Burning Dimension (ID: chaintruth) original
Author|Tao Tao
Editor|Cao Yang
The movie "Disappearing Her" exploded.
As of 12 noon on July 3, the box office of "Disappearing Her" has reached 2.334 billion yuan, and it still maintains a good reversal momentum. (Reverse decline, that is, according to the regular trend of the film market, the box office of films during the long holiday generally shows a downward trend, if there is a movie box office rises, you can emphasize the strong box office performance of the movie.) According to Maoyan Professional Edition, its final box office may hit 3.3 billion yuan.
The hot search of Weibo and Douyin also confirms the high popularity of the film. Maoyan Professional Edition data shows that as of 12 o'clock on July 3, "Disappearing Her" has 203 hot search topics on major platforms, with a cumulative TOP1 number of 50 times, and 381 hours and 24 minutes on the list.
Photo: "Disappearing Her" hot search data
Source/Maoyan Pro
With the gradual rise of box office and popularity, netizens' discussion of "Disappearing Her" has also transitioned from the film itself to the producer Chen Sicheng.
It is not difficult for netizens and many of their fans to find that high-grossing films directed by Chen Sicheng are common.
Chen Sicheng, who holds blockbuster film and television works such as the "Detective Chinatown" (hereinafter referred to as "Tang Detective") series, has become the first 10-billion-dollar box office director in Chinese film history as early as 2021. After that, the "Manslaughter" series supervised by Chen Sicheng and the now released "Disappearing Her" also continued his previous box office success as a director.
"The reason why the 'Chen Sicheng Model' is called outside the film is because he knows marketing very well." Film and television publicity personnel Susu said to Ran Dimension.
As Susu said, Maoyan Professional Edition data shows that in the past half a year, "Disappearing Her" has put 18 materials on Maoyan, and the trailer traffic of TOP1 in material playback is more than 12 million.
Of course, the "Chen Sicheng Model" has few failures at the box office, and it is inseparable from its keen insight into the audience of the film.
"As far as I know, Chen Sicheng has always paid a high degree of attention to market changes, knows where the pain points of the current audience are, and will make suitable films as quickly as possible." The blogger with the Weibo ID "Yang Xiaoniu is stubborn" (hereinafter referred to as Yang Xiaoniu) analyzed the Ran dimension.
But more importantly, it is the high box office of the "Chen Sicheng model", which comes from its industrialized film production model.
"Strong genre themes, equipped with excellent young directors, followed by a number of well-known actors as starring roles, and his own executive producer, constitute the basic model of Chen Sicheng's film production." Senior curator and film critic Sha Dan revealed, "For example, in addition to "Disappearing Her", the "Tang Detective" series and "Manslaughter" series are suspense films with a relatively high degree of topic, and there is a strong content relationship between series and series. In this way, it can not only cause a high degree of discussion among netizens, but also conceive the IP universe in advance when creating the movie. Shadan added.
Of course, in the eyes of industry insiders, if the "Chen Sicheng model" is to be sustainable for a long time, it also depends on the film's storytelling skills and the ability of the operator to keep pace with the times.
"For example, the content of "Mozart in Outer Space" is weak, even under the 'Chen Sicheng model', the box office is still mediocre." Shadan gave an example.
In this regard, Susu expressed a different opinion, "From "Tang Detective 2" to the "Manslaughter" series to "Disappearing Her", Chen Sicheng's films are mostly adaptations or remakes, but "Mozart in Outer Space" is not. Therefore, the overturning of the film may also show that Chen Sicheng also needs to improve his skills as a screenwriter. ”
Susu analyzed, "Especially in recent years, there are more and more high-quality movies, the audience's viewing aesthetics have also been improved, the box office of the film and the word of mouth are closer to proportion, whether it can tell a good story in the eyes of the public is very important for the box office." ”
It is not difficult to see that even if the "Chen Sicheng film" on the commercial assembly line has frequently become a hit because it captures the psychology of the audience, if it is to be sustainable, it is necessary to cultivate more internal strength, carefully polish each story, and grow with the public's aesthetics.
