Spectators pick up their tickets at the self-service ticket machines. Visual China Map
Preliminary statistics from the National Film Specialty Office show that as of February 28, the box office of urban theaters nationwide in 2023 has reached nearly 14 billion yuan. In February, the film market continued the enthusiasm for the Spring Festival. Not only did the old Spring Festival films continue to exert their strength, but also new Chinese and foreign films such as "Chinese Ping Pong: The Jedi Strikes Back", "The Tongue Lawyer", "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man 3" satisfies different audiences. shadow demand. The unfixed release of new films is one of the most important signs of market recovery. Many foreign media have expressed that "the Chinese film industry is making a strong comeback."
As of press time, nearly 30 films have been scheduled for March. There are domestic films ready to be released, such as "Broken Internet", "Corridor Pavilion", "Keep You Safe", "Not Ending", "Wang Tao", etc., as well as imported films. Help out, such as "Thunder Shazam!" Wrath of the Gods", "Dungeons and Dragons: Grand Thief of Glory", "Journey to Bell Bud", etc.
The industry believes that many new films are scheduled to be released one after another, which will effectively stimulate the vitality of the market. The richness of films is the key to the continuous recovery of the film market. It will meet the diverse aesthetic needs of audiences and further consolidate audiences' viewing habits.
There are new domestic films every week
"Keep You Safe" is highly anticipated
Statistics show that in the past five years, the number of movies released in March has been around 30 to 40. Judging from the current number of fixed-file movies, there is still a certain amount of room. The films scheduled for March include action, suspense, comedy, fantasy, thriller, animation and other genres, and domestic films account for more than 80%, ensuring that audiences can watch new domestic films every week.
In March, the first films to meet the audience included the action movie "Broken Internet" starring Aaron Kwok, Ren Dahua, and Lin Jiadong, the adventure movie "The Wasteland" starring Ren Suxi and Li Chen, and the movie "The Two Brothers" about autism directed by Guo Xiuzhuan. ", these three films will be released nationwide on March 3. Among them, "Broken Internet" is the first joint film by Aaron Kwok, Yam Dahua and Lin Jiadong. It tells the story of Zhuo Jiajun, a network security programmer who was accidentally involved in a cyber-financial crime, and was double-sided by senior police officer Sun Bin and villain boss Chen Mingzhi. s story.
Written and directed by Zuo Zhiguo, starring Ren Suxi and Li Chen, the biggest difference between the movie "The Wasteland" and other movies is that this movie is an extreme rivalry with nature. The film tells the story of Jungle walking alone in the wilderness, looking for a chance for himself and his brother Conglai. Lead actor Ren Suxi said: "The Waste Land is a movie I have always wanted to act in. I really like watching one-person adventure movies, especially female adventure themes are rare in the market. I believe audiences will like such movies."
In addition, another movie "The Corridor Pavilion" starring Ren Suxi is scheduled for March 10. The film was originally scheduled to be released nationwide on March 18 last year, but it was withdrawn due to the epidemic. It was not until February 15 this year that a poster was released announcing that it would enter the market track in March this year. The film is adapted from Keigo Higashino's novel "The Corridor Pavilion Murder". The story revolves around two women who revenge for love. At present, the film will be screened in advance in 16 cities on March 4 and 5, and the pre-sale has already started.
Also scheduled for March 10, the comedy movie "Keep You Safe" directed and acted by Dapeng is also very exciting. The film mainly tells the story of Wei Pingan, a cemetery salesman, deciphering rumors for his client Han Lu, and embarking on a ridiculous road to whitewashing. Chen Jin, a data analyst of Beacon Professional Edition, took Tao Piao Piao as an example. As of 10 a.m. on February 27, "Keep You Safe" led the new domestic films in March with 336,000, and women aged 20-29 accounted for the most. than prominent. ""Keep You Safe" is another comedy film by Dapeng after 6 years since "Sewing Machine Band". It was also the opening film of the Hainan Island International Film Festival last year. It has gained a good reputation at the film festival. Pay attention to and evaluate the film' There are laughter and tears', the film is expected to break out of the long-term box office in the March schedule."
Yesterday, the movie "Umbilical Cord", which is produced by Cao Yu and Yao Chen, written and directed by young female director Qiao Sixue, and starring Badema and Idel, was announced to be officially released on March 18. The film tells the story of the musician Arus and his mother suffering from Alzheimer's disease returning to the grassland to live together in search of the "home" in memory. "The Umbilical Cord" is another movie directed by a new female director under the supervision of Yao Chen after "Send Me to the Blue Clouds" and "Sangui Love History". Previously, the film was shortlisted for the "Asian Future Unit" at the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival as the only film from Mainland China, and won the "Best Technology Award" at the 4th Hainan Island International Film Festival.
Xie Shiming, assistant to the general manager of Jinyi Pearl River Cinemas, believes that the reality-themed movie "Unstoppable" released on March 24 may become a dark horse in the March movie market. The film tells the story of an inexperienced newspaper intern reporter Han Dong trying to change the fate of 100 million people through a news report in the era when paper media was king. "First of all, reality-themed movies have attracted relatively high attention in the film market in recent years; secondly, the film has been shortlisted or won awards in major film festivals before, which proves that its quality is not particularly bad, although the film is a literary film. I am making a genre film, but as long as the quality is excellent, the audience will not abandon it because it is a literary film; finally, in terms of the cast, Zhang Songwen is praised for his acting skills in "Hurricane", which also has a certain value for the audience. Attractiveness." Xie Shiming analyzed.
