There are currently 11 movies scheduled for the upcoming May Day, covering animation, action, romance, comedy, suspense and other genres, bringing the audience a holiday movie-watching "feast". According to Maoyan Professional Edition, "Howl's Moving Castle", "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team", "Spy Playing House Codename: White", "Journey Through the Moon", and "There is No Thing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" are among the top 5 on the "Want to See List".
As of April 18, 2024, compiled according to public information, the actual release shall prevail.
As one of the golden periods of the film market, May Day has always been pinned on by the market. This year's May Day holiday lasts for 5 days, compared with other holidays of only 3 days, the market space is broader and has more potential for breakthroughs. Looking back on the film market this year, the Spring Festival and Qingming Festival have both refreshed the box office records of the same period in Chinese film history, showing the audience's strong demand for high-quality films and confidence in the film market. With the blessing of the 5-day long holiday, the upcoming May Day in 2024 has become the focus of market attention.
Animated films account for a high proportion
"The outstanding feature of this year's May Day file is the high proportion of animated films, with a total of 4 cartoons to be screened during the period, accounting for more than 1/3. These include the Japanese comic "Howl's Moving Castle", "Spy Playing House Codename: White", the Chinese comic "Xiao Qian", and the family animated film "Pig Man Movie: Interstellar Operation" released on May 1. At present, director Hayao Miyazaki's classic "Howl's Moving Castle" wants to see the popularity leading the May 1st gear. Yin Tengyu, a senior analyst at Maoyan Research Institute, told Variety.
"Howl's Moving Castle" is a masterpiece of Hayao Miyazaki, which is second only to "Spirited Away" in China, with a Douban score of 9.1. It has been 20 years since the film was released in 2004, and this time it landed in Chinese mainland theaters for the first time. The film adheres to the unique dreamy painting style of Miyazaki's works, telling the story of the young Hal in the magical magical world, the young Hal is an object of admiration and fear, and the ordinary girl Sophie is rescued by Hal under a crisis, thus starting a special journey in life...... "The number of people who always want to watch the film Maoyan always wants to watch exceeds 580,000, and the cumulative total want to watch and the increasing number of people want to watch are the highest in May 1st. Yin Tengyu said that the box office of director Hayao Miyazaki's new work "What kind of life do you want to live" has exceeded 680 million yuan, and Maoyan predicts that the final box office will reach 798 million yuan, and the film will also bring a certain amount of popularity to "Howl's Moving Castle". Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Society, also believes that "Howl's Moving Castle" has a good reputation and communication, or will continue the strong performance of "What kind of life do you want to live".
"Spy Playing House Codename: White" is a popular new family carnival IP in Japan in the past two years, telling the story of Lloyd Forger, who is a psychiatrist incarnated as a spy "twilight", and Aniah, a little girl with "mind reading", a beautiful killer Joel, and a superpowered dog Bond who can predict the future, form a "temporary family" and embark on an adventure story of traveling together. "The film was released in Japan at the end of last year, and the IP has a good basic disk in China, and it is very popular to watch. Yin Tengyu said.
Light Pictures will launch a new animation work "Xiao Qian" on May 1st. As the first work of the light animation "Chinese Mythological Universe" system, the film is based on the classic love story "Nie Xiaoqian" of "Strange Tales from Liao Zhai", telling the beautiful love between the protagonists Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Sheng beyond life and death. "The film has a lot of national style expressions in the painting style, and Guoman fans have high expectations for the film. Rao Shuguang said. It is reported that the production team of "Xiaoqian" has added a large number of national style designs to the art design, and is committed to applying the ultimate oriental aesthetics to the characters, costumes and scenes in the film.
In addition to the above 3 animated movies, there is also 1 parent-child animation "Pigman Movie: Interstellar Operation" in the schedule. "The film can meet the viewing needs of children and family audiences. Rao Shuguang said that judging from the market performance in recent years, the "Pig Man Movie" series has a stable share, and the film accurately attracts young audiences and always maintains market vitality.
