Costume dramas are decreasing year by year, and the two male lead dramas disappeared from the film list
Tend to create high-quality main melody content on the head; shift to high-quality content; IP topic selection pays more attention to literary content
From "The Age of Awakening" and "Mountain and Sea Situation" at the beginning of the year to the subsequent broadcasts of "The Rebel", "The Storm of Sweeping Darkness" and "Merchants", the hot spots and high ground of public opinion in the drama market in 2021 will always be based on the main theme, especially the theme of reality. The drama occupies and leads.
Although there are also excellent works in other types of dramas, such as "I am very good in a foreign country", "Ideal City", "Order of the Mountains and Rivers", "Improved by Xiaoyao", "Love Is Delicious", etc., they have not reached the main theme of the drama. Momentum and height.
Will this realist drama trend continue into the drama market in 2022?
Are period dramas and IP adaptations that have been favored by platforms and film and television companies still the mainstream next year?
This year’s suspense-themed drama series are missing the hottest money. Which suspense dramas next year are worth looking forward to?
A reporter from the Beijing News sorted out the list of drama series to be broadcast on the four major video platforms of iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video, and Mango TV in 2022, and interpreted the trend of next year's dramas.
1 Leading the drama, the realism expression is at the right time
According to the "2021 Main Melody Drama Market Research Report" released by Yeen Consulting, the main theme drama has gradually opened up the market among the younger generation. The main audience is concentrated in the 18-29 age group. After 95, it has become the main audience for the main theme drama. .
Looking at the list of dramas to be broadcast on the four major platforms in 2022, the main theme of the drama is very eye-catching in terms of number, production team, and cast.
This benefited from the enthusiasm for watching dramas among young audiences in 2021 represented by "The Awakening Age". On the one hand, it also reflects the fact that video platforms and film and television producers have raised the political position of the TV drama industry to the competent authorities. Actively respond to the requirements of "Conscientiously assume political responsibility and cultural responsibility".
Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer of iQiyi, said about his thoughts on the future content creation trend of the platform: “Any mainstream Internet company, responsible for the production of literary works, must stand on the mainstream stage, the social stage, and the national stage. In the end, take more responsibilities." He believes that based on the entire long video field, the majority of literary and art workers must grasp the creative trend and strive to provide the people with more high-quality spiritual and cultural works.
Therefore, many mainstream national dramas that embody the spirit of the times will become the focus of iQiyi's future layout.
Han Zhijie, vice president of Tencent Online Video, summarized two characteristics of the main theme of the new media era: First, young users born in the 90s and 00s have become the main viewing group, and the younger users are highlighted; second, young users with more Internet feel are happy Through the new media Amway works, the content value and market value of the main melody works have been amplified through interactive communication.
He said at the V Vision Conference in November this year that Tencent Video will insist on creating high-quality headline content as the center, matching high-quality resources for the main melody drama series, and actively exploring this new value high ground.
In the fourth quarter of this year, a set of statistics was released at the Youku Quality First Appreciation Conference: As of September 2021, Youku’s main melody works had a total broadcast volume of over 7.8 billion, with an average monthly broadcast volume of nearly 900 million, an increase of 5.4 times compared to 2019.
The relevant person in charge of Youku said with emotion: “Positive energy is real traffic. You must follow the right path. If you go on the right path, you are not afraid of far.” Therefore, the main theme and realism theme of positive energy have become the absolute in Youku's 2022 to-be broadcast list. Mainstream.
Several of the four major platforms’ films to be broadcast in 2022 have been selected as key projects of the “Our New Era” theme TV series of the State Administration of Radio and Television. Highlights, the main creative lineup has strength.
"County Committee Courtyard" produced by Sunshine at Noon, with Hou Hongliang as the producer, Wang Xiaoqiang as the screenwriter, and Kong Sheng as the director.
According to public information, the screenwriter Wang Xiaoqiang went to Dayu County, Jiangxi Province to experience work for nearly five months. The director team sent people to Hengnan County, Hunan Province to experience work for nearly four months.
It is understood that "The County Party Committee Courtyard" is a contemporary group drama that tells the story of Mei Xiaoge's airborne landing in Guangming County as the county magistrate, and his colleagues worked together to realize the ideal of governing the county.