01
"Disappearing Her" with two polar reputations
Although the audience's feedback to "Disappearing Her" was mixed, it is undeniable that whether it is praise or criticism, the content surrounding the film's sense of atmosphere, suspense, the rationality of reversal, and the darkness of feminism and human nature have stimulated heated discussions among the audience.
Source: "The Movie Disappeared Her" official Weibo
"I had heard the story of the disappearance of women in the fitting room in Southeast Asia before, so when this story was brought to the screen, the feeling created had a great visual impact on me, and it also made me feel fear and despair all of a sudden." Speaking of the film's sense of atmosphere, Stella, a post-95 girl, commented.
Also fanned by "Disappearing Her" is also the post-90s boy Fengfeng, "The transformation of the real and fake heroine, the panic brought by the appearance of the fake heroine, and the contrast between the dream of the seabed 'starry sky' and the sad ending when the real heroine is abandoned at the bottom of the sea are all impressive." In addition, the storyline of the film is relatively compact and the logic is relatively clear. ”
The film not only creates a tense atmosphere, but the audience's immersive sense of suspense substitution is also very strong.
Xu Ruofeng, a film critic with a Douban ID of "ruo1996", wrote in his long commentary, "The limited perspective of the film is not omniscient, making it a suspense film with a high 'audience participation'." When you look at it, you can't help but be involved in the 'lies' woven by the reality and reality, like falling into a fog. ”
In addition to the atmosphere and sense of substitution, what deeply touched many audiences was the realistic meaning conveyed by the film.
"After watching it, I was quite shocked in my heart, feeling that the movie is not simply about love, but more about human nature. The true love we think may just be for profit. Stella sighed, "People can't lose themselves, and they shouldn't put their emotions completely on another person, which is my intuitive reaction after watching the film." At the same time, as the old saying goes, 'It's easy to change, but it's hard to change,' don't try to change a person. ”
Yang Xiaoniu, who watched the movie, said to Ran Jiyuan, "Less 'silly white sweet' idol love dramas, more such realistic romance films are very good, the main thing is a reality." ”
Xu Ruofeng also wrote in the film review, "It was not until the end that I found that the film was to explain the proposition of 'fake intimacy' through plot reversal and character reversal." The 'lie' of each character is like a sharp knife that cuts through the mystery in the name of love. It is not only a suspense film, but also a thought-provoking motto. ”
Of course, there are not a few negative reviews of the film.
In the Douban comment, ""Disappearing Her" is like a 'hodgepodge' that integrates movies such as "Invisible Guest" and "Disappearing Lover", which has become the common evaluation of many netizens, "I guessed the ending in the first 20 minutes after watching" and "insufficient sense of suspense", etc., which are the feelings of some audiences with high reading volume on this genre film.
In addition, some netizens gave comments such as "many loopholes" and "exaggerated plot" in the film. For example, "How can a meticulous killer easily trust the lawyer introduced by the waiter in the bar without investigating her background?" "How can the male protagonist trust a man who calls himself a police officer on the side of the road?"
Some viewers also said to Ran Dimension, "Some of the plots in the film let the suspense design be exposed too quickly." ”
Not only the main film, but also the Easter egg at the end of the film has also been criticized by the audience. Stella complained to the burning dimension, "Easter eggs really make me confused, and I don't know what the connection is with the feature film. ”
02
The "Chen Sicheng Model"
The heated discussion among netizens also brought a good box office to "Disappearing Her". As of 15 o'clock on July 3, the box office of "Disappearing Her" has reached 2.36 billion yuan. It is worth mentioning that there are films directed or produced by Chen Sicheng, which have attracted strong attention or high box office, far more than "Disappearing Her".
From 2015 to 2021, the "Tang Detective" series trilogy was released one after another, and received a box office of 823 million yuan, 3.397 billion yuan and 4.523 billion yuan respectively, and the total box office of the three films exceeded 8.7 billion yuan. Although "Manslaughter" and "Manslaughter 2" are not as good as the "Tang Detective" series, the combined box office of the two films has reached 2.45 billion yuan.
