"Disappearing Her" breaks 3 billion! Can the box office ceiling of suspense films be higher?

Text|keva

Break 3 billion! "Disappearing Her" is undoubtedly the first hit of this summer.

Since the film's release on June 22, the box office has been going all the way, not only achieving a reverse decline on weekdays, but also ranking the single-day box office champion. To this day, the declining reputation has not stopped it from continuing to harvest the box office. With a score of 3 billion, "Disappearing Her" temporarily ranked first at the summer box office.

This suspense film produced by Chen Sicheng is adapted from the former Soviet film "The Trap for the Bachelor", which revolves around a mysterious disappearance.

The box office of 3 billion is enough for it to break the summer box office record of suspense films in mainland film history and enter the top four box office of suspense films in mainland film history.

The top three are "Man Jiang Hong", "Detective Chinatown 3" and "Detective Chinatown 2".

It is worth noting that the statistical objects of the ticketing platform for the box office of suspense films are not limited to pure brain-burning suspense movies in the traditional sense, but also focus on suspense comedy, suspense crime and other genre mixed works. This discussion will also be based on this standard.

Looking at the box office list of mainland film history, "Manjiang Hong" broke 4.5 billion, "Disappearing Her" exceeded 3 billion, and the two pan-suspense movies released this year have repeatedly set box office results. In particular, the former successfully broke into the top ten box office in Chinese mainland film history, opening a milestone new chapter in pan-suspense movies.

This can't help but make people imagine that the box office ceiling of pan-suspense films can be higher?

1

Explosive passwords

"It's a suspenseful reversal movie, with multiple reversals. It's different from the suspense movies you've seen before, and no one should have seen this type of suspense reversal movie. The creator of "Manjiang Hong" said so in a public interview.

"Manjiang Hong" focuses on the small soldier Zhang Da (played by Shen Teng) and the deputy commander Sun Jun (played by Yi Yangqianxi) being wrapped in a huge conspiracy, thanks to the team assembled by Zhang Yimou, Shen Teng and Yi Yangqianxi, which has been highly anticipated before the screening, and the film side has always emphasized the concept of "suspense is enough", which once again raised the audience's expectations.

The film finally won 4.544 billion at the box office, which is also the best box office result of the current domestic suspense film.

"Manjiang Hong" 4.544 billion, "Detective Chinatown 3" 4.523 billion, "Disappearing Her" broke 3 billion, "Drug Sweep 2 Heaven and Earth Showdown" 1.312 billion, "Above the Cliff" 1.191 billion, "Nameless" 931 million, "Fame" 926 million. At present, seven of the top ten box office suspense films in mainland film history are all works in the past five years. The other three are "Detective Chinatown 2", "Detective Chinatown 1" and "Notes on Tomb Robbery".

Earlier, high-reputation suspense films such as "Twelve Citizens" and "Scorching Sun" did not go out of the circle on a large scale. The box office ceiling of suspense films has been continuously pushed up since 2016.

In 2016, "Tomb Robbery Notes" became the first domestic suspense film to break through 1 billion box office. In 2021, "Detective Chinatown 3" once set a new box office record for suspense movies to 4.523 billion. It took only 5 years for suspense movies to cross the 1 billion to 4.5 billion mark. Until this year's Spring Festival, this achievement was surpassed by "Manjiang Red" with a slight advantage.

At present, the box office of "Disappearing Her" may not be able to reach a higher level. But it also proves once again the infinite possibilities of suspense movies.

The popular passwords of suspense films in recent years seem to have quite commonalities.

"Manjiang Hong" Yi Yangqianxi, "Disappearing Her" Zhu Yilong, "Nameless" Wang Yibo, "Detective Chinatown" series Liu Haoran, "Tomb Robbery Notes" Jing Boran and Lu Han, the use of high-attention young actors has become one of the highlights of suspense movies. The "fan power" that cannot be underestimated has obviously added a lot to the popularity of these films, and at the same time raised their box office base.

In addition, "Manjiang Hong" has been dubbed as a "reversed" script killing movie, "Disappearing Her" closely follows the hot marriage issues and the female care of "girls help girls".

Focusing on young audiences or social issues has also become a means for popular suspense movies to gain wide resonance.

Of course, in the era when word of mouth is directly proportional to the box office, actor popularity and publicity methods will only play a blessing role in the box office of the film.

