Chinanews client, Beijing, December 31 (Reporter Ren Siyu) On the last day of 2020, the box office of Chinese movies finally broke through the 20 billion mark as hoped, bringing hope to the filmmakers who are still sticking to it.

　　The Spring Festival stalls disappeared, stagnated for 178 days, and the National Day stalls set new records on the first day... In 2020, which is shrouded by the epidemic, the film industry has experienced a lot of bitterness and bitterness. In this 20 billion transcript, there are both Chinese filmmakers. Unity and mutual assistance, more support, affirmation and encouragement from the audience.

　　At the end of 2020, let us use six key words to review memories related to the movie this year.

Data map: On July 24, a movie theater in Chaoyang District, Beijing began showing films.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu

Withdraw

　　At the beginning of 2020, the seven films of "Detective Chinatown 3", "Emergency Rescue", "Winning the Championship", "Vanguard", "囧Mom", "Jiang Ziya", "Bear Infested Wild Continent" each launched a fierce propaganda offensive and were regarded as "historical The "strongest" Spring Festival stall is gaining momentum.

　　Among them, the data of "Detective Chinatown 3" is even more impressive, breaking many pre-sale records one after another.

　　But no one thought that the new crown pneumonia epidemic disrupted the lively New Year atmosphere. On January 23, seven films announced the withdrawal of their files. The theaters began to close their doors, the theater staff temporarily closed business, and the prosperous Spring Festival stalls quickly fell. freezing point.

　　However, it was difficult for film practitioners at the time to imagine that the shutdown was 178 days.

Resume work

　　From winter to summer, this period is an extremely long "darkest moment" for Chinese movies.

　　Since February, a number of theaters have launched take-out services to provide snacks and drinks for the Spring Festival.

After that, some movies went to the Internet, some filmmakers changed their careers, and some theaters were completely closed...In half a year, all practitioners could do was wait.

　　Finally, on July 16, the National Film Administration issued a notice stating that theaters in low-risk areas can resume operations in an orderly manner on July 20, provided that various prevention and control measures are effectively implemented.

"Retaliation viewing" has become a hot topic.

　　After a long-lost reunion, there are also new rules for cinema viewing: real-name ticket sales, cross-seating, wearing masks throughout the journey, attendance rate not exceeding 30%, and in principle prohibiting the sale of beverages and snacks...

　　Within a few days, theaters in multiple locations were quickly ready.

In the early morning of the 20th, several theaters took the lead in opening the zero-point field, and even some theaters slogans "1 yuan special price viewing" to attract audiences to return. "The First Parting" became the first new film to premiere on the day of resumption of work.

Data map: On July 20, a movie theater in Chengdu, Sichuan Province resumed business.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Lang

Rescue

　　However, in the early stage of the resumption of work, due to the 30% attendance rate and the variable epidemic situation, new films did not dare to rush to set the files, and the theaters were mostly re-screening of old films, which made it difficult to attract more audiences until the domestic war film "Yu Bai" was set. files.

　　In the summer of 2020, "Eight Hundred" ignited the Chinese film market like a raging fire. It first set the highest box office record for movie screenings, and maintained a score of over 100 million for several days after its official release, giving the industry a boost. .

　　Under the premise that the attendance rate does not exceed 50%, "Eight Hundred" finally won a box office of 3.1 billion yuan and won the 2020 global movie box office championship.

　　After that, the Qixi Festival came, and "I'm Waiting for You at the End of Time" broke the single-day box office record in one fell swoop. The total box office on Qixi Day reached 527 million, which was the same as last year.

　　At the same time, 30%, 50%, 75%... As the domestic epidemic situation improves, theater attendance is gradually increasing.

The poster of the movie "Yao Bai".

Refresh

　　"Eight Hundred", the Chinese Valentine's Day file, and the National Day file, "refresh" has become a key word often seen in the movie market.

　　The Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holiday overlap, and the cinema in early October ushered in the long-lost excitement.

"My Hometown and Me", "Jiang Ziya" and "Winning the Championship" became the biggest hits in the National Day files. "Jiang Ziya" not only broke the box office record for the first day and the first week of animated films in the Chinese film market, but also became the fastest box office in China's film history to break 1 billion. Animation movie.

　　Thanks to the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies, on October 3, the total annual box office of Chinese films officially exceeded the 10 billion mark.

Despite the premise that the attendance rate is 75%, this year's National Day box finally received a total box office of 3.92 billion yuan, ranking second in the box office history of the National Day box.

　　At 0:00 on October 15th, Beijing time, China's movie box office market officially surpassed North America with 12.95 billion yuan (US$1.93 billion) in 2020, becoming the world's largest ticket warehouse for the first time in history.

2020 National Day movie posters.

change

　　But in the six months since the cinema was temporarily closed, changes from within the industry were also quietly taking place.

　　During the epidemic, online movies grew rapidly. In late March, the online movie "Qi Men Dun Jia" broke the box office record of the online movie market with a box office share of more than 50 million yuan.

　　On the first day of the new year, "囧Mo", which was withdrawn from theaters, went online for free, and was immediately resisted by several theaters, believing that it "undermined the basic rules of the industry."

But in the following months, more and more films such as "Fat Dragon Crossing the River", "Spring Tide", "Journey" and "Spring River Plumbing" began to seek online screenings.

　　Will the cinema disappear?

Will the speed of hospital transfer become faster and faster?

At the major film festivals held this year, "academic transfers" and "window period" have become key topics for discussion.

At the end of the year, Warner Bros. announced that all 17 new films released in 2021 will be launched simultaneously on HBO Max and movie theaters. The news has stirred up waves.

　　In addition to the delicate relationship between online platforms and cinema chains, the "film shortage" caused by the epidemic is also a problem that cinemas need to face.

What will happen in the future, practitioners are still constantly exploring.

Sprint

　　After the National Day file, the film market fell into a long period of downturn, and the single-day box office even fell back to the early stage of work. As of December 17, China's movie box office was still more than 2 billion away from the target of 20 billion.

　　But since then, many Lunar New Year films have begun to work together. On December 18, the two blockbuster films "Emergency Rescue" and "Wonder Woman 1984" fought at the same time. On the 24th, "Bomb Disposer 2" and "Qing Ya Ji" were released. It also allowed the single-day box office for three consecutive days to exceed 200 million.

Among them, the "Bomb Disposal Expert 2" starring Andy Lau received a high reputation and won 500 million box office within 6 days of its release.

　　At the end of 2020, several New Year's Eve movies are regarded as the hope of sprinting the annual box office.

Among them, the movie "Give You A Little Red Flower" starring Yi Yanqianxi and Liu Haocun has been leading the way. As of December 30, the pre-sale box office of the film has exceeded 200 million, becoming the highest-selling film since the resumption of work. .

"Send You A Little Red Flower" poster.

　　At 10:00 on December 31, the total box office of Chinese films in 2020 exceeded 20 billion. The top five films at the annual box office were "Eight Hundred" (3.1 billion), "My Hometown and Me" (2.8 billion), and "Jiang Ziya" (16 100 million), "King Kong River" (1.1 billion), "Win the Championship" (800 million), domestic films have carried the banner of the Chinese film market.

　　On the last day of 2020, Chinese films finally achieved the "small goal" of 20 billion.

This year's ups and downs, Chinese movies have been advancing continuously in difficulties, and the crisis brought about by the epidemic is still there, but the future is more worth looking forward to.

(Finish)