"Beyond" is produced by Ningmeng Pictures, starring Li Gengxi, Hu Jun and Sha Yi.
The play is based on the historical background of Beijing’s successful bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015. It tells the story of the roller skating girl Chen Mian from a non-professional player in the wave of the "North Ice South Exhibition", and finally entered the national team to become the main player in the Winter Olympics. s story.
"Beyond" shows the mental outlook of the new and old generations of short track speed skaters. It is a chronicle of Chinese short track speed skating that extended from the 1980s to the present. The history of the development of the project.
"The Long River" directed by Zhang Ting and served as the screenwriter is also one of the two "major historical" dramas in the film list.
The main actors of the play include Luo Jin, Yin Fang, Huang Zhizhong, etc. It tells the story of Chen Huang and his partner Jin Fu who was also interested in governing the river during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.
They spanned half a century of wind and rain and experienced several political disturbances in the Kangxi Dynasty. Before his death, Chen Huang left a masterpiece on river control-"He Fang Shu Yao".
In addition, the film list also includes two key plays to "Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return in 2022": "Below the Lion Rock: Love" starring Huang Jue, Myolie Hu, and Li Zhiting, through the "Like You Tea Restaurant" for several generations. The rich perspective of Hong Kong interprets the collision between Hong Kong’s market culture and historical trends, thereby showing the development and changes of Hong Kong; "City Defender" is directed by the director of "Sneak Sniper" Su Wancong, and portrays a group of new and old Hong Kong police through exciting cases. Group portrait-"An assault vehicle, five police officers, guarding a city".
Zeng Shunxi, who has appeared in popular film and television dramas such as "The Legend of the Dragon Slayer", played the role of the "second generation of policeman" whose father died in the line of duty in the drama.
Other dramas that have attracted much attention include: "The People's Police", which is based on the public security work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and focuses on the growth of the people's police in the police reform. It is composed of Lu Yi, Wan Qian, Ma Yuan, Li Naiwen, Feng Starring Lei and others; tells about the "Hutong" in which a family of three generations of women have taken root in the neighborhood committee to serve the residents around from the early days of liberation, starring Zhao Lusi, Cai Wenjing, Guan Xiaotong, Hou Minghao, etc.; directed by Liu Xuesong, starring Zhang Ningjiang, Lin Peng, showing Before the Long March, the main force of the Central Red Army had the last battle in Fujian-the "Blood Battle at Songmaoling" in the "Songmaoling Defense Battle"; "Penetrating the Dark Night" directed by the Central Political and Legal Committee and starring Ou Hao and Wang Jingchun; Zhang Ruoyun, Bai Lu, etc. Leading role in "Police Honor", which portrays the group portrait of the grass-roots policemen in the police station; Zhao Dongling is the screenwriter, "The Flag of the Fathers", which tells the development of domestic forestry in the past two decades; "88 International Brigade; starring Sun Honglei and Zhang Songwen, the spy war drama "Jexian", which tells the communist party members fighting against the enemy in the intricately rooted Puppet Manchukuo; "Dashanli", modeled by Zhang Guimei, who was awarded the "Model of the Times" by the Central Propaganda Department "The Girls School"; directed by Zheng Xiaolong, starring Zhao Liying, Liu Wei, and Tang Zeng, from the perspective of rural women, "Happy to Ten Thousands of Homes" and so on.
2 IP continues to be hot, and the selection of materials pays more attention to literary and artistic quality
"IP adaptation + star appearance" is considered to be the platform’s effective production model for drama series "explosive styles" for many years-"Sansheng III Shili Peach Blossom", "Do you know whether it should be green, fat, red and thin", "Dear, love "The", "Celebrating More Than Years", and "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" can all be included in this mode.
Previously, the platform was more inclined to choose the hot IP from the web articles of Jinjiang and Starting Point to adapt it into a drama series.
However, after years of consumption, popular web-text IPs have been digging out, and some less well-known web-texts and some non-famous works by well-known web authors have become the new favorites of the platform.
In the list of films to be broadcast in 2022, three series including "At Blizzard" and "Missing You So Much" are adapted from Mo Bao Feibao's novels.
