Produced by Shanghai Film Group, the Shanghai dialect film "Vegetable and Meat Wonton," which focuses on the lives of elderly people in Shanghai, began its preview screenings in Shanghai on November 7th. On November 8th, with only 2.2% of screenings, the film raked in 1.726 million yuan at the box office, becoming the second highest-grossing film in the city that day. Its box office revenue accounted for 20.7% of the city's total box office that day, and its 58% occupancy rate led the pack, making it a phenomenal box office dark horse in the film market.
The film is scheduled for official release on November 15th and is currently in its "pre-release" phase. However, older viewers who are not very familiar with the film market are already eager to see the movie. Under the pre-release model, the film is not shown in all theaters at all times, and some viewers have even called the 12345 hotline to complain about the limited number of screenings.
This film, which focuses on the everyday life of Shanghai's old alleyways, has revealed the long-neglected consumption potential of the elderly in the domestic film market with its unique phenomenon of "silver-haired audiences watching the film all at once".
For a long time, the mainstream audience of the domestic film market has been defined as the "18-35 year old youth group," while the viewing needs of elderly audiences have been almost "forgotten." On data platforms such as Lighthouse Pro, the audience composition is merged into a unified older group once the age of "40 and above." According to statistics, in 2024, the proportion of moviegoers aged 40 and above in China was less than 15%, while this age group accounted for 21% of moviegoers during this summer's film season. However, the audience profile of "Vegetable and Meat Wonton" shows a distinct "silver-haired characteristic": the group of 40 years and above accounts for 58%. In addition, according to user profile statistics, 68.9% of the audience are female, and 77% of the audience have a bachelor's degree or above. Many elderly viewers who chose to go to the cinema to support the film also told reporters from The Paper that they were attracted by the authentic Shanghai dialect and life scenes in the film, and were very happy to see their familiar life on the big screen.
Film Market Data
Director Wu Tiange has stated on several occasions that this film is made for his hometown and for his elders. The film's precise positioning has allowed it to take a different approach to promotion and distribution. In addition to conventional online marketing, the crew also held screenings in various communities and senior universities in Shanghai, leveraging the traditional method of word-of-mouth to reach the silver-haired community.
The successful preview screenings of "Vegetable and Meat Wonton" have also provided a new perspective for the domestic film market: when a large number of films fall into the same homogenous marketing and distribution routines and find it increasingly difficult to reach their target audience, exploring the emotional needs of segmented audiences may be the way to break the deadlock.
When discussing the distribution strategy before the film's release, producer Gu Xiaodong told The Paper that when preparing the investment proposal for the film, he hoped to create a "niche product" to offer more diverse choices in the film market.