"Peacekeeping Riot Brigade"
The popularity leads the action genre films
Action genre films are also the main genre of this year's May 1st file, "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team", "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" and "Rescue of the Angry Sea" will all be released on May 1. Among them, the cumulative number of people who want to watch "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" Maoyan and Taopiao tickets has exceeded the 1 million mark, and they are the "seed players" who have attracted a lot of attention during the schedule.
"Peacekeeping Anti-riot Squad", which focuses on overseas peacekeeping themes, is produced by Liu Weiqiang, directed by Li Dachao, starring Huang Jingyu, Wang Yibo, Zhong Chuxi, and Ou Hao. The film presents the life and death moment when the Chinese peacekeeping police shouldered the sacred mission and braved the hardships and dangers to carry out peacekeeping missions in overseas mission areas. They have to face all kinds of dangers, such as terrorist attacks, armed riots, and gangs. In terms of subject matter, "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" is quite similar to "Wolf Warrior 2", "Operation Red Sea" and other main theme action films, "The film has a strong audience base and is a competitive movie on May Day." Rao Shuguang said.
The action crime movie "The Siege of the Kowloon Walled City" is directed by Cheng Baorui and starring Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Ren Xianqi, Lin Feng, etc. The film is adapted from Yu Er's original novel "Kowloon Walled City", the story takes place in the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong in the 80s of the 20th century. "The Siege of the Kowloon Walled City" has been shortlisted for the "Midnight Screening" section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival in France, which usually showcases works with unique styles and innovative attempts. "The film is a standard Hong Kong-style crime action movie, which can meet the viewing needs of audiences who like Hong Kong action movies. Rao Shuguang said.
Another action movie "Rescue in the Angry Sea" is directed by Zhan Chenglin, starring Ding Haifeng, Yu Rongguang, He Zhengjun, Gao Shuguang, etc., telling the story of a group of Chinese young people and a special operations force who join forces to fight against international pirates, maintain peace in the South China Sea, and fight terrorist forces.
Comedy is expected to give birth to a dark horse
Comedy and romance themes are also trying to get a piece of the May Day pie.
The comedy movie "Spending Money at the End of the Road", which was released nationwide on May 1, starring Jia Bing, Tan Zhuo, Xiao Shenyang, etc., tells the protagonist Jia Youwei, who is middle-aged and has nothing to do, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and has only 10 days to live. He sold the old house that was rumored to be demolished, found the Fa Xiao'er brother in the family home, and decided to enjoy himself in the last days of his life, which led to a series of hilarious stories.
"The comedy elements of "Spending Money at the End of the Road" are prominent, and judging from the materials released so far, the interesting plot of 'spending money - saving money' in the film is easy to resonate with the audience. Yin Tengyu said that comedy has always been a need for movie-watching, and last year, the comedy movie "Unfamiliar with Life" became a dark horse on May Day with its content quality and comedy genre.
The suspense comedy film "There is No Thing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" directed by Ding Sheng will also be released on May 1. The film starring Yang Mi, Yu Qian, Tian Yu, Yu Haolei, Li Jiuxiao, etc., tells the story of four people who don't know each other to share the spoils in the backstage warehouse of the theater, and they are accidentally involved in a murder case...... The film combines folk culture, traditional food, and the flavors of the world, and is a story of a plan in a plan, a game in a game, and a story where people are not as good as heaven.
Director Ding Sheng once revealed that Yang Mi has made a lot of extra points for the role "Chicken" to make the characters more vivid. Yin Tengyu analyzed, ""There is nothing that can't be solved by a hot pot" is a suspense and comedy composite genre film, and the starring Yang Mi has made a great contribution to the popularity of the film, and the attention (want to see the proportion) of young women under the age of 24 is high. Rao Shuguang believes that the film has suspense elements and a strong sense of reality, and is expected to become a dark horse on the schedule.
