Data released by the National Film Administration on the 18th showed that the national movie box office during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday (February 10 to February 17) was 8.016 billion yuan, and the number of moviegoers was 163 million. Compared with the 2023 Spring Festival holiday, the box office and number of moviegoers increased respectively. It increased by 18.47% and 26.36%, both setting new records for the same period. The top four films at the box office are: "Hot and Furious" with 2.718 billion yuan, "Flying Life 2" with 2.398 billion yuan, "Bear Infested: Reverse Time and Space" with 1.389 billion yuan, and "Article 20" with 1.34 billion yuan. Authoritative persons interviewed believe that among the film portfolio released during the Spring Festival, sequels, animations, and new IPs all have related works. Well-known directors, actors, and sequels of high-grossing movies have injected confidence into the market, and the box office and reputation have increased. Insight into the new development trends of China's film industry.
Fancy publicity breaks the circle: Box office revenue and cultural value go hand in hand
Behind the high box office in the Spring Festival movie market, the "offensive" of strong creative promotions played a major role. From "Hot and Spicy" directed by Jia Ling, which was guided by its commitment to "slim down into a flash of lightning", the "lose 100 pounds" gimmick film was widely covered in the media and social platforms, to "Second Life" directed by Zhang Yimou "Ten Articles" went into the live broadcast room of "top-tier" anchor Dong Yuhui, and hundreds of thousands of movie ticket coupons were sold out at the speed of light during the conversation. Then he invited guests to "Flying Life 2" directed by Han Han and starring Shen Teng. Come and cooperate with officials such as "Hunan Traffic Police" and "Hefei Traffic Police" to "go to Oita"... Under the guidance of the Internet's diverse ecology and e-commerce operation methods, clever tricks and tricks are frequently made, and the hot spots of the film continue to ferment.
At the same time, with the support of the "Watching Movies to Celebrate the New Year - 2024 Spring Festival Digital RMB Movie Consumption Promotion" organized by the National Film Administration, the People's Bank of China and other "national teams", more than 30 million yuan in digital RMB movie viewing Consumption subsidies can bring real discounts to audiences for movie purchases such as ticket purchases through full discounts, coupons, etc., thus "directly tapping into" audiences' expectations for watching movies.
"Compared with more traditional promotion models such as road shows and screenings, a new pattern of film promotion and distribution driven by short videos and live broadcasts is taking shape." Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association, and China Film and Television Network Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the group, analyzed that short videos have become the "infrastructure" for film promotion and distribution. The Huacai related to the film is highly condensed in just a few dozen seconds of video clips, creating endless hot memes and strong emotional resonance. Second-level propagation to multi-level propagation achieves breakthrough.
Yin Hong, vice chairman of the Chinese Film Association and professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, believes that the most concerning marketing channels for this year’s Spring Festival are “top-tier” e-commerce live broadcast rooms, film creators, industry giants, and third-party ticketing platforms Such cross-sector linkages are low cost, fast, highly interactive, and have a large impact on people. In the way of "business is not about business", Ruwu has successfully created a new scene of interaction with potential audiences silently.
Taking Dong Yuhui as an example, in his live interactions with guests such as Zhang Yimou and Andy Lau, he focused more on providing the cultural value contained in film products. He spoke about art and frequently said good words, which not only demonstrated the humanistic spirit and value condensed in film and television works, but also Moreover, it is summarized that "innovation means taking risks, but without taking risks, there is no breakthrough", "it is difficult to leave the homeland, but the spirit is inherited", "actors and directors achieve each other", "for film and television to prosper, literature (scripts) is the foundation, although the road is tortuous, the future is very bright "Brightness" and other in-depth discussions on film culture convey a love for art and life to the audience, driving the film to "break the circle" of communication.
"In the commercial cultural system, movies are the carrier, and culture is attached to it. Movies need to allow more audiences to perceive a good cultural experience environment and understand its connotation and charm." Zhang Huijun, consultant to the China Film Association and professor at the Beijing Film Academy, said that this This kind of marketing method that empowers e-commerce communication with commercial culture allows movies to add value due to culture, which to a certain extent promotes the supply-side reform of e-commerce, thus achieving both the box office revenue and cultural value of the film industry.
