Recently, according to the data released by the state film administration, the total box office of China Film Co.Ltd(600977) in 2021 reached 47.258 billion yuan, including 39.927 billion yuan for domestic films, accounting for 84.49% of the total box office; There were 1.167 billion film viewers in urban cinemas.
Behind the closing performance of “47.258 billion box office”, there are many positive signals, such as the China Film Co.Ltd(600977) market firmly sitting in the largest ticket warehouse in the world, the advantages of domestic films are becoming more and more obvious, and the China Film Co.Ltd(600977) box office record has been refreshed
However, there are also some emerging trends that deserve attention. The audience are increasingly gathering towards the head films. Although two “pop films” with a box office of more than 5 billion were born in 2021, the number of films with a box office of more than 1 billion in the whole year is 10 less than that in 2019, and the strength of “waist” is gradually declining; The “siphon effect” of popular schedules is also more obvious. In the month when there are no popular films, the film market is becoming colder and colder.
According to the analysis of insiders, under the epidemic, film companies are more cautious. It is difficult for head companies to grasp the best time for the release of large-scale films, and it is also difficult for small and medium-sized companies to produce works with high box office. Next, the trend of gathering to the head and schedule is likely to continue.
the three major domestic films won 15.7 billion
According to the lighthouse Research Institute’s review of the China Film Co.Ltd(600977) market in 2021, in the first year after the epidemic stabilized, the total box office of films in 2021 was 47.258 billion, returning to 74% before the epidemic; In terms of supply, 697 films were released in 2021, a record high.
Before the epidemic, imported films were a major “main force” contributing to the box office. After the epidemic, the number and box office volume of imported films decreased significantly. According to the data of Lighthouse Research Institute, only 70 imported films were released in 2021, with a box office of 9.53 billion, accounting for 20% of the overall box office, less than half of that in 2016.
The reason is that under the epidemic, the local film market in North America has been damaged, the production capacity has been reduced, and it is heavily dependent on IP and sequels. According to the data, among the top five global box offices in 2021, in addition to Changjin lake, the second and Hello, Li Huanying, the third, the other three are spider man: no return of heroes, 007: no time to die and speed and passion 9, which are sequels of IP series.
At the same time, domestic films have developed continuously in recent years, especially the theme films have found the right route in the exploration and won the attention of more and more audiences. According to the data of cat’s Eye Research Institute, by the middle of 2021, the top five box offices in the film history of China’s local film market were all domestic films, of which the main melody films Changjin lake and warwolf 2 ranked first and second respectively.
Changjin lake, which was released in 2021, broke the top record in Chinese film history with a box office of 5.772 billion. In addition, Hello, Li Huanying and Chinatown detective 3, which were released in the Spring Festival of 2021, also won a box office of 5.413 billion and 4.523 billion respectively. The three most popular films in 2021 won about 15.7 billion box office, accounting for one third of the annual box office.
While the “popular” films continue to set new records, there is another phenomenon to worry about. Among the top ten films at the box office in China Film Co.Ltd(600977) market in 2021, I and my parents, ranking fourth, has a box office of 1.4 billion, forming a fault with the top three. There is no film with a box office volume of 3 billion and 2 billion. If the threshold is 1 billion, 11 films will enter the “one billion club” at the box office in 2021, 7 more than last year, but 4 less than 2019.
31 day holiday contributed more than 1 / 3 of the box office
The audience gradually concentrated on the head films. Similar to this situation, the “siphon effect” of popular schedules is becoming more and more obvious.
According to the data of cat’s Eye Research Institute, the 31 day holiday schedule in 2021 contributed nearly 17 billion box office, accounting for 36% of the box office in the whole year, and the box office contribution of the holiday schedule in 2019 accounted for 22%, which can be seen that there is an obvious sharp rise. During the 31 day holiday, the box office of the Spring Festival was 7.84 billion yuan, breaking the box office record of the Spring Festival. The box office of the national day reached 4.39 billion, the second since 2018.
Xiang Kai, a young playwright and director, said in an interview with reporters that under the epidemic, film companies will be more cautious. The pre production time is long and will not easily take it out to “gamble” with the market. Even the head company is difficult to grasp the best period for the release of large-scale films.
For films with huge investment, the choice of schedule is very important. Under the epidemic situation, the film has been fixed and withdrawn for many times. Chinatown detective 3, originally planned to be released in the Spring Festival of 2020, waited for a year before it was released in the Spring Festival of 2021. Changjin lake, once scheduled for summer, was also withdrawn for epidemic prevention and finally released in the national day.