Written and directed by Li Weiran, "Journey Through the Moon" starring Zhang Zifeng and Hu Xianxu is the only love-themed movie in the schedule. The film is adapted from Chi Zijian's novel "Walking on the Moonlight", which tells the story of a newlywed Yan'er's loving couple who live separately due to work, and it is not easy to meet. A surprise holiday is coming, and the two embark on a romantic journey that goes both ways. The film is Zhang Zifeng and Hu Xianxu's second pair after the domestic drama "Little Farewell". ""Journey Through the Moon" is the only youth romance film in the schedule, which occupies a certain advantage in terms of genre, and the current attention (want to watch) of young audiences and audiences in third- and fourth-tier cities is relatively high. In Yin Tengyu's view, the new May Day films have their own characteristics and corresponding audiences, and the current difference in the popularity of live-action films has not formed an obvious echelon, and the key to follow-up attention depends on the publicity effect.
The film market is "hot and hot"
Can May 1st bring surprises?
Following the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon setting a new box office record of 7.844 billion yuan, the "hot" trend of the film market continues. During the Qingming holiday, the film market is particularly hot - according to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, the total box office of the Qingming file in 2024 (April 4-April 6) will be 841 million yuan, exceeding the box office results of the Qingming file in 2021 and refreshing the box office record of the Qingming file in Chinese film history. With the end of the Qingming file, the market and the industry will further lock their eyes on the May 1st file.
Judging from the box office trend of May Day in previous years, from 2015 to 2019, the "value" of the May Day stall of the Chinese mainland film market rose from 634 million yuan (excluding service fees) to 1.527 billion yuan (including service fees), with an average annual increase of 33.18%. The average daily box office of the schedule increased from 211 million yuan in 2015 to 382 million yuan in 2019, an increase of 76.3% in five years.
The main box office force fluctuates back and forth between imported films and local films. Maoyan Professional Edition shows that the total box office of the 2018 May Day stall with only 3 days is 1.006 billion yuan, and the movie "Later Us" has become the main force, contributing 645 million yuan to the box office; In 2019, the box office of the May 1st stall (4 days) was 1.527 billion yuan, and "Avengers 4: Endgame" led the box office with 1.222 billion yuan, and in 2021, the box office of the May Day stall (5 days) was 1.674 billion yuan, and the two domestic films "Your Wedding" and "On the Cliff" contributed 512 million yuan and 505 million yuan respectively to the box office;In 2022, due to the impact of factors such as repeated epidemics, theaters in key box office cities will be suspended, and the box office in first-tier cities will drop significantly, and the total box office of May Day movies in 2022 will only be 297 million yuan;In 2023, a total of 18 new films will be released during the May Day (5 days), with a box office of 1.521 billion yuan, ranking third in Chinese film history, and domestic films "Unfamiliar with Life" (box office 514 million yuan) and "King of the Sky" (box office 467 million yuan) shows a double-strong pattern.
Yin Tengyu deeply analyzed the overall trend of the schedule by comparing the daily increase in the number of people who want to watch the new films on May Day this year and the May Day films of previous years. He believes that although the increasing number of "want to see" of "Howl's Moving Castle" is not much different from the hit film "Your Wedding" in 2021, "the film has been released for 20 years, and its excellent reputation is basically equivalent to a re-release film". Therefore, "Howl's Moving Castle" is less likely to outperform the new film "How Do You Want to Live Your Life" at the box office. At the same time, the head live-action film "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" is similar to the daily increase in "want to watch" data before the release of "Unfamiliar Life" and "King of the Sky" in 2023. "The popularity of this year's new May Day films is not outstanding, and whether they can refresh the May 1st box office record mainly depends on the quality of the live-action films and the word-of-mouth after the screening. ”
Rao Shuguang believes that the 2024 May Day will have a variety of themes, types, and styles, which can meet the diverse and personalized needs of audiences at different levels, regions, and ages. "In 2024, May Day is expected to hit a new high, bringing more surprises to the market. He said that the healthy, sustainable and prosperous development of China's film market requires creators to continue to work hard to create more high-quality products, and at the same time, it needs a good social public opinion environment to allow more audiences to enter the cinema to watch movies.
Part of the pictures: Douban, the official Weibo of the film
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