"Deduction of non-net profits" is getting warmer: the virtuous cycle of capital promotes the return of movies to their creative origins
Behind every hit film, there is a beating heart of film and television capital. The reporter comprehensively analyzed the performance forecast data of listed film and television companies related to the Lunar New Year period (Spring Festival period + New Year's Day period) and found that the main business development momentum of domestic film and television industry chain companies is improving.
Looking at the net profit situation, Wind data shows that among the 17 listed companies in the Shenwan-film and television theater industry, 11 are expected to have a positive net profit year-on-year growth rate in 2023, accounting for 64.71%, showing that their performance growth is in line with the strong recovery of the film industry. Inseparable; from the perspective of "non-net profit", an important indicator to measure the main business status of listed companies' film and television operations, among the 17 listed companies that have disclosed performance forecasts, 11 are expected to have a positive lower limit of non-net profit growth. The lower limit of growth rate of 9 of them exceeded 80%.
"Behind the performance growth is related to the strategic return of film and television companies to focus on their main business responsibilities." Zhang Huijun and other authoritative figures believe that once upon a time, some film and television companies were engaged in real estate in the name of "film and television investment" and "extending the industrial chain". Disguised investments in non-main businesses such as real estate are pursued in pursuit of short-term economic benefits. While they have not created high-quality products and their non-net profits have continued to decline, they have instead relied on their income from real estate and other fields to "dress up" financial reports to cater to the market, and then speculate and arbitrage. . This unsustainable business model has now been abandoned by the market.
Reporters combed past announcements of A-share companies and found that there have been only a handful of cases of listed film and television companies investing in real estate in recent years. Their capital expenditures are mainly invested in the core links of the industry chain such as film and television creation, distribution, screening, and services, "focusing on the main responsibilities and main businesses." Phrases such as “increasing investment in top content” frequently appear in its regular reports.
“The reason why the Spring Festival, New Year’s Day, Summer, and National Day shows have been seeing frequent hits in the past two years is because most film and television companies focus more on their main business and continue to focus on nurturing film production and creation after financing in the capital market, using a virtuous cycle of capital. , allowing film workers to return to the origin of creation." Yin Hong believes that the direct result of this return to business strategy is that the specialization of main business funds has weakened the interference of capital on film content to a certain extent, and has contributed to improving the professionalism of film creation and production. Quality, effective coordination of the contradiction between "market profit-seeking" and "art's hyper-utilitarianism" are of great benefit.
Focus on "Content is King": Empathizing with the Audience of Little People in the Big Era
The outstanding performance of the Spring Festival stalls, in the final analysis, stems from the substantial improvement in the quality of the works. When it comes to consumers, the truth that “content is king” is always a must-win. "This year's Spring Festival films, many focus on small people and small stories in the big era, allowing the audience to reflect on themselves in reality." Director Zhang Yimou said that in character creation, "seeing the big from the small" can have an epic feel and destiny. Only by feeling can we have empathy and power.
The inspirational comedy movie "Hot" tells the story of the heroine from loneliness, edge, and self-denial to self-finding, self-discovery, transformation and blooming. In order to better shape the character, Jia Ling embedded her transformation experience of losing 100 pounds into the film. Her persistence, hard work, and self-breakthrough are not only admirable, but also make the character's struggle and growth more real and moving.
"Article 20" directed by Zhang Yimou tells the story of a "little" prosecutor at the grassroots level who faces three "law enforcement" cases involving legitimate defense. It is cut from the perspective of ordinary people in ordinary life and tells the process of the rule of law under the torrent of the times. , exploring the fairness and justice that the audience pursues in their hearts through laughter and tears, emotion and reason, blood and flesh.
"Flying Life 2" directed by Han Han focuses on the once all-powerful "down-and-out car king" Zhang Chi. He never gave up his faith. Even if he was in a patchwork "grass team", he was able to come back and fight for his dream again, and finally successfully counterattacked.
"The prosperity of the film market during the Spring Festival in 2024 once again demonstrates the vitality of the Chinese film industry. Various policies and measures to deepen reform have further improved and formed an effective mechanism for the creation of high-quality film products." Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Film Association and Resident Deng Guanghui, vice chairman of the association, said, "Contemporary films have expanded and innovated realist creations, reflected the spirit of the times, explored new aesthetic styles, enriched the cultural experience and spiritual life of the audience, and created valuable experience for climbing new film peaks."
