With the re-screening of "Avatar", this sci-fi blockbuster from 11 years ago has defeated "Hello! Li Huanying" and "The Crowd" won the first place at the box office on the opening day in China. Now the box office of "Avatar" has exceeded 100 million, and the situation is very good.
"Avatar" was first released in 2010, when the entire world film industry did not have the concept of 3D movies, James Cameron with this work in the world premiere, the entire film industry was shocked, in which a variety of 3D pictures make people immersive, but also let the audiences all over the world are shocked.
What people never expected was that now 11 years later, "Avatar" was re-screened in China, and there was such a big market. The results of a re-screening of an old Hollywood film are not at all inferior to the achievements of a domestic commercial blockbuster, and I don't know if domestic filmmakers will have mixed feelings in their hearts when they see this scene.
Is it secretly envious of Cameron, or is it hating domestic movies?
For me, the wave of leeks in "Avatar" cut me very unconvinced.
As just mentioned, "Avatar" is a work 11 years ago, when the film came out, the special effects technology in it made many filmmakers sigh, and Jackie Chan sighed that his level was not even as good as that of primary school students after visiting Cameron's studio.
However, now that 11 years have passed, is the special effects technology of "Avatar" still so magical that it is unattainable? Not necessarily, I'm afraid!
The release of "The Wandering Earth" 2 years ago ushered in a new era of Chinese science fiction films, and also made domestic films really compete internationally.
Whether it's a huge planetary engine, a dungeon rich in Chinese elements, a Chinese landmark under the ice and snow, and the scene that finally ignites Jupiter, the special effects are excellent. Even if you look at Hollywood, its standard is also middle-level.
According to previous reports, "The Wandering Earth" has a total of 2003 special effects shots, 75% of which are done by domestic teams, foreign teams only participate in a small part, mainly the results of domestic team efforts, and the companies involved in special effects production are more famous than MORE VFX, which is the largest special effects company in China.
In this way, China's special effects companies have long been able to make visual effects that do not lose to Hollywood, as long as the money is enough time, it is not a problem to catch up with Hollywood's level.
There is also an important news that many people may not have heard. In fact, as early as 2016, the European special effects giant Framestore, which had produced special effects for Hollywood blockbusters such as Avatar, Doctor Strange, Harry Potter and Gravity, was acquired by Chinese capital for $187 million (about 150 million euros).
Whether it is the success of "The Wandering Earth" or the acquisition of a Hollywood special effects giant, it actually shows a fact: we have no shortage of mature special effects technology in China.
So why has "Avatar" been able to get a super high box office in the past 11 years? Why can't our Chinese films make such an epoch-making classic as "Avatar"?
At present, the main lack of two things: creativity and patience.
The first is creativity. The special effects of "Avatar" may be able to be done now, but how the screenwriter makes up the wonderful story inside, how the director presents these fantastic pictures inside, all require innovative imagination, all need creativity to create, not just simply bricks.
In fact, it is not just science fiction movies, at present, Chinese movies generally lack good story and good content. Many works are either not grounded in logic, or they are the rotten routines of more than ten or twenty years ago, and they continue to remake in a different time and place, and there is no creative surprise to speak of.
Under such circumstances, how can a wonderful movie be made?
The second is patience. In recent years, although many young talents have emerged in the domestic directorial industry, suspense films, comedies, science fiction films and other themes have made certain representative works, but now the biggest problem is the patience of the market.
Already accustomed to the set of making quick money with traffic, many domestic investors simply do not have the patience to invest hundreds of millions, and then wait for a few years to get the return, and it is very likely to lose money. Blockbusters like "The Wandering Earth" and "Assassination of a Novelist", the special effects are 2 or even 4 years, how many investors dare to take such a big risk?
If there is no good idea and no good patience, it is simply a fantasy to continue to output good works, and "The Wandering Earth" will probably be short-lived.
As Guo Fan, the director of "The Wandering Earth", said, our domestic films must have a mature industrial system, whether it is a screenwriter, director or behind-the-scenes staff doing special effects, etc., there must be enough excellent talents in each position.
In this way, one day in the future, perhaps we may be able to truly export Chinese films abroad, and even catch up with Hollywood movies.
Hopefully, this day can come sooner.