The May Day holiday is approaching, not only tourist attractions are ready, but film and television companies are also gearing up, looking forward to drawing audiences into movie theaters.

Maoyan Professional Edition shows that as of April 24, 18 movies have been scheduled for May 1st in 2023, of which 10, 6, and 2 movies have been scheduled for April 28, 29, and May 1, respectively. , covering action, romance, animation, crime, comedy and many other genres.

The "crowded" May 1st stalls are more expensive

18 movies gathered in May 1st, which is really a bit "crowded". According to the professional version of Maoyan, judging from the schedule of previous years, there will be less than 5 May 1st films in 2018, 2019 and 2022, and there will be 12 in 2021.

In terms of ticket prices, although the May 1st ticket price this year is not as high as the Spring Festival ticket price, it is still more expensive than the previous two years. The Beacon Professional Edition shows that the current average ticket price for May 1 in 2023 is 42.2 yuan, an increase of about 23.39% year-on-year. The average ticket price of May 1st was 43.5 yuan.

Judging from the "want to watch" data of the third-party platform, "The King of the Sky" is the most anticipated movie on May 1st. According to the Beacon Professional Edition, "King of the Sky" had a pre-sale box office of more than 10 million yuan in less than a day after its release, which is the fastest film in Chinese film history to exceed 10 million yuan in pre-sales. At present, the film's pre-sale box office exceeds 60 million yuan, accounting for nearly 60% of the total box office of the entire new film, and it is the "hands-on" of the pre-sale list.

"The King of the Sky" is starring Wang Yibo, Hu Jun, Zhou Dongyu and others. According to the professional version of Maoyan, 17 companies are involved in the production of the film, specifically produced by 8 companies including Tingdong Films, Alibaba Pictures, and China Films, and jointly produced by 9 companies including Guanghe Yinghua, Maoyan, and Douyin Culture. The film is distributed by Alibaba Pictures, Tao Piao Piao Film and Television and other companies, and jointly distributed by China Film and others.

In addition to "The King of the Sky", films such as "Unfamiliar Life", "So Many Years", "Say I Love You" and "Prosecutorial Situation" are also backed by listed film and television companies. For example, Chinese films have produced "The King of the Sky", "I'm Unfamiliar with Life" and "Say I Love You"; Wentou Holdings produced "The Prosecutor's Storm"; Alibaba Pictures produced "The King of the Sky", and Enlight Media produced "So Many Years" ", "Say I Love You Countdown" produced by Wanda Pictures.

Holding two popular films "The King of the Sky" and "Unfamiliar Life", Tingdong Films once again entered the public eye. According to the Tianyancha App, Han Han is the chairman and major shareholder of Tingdong Pictures, holding 51.56% of the shares; Dongyang Alibaba Pictures and Bona Pictures are the second and third largest shareholders, holding 13.12% and 11.25% of the shares respectively. Previously, Tingdong Films had produced films such as "Flying Life" and "Being Famous".

In addition to the new films released on May 1st, the animated film "Slam Dunk", which was released on April 20, is also considered to be a popular film competing for May 1st. With the feelings of classic animation, the film has drawn many post-80s and post-90s into the cinema.

According to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, the pre-sale box office of "Slam Dunk" broke through 21.432 million yuan, and more than 13,000 zero-screen screenings were performed in China, ranking among the top ten in Chinese film history. The box office hit a record in the history of Chinese film import animation pre-sale box office champion. At present, the cumulative box office of "Slam Dunk" has exceeded 390 million yuan.

"Slam Dunk" was originally written by Japanese manga artist Takehiko Inoue. This film was produced by Japan's Toei Animation and distributed by Chinese films. According to reports, the film and "Journey to Bell Bud" are both introduced and promoted by Luhua Film and Television. Cai Gongming, president of Luhua Film and Television, once said in an interview that the money spent on "Slam Dunk" "must be considered expensive among imported films."

Movies increasingly rely on the "festival file effect"?

Among the films released in the May 1st file this time, many films are candidates for withdrawal in 2022. It is understood that "The King of the Sky" was originally scheduled to be released on September 30, 2022, but two days before the release, it was suddenly announced that it would be postponed due to "to present better production effects". At that time, the pre-sale box office had exceeded 30 million yuan. In addition, "Shocking Rescue" was originally scheduled to be released in July 2022, and "Prosecutors" was originally scheduled to be released on May 1st in 2022. Both films have also experienced withdrawal and postponement.

Does the "clustered" release of films mean that the film market is becoming more and more dependent on the "schedule effect" of festivals?

"The schedule effect is actually correct, and it is a manifestation of the maturity of a regional market." Lu Jianmin, chairman and producer of Spring and Autumn Times Films, said in an interview with Sino-Singapore Jingwei that the emergence of the concept of schedule is a sign of a more prosperous film market. Norm symbol. "There are as many as 18 films in May 1st this year, which is indeed relatively rare. Considering the backlog of films caused by the impact of the epidemic in previous years, this year's film releases are relatively concentrated. But from the perspective of pre-sales, the May 1st film market currently has no There is a 'blowout' phenomenon."

Chen Jin, a data analyst of Beacon Professional Edition, told Sino-Singapore Jingwei that in essence, the weekday and festival files are not in a competitive relationship, but complement each other and promote each other.

"This year's Spring Festival is the second highest-grossing Spring Festival in Chinese film history. The explosiveness of the schedule is astonishing, but this does not mean that the schedule effect will intensify. There were also three domestic films with a box office of more than 300 million in March. I believe that as more and more good films Movies are scheduled to be released on weekdays, and audiences will gradually return to watching movies on weekends. Weekdays and festivals only play different roles in the film market, but they are both important." Chen Jin said.

As the first small long holiday after the Spring Festival, this year's May 1st is also regarded by the industry as a "touchstone" for the recovery of the film market.

"May 1st is the annual Spring Festival file and the third largest festival file after the National Day file. It is the backbone of the year, especially this year is a five-day holiday. '." Chen Jin said that in recent years, the market share of domestic films has risen rapidly, and the ratings of domestic films have shown an upward trend. Romance films are "traditional dark horse" films.

"As of now, the box office champion of the 51st domestic film in Chinese film history is "Later Us" released in 2018 with a box office of 1.361 billion yuan, and "Above the Cliff" released in 2022 with a box office of 1.191 billion yuan became the runner-up. We look forward to this year also There will be new May 1 films breaking through the box office of 1 billion yuan." Chen Jin said.