Is it difficult for imported blockbusters to surpass domestic films?, Summer box office is expected to return to billion dollar blockbusters | Box office | Domestic movies

"The Disappearing She" grossed over 3 billion yuan at the box office, "The First Epic of the Gods" will create an Eastern "mythological epic", and imported blockbusters "Mission Impossible: Deadly Clearing" and "Treasure Raider: The Wheel of Destiny" are all big IPs with accumulated reputation... This summer season, the Chinese film market is bustling, and some industry insiders predict that it will become the "strongest summer season in history".

According to data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 11:30 am on July 10th, the total box office of the 2023 summer season has exceeded 7 billion yuan, and it is expected that the summer season will return to the billion yuan level after 2019.

However, the situation where the once popular imported blockbusters were dominated by one company has been replaced by several domestic films sharing the benefits equally. According to data from Cat's Eye Professional, currently only the imported film "Avengers 4: The Last Battle" ranks 8th in the top 10 box office rankings in China.

It has been nearly 30 years since the release of the first imported blockbuster "Endless Destiny". What changes are happening in our film market?

Watching movies, not just watching movies

Over the weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Liao, who live in Pudong Huamu, made a special trip to Shanghai Cinema SHO to watch a movie. "This is a special sense of ceremony." During this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, it was common to see out of town audiences shuttling through major cinemas in Shanghai with suitcases. With the theme of the movie, they embarked on a "special forces tour" in Shanghai.

The audience's enthusiasm for watching movies is being awakened. According to Zhang Yan, the Executive General Manager of the Shanghai Cinema Project, after his return to China in early June, Shanghai Cinema SHO held more than 50 movie roadshows and meetings in a month. Over 40 international directors and over 200 actors attended, attracting more than 60000 viewers to watch the film.

Today's audiences not only enjoy the content of movies, but also a series of activities linked by them. "Slam Dunk" was released, and many viewers dressed up in the image of the characters in the film, becoming a gathering of fans. Many cinemas have also innovated their viewing modes by launching "support sessions", where fans of the characters in the drama can choose different sessions to watch. Comrades wear fan costumes and hold fluorescent sticks to interact with the movie plot. At the MOViE MOViE Cinema in Taikoo Li, Qiantan, Mr. Xing, an audience member, said that since the 2016 movie "Warcraft", more and more fans have chosen segmented viewing activities. "In addition to content, atmosphere is also important."

The atmosphere at the movie "Slam Dunk Master" was lively

According to data from Lighthouse Professional, the box office of movies in the first half of this year has exceeded 26.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.8%. Among them, the holiday season box office is particularly impressive: this year's Spring Festival season ranks second in Chinese film history, the May Day season is third highest, and the Dragon Boat Festival season is almost on par with the highest of the same period - in the eyes of some industry insiders, the domestic film market is recovering strongly.

Entering June, the movie "The Disappearing She" has achieved box office success. This film is not a traditional romantic movie, but the proportion of two person ticket purchases is much higher than the average market. "Pre marital education for couples" and "watching movies with romantic girlfriends" have become social media topics. Led by "The Disappearing She", June this year became the second month in history to exceed 4 billion yuan at the box office. Some cinema executives claimed to have "ignited the summer box office heat ahead of schedule," making the industry full of expectations for the summer box office.

According to past patterns, after a movie is released, its box office will gradually decline. But Chen Jin, a data analyst at Lighthouse Professional Edition, found that during several holiday seasons this year, many films experienced a reverse decline in box office. Taking "The Disappearing She" as an example, after its release on the Dragon Boat Festival, box office actually rose on weekdays. "This is very rare in history," he said

Does domestic movies surpass imported blockbusters?

The big IP movie "Indiana Jones: The Wheel of Destiny" starring Hollywood star Harrison Ford topped the box office in the North American and Japanese markets, but failed in the domestic market. In its first week of release, the box office was only over 20 million yuan.

This situation is not an isolated case. The Galactic Guardians 3 and Spider Man: Crossing the Universe, which were released on May 5th and June 2nd this year, respectively, received high scores of 8.5 and 8.6 on Douban, but only grossed 606 million yuan and 351 million yuan at the box office. The new Transformers series, which previously topped the annual box office, cannot even make it into the top 10 this year. Looking back at the top 10 changes in the total box office of domestic films, ten years ago, domestic films and imported blockbusters each accounted for half, and now only one film, Avengers 4: The End, is still on the list.

The summer season has always been a must-have period for Hollywood blockbusters. In the eyes of industry insiders, the leading domestic film box office situation may continue during the summer season. According to data from the summer season movie "New Movie Wants to See" list on Taopiaopiao, "Super Power Family" starring Shen Teng and others topped the list with over 830000 "wants to see", while the co produced movie "Shark 2: Abyss" squeezed to fifth place, while Hollywood blockbuster IP "Spy 7" starring Tom Cruise ranked sixth, with about 236000 people clicking "wants to see".

"The Disappearing She" Shanghai Roadshow

"The sustained success of domestic films at the box office is an unshakable situation," said Sun Mengjin, a film critic and visiting professor at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts. "Our commercial competitiveness and methods are becoming increasingly mature." He used the recent box office leader "The Disappearing She" as an example, "This movie has been well promoted and created the first wave of topics." In his view, the proportion of film production now almost determines the box office success or failure of a movie. ".

