The total pre-sale box office has exceeded 400 million yuan and the single-day pre-sale on the first day of the new year breaks 300 million yuan
Spring Festival file "Seven Heroes Fighting for Spring"
Pre-sales of the Spring Festival movie are booming.
The pre-sale of the Spring Festival movies in 2021 will be opened on January 29. According to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, as of February 6, the total box office of the Spring Festival pre-sales exceeded 400 million yuan, and the single-day pre-sale box office on New Year’s Day exceeded 300 million yuan. .
Among them, "Detective Chinatown 3" pre-sale exceeded 100 million in 36 hours, setting a record for the fastest pre-sale box office of a domestic movie to exceed 100 million.
In early 2020, the pause button was pressed during the Spring Festival due to the epidemic.
What are the highlights of the Spring Festival 2021?
Superimposed on the special background of "Chinese New Year in situ", what new atmosphere will the New Year movie market usher in?
7 domestic films are fixed on New Year’s Day, with sufficient supply and various types
Going to the cinema to watch a movie is becoming a new "New Year's custom" comparable to traditional customs such as eating New Year's Eve dinner and visiting temple fairs.
This year, a variety of Spring Festival files covering comedy, fantasy, animation, etc. will return. Seven films are scheduled for the New Year’s Day to accompany the audience during the New Year.
With the highly popular "Chinatown Detective Group", the "Suspense + Comedy" style "Chinatown Detective 3" currently ranks No. 1 among many ticketing platforms "Chinese New Year Wanted to See List", with a pre-sale box office exceeding 200 million yuan.
The film was originally scheduled to be released during the 2020 Spring Festival, but it was postponed to this year due to the epidemic.
Due to the mature IP system and the long-term dividend announcement, film critic Xu Yuan predicts that "Detective Chinatown 3" is expected to become the best-selling film in the Spring Festival.
"This film should be'takes all' for all kinds of audiences, and the first two films have already laid the audience base, which provides an advantage for this one."
"Hello, Li Huanying" announced that it has a high fever, and its pre-sale performance is also remarkable, ranking second in the pre-sale box office list.
The film tells the family story of Jia Xiaoling's accidental journey back to 1981 and her encounter with her youthful mother Li Huanying at the time. It is a "family happy" comedy that gathers comedians such as Jia Ling and Shen Teng. The plot is warm and healing. Tears in the laugh.
"The Crowd" is adapted from the Japanese film "The Method of Stealing Keys", focusing on the little people in modern cities. How the two protagonists exchange their identities and the "cow" has become the biggest attraction.
The two animated films "New God List: Nezha Rebirth" and "Bear Infested Wild Continent" are also worth looking forward to.
Guoman's work "New God List: Nezha Rebirth" is a re-interpretation of Nezha's movie IP. In terms of painting style and plot setting, adult audiences are more considered, showing the "hardcore oriental punk style"; "Hunting Wild Continent" is the representative of the "old brand" animation. The "Hunting Bear" series has been on the big screen for six consecutive years, with a cumulative box office of 2.7 billion yuan, and is loved and sought after by many small movie fans.
The addition of fantasy films "Assassination of Novelists" and "Order of the Samurai" also added bright colors to the Spring Festival file.
Both movies were adapted from well-known IPs, which attracted the attention of fans and may become new growth points for the Spring Festival file.
The Spring Festival stalls are not only the key to boosting the movie box office throughout the year, but also the vane of the movie market, attracting attention.
According to the data from the Maoyan Professional Edition "Spring Festival File Preview for 2021", the 2018 Spring Festival stalls generated 5.771 billion yuan in box office in 7 days, accounting for 9.5% of the annual box office; the 2019 Spring Festival stalls generated 5.903 billion yuan in box office in 7 days, all The annual proportion is 9.2%.
For more than half of the theaters, the box office of the Spring Festival stalls can account for more than 10% of the annual box office revenue.
"The 2021 Spring Festival film has a rich variety of types, which can meet the diverse and individual needs of different audience groups. There is always one that suits you." said Rao Shuguang, president of the Chinese Film Critics Society. Many excellent works "meet on a narrow road." There are head-to-head competitions for movies of the same type, and there are also competitions for different types of movies.
Yin Hong, vice chairman of the Chinese Film Association and a professor at Tsinghua University, is very confident in the Spring Festival stalls. He told reporters that the Spring Festival stalls will form a market climax.
"The types of films are abundant, the supply is sufficient, and the audience has a hard time watching movies. Both factors are available. This Spring Festival file will further drive the recovery of Chinese films."