After all, caring for women living alone, Fan Chengcheng's partner Bai Baihe's "Door Lock" and Douban are only 4.2, and the final box office is only 242 million. Based on Ma Boyong's novel of the same name, the Douban score of "Antiques Bureau Middle Bureau" starring Li Xian failed to cross the passing line, and the final box office was less than 500 million.

From the perspective of schedule, whether it is the "Detective Chinatown" series or "Man Jiang Hong", "Nameless", "Disappearing Her" or even the earlier "Drug Sweep 2 Heaven and Earth Showdown" and "Tomb Robbery Notes", they were all selected to be released in heavy schedules such as the Spring Festival or the Summer Festival. The reason why they can become popular models is somewhat due to the dividends of popular schedules.

From the perspective of genre, among the top ten box office suspense films in mainland film history, the number of suspense comedies is more than half, followed by suspense crimes. This also means that suspense comedy seems to be easier to get out of the loop in the suspense film system.

"Rise to Fame" as director Liu Xunzimo's debut film, the cast is not a first-line actor, and there was not much splash before the release. However, after the opening of the painting, the film achieved a "counterattack" with a fully reversed plot, and finally became the dark horse of the year with a score of 926 million, and has so far ranked among the top ten box office suspense films in mainland film history.

Word-of-mouth empowerment plus schedule dividends, the launch of popular lineups and social hot spots, the fact that popular suspense movies can stand out is undoubtedly the result of the right time and place.

2

Popular tracks

More and more creators favor the suspense track, and a large number of suspense movies are on the way.

"Above the Cliff" is Zhang Yimou's first spy war themed suspense movie, "Man Jiang Hong" is his first challenge to create a suspense comedy, plus Chen Sicheng directed the "Detective Chinatown" series and supervised the producer "Disappearing Her". Among the top ten box office suspense films in mainland film history, there are 2 films directed by Zhang Yimou, and 4 leading works by Chen Sicheng.

The two directors whose early creative careers were not based on the suspense track have left a brilliant mark in this genre in recent years, and they are expected to continue to explore on this road in the future.

In the movie list officially announced by the emperor in 2022, Zhang Yimou's "Above the Cliff 2" is prominently listed. Public information shows that the new works of the "Detective Chinatown" series and the "Manslaughter" series escorted by Chen Sicheng are all under creation. Cui Rui, the director of "Disappearing Her", also admitted in an interview that he was considering creating a "disappearing" series.

Today, when domestic film serialization is maturing, suspense movies are gradually keeping up with the trend and moving closer to the direction of serialization. The above several suspense movie IPs that have attracted much attention, and the new works in the series may bring us different surprises.

It is also worth paying attention to the creators who have been deeply engaged in the suspense track for a long time.

Chen Zhengdao, who is known as a suspense master with "Hypnosis Master" and "Memory Master", participated in the creation of the suspense movie "Welcome to Log in Again" after "Secret Visitor". The film tells the story of a man and a woman trapped in a secret room full of surveillance, and the only contact between the two and the outside world is the computer that is on a video call. Like "Manjiang Hong", the film focuses on "script killing" elements.

Following the direction of "Manslaughter" and "Silent Killing", the suspense crime film "Great Detective" written by Covingli has been approved, the film tells the story of the middle-aged frustrated Shen Dashen, who was originally cornered but accidentally became involved in and solved a serial murder case in Kochang City as a detective.

Whether Chen Zhengdao or Ke Wenli, the rich and successful experience in suspense film creation has also become the foundation for them to continue to stand out in this track.

"Now the audience's overall aesthetic level and logical thinking are improving, and through watching many excellent suspense films at home and abroad over the years, the audience has become more and more intelligent."

Cui Rui said bluntly when talking about the creation method of suspense movies that with the change of public aesthetics, the audience's reaction will affect the creation of the film at any time. "What the audience can guess and expect is at the point of creating the design. Each node is sorted out in time according to the feedback of the audience, trying to make everyone feel fresh, not too brain-burning, can understand, and have echoes. ”

While a large number of suspense movies are on the way, the method of suspense film creation is getting closer and closer to the public.

Greet the new wind of the times, audience-oriented. Continuous innovation, excellent works are frequent. The box office ceiling of suspense movies will eventually be broken again.

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