The box office in 2021 ushered in the most "bull" Spring Festival file in history. The upgrade of digital publicity and the innovation of marketing models have become the icing on the cake for the Spring Festival file.
The cinema is revitalized
Our reporter Wu Duosi Correspondent Ma Anni
On February 15th, at 10:30 pm on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, there was an endless stream of vehicles at the entrance of Panlong Cinema in Urumqi. At the end of the night movie, people who took taxis home lined up.
"I started to grab tickets the day before yesterday. It's not easy to grab tickets during the day. I only buy it for today's evening show." said the movie viewer An Yue.
According to statistics, as of 0:00 on February 18, the total real-time box office of Chinese New Year films has exceeded 8 billion yuan, far exceeding the box office of the same period in previous years. At the same time, it has set a number of world records for single-day box office in the global single market and weekend box office in the global single market.
The film industry is undoubtedly "drought with rain". Industry insiders pointed out that the strong return of the Spring Festival film shows the vigorous vitality of the Chinese film market.
A form of entertainment to celebrate the holidays
"Hello, we are not allowed to bring food into the theater. Please also wear a mask during the whole process of watching the movie." The staff of Wanda Cinema in Urumqi guided citizens who came to buy tickets and reminded them intimately.
In the past Spring Festival movie theaters were crowded with people, and the ticket collection process had to wait in line. Buying snacks and drinks was also waiting in line.
The reporter learned in many theaters in Urumqi that affected by the epidemic, the theaters not only staggered the viewing time, but also cancelled the process of buying snacks and drinks.
"I didn't go back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year, and it was too busy to go to the scenic spot. I wanted to watch a movie and relax." said Bai Yuwei, who was collecting tickets to watch the movie in Huatian Town, Urumqi.
Every Spring Festival, the cinema is one of the choices of people's leisure and entertainment.
This year's Spring Festival, due to the requirements of the epidemic prevention and control work, the theater strictly sells tickets online, restricts the flow of reservations, and ensures the epidemic prevention measures such as reasonable intervals. Drinks and food are not allowed to enter the venue.
Pure viewing has become a new trend in cinemas. The hard-to-get movie tickets and crowded theaters prove that pure viewing does not affect the entertainment effect, and even brings a good viewing experience.
According to the data from Sky Eye Check, there are currently more than 54,000 theaters in my country. In recent years, the growth rate of theaters has remained at 15%.
At present, movies are increasingly becoming one of the main forms of entertainment for celebrating festivals.
Despite the influence of variables such as epidemic prevention and control and attendance control, the film market for the Spring Festival this year still achieved a significant increase in attendance, attendance, and box office.
Average fare exceeds previous years
Pre-sales for the Spring Festival this year have begun. Tickets in second-tier cities will start at 100 yuan. Tickets in some third- and fourth-tier cities and small and medium-sized movie theaters in small counties have risen to 70 or 80 yuan per ticket.
"I got the ticket on the third day of the Lunar New Year. The lowest ticket is 80 yuan, not to mention the VIP room, which is hundreds of yuan." said Mr. Li, who just finished watching the movie at the entrance of Wanda Cinema.
According to the data platform of the Beacon Professional Edition, the average price of pre-sales for Spring Festival films reached 50 yuan per film.
For the Spring Festival in 2019, the average ticket price on the first day of the Lunar New Year was 45.2 yuan; the average ticket price for the National Day last year was 40.4 yuan, and the average ticket price for an ordinary weekend in the past year was about 35-40 yuan. .
Regarding the increase in ticket prices for the Spring Festival this year, professionals believe that the reasons are as follows. First, it is normal for the supply of tickets for the Spring Festival to exceed supply. For this year, most citizens choose to celebrate the Chinese New Year locally, expanding the local movie audience; secondly, the IMAX Theater The fare itself is expensive; in addition, due to the hotter Spring Festival stalls and the gradual reduction of the ticket replenishment effect on the box office, many film parties, such as Maoyan and Taobao tickets, no longer directly invest the issuance costs in cash ticket replenishment. On the one hand, the average price of movie tickets has risen.
In addition, the reporter found that the ticket prices of movies in different time periods and in different theaters are different. The ticket prices for early morning movies and ordinary halls are lower, while the ticket prices for special halls during the daytime are higher. Last year's Spring Festival hit Valentine's Day, and the two festivals met, stimulating movie prices.
"Although the fare is a bit higher, but after seeing the online trailer, I still couldn't help but want to go to the movie." An Yue said.
Cinema innovation and development
"Chinese New Year in situ" helped China's box office boom. This year's Spring Festival film scheduling not only drove the domestic film industry, but also stimulated the film investment economy.
In addition to well-known theaters being chosen by the public, small and medium-sized theaters and private theaters have taken advantage of the film style of the Spring Festival to drive their own development.
“Previously, there was only one Panlong Cinema in Midong District, but this year there are several more cinemas.” Ms. Chang, who lives in Midong District, Urumqi, said, “I went to the newly opened VF cinema. There are a lot of people.”
The reporter noticed that this newly opened VF theater is not large and does not open the Meituan ticket business, but there are many citizens who come to watch the movie, most of them live nearby, and the ticket price is within the market price range.
According to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, as of February 21, there were 135 film investment companies in the country with a box office of 333 million yuan and 8.149 million people. The top three are Wanda Cinema, Dadi Cinema, and Hengdian Cinema.
Among them, the number of visits to Wanda Cinema is as high as 989,000, which is twice that of Dadi Cinema.
In the comparison of tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 cities across the country, tier 2 cities have the highest box office of 120 million yuan, and tier 4 cities have a box office of 103 million yuan.
In addition to the income growth of film investment companies, the income of major cinema companies has also increased.
Judging from the national rankings, as of February 21, Khorgos Wanda Cinema Line Co., Ltd., Guangdong Dadi Cinema Line Co., Ltd. and China Film Digital Cinema Line (Beijing) Co., Ltd. stood out from the 50 companies counted. Among them, Khorgos Wanda Cinema Line Co., Ltd., which ranks first, has a box office of 46.907 million yuan, which is higher than other theater companies in terms of movie attendance and per game.
"The Spring Festival stalls can get such a good box office, in addition to the influence of the festival atmosphere, the most important thing is that the quality and reputation of domestic films have improved." Experts pointed out that the rising box office is not only affected by the general environment, but also inseparable. The content of the film is enriched and the level of industrial production is improved.
The upgrading of digital publicity and the innovation of marketing model will be the icing on the cake for the 2021 Spring Festival.