"The reason why these films have a high box office popularity is because Chen Sicheng has a high sensitivity to the market, understands the preferences of domestic audiences, and knows what can inspire the public's 'hi points'." Yang Xiaoniu said.
Sha Dan also analyzed, "Chen Sicheng is good at capturing the focus of contemporary young people, such as 'girls help girls' in "Disappearing Her". At the same time, he directed and supervised the basic strong genre films, the high-grossing "Disappearing Her", "Tang Detective" and "Manslaughter" series, are all suspense films, with a lot of reasoning, revenge, murder and other elements, and the rhythm is strong and the plot is compact. ”
It is precisely because of this that many people call Chen Sicheng the film as the driving force behind the scenes, called the "Chen Sicheng model".
In addition to focusing on current hot issues and being good at exploring strong types, Chen Sicheng spares no effort in publicity. Since its release, in addition to 10 roadshows in 7 cities with the participation of starring Zhu Yilong, it has also intensively launched trailers, MVs, specials, etc. in Maoyan. Under the release of the special, on the first day of release (June 22), June 29 and July 2, the number of people who want to watch Maoyan Pro increased by 21,000, 20,000 and 14,000 respectively.
"I went to see 'Disappearing Her' because the film's publicity on major platforms stimulated my interest, and it was also through the publicity that I learned that it was related to a previous Thai archive." Stella told Ranji.
However, many people in the industry have said to Ran Dimension that the core reason for the repeated success of the "Chen Sicheng Model" is its more mature film industrialization process.
"The films produced by Chen Sicheng all have a strong 'Chen Sicheng imprint'." Sha Dan's analysis of the burning dimension, "Their common feature is that they closely follow the issues of the times, focus on strong genre themes, remake or adapt classic scripts, and support new directors." ”
According to enterprise investigation data, Chen Sicheng has a total of 9 related existing enterprises, including the main producer of "Disappearing Her", Yitong Production. And the signed directors under Yitong Production, including Cui Rui, Ke Wenli and others, of which Cui Rui is one of the directors of "Disappearing Her", and Ke Wenli is the director of "Manslaughter".
In addition, Sha Dan also introduced that when Chen Sicheng creates films, he always considers building it into an "IP universe" at the early stage of creation: "For example, the "Manslaughter" series and the "Tang Detective" series, in the content, you can find the association between different character names that may point to the same character, which is a typical way to expand the commercial territory." The derivative content of these films is also doing well, such as the "Tang Detective" series in addition to movies, but also related TV series. ”
"Under the good vision of people and a relatively mature business model, the success rate of works under the 'Chen Sicheng model' has become relatively high." Shadan added.
Shadan also mentioned that Chen Sicheng's success lies in capturing the psychology of the audience in the sinking market, which is equivalent to capturing the box office of the movie.
Photo: "Disappearing Her" regional box office
Source/Maoyan Pro
Taking the box office on June 30 as an example, as of 17:30, the box office of the first-tier cities on the day of "Disappearing Her" was 21.422 million yuan, accounting for only 15% of the national box office of 142 million yuan on that day.
The box office of second-, third- and fourth-tier cities accounted for 85%, especially in second-tier cities, with a box office of 54.589 million yuan, accounting for nearly 40% of the national box office. It can be seen that lower-tier cities have a higher contribution to the box office.
03
Will the "Chen Sicheng model" overturn?
Although most of the films under the "Chen Sicheng model" have box office results of more than one billion yuan or even billions of yuan, it does not mean that this model will not "overturn".
"One of the reasons why Chen Sicheng's films have a better box office is because most of his commercial films are supported by overseas original film scripts with high reputation." Susu said to Ran Dimension, but even if the copyright of the script is purchased, in the process of localization, the plot may not be handled well, and then the "rollover" will follow.