Previously, the popular summer drama series "Dear, Loved" in 2019 was adapted from Mo Bao Feibao's "Honey Stewed Squid"; there are also two series adapted from the original author of "The Promotion of the Princess", Orange Orange His works are adapted from the novel of the same name, "Amai Joins the Army", and "Langjun Not Happy" adapted from "Prince Concubine's Promotion 2: Princess Marriage".
The list of dramas to be broadcast on the four major platforms in 2022 also reveals the new trend of platform selection of IP-they are trying to jump out of the Jinjiang, starting point network literature category, and seek cooperation in traditional popular literature and serious literature.
In the movie list, we can see the drama "Wencheng" of the same name adapted from Yu Hua's latest novel; the drama "Three Body" of the same name adapted from the works of Liu Cixin who won the "Hugo Award" Best Feature Novel Award; adaptation From the drama "Welcome Back to My Channel" written by Ji Wenjun and nominated for the Yu Dafu Novel Award.
Based on Liang Xiaosheng's Mao Dun Literature Award-winning work "Human World", the drama of the same name is adapted and starred by Lei Jiayin, Xin Baiqing, Song Jia, and Yin Tao.
From the perspective of three generations of a family named Zhou living in a provincial capital city in the north, the play depicts the ups and downs experienced by more than a dozen civilian children in the past 50 years, and fully demonstrates the ups and downs that China has experienced since the reform and opening up. Social changes.
Based on Jin Yucheng's work that won the first Lu Xun Literature Award for the Annual Fiction Award, the drama "Flowers" of the same name was supervised by Wang Jiawei and served as the chief director. Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, Xin Zhilei and others co-starred.
"Flowers" revolves around the life experience of A Bao (played by Hu Ge), and unfolds a life legend of the children of Shanghai's tidemakers in the early 1990s.
"Dragon City" is produced by Teng Huatao, directed by Lin Yan, starring Ma Yili, Bai Yu, and Li Tingting. It is adapted from the "Dragon City Trilogy", "Xijue", "Dong Ni", and "Nan Yin" by Dean, the award-winning writer of the People's Literature Award for Novel ".
The play takes the three cousins of the Zheng family in Longcheng who grew up in different family environments as the protagonists to unfold their different life experiences.
The other "Heart House" directed by Teng Huatao and starred by Hai Qing, Tong Yao, Zhang Songwen, Feng Shaofeng, etc., is adapted from the novel of the same name by Teng Xiaolan.
Teng Xiaolan is a writer who has won the Lu Xun Literature Award for Novella.
The drama "Heart House" shows the Shanghai residents, represented by Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Qingyu's sister-in-law, all kinds of sad and joyful life experiences born around the house: they yearn for a more abundant material life, and spare no effort to find a safe place for their souls. Here, there are not only the ups and downs of individuals in the torrent of the times, but also the emotional fetters between people.
In addition, the platform also expands the source of IP to many fields such as movies and classical literature.
For example: "Meng Hualu" starring Liu Yifei and Chen Xiao tells the story of Zhao Paner, Song Yinzhang and Sun Sanniang, who finally managed the small tea house into the largest restaurant in Bianjing after hardships.
Its IP is adapted from "Zhao Pan'er Fengyue Saves the Dust from the Wind" by Guan Hanqing in Yuan Dynasty; the costume martial arts drama "Shadow of Mountains and Rivers" starring Zhang Yunlong, Chen Ruoxuan, and Sun Yi, based on the film "Xiuchundao" directed by Lu Yang; Qin Hao, Ren Suxi, "Dear Child" starring Nie Yuan is adapted from the movie "Left and Right" directed by Wang Xiaoshuai. It tells the entanglements and choices experienced by a pair of divorced parents to save their daughter suffering from leukemia.
When the doctor recommended that a child be reborn with cord blood to save his life, they did not know where to go after reorganizing the family...
Literary IP is gradually gaining the attention of the film and television industry, which is related to the shift of the platform to high-quality content.
Gong Yu, the founder of iQiyi, once revealed that they have established a deep cooperative relationship with many directors, actors, screenwriters and other film and television creators and artists. They are also continuing to incubate, cultivate and absorb and cooperate with more artists. Create excellent works.
