The password for film screening has been changed from one-time distribution in the past to daily and weekly distribution

Can the "segment key" be a panacea to curb "box office stealing"

　　Compared with the overall colder box office of this year's summer vacation, the issuance strategy of "segment key" has become a buzzword.

The "segment key" aims to eradicate the stubborn disease of theater box office stealing and purify the market. The "Chinese Doctor" currently being released uses the "segment key" to deter some non-standard theaters, which has been quite effective.

The "segment key" can become a normal way, which also means that the status of the upstream and terminal of the film industry has been quietly reversed.

Early adopters of "Eight Bai"

"Segment key" prevents "stealing box office"

　　The movie key refers to the password that allows the theater to show a certain movie, and the "segment key" is to change the original one-time movie key that can be played for a full month to the daily and weekly stage.

Once it is discovered that a certain theater has acted improperly at the box office during the surveillance, the film is convenient to suspend the key of the film, and even terminate the provision of the key to the publisher of all subsequent films to the studio, so that it is out of the game.

　　The domestic practice of "segment key" began with the movie "Eight Bai".

"Yai Hundred", released on August 21, 2020, was the first blockbuster film after the theater resumed work. It assumed the responsibility of boosting the market. On the other hand, at that time, many domestic theaters had been hit hard and were even on the verge of bankruptcy. 》As a large-scale film, it is necessary to prevent certain theaters, especially small theaters with relatively loose supervision in third-tier cities and below, from "recovering blood" in an improper way. Therefore, the film is convenient to use the "segment key" method. Ensure that the box office will not be easily "stolen".

　　After "Eight Hundred", the "segment key" method was adopted by many filmmakers. Films such as "Win the Championship", "King Kong River", "De-violence", "Chinatown Detective 3" and other films have chosen this method of distribution.

And this year’s summer file, Bona Pictures’ "Chinese Doctor" also issued keys in a "five-day update" method. Once it is discovered that the box office is secretly underreported, it will not only cancel the movie’s treatment of "Chinese Doctor". The screening of, together with the key release of another popular film "Changjin Lake" produced for Bona Pictures, was also cancelled.

Via "segment key"

Can the stubborn disease of "box office stealing" be cured?

　　The "box office stealing" behavior has always been exploiting loopholes and it is difficult to rectify.

"Segmentation key" is beyond "deterrence", can it really cure this chronic disease?

According to industry insiders, the "segment key" brings hope to solve the problem, but it requires continuous efforts from all parties to completely eradicate concealment and underreporting.

After all, the cost of monitoring the box office for all parties is too great, and the “box office stealing” behavior is constantly changing, which often makes the film party hard to defend.

　　It is reported that in addition to the "traditional" handwritten tickets, false tickets, non-issued tickets for exclusive venues, and non-issued tickets for bundled sales, there are now more "advanced" methods of "stealing the box office", for example, using two sets of tickets. The box office system, one set is used to report to the state-funded office, the other is the actual box office; the other is to modify the system parameters.

All of these require professionals to check the data carefully and carefully track the data of the special office, the data of the third-party e-commerce, and the input data of the theater.

　　In order to deal with the "box office stealing" of theaters, the distribution team needs hundreds or thousands of people to go to every place, and the effort, time, and money are huge.

Moreover, in order to find out the tricks hidden behind, it is often necessary to fight wits and courage.

　　However, the "segment key" at least proves that the film party and the distributor no longer tolerate "box office stealing" behavior.

Affected by the epidemic, the upper, middle and lower reaches of the film industry are now extremely difficult, and film producers must ensure that their own interests are not violated in order to ensure the continued creativity and development of the film industry.

"Chinese Doctor" upgrade

Use the "Five Day Key"

　　This time, "Chinese Doctor" can be regarded as a heavy hand. On July 13 and July 16, the distribution staff in various regions verified and announced the concealment of certain theaters, and Bona Pictures The second and third phase keys of these studios will be suspended respectively, and the key for future Bona release films will be stopped.

This move is regarded by the industry as the most severe punishment the issuer has made against the studio in the past year, fully demonstrating the deterrence and effectiveness of the "segment key".

　　"Chinese Doctor" on the one hand uses "segment keys" to prevent theaters from "stealing the box office", on the other hand, it issued a notice on July 21 to adjust the minimum price of "Chinese Doctor"-starting from July 23 In cities other than Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the minimum ticket price of the 2D version of "Chinese Doctor" has been lowered to 25 yuan.

The film party hopes that this kind of "benefit" based on regular box office revenue can make the film market healthier and attract more audiences to watch high-quality movies.

Quick review

Don’t Let "Stealing Box Office" Become a "Black Hole" of Chinese Movies

　　The "segment key" will continue to exist for a long time. It is a strategy spawned under the long-term impact of the epidemic on the film market. It also indicates the subtle changes in the relationship between the upstream and the terminal in the film market ecology.

　　For a movie to meet with the audience, it must first be evaluated by the theater manager: what time period is arranged, what capacity is the theater, etc.

It can be said that the cinema holds the "power" of film scheduling. Therefore, one often hears the call of "seeking film scheduling" from the creator of a certain movie.

Before the outbreak of the epidemic, the supply of film sources in the film market was sufficient, and blockbusters were extremely crowded during popular periods.

At this time, the goal of the filmmakers and the theater is to achieve a "win-win", the interests behind the box office are intertwined, and they will not rashly tear each other's faces.

This is also the main reason why box office stealing has become a chronic disease after repeated prohibitions.

　　However, the arrival of the new crown epidemic has shaken the status of theaters: in the 2020 Spring Festival, "囧Mom" will be played online. Streaming media and theaters have erupted unprecedented contradictions, which also hurt the theaters' vitality.

Since the epidemic, although the Chinese film market has been stubbornly recovering, the negative impact cannot be completely eliminated in the short term, and the entire industry has also struggled to get rid of its predicament for a long time.

In critical moments, the film party can no longer tolerate any "box office stealing" behavior in order to defend its own interests; as the provider of the film source, the film party has become the rule maker, and the theater has never relied on the film source so much, so in this round Lost a certain degree of right to speak in the contest and became the "executor".

　　When "Eight Bai" tried to "segment key", it caused some criticisms in the theater, and even caused some small operation errors because of unaccustomedness.

Today, the five-day key replacement of "Chinese Doctor" has been generally accepted, eliminating the "discomfort".

　　The purification of the market by the "segment key" will undoubtedly benefit the entire film industry.

After all, the "box office stealing" behavior of certain theaters will make the industry short-sighted, hurt those "innocent" theaters, and create a vicious circle of the entire movie ecology.

The president of Bona Pictures Group Yu Dong has always hated the abominable act of stealing the box office of theaters. He once said, "Box office stealing in theaters is a black hole for Chinese movies."

　　Although the "segment key" originated from the special circumstances of the epidemic, it is hoped that its effectiveness will continue-behind it should not be a game of interests, but a healthy win-win situation.

Through the ups and downs of the epidemic, it can also be seen that only the unity and cooperation of film producers, distributors and theaters can the film market be enlarged, and the film industry can truly help the film industry to rise up without fear of difficulties.

　　This group of articles / reporter Xiao Yang co-ordinated / Liu Jianghua