high position in the current online movie, and it is also becoming an important plus for the film. Li Siwen said frankly that when he was casting two years ago, he simply hoped to cooperate with "more cinematic" excellent actors, and then this lineup brought many unexpected surprises to the film. The actor Zhang Xiaochen's roles in many popular dramas such as "Fengqi Longxi" and "Qing Qing Daily" last year have outstanding performances, especially in the role of "Yin Song" in "Qing Qing Daily", which made him attract a large number of audience attention again; He played Wu Yin, who was secretive and too old in the film, and the three character levels will bring out a threefold story mood. Liu Yase, who plays the heroine with a small wind, just won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress with "Wisdom Teeth" last year, and it is this very unique heroine image that attracted her to "Qi Men Dun Jia 2". Not to mention, the villain played by actor Liu Xiaoqing.
At the same time, in this film, the Xiang brothers further upgraded their ability to control image aesthetics and lens language, making this highly commercial film have a more artistic image texture, typical such as the formation change that has been praised by the trailer, Mai Lang Field and other clips, which greatly improved the aesthetic level of online movies.
As a whole, it can be seen that "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" not only continues to upgrade the online movie category and the corresponding themes from many aspects such as story, performance, and production, giving a more imaginative and attractive fantasy story, but also because of the more mature film development thinking, it has pre-harvested many bonus factors when facing the mass market, laying a foundation for its own expansion. The field of online movies is in need of such a strong dosage work with both work power and market power, and it also has enough strength to pry the audience in one fell swoop. We are looking forward to the fact that "Qi Men Dun Jia 2" can collide with the super effect of the online movie market again under the hot blessing of the May 1st schedule.
THE END
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