Why don't we love watching Hollywood blockbusters anymore? Second tier | blockbusters | Hollywood

This summer, the box office of movies has exceeded 100 million yuan every day for 40 consecutive days.

This number has set a new record in the history of Chinese cinema, breaking through 100 million yuan in consecutive days.

But amidst the heat, there is also a sense of coolness: as of July 28th, the box office of "Spider Man: Crosses the Universe" and "Mission Impossible 7: Deadly Reckoning" were only 356 million and 316 million yuan, far behind the one week release of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

The once popular Hollywood blockbusters are no longer popular.

The attractiveness has already declined

In fact, the cooling off of Hollywood blockbusters was not sudden, but had early signs.

Looking back at the top 15 Chinese film box office rankings over the years, it can be found that the number of Hollywood films is decreasing and gradually being replaced by domestic films.

As early as 2015, Hollywood movies accounted for almost half of the top 15 rankings; Less than a quarter remain in 2019; As of July this year, Avengers 4: Endgame is the only surviving Hollywood blockbuster.

And the specific performance of these movies can also be described as "getting worse and worse".

This is first reflected in the first day box office, where Hollywood blockbusters no longer have an advantage.

In the past, Hollywood blockbusters often had the highest box office percentage on their first day of release. For example, the Avengers 2 to Avengers 4 series both accounted for over 95% of their first day box office revenue. This means that on the premiere day, over 95 out of every 100 viewers went for this movie.

But this summer, the first day box office share of Mission Impossible 7 was as low as 20%. In 2015, the proportion of Mission Impossible 5 was nearly 90%.

On the other hand, the popularity of Hollywood blockbusters is not as long-lasting as before.

For example, the third installment of the Transformers series was released for half a month, and more than half of the viewers in the cinema went to watch the movie every day. But in the recent release of "The Rise of Superhero", the same popularity only lasted for 5 days. Mission Impossible 7 goes without saying that the first day's audience did not exceed 40%.

Special effects no longer attract attention

Why are Hollywood blockbusters becoming less and less popular?

Firstly, the audience has gradually become desensitized to the visual and auditory effects of the main theme of the blockbuster.

It has been 13 years since the release of Avatar, and the sci-fi world created by Cameron with special effects has caught the attention of many viewers. But with the increasing number of science fiction films, simply showing off skills can no longer satisfy the audience's appetite.

This is directly reflected in the box office gap.

Without considering inflation, Avatar grossed 1.715 billion yuan at the box office, which is 18 million yuan more than Avatar: The Way of Water.

The Douban rating of "Avatar: The Way of Water" is only 7.7 points, far lower than "Avatar", with many negative reviews.

Taking into account the negative reviews of "Avatar: The Way of Water" and "Mission Impossible: Deadly Clearing" on Douban, the "stinky and long" plot of Hollywood blockbusters has disgusted many viewers, and the "special effects" have also lacked novelty. "Boredom", "clich é d", and "inexplicable" are important reasons why viewers give business trips reviews.

This actually reflects a shift in the audience's taste - without technology, the plot is the key.

Compared to the types of box office champions in the past decade, before 2019, action and science fiction movies were more popular and won box office championships multiple times. But after 2019, the rise of drama films made stories even more important.

Finally, the failure to penetrate the Chinese market has also become one of the reasons for the limited box office of Hollywood blockbusters.

From a data perspective, first and second tier cities have always been the main audience for Hollywood blockbusters, such as Mission Impossible 7, with over 60% of the audience coming from first and second tier cities.

In contrast, audiences in third - and fourth tier cities tend to prefer domestic drama films, such as "In the Octagonal Cage" and "The Disappearing She," with audiences in both third - and fourth tier cities accounting for over 55%.

When audiences in first - and second tier cities start to tire of the unchanging "three board axe" of Hollywood blockbusters for many years, and the vast market in third - and fourth tier cities is not interested in this set of "flashy technology+heroic storytelling", it is naturally difficult for Hollywood blockbusters to break through the box office.

Focus on local areas

In fact, it is not only China that does not follow the Hollywood culture. In recent years, audiences in many countries have a greater preference for films that reflect local society.

For example, in the top 20 box office rankings of Indian films, the number of domestic films has risen at a visible rate, an increase of 200% over the past decade compared to 2012.

Japanese and Korean films are also more popular locally.

Of course, local films from various countries have their own unique forms of expression. For example, the six popular local films in Japan in the past two years are all anime, including classic Japanese anime IPs such as Doraemon and Slam Dunk, as well as "new" anime such as "Journey to Ringya" and "Blade of Ghost Slayer". And these anime films have gradually surpassed Hayao Miyazaki's box office, achieving a breakthrough in themselves.

But at a deeper level, being linked to local social reality is a common characteristic of the most popular films in various countries.

For example, the reason why "The Disappearing She" has a high level of discussion is because it hits one of the most concerned topics among young people in China - love and trust in romantic relationships. And "In the Octagonal Cage", which grossed over 1 billion yuan at the box office after a week of release, is also adapted from a true story, focusing on the "fate" of the "bottom" and "grassroots".

The 2019 Korean film Parasite, which became popular worldwide, explored two major social issues: social class and wealth inequality, ranking fifth at the Korean box office that year. In 2020, 7 out of the top 10 South Korean box office listings had similar themes.

Of course, blockbusters are just one type of Hollywood film, but this genre may also be the most globalized in the past few decades, leading the global film market with top-notch audio-visual experiences. But today, knowledgeable audiences have higher demands for movies. On the one hand, the marginal effects of visual sensory stimulation are becoming weaker. On the other hand, compared to science fiction, action, and espionage films suspended in social reality, people prefer products that are related to familiar life or cultural traditions, even if the protagonist is not perfect and the narrative is not very smooth.

Ultimately, the story is what truly moves a movie.