Why hasn't Hollywood been popular lately?, Domestic films are crushing imported films at the box office

The box office performance report for Chinese films in the first half of the year has been released, creating a sharp contrast between the strength of domestic films and the weakness of imported films.

According to data from the National Film Administration, as of June 30, the total box office of films in 2023 was 26.271 billion yuan, an increase of 52.91% compared to the box office performance of 17.181 billion yuan in the first half of 2022.

According to preliminary statistics, the total box office of the just concluded Dragon Boat Festival period reached 909 million yuan, ranking second in the history of this period, with domestic films accounting for 80.08% of the box office.

In the first half of this year, the overall number of films released was large and the variety was diverse, but imported films such as Hollywood did not have much of a splash. The Hollywood blockbusters that used to dominate the world are no longer popular?

Why did Hollywood blockbusters get cold?

Guo Shijun saw on the Cat's Eye Professional App that domestic films have significantly surpassed Hollywood blockbusters in box office this year, with domestic films ranking in the top five on the overall box office chart, accounting for about half of the total box office in the first half of the year.

Among them, the domestically produced film "The Disappearance of Her" released on June 22 has grossed over 2.7 billion yuan since its release, and the data continues to rise, becoming the film with the highest cumulative number of viewers in the history of the Dragon Boat Festival.

In sharp contrast, as of now, no Hollywood blockbuster has surpassed 1 billion yuan at the box office this year. Among them, the highest grossing film was "Speed and Passion 10" released on May 17th, with 982 million yuan. But compared to the 2.423 billion yuan of the same series "Speed and Passion 7" and the 2.67 billion yuan of "Speed and Passion 8" in previous years, the difference is significant.

Among other Hollywood films, "Avatar: The Way of Water" temporarily ranked 11th on the total box office with 743 million yuan, "Transformers: The Rise of the Mighty Warrior" temporarily ranked 14th with 630 million yuan, and "Little Mermaid" temporarily ranked 56th with 26.507 million yuan, all far below pre release expectations.

Douban film critic Haoyun said in an interview with China News Agency's Guoshi Direct that in recent years, excellent domestic film works have emerged continuously, with better performance in both plot and logic. In contrast, Hollywood blockbusters often lean towards commercialization and entertainment, emphasizing visual effects and aesthetics, and providing audiences with a refreshing visual experience. However, when thinking deeply, logical loopholes often lead to a series of questions.

For example, in this year's Little Mermaid, the visual effects can only be said to have achieved the level they should have. Meanwhile, the film originated from hearing big stories from a young age, and the theme itself is not very innovative.

The Speed and Fury series also has similar issues. The plot of "Fast and Furious 9" released in 2021 was extremely illogical. The scenes of cars colliding with satellites without any harm and other common sense violations have been criticized on hot searches.

"Although" Speed and Fury 10 "may not be as absurd as the previous one, the plot itself has only returned to the normal assembly line level of the series." Hao Yun bluntly stated that the entire film relies on special effects such as chasing cars, collisions, and explosions to advance the plot, giving a sense of "exploding for the sake of exploding", and the overall lack of logic.

On the other hand, Haoyun believes that "The Disappearing She" is an excellent attempt by domestic films. The suspenseful plot and content marketing of the film have successfully piqued audience interest, and on the basis of a more reasonable and logically rigorous plot setting, a wonderful reversal has been set. "Although it may seem a bit refreshing, a reasonable and realistic plot is undoubtedly more eye-catching than Hollywood blockbusters."

According to Luo Xueming, the chief expert of Guangdong Modern City Industrial Technology Research Institute, in an interview with China News Agency's Guoshi Express, there are three main reasons why Hollywood blockbuster box office has been lackluster recently:

Firstly, many Hollywood blockbusters face homogenization. These movies have similar storylines, character settings, and film styles, lacking novelty and uniqueness, leading to audience aesthetic fatigue and loss of interest. From the perspective of market competition, homogenization also reduces the differentiation advantage of blockbusters, making it more difficult for them to stand out in the market.

Secondly, Hollywood blockbuster themes lack innovation. Classic superhero, action adventure, and romantic comedy genres have become commonplace, many of which are based on the same IP to shoot multiple films, lacking freshness and creativity. The audience's expectations for these themes gradually decreased, leading to poor box office performance.

In addition, the shift in audience consumption preferences for movies is also one of the reasons why Hollywood blockbuster box office has been lackluster. With the rise of the younger generation of audiences in our country, they pay more attention to personalized and diversified content, and pursue films that are in line with their own life experiences and values. Hollywood blockbusters have shortcomings in meeting the needs of these audiences, resulting in a lackluster box office.

Are domestic films dominating Hollywood?

The box office is significantly ahead of Hollywood movies, reflecting the increasing competitiveness of domestic films. But can box office numbers indicate that domestic films are "overwhelming" Hollywood blockbusters?

Analysts say that there is still a certain gap in the overall level of domestic films compared to Hollywood blockbusters, and box office data is only an indicator of the performance of the film market. The Chinese film industry still needs to pay attention to key factors such as rapid market changes and technological upgrades to ensure sustainable development of the industry.

Luo Xueming pointed out that evaluating whether domestic films have entered the fast lane of development requires comprehensive consideration of more factors. Among them, box office cannot fully represent the comprehensive development of the film industry. The leading box office of domestic films may be influenced by factors such as policy support and the rise of professional film capital, rather than solely based on film quality and audience reputation.

He further stated that Hollywood blockbusters typically have higher production budgets and global marketing capabilities, and domestic films face challenges in resource allocation.

Haoyun also believes that domestic films, which used to rely more on popular celebrities to drive box office revenue, are gradually shifting towards the direction of substantial content, which is a significant progress. But domestic films must become more diversified in the future, and the Chinese film market with rich themes can dominate the global film market.

Especially in terms of visual effects, domestic films still need to learn from Hollywood. Guo Fan, the director of the "Wandering Earth" series, publicly stated in 2019 that compared to Hollywood, there is a gap of about 30 years in China's current shooting level and a gap of 15 years in special effects.

Annie, a staff member who participated in the production of special effects for "Nezha's Demon Child", told China News Agency that the domestic film special effects industry is currently facing multiple challenges.

Firstly, the budget is insufficient. Most movies often do not provide sufficient resources to the visual effects team during the initial investment, and time constraints often lead to rush and rework situations. Without sufficient time and funding, even the best technology cannot achieve the desired results.

Secondly, the coordination between different departments during the film production process is often not smooth enough. Especially in terms of special effects, if the visual effects manager of a movie does not have sufficient communication with the screenwriter and director during the script creation stage, it is easy to encounter situations where the script is well described and the conceptual design is beautifully drawn, but in reality, it is not feasible.

Once again, there is a lack of relevant versatile talents. At present, there is a widespread shortage of middle-level talents in the special effects industry. The rapid development of the industry has led to an imbalance in talent supply and demand. The phenomenon of recruiting between different companies to compete for talent has led to the rapid development of the industry.

Luo Xueming stated that solving these problems requires providing sufficient resource support, strengthening communication and cooperation among departments, and focusing on cultivating versatile talents. Domestic films need to further improve their creative quality, technical level, and audio-visual technology capabilities, focusing on story innovation, artistic expression, and cultural connotations, in order to achieve long-term sustainable development. At the same time, the competitiveness of domestic films in the international market still needs to be strengthened. Expanding international influence and cultural exports are the key steps towards high-quality development.