The movie "There is No Thing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" (hereinafter referred to as "Hot Pot") was withdrawn after the end of May Day, which caused heated discussions. Just when the audience was speculating about what date it would reschedule, on May 11, the film was suddenly announced to be broadcast on Youku. This operation made netizens sigh again: I don't understand.
△ "There is no hot pot that can't be solved" webcast poster
The controversy continued, and "Hot Pot" was withdrawn and webcast from beginning to end
In the just-ended May Day file, there was a movie that came out of the circle in an alternative way. The movie "Hot Pot", directed by Ding Sheng and starring Yang Mi, Yu Qian, Tian Yu, etc., was concerned by many fans before its release. The film was released on May 1, and in this May Day file without blockbuster squeezing, the box office is still not performing well, and the current Douban score is only 6.0 points. The quality of the film is not particularly good, and the publicity period is also frequent, which has caused dissatisfaction among the audience. In the end, the box office was only more than 5,400 yuan in 5 days after its release.
△ "There is nothing that can't be solved by a hot pot" poster
The film tells the story of four people who don't know each other in the backstage warehouse of the theater to share the spoils, and they are accidentally involved in a murder case. Finally, the special identities of the four gradually surfaced, and the mysterious truth was about to be revealed......
△ "There is no thing that can't be solved by a hot pot" withdrawal announcement
Even if there are reasons for not having enough screenings, it can't stop the fact that the film is not performing well at the box office. On May 5, the film company issued a withdrawal announcement, saying that it would be withdrawn on May 6 and meet with everyone at a later date, which caused an uproar among netizens and quickly rushed to the hot search list on Weibo. Some netizens said: "Just change the name of the movie, it should be called "There is nothing that can't be solved by a withdrawal". Some netizens quipped: "I didn't expect the movie to be returned for seven days without reason." ”
It's just that I didn't expect that the withdrawal of the file was not the end of "Hot Pot" out of the circle, and on May 11, #一顿火锅 webcast # rushed to the hot search again. In the past, it was not uncommon for a movie to be withdrawn and then rescheduled for release, but it was rare for a movie to be withdrawn in just a few days like "Hot Pot", and then immediately announced that it would be broadcast online. The filmmaker's official announcement Weibo reads "Hot pot bureau, reunite" and "Hot and hot again, hot pot game will not disperse!" Youku is on the air".
In this regard, some netizens speculated that the filmmaker's move was based on realistic considerations, and it may not necessarily achieve a considerable box office increase if it is rescheduled and re-released, but it is better to take advantage of the movie's popularity to go online directly with a good return as soon as possible to recover some costs. Some netizens are quite dissatisfied with this phenomenon: "It seems to be playing tricks on the audience, and it is said that it will be set on a certain date, why is it directly broadcast online?" ”
What are the reasons behind the frequent withdrawal and rescheduling?
For the initial withdrawal of "Hot Pot", many viewers are no longer surprised, after all, there are many precedents this year alone, such as "Mr. Red Carpet" and "Let's Shake the Sun Together" in the Spring Festival.
At first, it was not common for movies to be withdrawn or rescheduled, mostly due to technical factors, production cycles, external factors, etc., and they were not released as originally planned. In the past, some popular films have actually been withdrawn and rescheduled, such as "I Am Not Pan Jinlian", "Eight Hundred", "Detective Chinatown 3", etc., but this move has not affected the excellent market appeal of the film.
It's just that in the past two years, there have been a lot of temporary withdrawals before the release and withdrawal after a few days of release, which is mostly inconsistent with the market performance of the film.
△ "Mr. Red Carpet" poster
Taking "Mr. Red Carpet", which was withdrawn from the Spring Festival file, as an example, the film has undergone 3 file changes, the film was originally scheduled for October 27, 2023, and then changed to November 17, 2023, and finally announced that it will be released in the Spring Festival file in 2024. However, 6 days after its release, the film was announced to be withdrawn again.
At 11 o'clock in the evening on February 16, 2024, the movie "Mr. Red Carpet" issued a statement to withdraw from the Spring Festival file. On March 4, the film suddenly announced that it would be rescheduled for release on March 15, hitting the box office again, but the result was obviously not in line with the idea, and the cumulative box office of the film was only 94.22 million yuan, including 84.12 million yuan of Spring Festival box office. The re-screening only won a box office result of more than 1,000 yuan, which is not unrelated to the film's positioning, content and publicity strategy.
Although the story positioning of the film is to expose the inside story of the entertainment industry, this gimmick is tempting enough, but I have to admit that the disclosure of some insiders in the story is not direct enough. Although there are also allusions to having children out of wedlock, etc., they do not touch on more sensitive topics, and they are expressed in an obscure way, which is inconsistent with the viewing expectations of some audiences. In addition, there are clips of investors interfering in the creation of the film, and the plot of "beating investors" is also set up, which is actually far away from the lives of many viewers and cannot resonate with the audience.
The style and narrative of the film are not commercial comedies as understood by the public, and the filmmaker's publicity and distribution direction in the early stage is more on the two major selling points of "comedy" and "Andy Lau". The comedy film placed in the Spring Festival file carries the psychological expectation that the audience wants to have a family carnival and watch the movie easily, "Mr. Red Carpet" is obviously not, and the audience who is attracted by this strategy will naturally have a certain degree of resistance, which has also caused a decline in word of mouth. In the end, it is not surprising that the re-release failed to achieve good results.
△ "Let's Shake the Sun Together" poster
Another movie "Let's Shake the Sun Together", which was withdrawn from the Spring Festival file and released again, relied on its excellent quality and audience reputation, with a cumulative box office of more than 9,000 yuan in the Spring Festival file, and a cumulative box office of 275 million yuan after the second release, which can be regarded as a counterattack through file change.
Modern Express/Hyundai+ reporter Li Yixing