China-Singapore Entertainment, Beijing, April 3 (Reporter Ren Siyu) A number of new films have been released, celebrity topics have gone out of the circle, and netizens have been discussing word of mouth... This should have been a lively situation in the film market recently, but as of now, the Qingming file seems to be a bit Quietly.

  Affected by the current round of the epidemic, the operating rate of theaters across the country is less than half, and films such as "Life Events" have been withdrawn one after another.

  For the theater practitioners, this is another spring of hardship and hope.

Data map: The movie theater in Aihui District, Heihe City is carrying out sterilization work.

Photo by Teng Mingyue

"At present, this Qingming file no longer exists."

  "Recently, half of our cinemas have been closed due to the epidemic, and the cinema in Dongguan has not been opened due to the epidemic." Zhu Teng, general manager of Beijing Universal Art Cinema Management Co., Ltd., said in an interview.

Different from before, they temporarily stopped part-time jobs in the studios, and only basic wages will be paid from the second month of the closed studios.

  From a national perspective, there are not a few movie theaters that have closed down.

According to Maoyan Professional Edition, on April 1, there were 5,408 theaters operating nationwide, 61 less than the day before, and the national operating rate was 44.98%. Theaters in Shanghai, Tianjin, Jilin and other places were basically suspended. open for

business

.

  Looking back on April 2 last year, the movie "My Sister" came out of the circle with "Little Boda", and then broke several box office records within the schedule, and together with "Godzilla vs. King Kong" and other films, boosted the 2021 Qingming file to become "historical". strongest".

  In this year's Qingming Festival, there were originally more than a dozen new films, including "Life Events" starring Zhu Yilong and "The Detective War" starring Liu Qingyun.

"Life Events" poster.

  But the epidemic remains the most uncertain factor this spring.

On March 25, "Major Events in Life" and "The Detective War" successively announced that they were postponed due to the epidemic, and films such as "The Last Truth" and "The Victim" were also withdrawn one after another. The "most crowded" 2022 Qingming file suddenly became "empty".

  "At present, the Qingming file no longer exists, but there are also the recently released "Moonfall" and "Batman" and the comedy film "Crouching Mouse and Hidden Insect" directed by Wen Song, which can last for a while." Zhu Teng said .

"Actually, there is no off-season in the studio, just lack of films"

  Corresponding to the collective withdrawal of domestic films, from the end of March to the end of April, more than 10 foreign films have been announced for introduction and release.

At present, imported films such as "Hotel Elf 4: Transformation Adventure", "Battle on the Prairie", "Escape Room 2" and "The New Batman" have formed a new Qingming file format.

  A theater marketing manager analyzed in an interview with the media that "Hotel Elf 4: Transformation Adventure" was launched in January this year, and many viewers may have watched the movie in advance. "Escape Room 2" was released in North America last year. , The two films are estimated to have a score of over 100 million yuan, but after all, they are "old films", and it is more difficult to hit 200 million yuan.

  Can imported blockbusters "quench their thirst"?

I'm afraid there is still a question mark to be put on it for now.

As of April 2, "The New Batman" had a box office of 120 million in 16 days, and "Uncharted" had not yet exceeded 100 million.

However, "Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore's Mystery", which will be released on April 8, will be released a week earlier in North America. It is worth looking forward to whether it can break the circle.

A still from The New Batman.

  Talking about the box-office performance of imported films, Zhu Teng said, "Over the years, domestic audiences have cultivated and improved their appreciation level, and have become immune to blockbusters with visual effects without disruptive film and television technology. In addition, the impact of the epidemic on theaters , not only foreign blockbusters, but the overall box office is not very good.”

  In fact, in the more than two years that the film market has been changed by the epidemic, the audience's viewing habits have also undergone some changes.

Zhu Teng said frankly that he is worried that the audience will be attracted by the small screen, and that the epidemic will make young people who originally planned to enter the theater lose motivation.

"Actually, there is no off-season in the studio, but there is a shortage of films. "Avatar" is a peak season on any day, and there are still too few movies that are worth letting the audience enter the theater. Everyone must persevere through this period."

"I believe it will be fully restored as soon as possible"

  A few days ago, Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critic Society, said in an article that all problems in Chinese films cannot be simply attributed to the epidemic.

In addition to the epidemic, it is necessary to further analyze some deep-seated structural contradictions and problems within the film industry itself.

  He said that in the final analysis, good works are the last word, which requires continuous improvement of the productivity of Chinese films and optimization of the allocation of film resources.

Stills of "The Detective War".

  As a studio practitioner, Zhu Teng mentioned "persistence" and "hope" many times in interviews, for example, "This wave of epidemic is fierce, but it shouldn't be long, we still need to ensure the sustainability of manpower, I believe it will be Get back to work as soon as possible.”

  Regarding this year's Qingming file, he said that although some films have been withdrawn, they have reserved market space for recently released films. The box office expectations are definitely not as good as before, but he is still full of confidence in the next May 1st file.

  Zhu Teng said that he still wants to cheer for the industry. He hopes that these foreign language films currently set for release can make many movie fans who did not intend to enter the theater enter the theater again, "I still need to give the market some confidence, after all, we They are still in the game." (End)