For example, Ran Dimension found that the original movie "Manslaughter" "Manslaughter" had a Douban score of 8.6 points, and the original movie "Imminent Eyebrows" of "Manslaughter 2" also had a Douban score of 8.3 points. However, in the localization process of "Manslaughter 2", comments such as "adults' hearts cannot be adapted to children" and "forcibly reversed, forcibly brushed tears with family affection" abound in the Douban comment area.
Or because of this, the Douban score of 5.7 points of "Manslaughter 2" is much lower than the 7.5 points of "Manslaughter". The score of 9 points in Maoyan Professional Edition is also average in Maoyan's scoring system, which is significantly lower than the 9.4 points of "Manslaughter". This makes the final box office of "Manslaughter 2" stay at 1.121 billion yuan, less than the 1.333 billion yuan of "Manslaughter", and has become the lowest box office of the adapted film under Chen Sicheng's model.
Source: "Manslaughter" official Weibo
"In addition, if the 'Chen Sicheng Model' is to be sustainable, it is necessary to improve the originality of the film script, and it is best to include the screenwriter in the model of film creation." Susu analyzed, "Unlike the scripts of "Tang Detective 2", "Manslaughter" and "Disappearing Her" all have original films or prototypes, the sci-fi film "Mozart in Outer Space" is a pure original script, but it is not good in terms of appeal and word of mouth, and the box office is only more than 200 million yuan. ”
Shadan also said, "In addition to the industrial model of the film, polishing the script is also crucial. The sci-fi theme "Mozart in Outer Space", although it is also a genre film, its plot is more 'warm swallowing', and it ended in 'defeat'. ”
In fact, in recent years, with the improvement of the quality of domestic films, the audience's taste has gradually improved under the cultivation of more high-quality films, which makes the reputation of the film more proportional to the box office.
"In the past, theatrical films may be decided with a 'pat on the head'. But today's arrangement is basically backwards, and the data and public opinion of pre-sales will be directly related to the share of the film. Li Dongjing, the cinema manager of Yaolai Jackie Chan Cinemas, said to Ran Dimension that with the positive correlation between word of mouth and box office, the theater's arrangement of movies will also be adjusted more flexibly and scientifically according to the public's word of mouth.
The data can also largely support this.
According to Maoyan Professional Edition data, in 2016, films with more than 9 points accounted for 27% of the mainland box office, and films with 8.5-8.9 points accounted for 33%. These two figures accounted for 37% and 27% respectively in 2017, and the box office proportion of films with more than 9 points exceeded 8.5-8.9 points for the first time. By 2019, the box office proportion of movies with more than 9 points in Maoyan Professional has reached 67%, and 22% of movies with 8.5-8.9 points.
The experience of other commercial directors' films Waterloo can also be seen that it is difficult to make a good film.
"Although as a commercial director and producer, he has created box office results in the "I Am Not the God of Medicine" and "Thai" series, "Mother" due to the poor reputation of the film itself, 'only commercial, lack of content sincerity', so under the influence of force majeure factors, after being broadcast online during the Spring Festival in 2020, the reputation and popularity were dismal. Therefore, the director and screenwriter of commercial films must not neglect the content of any film. Otherwise, its anti-risk ability at the box office will be weaker. Susu further gave an example.
Many insiders also said to Ran Dimension that in recent years, the frequent decline of Hollywood films in China also shows that commercial films are increasingly in need of novelty. "For example, the biggest criticism of "Spider-Man: Homeless" before has two points, one is 'boring plot and pediatrics', and the other is 'harvesting fan feelings'." Li Dongdong, the founder of Geek Films, once analyzed the burning dimension, and it is not difficult to see that the domestic audience's requirements for the sincerity of the plot have become higher and higher.
In short, grasping the proposition of the times and adopting the industrial production model are the factors for the success of commercial films. At the same time, carefully polishing the script of each film and treating the audience sincerely is still the winning weapon of commercial films that have never gone out of style.
*The title image is from Visual China.
*In the text, Fengfeng, Susu, Stella, and Yang Xiaoniu are pseudonyms.
*Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does the information in this article or the opinions expressed constitute investment advice to anyone.