With the release of Avatar: The Way of Water (hereinafter referred to as Avatar 2) extended to February 14th, this year’s Spring Festival film added a super 3D visual effect imported blockbuster on the basis of seven domestic blockbusters. This is the first time that a large film will be released during the Spring Festival holiday. This year’s Spring Festival movie market will be more abundant, and the audience will have more choices.
Family reunion during the Spring Festival is the best time for families to watch movies together. In recent years, going to see a movie during the Spring Festival holiday is not only a way of entertainment and leisure in Chinese, but also a ritual "New Year custom" for many families. Driven by eight Chinese and foreign blockbusters, this year’s Spring Festival is expected to set off another family movie craze.
Among the seven domestic films, Wandering Earth 2 was first scheduled to be released in the Spring Festival this year, reflecting the strong self-confidence of the film. Even in the face of the market situation that the box office of last year’s Lunar New Year and this year’s New Year’s Day was not as good as expected, the film did not shrink back.
The reason why Wandering Earth 2 is so emboldened is that it has a strong IP effect. The Wandering Earth, which was released in the Spring Festival of 2019, won wide acclaim from the audience with its magnificent, well-made special effects and sci-fi stories with China cultural connotations, and finally won 4.696 billion yuan at the box office, becoming the biggest dark horse of the year.
Second, with more abundant capital investment, the director Frant Gwo led the creative team to shoot and produce for four years, and the level of visual special effects is expected to continue to challenge the ceiling of domestic science fiction films. In terms of actors, besides Jason Wu’s continued leading role, many powerful actors such as Andy Lau, Li Xuejian, Sha Yi, Ning Li, Wang Zhi and Zhu Yanmanzi joined in, and the starring lineup was stronger than the first film.
Because of this, both the audience and the industry are full of expectations for the film, and the number of people who want to see Cat’s Eye and Taobao Film is currently the first in the Spring Festival. Up to now, the number of people who want to see cat eyes has exceeded 1.15 million.
Up to now, the number of people who want to see the costume suspense comedy Man Jiang Hong directed by Zhang Yimou has exceeded 960,000, second only to Wandering Earth 2. In addition to the golden signboard of Zhang Yimou, the film also stars Shen Teng, Jackson Yee, Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin, Yun-peng Yue and many others, and it is also a popular film in this year’s Spring Festival.
Director Zhang Yimou, who is over 70 years old, still maintains a good creative state and innovative ability. Over the Cliff and Sniper released in the past two years are both excellent works with a double harvest at the box office. What surprises can this "Man Jiang Hong" bring to the audience? Looking forward to it.
Cheng Er wrote and directed, and the spy war blockbuster "Nobody" starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and YiBo also received high attention. Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s acting skills and YiBo’s popularity have made many viewers want to see what kind of sparks can be generated by such young and old people with two male masters CP.
Director Cheng Er attracted many senior fans and young artists with the good reputation of "The Romance of Death", but the box office was not successful. This time, the pre-sale of "Nobody" leads the box office and is expected to achieve good box office results.
As the only pure comedy released this Spring Festival, The Exchange of Life, directed by Su Lun and starring Lei Jiayin, Zhang Xiaofei and Youhao Zhang, has certain advantages in genre. Su Lun’s last work "Living Together in Time and Space" was a surprise and won 900 million yuan at the box office. The performance of the new work in the Spring Festival file naturally attracted much attention.
Comedy films are just needed for the Spring Festival every year. Hi, Mom, which was released in the Spring Festival in 2021, unexpectedly grabbed 5.413 billion yuan at the box office, ranking third in the total box office list of China film history. The movie "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" released in the Spring Festival of 2022 also earned 2.627 billion yuan at the box office, becoming the biggest dark horse in the movie market last year. Judging from the pre-sale, it is very difficult for Exchange of Life to create another box office miracle, and the key is the word-of-mouth after the release.
"Bear Haunted with Me" Bear Core "is also a film scheduled to be released in the Spring Festival this year. As the latest work in the series of animated films "Bears Come and Go", the biggest advantage of this film is that it has a very stable audience and a clear market position under the strong IP effect, and its production level is becoming more and more sophisticated.
"Deep Sea" is an animated special effects blockbuster created by Tian Xiaopeng, the director of "Return of the Great Sage", which has taken seven years. It is expected by many cartoon fans. From the trailer, its visual effects are magnificent and colorful, and it is expected to reach the top level of domestic animated films. The biggest suspense is how the story is told.