While popular schedules are seriously “rolled in”, non key schedules are becoming more and more deserted. According to the data of Lighthouse professional edition, the number of films selected to be released in non key schedules in 2021 has fallen from 0.7 films / day in 2019 to 0.4 films / day; In 2021, there were 27 films with a box office of more than 200 million, of which 60% were released on a large schedule.
Xiang Kai said that the epidemic has indeed brought great damage to the film market, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, which are difficult to produce works that monopolize the box office. Some small film and television companies may not easily spend $20 million or $30 million to make a film. The cost of this volume is not enough to mention in the film market, so they will be more cautious about the time when the film goes online, Even need to rely on schedule to fight.
However, “the smell of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley”, and there are “dark horse” films as exceptions. At the end of the year in 2021, the film “fame and millions” was released on “double 11”, trying to avoid the popular schedule with fierce competition, and became the dark horse of the year with high-quality film quality and reputation. It broke the circle on platforms such as Zhihu, Douban and microblog. So far, its box office has exceeded 900 million yuan.
will the Spring Festival pattern change
Recently, new year’s day in 2022 won more than 1 billion box office. In less than a month, the most important film schedule of the year “Spring Festival” is coming, and some of them have already started publicity work.
According to the cat’s eye professional calendar, 12 films will be released on the day of the Spring Festival on February 1. Compared with the “two super” pattern of last year’s Spring Festival, it seems that the competition pattern of this year’s Spring Festival may change.
Comedy has always been the demand of the Spring Festival. This year’s Spring Festival has gathered three comedies, “super family”, “Four Seas” and “the killer is not too calm”. Among them, “super family” and “Four Seas” are starred by Shen Teng. In recent years, many films starring Shen Teng have won high ticket houses, and the box office of his personal starring works has reached 21.6 billion. Yiyang Qianxi and Wang Zhuanjun Yiyang Qianxi, the director of the Makino, is also well expected. The long Jin lake, the main show of Yi Guan Xi Xi, has just won the title of China’s film box office. The main theme film “sniper” directed by Zhang Yimou on the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea has also been set for the Spring Festival. This is Zhang Yimou’s first challenge to films and television on the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea. Zhang Yimou himself won his 10th Golden Rooster Award in the 34th China Film Co.Ltd(600977) Golden Rooster Award not long ago.
It can be said that from the perspective of directors and cast, the competitiveness of the above four films is not small, and behind these films, there are many head film companies.
According to the professional version of cat’s eye, at present, the “super family” with the largest number of “cat’s eye wants to see” is produced by happy Mahua, China Film Co.Ltd(600977) and Shanghai Ali film. The joint products include 10 companies such as Hengdian Entertainment Co.Ltd(603103) and rongchuang future film and television. The issuers are China Film Co.Ltd(600977) and taopiao. The producers of miracle include bad monkey, China Film Co.Ltd(600977) , Ali film, Wanda film and television, etc. The producers behind “Four Seas” are not only Tingdong film, which is directed by Han Han himself, but also Ali film, Bona film, cat’s eye micro film and Hengdian film. In addition to the super power family, happy Mahua also produced this killer is not too calm. The producers behind this film also include Xinli media, Xihong film and television, happy Mahua, cat’s eye micro film, Tencent film, etc.
After the release of the spring festival film last year, the “two super” competition pattern of “Hello, Li Huanying” and “Chinatown detective 3” soon formed. The two films jointly won nearly 80% of the box office of the Spring Festival. From the film information of this year’s Spring Festival and the current market performance, the Spring Festival in 2022 may present a different competition pattern.
Shanghai Securities believes that “super family”, “miracle” and “Four Seas” are currently the most popular films, and the “want to see” data on all platforms are similar, forming the first echelon. Films with market appeal announced that the fixed spring festival will effectively stimulate film consumption and accelerate the recovery of the industry. The Spring Festival in 2022 is expected to hit a new record at the box office.
Xiang Kai told reporters that at present, it is difficult to see which film at the box office of this year’s Spring Festival can ride the dust, far surpassing other competitors. There are several head companies behind this year’s Spring Festival films. From the perspective of work quality and content, these film teams are also good. As for whether they can stand the test of the Spring Festival market, we should also take into account the situation of the epidemic situation.
(International Finance News)
