"In the Octagon Cage" is super long, difficult to replicate the success?
July 23, 2023 | Issue 3305
Wang Baoqiang fought a beautiful turnaround battle with "In the Octagon Cage".
As of midnight on July 23, the cumulative box office of "In the Octagon Cage" has reached 1.803 billion yuan, temporarily ranking 4th in the 2023 mainland film box office list. The film was released using a rare ultra-long screening strategy, and before its official release on July 6, the cumulative box office was as high as 420 million yuan.
"Film screening" specifically refers to the selection of films that have not yet been officially released to be screened at a specific time and in a specific area, and the general screening time lasts 3~5 days, but the national screening time of "In the Octagon Cage" is as long as 10 days.
Why does "In the Octagon Cage" have a super long screening? How do theaters deal with such a screening method? Can the box office success it ordered be replicated? Film and television monologue invites film distributors, market experts, and cinema managers to find out.
Theater Manager: The first round of screenings was rejected
The first round of screening of "In the Octagonal Cage" was selected in the Dragon Boat Schedule (June 22~24), and the three-day screening earned 66.75 million yuan at the box office. After the first round of screenings, the movie's word-of-mouth began to ferment on social media such as Weibo and Douban. Many viewers said that the quality of the film exceeded expectations, it was a masterpiece of realism, and Wang Baoqiang's directing technique had been significantly improved.
The distributor keenly captured the excellent performance of word-of-mouth, and then added the second round of screenings (June 29 ~ July 2), which is still a strong box office and strong reputation. The third round of on-demand screenings (July 3~5) will be seamlessly released on July 6.
Mr. Lan used to be a film distributor. He explained that in order for a movie to be screened, it is first necessary to send hard disk copies to 12,000 theaters across the country and issue a notice of screening. If the theater wants to participate in the on-demand screening event, it will download the screening key in the distribution system by itself. This key is only applicable to use during the screening, and a new key will be generated when the official release is made.
Mr. Lan stressed that the point screening can theoretically be done by any domestic film. However, if the quality of a film is not too hard, wouldn't it be the first step to expose the shortcomings if it was screened in advance? "In the Octagon Cage" can do such a large-scale screening event based on the quality of the film. The continuous extension of the front is based on the excellent market response of the film.
Another feature of the screening event is that it is time-limited. For example, the first round of screenings of "In the Octagon Cage" is limited to 14 o'clock to 21 o'clock. However, in the third round of screenings, "In the Octagon" is completely open to the time limit, and the theater can arrange the number of performances according to their own circumstances, which is no different from the normal release.
How does the theater manager feel about the unique screening method of "In the Octagon Cage"?
Ms. Zhao, the manager of a cinema in Guangdong, said she was a little resistant to getting a copy of "In the Octagon" at first. Because she had watched "Big Trouble Tianzhu" before, she was deeply skeptical of Wang Baoqiang's directing level. Her theater did not even participate in the Dragon Boat Festival screening of "In the Octagon Cage", worried that the film was not well attended.
However, after the box office and word of mouth of the first round of "In the Octagon Cage" came out, she found that she had misjudged her. What she saw on Douban, Weibo, and Douyin was all positive feedback from "In the Octagon Cage", which changed her view of the film. The second round of screenings began, and Ms. Zhao took out two theaters to arrange three screenings a day, and the attendance rate of a single scene repeatedly exceeded 50%. In the third round of screenings, Ms. Zhao doubled the scale of screenings, and the box office trend was getting better and better.
Manager Hu of a Beijing cinema, on the contrary, actively participated in the first screening of "In the Octagon Cage", and the film's box office results also met his expectations. He said that he has been following the movements of "Octagon Cage". He feels that Wang Baoqiang polished a film for six years, and such a work will not be bad.
Manager Hu said that on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival screening of "In the Octagonal Cage", there was an almost full house. The audience mostly knows the news of the film's screening through the ticketing APP, and Wang Baoqiang's box office appeal cannot be ignored. Manager Hu also specially asked the audience about their feelings, and they said that the film is warm and powerful, suitable for taking children to watch together, and can stimulate learning and encourage exercise.
The success of "In the Octagon Cage" is the result of the distributor's daring to face the market and the active cooperation of theaters. The core competitiveness of the film comes from the fact that the fate of the characters in the work can inspire the emotional resonance of the public.
Market Expert: It's hard to replicate the best results
"In the Octagon Cage" faced a shortage of funds during the production process, and the investment in the publicity link was obviously not too loose. How can such a high-quality film get more attention before its official release?
Spot screening is the best choice. Point-and-shoot not only has limited investment, but also can harvest the box office in advance.
Ms. Zhao, the theater manager, said that the box office sharing mode of on-demand films is the same as that of normal released movies. The box office of "In the Octagon Cage" reached 420 million yuan, which shows that the film has won the support of more than 10 million viewers during the screening stage, and their pre-screening feedback has played a role in promoting the box office trend of the film.
After the official release of the film, Wang Baoqiang not only led the main creator to continue the road show, but also interacted with netizens on social media platforms from time to time, forming a good communication atmosphere and constantly spreading the positive influence of the film.
So can the ultra-long screening strategy of "In the Octagon" be replicated? Market expert Lian Cheng said categorically that the screening strategy of "In the Octagon" can be emulated from a technical point of view, but the reality is that most movies will not do this. Large-scale screenings mean word-of-mouth release, how many movies can withstand such word-of-mouth tests?
Liancheng Yi Crisp further analyzed that the most powerful thing about "In the Octagonal Cage" in the entire screening process was the high attendance rate. For example, the proportion of films on July 3 was 18.4%, far lower than the 51.5% of the popular film "Disappearing Her" on the same day. However, "In the Octagon" has an attendance rate of 14.5%, surpassing the 11.8% attendance of "Disappearing Her".
Liancheng Yi Crisp emphasized that the pomp and circumstance of the screening is the independent choice of the theater, and "In the Octagon Cage" has won the support of the theater with its high attendance. After the official release of the film, the proportion of films steadily increased. The film has performed strongly in both the box office and word of mouth, how can other films easily follow suit with such a screening effect?
The author flipped through the new films in July, "Chang'an 30,000 Li", "Fengshen Part 1" and "Warm" are all a bit screening, but the screening methods of each family are very different.
"Chang'an 30,000 Li" was only screened nationwide on July 2, and did not lengthen the screening front. "The First Part of Fengshen No. 1" was screened nationwide for five days, limited to special effects halls such as IMAX and CINITY, and mainly promoted the shocking visual effects of the film.
"Heat" received a lot of praise after its premiere on July 19, and then began two rounds of six-day national screenings. The screening strategy of "Heat" seems to be inspired by "In the Octagon Cage". This also shows the strong confidence of the film side from the side.
The animated film "Tea Ah No. 2 Middle School" released on July 14 also adopts an advanced and ultra-long screening strategy. The film began to screen on a limited region and time period on June 17, and then gradually expanded to a nationwide screening time, with a screening time of nearly one month. Before the official release, the box office had reached 35.93 million yuan. However, the word-of-mouth effect of the film has not broken through the circle of animation fans, so the attention is not as good as "In the Octagon Cage".
The operation process of ultra-long point screening is not difficult, the difficult thing is that the work needs to have excellent quality. Only by finding a publicity method that suits your own style can you achieve the ideal box office in the market.
【Text/Cui Ting】