Sun Zhonghuai, vice president of Tencent, said that Tencent Video’s new content strategy is to "improve artistic standards" and encourage the person in charge of specific categories to support works with "high artistic value but unclear commercial returns", and simply repeat the proposal of popular styles. Will not be supported.
3 Consolidate the theatrical label, and suspense themes have become a hot spot for competition
"The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth", which aired in 2020, became the name of the "Mist Theater".
As a result, iQiyi, Youku, and Mango will increase their numbers in 2021 or start a new "theatreized" rehearsal mode-iQiyi will launch the Xiaodou Theater on the basis of the Misty Theater and the Lianlian Theater; Youku will be in the Suspense Theater and Dove. The five major sectors of theater, family theater, urban theater, and Hong Kong theater continued to exert their strength; Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV jointly launched the "Mango Monsoon Theater" featuring short dramas and a joint broadcast of the Taiwan Network.
Judging from the list of dramas to be broadcast in 2022, iQiyi, Mango TV, and Youku have all reserved a batch of good-quality works to consolidate their theatrical labels, and suspenseful themes have become a hot spot for contention.
IQiyi has confirmed that there are two plays in the film list that will be broadcast in the Fog Theater in Q4 (Q4) 2022.
Directed by Chen Zhengdao and co-starred by Song Weilong, Wen Qi, Zu Feng, Lu Yulai, Tao Hui, etc., the sci-fi suspense drama series "Bionic Human World" tells about the future world. Humans rely on bionic humans with part of their emotions, triggering an unexpected crisis ; Producer of the emotional suspense drama series "The Returning Daughter" jointly created by Han Sanping, "The Hidden Corner" screenwriter Pan still and "Undocumented Crimes" director Lu Xing behind the scenes of a group of gold medals.
In addition, iQiyi’s suspense drama series also include: the criminal investigation suspense drama "Hurricane" directed by Xu Jizhou and starred by Zhang Yi, Zhang Songwen, Li Yitong, and Zhang Zhijian. The contest between black and white and complex human nature under the changing times.
The mystery drama series to be broadcast on Youku in 2022 include: "Coward" based on Zheng Zhi's novel "Sheng Tun", starring Ou Hao and Wang Yanhui; "Corridor" based on "The Corridor Pavilion Murder" based on Keigo Higashino's novel, starring Deng Jiajia and Zhang Xincheng Pavilion"; "Perseverance like a shadow" tells the police duo’s pursuit of the truth about the death of her teacher, starring Geng Le, Song Yang, Zhu Yan Manzi, etc... But these are not the "big tricks" of Youku Suspense Theater, poaching away "Secrets" The corner of "The Silent Truth" is the original novel writer Zi Jin Chen.
Youku announced this year to cooperate with Zijin Chen to launch ten super web dramas in the next five years and upgrade the suspense theater label.
These ten works will cover three series of female suspense, urban transparent people, and fog.
According to Zijinchen, the "female suspense" trilogy is tentatively named "Double Stars", "Gray Vortex" and "Deep Pit", and the story is more family-like.
"Urban Transparency" explores the desires and emotions behind ordinary careers.
"Misted" is based on the theme of the resumption of the old case, exploring the truth under the fog of time, and at the same time paying attention to the family relationships and human entanglements behind the case itself.
The "Mango Monsoon" theater focuses on boutique short plays, regardless of subject matter.
However, there are many suspenseful skits in the 2022 "Mango Monsoon" film list.
"Jiang Zhao Liming" starring Ma Sichun, Bai Ke, and Liu Kai focuses on female suspense; "Gift" starring Chen Shu and Wang Zhener is a family suspense route; "The Disappeared Child" is adapted from Beikebang's suspense novel "Sea Anemone" ", starring Tong Dawei, Li Sidani, and Yu Wenwen; in addition, there is also "The 19th Floor" adapted from Cai Jun's novel "The 19th Floor of Hell", and the series "Silent Testimony" adapted from the unidentified novel of the same name. Can be classified into the category of suspense topics.
Tencent Video, which has not yet participated in the "theatreization" competition, has not fallen behind in the reserve of suspense themed dramas.