Under the "New Year in Place" initiative, the demand for viewers to watch movies increases, and the box office distribution may change
Since the beginning of the winter, overseas new crown pneumonia epidemics have continued to spread, and clusters of epidemics and sporadic cases in some areas of our country have also appeared frequently, which has brought challenges to the Spring Festival film market.
The initiative "Chinese New Year in situ" has also brought new opportunities to the film market.
As of February 6, there were 10 high-risk areas and 49 medium-risk areas across the country.
Cinemas in some high-risk areas have suspended operations or increased restrictions. Among them, the attendance limit for theaters in Beijing's Daxing District has been adjusted to 50%, and theaters in certain regions in Hebei, Jilin, and Heilongjiang have been temporarily closed due to the epidemic.
In order to reduce the risk of the spread of the epidemic, various localities have successively issued the "non-essential non-flowing during the Spring Festival holiday" and "New Year's Day" initiatives.
The Ministry of Transport estimates that about 1.7 billion passengers will be sent during the National Spring Festival in 2021, a drop of more than 40% from 2019.
The decrease in population movement will make the 2021 Spring Festival show new characteristics different from previous years.
For the film market, "Chinese New Year in situ" has a direct impact on the box office of different cities, and the geographical distribution of the box office will change.
In recent years, movie-watching consumption driven by returning population in third- and fourth-tier cities has been an important source of box office for the Spring Festival.
According to the film market report released by the Lighthouse Research Institute, from 2017 to 2019, during the Spring Festival, nearly 15% of the box office share dropped from the first and second tier cities to the third and fourth tier cities, while the third and fourth tier cities accounted for the box office share Has reached about 47%.
According to Zhang Miao, the marketing manager of Beijing’s Guang’anmen Cinema, “This year we are advocating in-situ Chinese New Year. Cinemas in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities should be more popular. Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities may be weaker. Another important objective factor is the epidemic. Cinema operations in medium-risk and high-risk regions are bound to be affected."
"Chinese New Year in situ" will drive cultural and leisure consumption including movies, and the number of potential movie viewers in first-tier cities may increase.
Taking Beijing as an example, a reporter opened a ticket purchase software on February 6 and found that many theaters were "difficult to find" on New Year's Day, and there were only single digits left for certain movie sessions.
"Under the premise of epidemic prevention and safety,'Chinese New Year in situ' may be a positive factor for the Spring Festival film." Rao Shuguang said.
Zhang Miao believes that the impact of the epidemic on the Spring Festival stalls is divided into two.
"On the one hand, the epidemic prevention and control has reduced population movements, and tourism and other activities have been cancelled. Movie watching has become a viable form of entertainment, which has a positive impact on the film industry. On the other hand, due to the current limit of the epidemic in theaters, some audiences are still eager to go to theaters. There are doubts that affect the performance of the Spring Festival stall."
The theater prepares in advance, increases the number of games, and strictly implements the requirements for epidemic prevention and control
Can I still go to the cinema during the Spring Festival?
Is it safe to watch movies?
Although the pre-sales of the Spring Festival stalls are hot, many "movie fans" are still playing drums.
Taking into account the new situation such as epidemic prevention and control and the increase of "Chinese New Year on the spot", many movie studios prepared in advance to ensure the audience watching the Spring Festival.
Strict implementation of epidemic prevention requirements is the top priority.
On January 22, the China Film Distribution and Projection Association issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Prevention and Control of the Epidemic in Cinemas for the Spring Festival in 2021", requiring all units to strictly implement the "Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of the Reopening of Film Screening Sites" (Third Edition) .
On January 27, the National Development and Reform Commission stated that during the Spring Festival, the number of performances and entertainment venues such as theaters and theaters in low-risk areas should not exceed 75% of the approved number, and measures should be taken to prevent and control the epidemic to reduce possible risks caused by gatherings.
Measure body temperature, scan QR code for identity registration, provide hand sanitizer... Recently, in Beijing Guang’anmen Cinema, reporters must go through strict precautions such as showing health treasures, measuring body temperature, and checking the wearing of masks before seeing audiences enter the theater. Control procedures.
"Before entering the theater, the staff provided me with 3D glasses, but also provided me with a disinfectant wipes. When I entered the theater and wearing a mask, I could smell the disinfectant water." The audience told reporters that before the opening of the film, the staff also It is especially emphasized that masks are not allowed in the hall, and drinking and eating must be outside the hall.
Only when the prevention and control measures are in place can the audience watch with peace of mind.
The reporter saw that after a movie was shown, two staff members entered the theater and sprayed or wiped and disinfected the seats, armrests, and ground.
