Wu Siyuan
He used to be a filmmaker, he produced the movie "Drunken Fist" to win Jackie Chan, the movie "Gamble Saint" produced made Stephen Chow change from "Star Boy" to "Star Master", and also boldly used newcomer director Xu Ke to shoot "Butterfly". Now he is better known as the chairman of UME Cinema Management Group, and more than 10 years ago he was the first foreign film company to enter Chongqing to open a five-star cinema... He is Wu Siyuan.
On the afternoon of the 24th, UME Cinemas' 11th cinema Nanbin store in Chongqing was officially opened on Nanbin Road, and 72-year-old Wu Siyuan came to Chongqing to open the theater. Before the opening ceremony, Wu Siyuan accepted an exclusive interview with the reporter of the upstream news - Chongqing Morning News, for the current Chinese film market, Wu Siyuan said bluntly: "Whether it is the construction of cinemas or film production, Chinese films have reached a new inflection point. ”
UME Cinema (Nanbin Store) is UME's 11th cinema in Chongqing
Talk about cinema construction
There is still a lot of space in Chongqing
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: Has UME always attached great importance to the Chongqing market?
Wu Siyuan: We came to Chongqing more than 10 years ago, and we were the first film company outside of Chongqing to open a five-star cinema. At that time, Chongqing was a second-tier market in film screening, and it was an old copy that had been performed elsewhere and then brought to Chongqing to be released. UME currently has 36 cinemas, of which 11 are in Chongqing, and in 12 years we opened 11 cinemas in Chongqing, and we let the whole country see that Chongqing is a big market, and how much chongqing audiences love movies.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: Chongqing now has 176 operating theaters, the screen coverage rate of 25,600 people / zhang, far higher than the national average, many people think that Chongqing's market has been saturated, what do you think?
Wu Siyuan: There is still a lot of space in Chongqing, but everyone should not crowd in the city center to open a theater. Opening cinemas in remote places, especially UME's insistence that every one of them is built to the standard of a five-star cinema, is definitely under pressure and will worry about the low box office. But we will also see that these places will also contribute high box office during the holidays. Cinemas have a great future, but don't compete viciously.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: But now opening a movie theater seems to have formed a boom?
Wu Siyuan: I have always believed that cinema is a cultural undertaking and a cultural responsibility for film, which requires long-term investment, not short-term behavior.
Talk about the film market
Chinese cinema has reached a new inflection point
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: China's film market this year does not seem to be performing very optimistically?
Wu Siyuan: Last year,000,000,000,000,000 films grossed more than $40 billion, an increase of 48 percent, and many people think that at this rate, it will be more than $50 billion this year, and it will surpass North America next year. But I think that whether it is the construction of cinemas or film production, Chinese films have reached a new inflection point.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: Why is this happening?
Wu Siyuan: More than 10 years ago, UME opened a cinema in Beijing, and the ticket price was about 50 yuan, and now the average ticket price is more than 30 yuan. A large part of this is that e-commerce intervened to grab the share, and the high ticket supplement appeared 9 blocks 9, 19 blocks 9 to watch movies, resulting in the bubble of last year's movie box office.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: Now movies seem to like to be released in groups?
Wu Siyuan: China has surpassed the number of screens in the United States, but Chinese theaters all play the same movies, which has led to 10 movies being released every week, but the audience can only see one or two, and the others have become cannon fodder. Such a distribution system is unreasonable, which makes producers go to big stars and do big productions, so as to attract audiences, and the salaries of stars have risen to an unreasonable height. The current question is whether the theater should do branch distribution to give small and medium-cost films a living space.
Talk about film screenings
It is proposed to establish a film rating system
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: This year's literary and art films have triggered a lot of topics, UME has always been more supportive, is there any plan for the future?
Wu Siyuan: I have always suggested that we should set up art cinemas, specializing in screening literary and art films and art films, and I have come up with a name, so I want UME Classics. But there is also a problem that there must be a source of films, domestic ones, and foreign ones.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: There are also many voices about film antitrust this year.
Wu Siyuan: If the production, distribution, and screening form a dragon, there is indeed a possibility of monopoly. Every film we should give it a level playing field and environment for the audience to decide.
Upstream News - Chongqing Morning Post: Although there are many good movies this year, some parents think that some movies are not suitable for children to watch, what do you think about this problem?
Wu Siyuan: I recently watched a few movies, and it was so bloody that I was thinking, what if I let teenagers see it? I suggest that films should have a grading system, which can protect the audience and give the film creators direction.
(Upstream News - Chongqing Morning News reporter Kong Lingqiang)