Remy’s classic novel "Psychological Crime" and the suspenseful new work focusing on women’s social issues, "Mermaid" just published in 2021, will be adapted into drama series "Psychological Crime 3: City Light" and "Mermaid"; Chen Jianbin, Dong Yong, "Tibetan Front" by the original author of the "Trident" novel starring Hao Ping will also be adapted into the drama of the same name.
4 The number of small and medium-sized costumes has increased drastically, and the two male lead dramas disappeared
In recent years, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has been advocating the creation of realistic dramas, and the proportion of historical costumes in recorded TV dramas has been declining year by year.
Since it takes a relatively long-term process from record filing, production to broadcast, the decline in the record number of costume dramas has not been clearly transmitted to the broadcast end.
Judging from the broadcast data in the first half of 2021 (according to Yien), the theme of costume is still one of the two main tracks second only to the theme of love, accounting for more than 20%, which is the same as the same period last year.
However, the flat data can hardly conceal the weakness of the market. 2021 is a year of dismal performance for costume dramas as a whole.
Most of the S-class costume drama projects on the platform failed to arouse splashes. For example, "Yu Zhao Ling" and "Eternal Jue Dust" were broadcast silently or with poor reputation.
The more out-of-the-range projects such as "Shanhe Ling" and "Improved by Xiaoyao" are small and medium-sized projects that were not initially optimistic.
The rise of realistic themes and the poor performance of costume themes have failed to shake the platform and producers' favor of costume dramas.
The number of "head" costume dramas with large productions and large lineups in the film list has decreased.
The head costume dramas in the film list such as "Huanxisha" and "Shangshi" are all projects that will be launched in 2020, and "Celebrating the Year 2" and "Let's Test the World" are dramas that have been heatedly discussed for several years before they finally started filming.
This reflects that the platform's investment in head costume drama projects has been slowing down.
On the other hand, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of small and medium-sized costumes in the film list with more detailed types.
For example: Based on the novel of the same name by Ge Martingale, the costume court light comedy "Queen Liu Hei Fat" starring La Mu Yoko and Li Hongyi; Zhou Yutong, Zhang Xincheng, etc., the costume suspense inspirational drama "The Great Song of Youth 2" starring Zhou Yutong and Zhang Xincheng, written by Wang Juan "Wait.
Drama critic Taixi West believes that this shows that the platform has realized the risk of large-scale investment in making costume dramas, but still optimistic about the long-term stable market for costume themes, so it has made efforts to expand the types of costume dramas in small and medium-sized projects.
Since the "Chen Qingling" in the summer of 2019 made the two leading actors Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo become top artists, the dual male lead drama has been regarded as a "traffic generator" by the industry, and the development of related projects has entered the fast lane. News of the establishment of the project for the record and the shooting of castings continued to spread.
This year's unpopular "Shanhe Order" was unexpectedly popular after the broadcast, which deepened this impression.
The Beijing News has made statistics. In 2021, at least 7 "Dual Male Lead Dramas" have been confirmed to be launched, and more than 6 have been filed and launched within the year.
Among them, ancient costume themes accounted for the majority, including "Hao Yi Xing", "Bao Huo Liu Jin" ("Slaying the Wolf"), "Six Yao", "Junzi League" ("Zhang Gong Case"), etc.; contemporary themes include "The Abyss" "("Silent Reading"), "There is You on the Left Shoulder", "Dream of Dreams", etc.
All this changed in the second half of this year.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television held a meeting in Beijing in September, demanding to strengthen the positive guidance of TV drama creation and production, and resolutely resist the pan-entertainment phenomena such as the supremacy of traffic, the chaos of the "meal circle", and the trend of "changing".
Tencent has completed the production of "Hao Yi Xing", which is about to be aired, and has not been broadcast, and there is no news of scheduled broadcast of the two-male main dramas on other platforms.
In the list of dramas to be broadcast on the four major platforms in 2022, the above-mentioned "two male lead dramas" have completely disappeared.
According to industry analysts, there will be no room for the "double male lead drama" in the short term.
The project that is still under preparation will be minimally affected, and the producer can avoid the risk if it stops. However, the completed project can only modify the content of the "delayed" edge ball during the silent period, and then wait for the time to be broadcast.
Written by/Beijing News reporter Yang Lianjie