The summer season promoted the recovery of the film market, with a total box office of more than 1.5 billion yuan, and more than 80 films were finalized

Economic Daily News | Written by Jiang Tianjiao

The Summer of the Film Market (June 1 to August 31) has begun. Lighthouse Professional Edition data shows that at present, the total domestic box office in the summer of 2023 will exceed 1.5 billion yuan, and more than 80 films have been finalized one after another, which is expected to promote the recovery of the film market.

There are many types of good films

Summer is one of the core schedules of the year-round film market. Looking back on the past few years, the summer file has achieved satisfactory results: the box office of the summer file in 2022 exceeded 9 billion yuan, the box office of the summer file in 2019 reached 17.6 billion yuan, the box office of the summer file in 2018 was 13.824 billion yuan, and the box office of the summer file in 2017 was 16.3 billion yuan. Over the years, in the summer files, explosive masterpieces such as "Nezha: The Devil Child Descends", "I Am Not the God of Medicine" and "Wolf Warrior 2" have emerged, and the head effect of domestic movies has continued to appear.

The summer season is also one of the most abundant content supply throughout the year. Lighthouse Pro data shows that as of June 15, 83 films have been finalized for the summer of 2023. Blockbusters are gathered and rich in genres, covering comedy, costume, youth, suspense, crime, action, science fiction, animation and other themes, which can meet the needs of audiences of different ages. Among them, "Transformers: The Rise of the Power Warriors", "Spider-Man: Across the Universe" and "Fast and Furious 10" are among the top three at the box office, all of which are Hollywood synchronous ledger films.

This summer, more foreign films and domestic films will compete on the same stage. Imported films are an important part of promoting the development and growth of China's film market, and before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, more than 100 imported films would be introduced every year, accounting for more than 30% of the total box office of the year. It is reported that in order to further help the rapid recovery of the mainland film industry, the National Film Bureau vigorously promotes the introduction and distribution of foreign excellent films, and this year there will be a large number of films from the United States, Japan, India and other countries, it is worth looking forward to, and a number of Hollywood blockbusters have been released simultaneously with North America in early June.

Audiences' expectations for domestic films continue to rise. Industry insiders said that in recent years, the domestic film industry has made rapid progress, and shooting methods and production technologies have been comprehensively upgraded, and it has launched strong competition with imported films of the same type. After the Dragon Boat Festival, domestic films will enter the peak period of movie viewing. Among them, comedy, as a movie genre that has been widely loved by audiences in recent years, has a certain competitive advantage because it fits the atmosphere of summer moviegoing. The comedy movie "Super Family" is currently at the top of the summer want to see index, showing the strong box office appeal of domestic comedy films. The animated film "Chang'an 30,000 Li" presents the beauty of Tang poetry on the big screen, showing the legendary story of the intersection of stars of the Tang Dynasty. The suspense movie "Disappearing Her" seeks innovation in light and shadow and color, reflecting the unique charm of film art. At present, the pre-sale box office of "Disappearing Her" has exceeded 5 million yuan, leading the pre-sale box office list of the Dragon Boat Stall, and is expected to achieve good results in the summer file.

Overall, the summer film market in 2023 shows a trend of diversification. On the basis of stable market supply, it is expected to achieve a significant improvement in quality.

Small and medium-cost films urgently need to be broken

This summer, there are both blockbusters that have attracted much attention, and there are also many small and medium-cost films worth looking forward to. Compared with the large-scale productions that lock in the Spring Festival file and the National Day file, in the summer file, small and medium-cost films are more likely to produce dark horses and create surprises for the audience.

However, in the view of Du Qingchun, associate professor of the literature department of the Beijing Film Academy, the current performance of small and medium-cost films is weak, and it is still a short board in the film market. There are many small and medium-cost films that are ignored by the market because of factors such as weak casts and insufficient publicity funds. The box office of the recently successful small-cost film "Space Exploration Editorial Department" exceeded 60 million yuan, largely thanks to the cultivation of sci-fi moviegoers and the linkage and empowerment with the publicity of "The Wandering Earth 2". Zhang Dayong, assistant general manager of China Film Co., Ltd., analyzed that to support the development of small and medium-cost films, it is necessary to rationally allocate industry resources and increase support for such films. Industry insiders said that it is necessary to encourage the industry inside and outside to actively engage in film promotion, and theaters can also participate in marketing, so that the bridge between the production and the theater line is built, and the audience is driven to watch the movie through the cinema terminal.

In addition, the most important thing for small and medium-cost films is to have a good story that is real and vivid. Liu Jia, a distinguished industry research expert of the China Film Association and a visiting professor at the Beijing Film Academy, believes that the foundation of China's film market is high-quality, with huge market potential and strong audience demand. It is necessary to further attract new viewing groups and expand the audience. Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group, said that the film market needs richer content and themes.

Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and professor at Tsinghua University, believes that at present, some small-cost films with realistic themes are more than warm and lack sharpness. Recently, the topics that everyone talks about after tea and dinner are dramas, such as "The World", "Crazy", "Long Season" and other works, which is very important because such dramas have sharpness and depth. These themes also happen to be the direction of small and medium-cost films. At the same time, the "theatricality" of small and medium-cost films is insufficient, Yin Hong believes that small and medium-cost films need to have higher pursuits from form, theme, narrative to performance, and provide audiences with "cinematic" that cannot be replaced by other products.

Rejuvenate "weekend moviegoing"

In the first half of this year, the mainland film market developed strongly. As of June 11, the domestic film box real estate in 2023 will exceed 16 billion yuan, of which 16 films have exceeded 100 million yuan, accounting for 92% of the box office. From the main theme plot to hilarious comedy to sci-fi blockbusters, the overall number of films released in the first half of the year is large and varied, which greatly meets the audience's viewing needs. Compared to 2022, the film market has recovered significantly.

However, compared with the important schedule with fierce competition, the daily viewing demand has not been fully released. Industry insiders said that the mainland film industry urgently needs to get rid of its dependence on the "holiday effect". In fact, there are more than 40 weekends a year, and doing a good job of "weekend files" and allowing more powerful films to be set on weekends will become the key to driving the continuous growth of the film market.

Wang Bei, member of the Party Committee of China Film Group Corporation and director of China Film Co., Ltd., said that in order to drive the market and expand consumption, it is not enough to strengthen supply from the creative side, but also to improve the adaptability and flexibility of the distribution and screening end to changes in demand with an innovative model. First, close to the audience's consumption habits, explore innovative models such as scheduled screenings and theater live broadcasts, and provide menu-based and customized screening services; The second is to promote supply and demand matching, smooth circulation, and cultivate market segments, such as organizing sub-distribution and personalized screenings for interest groups of different themes such as science fiction, animation, and suspense; The third is to dig deep into the themes of "silver-haired people" and "generation Z" with high voice and attention, and do a good job in theme publicity in combination with solar terms, scene consumption, and festival activities, so that "weekend movie watching" can be rejuvenated.