The data shows that "Indiana Jones: The Wheel of Destiny" only accounts for 1% of the production, while "The Disappearing She", "In the Octagonal Cage", and "Anti Drug 3" account for about 42%, 25%, and 12% respectively. "We will adjust the film schedule based on box office trends and movie word-of-mouth." Some cinema managers say that like the Star Wars series, the IP of "Indiana Jones" was born in the 1980s and has a good audience base in Japan, but not in China. In contrast, "Mission Impossible" was born in 1996, during a period when imported blockbusters swept the domestic market and continued to produce steadily over the years. "I am still optimistic about the performance of" Mission Impossible "during the summer season."

The Mission Impossible series, which was once filmed in Xitang, is familiar to Chinese audiences and continues to produce steadily

The reporter found during a visit to the cinema that the audience's taste for watching movies is also changing. "In the past, I used to watch blockbuster films with a focus on visual effects during the summer season, but now superhero movies are too clich é d. I can predict when to chase, when to explode, and when to stir emotions. Moreover, with a long series of sequels, spending once is emotional, and spending too much leads to aesthetic fatigue." At the World Trade Center's Baili Palace Cinema, audience member Liu Wei bluntly stated that he is "increasingly disappointed" with imported blockbusters. At the Daguang Cinema, Ms. Qi, an audience member, believes that compared to imported blockbusters, domestic films nowadays not only have more choices but also have more cultural closeness. "In the past, they focused on the kidney, but now they focus on the heart."

Sun Mengjin also believes that Hollywood movies, especially popcorn movies, are becoming weaker and weaker. "In recent years, film directors with a commercial market in the United States have gone on to produce dramas. European and American dramas demonstrate a high level of industry standards, while commercial films are on the decline."

It is not surprising for industry insiders that domestic films dominate the box office. Taking the Japanese film market as an example, according to data from the Cat's Eye Professional Edition, 5 out of the top 10 box office films last week were Japanese films and were only released in Japan. "The situation in the Japanese film market is similar to that in China," said producer Gu Xiaodong. Last year, overseas films only accounted for 31% of Japan's total box office, and animated films were a standout in the Japanese film market.

Looking forward to more diverse and high-quality movies

Despite "The Disappearing She" continuing to rise to fame at the box office, Douban's rating has dropped repeatedly, from 7.5 to the current 6.4.

Sun Mengjin frankly stated that some domestically produced films with good box office nowadays have low artistic quality, and even have "bad films". "We need more films with good box office and reputation." In his opinion, after the commercial competition matures, domestic films should also keep up with international standards in terms of artistic level. "From the nominations of the main competition units of the world's three major film festivals, domestic films have great room for improvement." He said that when it comes to dividing box office results into two, box office does not fully represent the value of a movie, especially its future classic value. "The taste of young movie fans in recent years has been quite good, but improving social aesthetics is a long-term task, and domestic movies cannot blindly cater to box office."

Sun Mengjin noticed that the literary film "Universe Exploration Editorial Department" released in the first half of this year grossed 67 million yuan at the box office, which is quite impressive for a literary film. "Literary and artistic films should have a long-term plan for film production. According to current market habits, such films cannot have a large proportion of film production in the short term. Long term screening is one way." He also called on audiences who love literary and artistic films to enter cinemas more often and vote with their feet.

Some industry insiders also indicate that the vast majority of the high box office achieved by domestic films currently come from China and cannot yet profit in the international market like Hollywood blockbusters. Indiana Jones: The Wheel of Destiny grossed $7.6 million in North America last week, but also grossed $4.718 million in Japan. "Winning awards internationally is a channel for film dissemination, and achieving commercial success overseas is also an important part of influence. Currently, there are box office 'out of the box office' films in Japan and India, and there is still a long way to go for domestic films in this area."

In the eyes of some cinema managers, looking at the changes in box office rankings in the Chinese film market in recent years, they have already broken through the shackles of "visual blockbusters" and moved towards aesthetic diversity. Taking the current top ten box office films as an example, there are both sci-fi blockbusters like "Wandering Earth", heartwarming skits like "Hello, Li Huanying", and animated films like "Nezha's Demon Child Descends".

In the past, almost all imported films that achieved high box office were Hollywood blockbusters. According to statistics from Cat's Eye Professional, in the past decade or so, it has ranked among the top 10 domestic box office films of the year, with only the Indian film "Wrestling! Dad". In the current box office rankings this year, there are two imported films in the top 10, one of which is the Japanese animated film "Ringya's Journey", and "Slam Dunk", also from Japan, is temporarily listed as 14. "We hope to see more excellent overseas movies," said Wu He, a fan who won 5 tickets during this year's film festival. "The world is rich and colorful, and we hope to have more high-quality movies enter the market."

Abichabang and "Memory" actors Tilda Swinton and others at the Cannes Film Festival

Not long ago, Thai director Abichabang, who won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, specially recorded a video to thank the Chinese audience. The art film "Memory" directed by him grossed 2.1 million yuan in box office after 13 days of release in China, ranking first among countries worldwide.

Although the box office of commercial films is not a big deal, in the eyes of some industry insiders, this situation reflects the increasingly diverse viewing taste of Chinese audiences. Abichabang mentioned that this movie "needs to relax and experience". When it was released at Shanghai Cinema, it was arranged to be screened in the reclining Hall 6, attracting many viewers to experience the unique viewing experience of combining the film content and cinema hardware.