"China Ping-Pong Fight Back" has table tennis as the mass base of the national game, with Yu Baimei and Deng Chao as the golden partners, and Deng Chao, Sun Li, Timmy Xu and other leading stars. Although it is a rare sports theme in the Spring Festival, the current attention is not too high, but if it is well received after the release, it is also possible to fight back.
Traditionally, the Spring Festival movie has always been the world of domestic films, but this year’s situation is different. On January 10th, according to the release notice of the digital version of Avatar 2, the film will be extended to February 14th in China.
This means that this super 3D visual effect imported blockbuster, which was released on December 16th last year, will be released throughout the Spring Festival, and together with the above seven domestic blockbusters, it will expand this year’s Spring Festival movie market.
Avatar 2 is not only the world’s top sci-fi blockbuster with visual effects, but also a family fun movie suitable for parents and children. Affected by the epidemic, the film was released in China on December 16th last year. Although it has earned 1.5 billion yuan at the box office, compared with its current global box office of more than 1.9 billion dollars, the box office potential in China has not been fully released.
This time, the film unexpectedly entered the Spring Festival file, which will become the first imported film released during the Spring Festival in China, making the supply of this year’s Spring Festival file more abundant, and the audience will have more choices, which is good for both the film market and the audience.
Judging from the fact that the key of Avatar 2 is extended for one month and the Spring Festival movies are no longer limited, the intention of the film authorities to protect the Spring Festival movie market is obvious. China film market has a new look in the New Year.
Once upon a time, the prime time of Chinese New Year’s Eve from the middle and late December to the New Year’s Day was the most explosive time in China’s film market, and the most heavy domestic blockbusters were often released at that time.
On the first day of the Spring Festival in 2013, Stephen Chow’s "Journey to the West: Demons" earned 120 million yuan at the box office, becoming the first Chinese film with a box office of over 100 million yuan in a single day in China’s film history, with a final box office of 1.246 billion yuan. Since then, more and more China audiences have chosen to watch movies with their families during the Spring Festival holiday, and the Spring Festival file has sounded the clarion call for overtaking the New Year file.
In the Spring Festival of 2016, The Mermaid, directed by Stephen Chow, won 3.391 billion yuan at the box office and topped the box office of China Film History at that time. The box office depth of the Spring Festival file was greatly excavated. Since then, with tens of thousands of China audiences in Qian Qian entering the cinema during the Spring Festival, the box office of the Spring Festival file has broken the film history record many times.
Family reunion during the Spring Festival is the best time for a family to watch movies together. In recent years, going to see a movie during the Spring Festival holiday is not only a fashionable way of entertainment and leisure in Chinese, but also a "New Year custom" for many families in China.
The phenomenon that the Spring Festival stalls have repeatedly raised the upsurge of watching movies has attracted the attention of film experts and the media. Rao Shuguang, president of China Film Criticism Society, once said in an interview with the media that "Spring Festival movies, as a folk culture, have been involved in the public spiritual life". Xinhua News Agency and other official media have repeatedly reported the cultural phenomenon that "watching movies during the Spring Festival has become a New Year custom".
On January 1st this year, the "Annual Inventory Report of China Film Market in 2022" released by Lighthouse Research Institute showed that the per capita movie viewing frequency in China was 2 times in 2022. This average person only goes to the cinema twice a year to watch movies. Many Chinese people choose to watch movies with their families during the Spring Festival holiday, so naturally they tend to choose cinemas with better viewing effects.
Wanda Studios is in a leading position in the industry in terms of hardware facilities and service standards. There are a large number of special cinemas such as IMAX, CINITY, Dolby Cinema and PRIMIE, which is an excellent choice for watching Chinese New Year blockbusters, especially special effects blockbusters such as Wandering Earth 2 and Avatar 2.
On January 14th, six films, Wandering Earth 2, Manjianghong, Unknown, Exchange of Life, Bears with Me, Bear Core and Deep Sea, opened for pre-sale. The release of China Ping-Pong Jedi Counter-Strike was postponed to the third day of New Year’s Eve, competing with other films at the wrong time.
According to the cat’s eye data, as of the publication of The Wind Vane for Film and Television, the pre-sale box office of Unknown, Manjianghong and Wandering Earth 2 ranked in the top three, and the total pre-sale box office of new films in the Spring Festival exceeded 200 million yuan.
This year’s Spring Festival, with the national people’s "Yangkang" in succession, driven by the above-mentioned eight Chinese and foreign blockbusters, the China mainland film market is expected to lift the craze of family viewing again. Looking forward to the Spring Festival file can get out of the epidemic haze and create another box office success!