According to the staff of the Capital Cinema, key areas such as self-service ticket machines and public area facilities are disinfected once every 2 hours, while the theater seat armrests, 3D glasses and other facilities and objects directly in contact with the audience are disinfected once per session.
Since cinemas in low-risk areas resumed work in July last year, after more than half a year of adaptation and drills, cinemas have accumulated experience in epidemic prevention and control, and audiences have become more confident.
"You can feel the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies in multiple periods such as the New Year's Day file. On the premise that the screening end also complies with the 75% attendance limit, the box office performance of the same period exceeds the same period of the previous year." Jin Yi, general manager of Zhujiang Cinemas Assistant Xie Shiming said.
"The Spring Festival is one of the most important schedules of the cinema in a year. We will continue to take epidemic prevention and control measures in strict accordance with the requirements of the notice." Yu Chao, deputy general manager of Capital Cinema, said that during the Spring Festival, theater ticket sales will lock some seats and strictly control the attendance. Before each movie is shown, the theater must be disinfected; online real-name reservations and contactless ticket sales are adopted, and the audience enters the venue with a green code.
"In the film rehearsal, we plan to extend the screening time throughout the day and increase the number of evening shows to facilitate audiences who do not want to concentrate on the golden scenes during the day. Each theater has also arranged a special staff tour to remind The audience wears masks during the whole movie watching.” Said Cai Xiaoxue, Operation Director of UME Cinema Management Group.
The Chinese film market rebounds in a V shape, and audiences expect more high-quality films
The Spring Festival movie "Seven Heroes Fighting for Spring" presents a splendid cultural feast for the audience.
Movie enthusiasts pay attention to the pre-sale of the Spring Festival stalls in order to choose in advance to lock in "good hearts"; the market pays attention to the pre-sales of the Spring Festival stalls, value the background color of the dazzling transcripts, and visits the year-round box office growth through the Spring Festival stalls.
In the Spring Festival of 2020, the epidemic broke out suddenly, and all the movies originally scheduled for the Spring Festival were withdrawn, and the prime time became an unprecedented "gap."
It is not easy to make a decision to withdraw files. In order to jointly fight the epidemic, the film industry has made sacrifices; the return of the Spring Festival file as promised is undoubtedly a gratifying sign of the film industry's continued recovery.
Since the second half of last year, many films have achieved both box office and word-of-mouth success, and the domestic film market has taken the lead in realizing a V-shaped rebound.
According to data from the National Film Administration, from January 1 to 3, 2021 (New Year’s Day), the national box office of movies reached 1.299 billion yuan, breaking the record of 1.271 billion yuan in the same period created in 2018; the mainland’s box office surpassed North America for the first time. The world's largest "ticket warehouse".
"Faced with the severe impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Chinese film market has taken the lead in the global film market to recover and continue to pick up, and its main industry indicators are among the best." The official of the National Film Bureau said, "This fully demonstrates the institutional advantages of Chinese films. , Comprehensive strength and development resilience."
Yu Chao believes that the popularity of pre-sales for the Spring Festival shows that audiences still want to enjoy high-quality content in professional theaters.
As of 2019, the box office of the Spring Festival movie has continued to rise for eight consecutive years. Although the Spring Festival holiday in 2020 has been "paused", judging from the performance of the National Day holiday last year and the New Year's Day this year, as long as there is high-quality content supply, the performance of the movie market will Shows explosive growth, which also makes the industry generally confident in the 2021 Spring Festival.
It is worth noting that the top ten films at the box office last year and the Spring Festival this year are all domestic films.
The rise of domestic films has painted a brighter color on the film market.
"The New Year's Day file "Send You A Little Red Flower", as a literary film, created a box office of 1.3 billion, which shows the audience's demand for and recognition of excellent films. In 2021, there is a strong demand for audiences to watch movies, and the supply of high-quality films should also be increased. Keep up with the intensity and maintain the audience's viewing habits." Yin Hong said.
According to the "Theatrical Film Prospective Report for 2021", China is expected to have 262 new films on the screen in 2021, including 242 domestically produced films. The development prospects are promising.
In the face of uncertainties brought about by the epidemic, Chinese films need to use better content and richer channels to fill the supply demand of the future market in order to maintain the high-quality development of domestic films and the steady recovery of the film market to continue.
"In 2021, Chinese filmmakers need greater wisdom, greater feelings, and better stories to support the Chinese film industry in the post-epidemic era." said Zhou Kui, an associate professor at Communication University of China.
(Our reporter Chai Yaxin)