The movie "Wangdao" produced by Shanghai Film will be released on March 24. The film is directed by Hou Yong, with Liu Ye, Hu Jun and others participating. With Chen Wangdao, the first Chinese translator of "Communist Manifesto" as the core, it shows his determined, persistent and legendary life. On February 24, the film was held in Shanghai for a media advanced viewing meeting. Wang Jianer, the party secretary and chairman of the Shanghai Film Group, said at the filming meeting, "The film is recovering, and Shanghai Film is also advancing the high-quality content strategy at full speed. "Tao" is the opening drama of Shanghai Film's big screen this year, and this year and the next three years, Shanghai Film will be "a series of good shows."
In addition to the above-mentioned films, there are also various types of films such as "Daughter of Dunhuang" (Shanghai opera), thriller and fantasy film "Legend of the Snow-collared Hunter", and comedy romance film "The God of Cooking" will meet with the audience in March.
Imported films are entering the film market one after another
Among the imported films in March, the DC superhero movie "Thunder Shazam!" Wrath of the Gods", the new work "Megan" produced by the master of contemporary horror film James Wan, Japanese director Makoto Shinkai's latest animated film "Journey to Suzuya" (also translated as "Suzumeto"), adapted from the game IP's movie "Dungeon and Dragon: Grand Thief Glory" and "Madame Harris in Paris" starring Isabelle Huppert will be released one after another. Judging from the schedule, it can be said that starting from mid-March, imported films of different types will be released every week.
Xie Shiming believes that "Thunder Shazam!" Wrath of the Gods, Dungeons and Dragons: Glory of the Rogue, and Journey to Bell Bud may stand out among imported films, but if the quality of the films is not good enough and the reputation is not good, the audience will still not buy it.
Among them, "Thunder Shazam! "Wrath of the Gods" is scheduled to be released simultaneously in mainland China and North America on March 17. It is the second film in the series. The previous film was released in mainland China in April 2019 and earned 294 million yuan. However, even with the basis of the previous work and the advantages of simultaneous release, it may not be able to achieve satisfactory results in the film market. On February 17, Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Frenzy" (the film is the third film in the "Ant-Man" series) was also released simultaneously. However, the film "turned over" from box office performance to word-of-mouth , It can be seen that if the "Superhero" series of movies do not have better quality, Chinese audiences will no longer regard it as the first choice for movie viewing.
The movie "Dungeons and Dragons: Glory of Rogue" produced by Paramount Pictures and adapted from the game IP is scheduled to be released on March 31, simultaneously with North America. The original rules, mechanisms, and systems of the game "Dungeon and Dragon" have influenced later games. The game "World of Warcraft" is created based on the many background settings of "Dungeon and Dragon". In 2016, the movie "Warcraft" adapted from the game "World of Warcraft" earned 1.468 billion yuan. It remains to be seen whether "Dungeons and Dragons: Glory of the Thieves" can break the record of "Warcraft".
"The Journey of Bell Bud" directed by Makoto Shinkai has received the most attention among imported films. According to Chen Jin, as of 10:00 am on February 27, among the new films in March, the imported film with the highest number of tickets to watch is "Ling Bud" "Journey" was 341,000, which is far ahead of other imported new films. The proportion of young men under the age of 25 who want to watch this film is prominent. The film tells the story of a young girl, Lingya, who accidentally meets the mysterious "closed door teacher" Sota, and the two embark on an adventurous journey to close the door to the source of disaster. The film was released in Japan on November 11, 2022, and has already earned a global box office of 103 million US dollars. It was also shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. Makoto Shinkai's previous work "Your Name. "" "Children of the Weather" earned 575 million yuan and 288 million yuan respectively in mainland China.
Interestingly, Warcraft and Your Name. " was released in the same year in 2016, and this year, "Dungeons and Dragons: Grand Thief Glory" and "Journey to Bell Bud", which are related to the two films, were released in March. I hope they can achieve the same success as the two films in 2016. Double harvest at the box office.
In addition, Xie Shiming said that the thriller "Megan" and the comedy "Mrs. Harris in Paris" among the imported films have effectively supplemented the market, enriched the audience's choice of viewing types, and stimulated the desire of existing audiences to watch movies.
The market is recovering in a healthy and orderly manner
Talking about the film market in March this year, many people in the industry said that as many films are finalized and released, the film market will continue to recover healthily. Chen Jin thinks, "The market in March is after the peak of the Spring Festival, which is the off-season period of each year. North American spring films are often introduced as the main force of the new film market. This year, domestic films are also frequently scheduled, with a variety of genres and themes. It can be said that March this year The market for new films in China is very rarely 'lively'."
Xie Shiming also believes that judging from the film market in March this year, many films have been announced early and have sufficient time for film promotion. At the same time, different types of new films are released every week, which can maintain the enthusiasm of the audience and the atmosphere of watching movies. The market situation of "uneven hot and cold" will not appear, and it can be said that the market is recovering continuously and healthily.
The income from film screenings is still the core income of the film. Only when the audience enters the theater to watch the film can the film realize its value.
We look forward to the continuation of the current box office performance in March, and a smooth connection between the Qingming and May 1st stalls, laying a solid foundation for the annual box office to return to the pre-epidemic 50-60 billion.