Top News Chief Reporter Wang Feng
On November 14, "Avatar: Way of Water" (hereinafter referred to as "Avatar 2") was screened in major cities across the country.
Its official release date is December 16. At the end of 2022, both film practitioners and ordinary audiences regard it as a fire of hope in the cold winter of film and television.
These days, the topic about "Avatar 2" has been hot searches many times. Since "Avatar" was released on January 4, 2010, director James Cameron 's leadership in film technology has been talked about. This time, "Avatar 2" has caused the theater to fight for hardware. Ordinary 3D can no longer meet the needs of movie fans. In addition to IMAX, people have also realized a variety of movie formats.
The high ticket price of "Avatar 2" has also become a hot topic. A movie ticket in Zhengzhou preview theater costs more than 200 yuan. Some domestic theaters even bought a high price of 354 yuan. They were teased by the audience as "the theater will not open for three years, and it will be eaten for three years". Is it worth so much money?
On the eve of the official release of "Avatar 2", top news reporters took a sneak peek. In addition to the film itself, what are the differences between different standards and what are the different distributions behind a ticket price? The reporter interviewed many film practitioners and audiences, trying to restore the current real state of domestic cinemas through "Avatar 2" as an incision.
story is old-fashioned, but it can make people watch it for more than three hours in one go
On the afternoon of November 14, the top news reporter watched the CINITY version of "Avatar 2" at Oscar Xidi Port Cinema. Although the film was 192 minutes long, the whole movie did not feel lengthy. The ocean world that Cameron strives to create is its biggest highlight.
The theme of "Avatar 2" is family. The beginning is a review of the main story and ending of "Avatar". In the forest of Pandora, Jack Sally and his wife formed a family, and their children grew up and the family was happy. The audience followed the camera and enjoyed the beautiful scenery on Pandora again. However, "Avatar 2" adheres to the narrative rhythm of the Hollywood movie. The crisis has not dissipated. The old enemy is still chasing Jack Sally across the planet. In order not to drag down the Navi people, Jack Sally's family was forced to leave the forest and come to the Metcaine tribe on the planet Pandora to temporarily avoid danger.
Next is the "Water Way" that Cameron focuses on display. "Avatar 2" shows the audience a brand new ocean wonder. The Metcaigna tribe's car is a flying dragon in the water, and his good friend is a giant beast Tukun. In order to show the grand scene of "Avatar 2", Cameron did a lot of homework. The third hour is the good and evil showdown mode of traditional Hollywood blockbusters. Jack Sally joins the Metcaina tribe to fight with his old enemies who hunt Tukun. An hour-long naval battle scene is amazing, and the end of the film, the scene of people escaping from the cabin where the sea water gradually flows backwards, makes the audience feel that "Avatar 2" and "Titanic" have had a fantasy linkage.
The film length of "Avatar" released in 2010 is 164 minutes. This time "Avatar 2" is 192 minutes long. Is the movie too long? Cameron once responded to this topic in person, "I don't want to hear anyone complain about the duration. After all, they can sit down and swipe for eight hours after watching the show."
However, "Avatar 2" is not Cameron's longest movie. "Titanic" released in 1997 is 194 minutes.
The theme of "Avatar 2" is to fight for the family, which is also the consistent expression of Hollywood main theme movies. At the end of the film, Jack Sally said: "The family cannot be separated. This is both our weakness and our armor." The movie inadvertently reflected into reality, which resonates with the audience.
"Avatar 2" brings a comprehensive technical upgrade for movies and theaters
Cameron mainly challenged the shooting of "water", and he knows the ocean better than anyone else.
It is reported that Cameron dived into the deepest part of the ocean as early as 2012, setting a world record for his personal diving seas. In 2014, the national geographic documentary " Deep Sea Challenge " was filmed. In the setting of "Avatar 2", the main life scenes of the Mecaina people are in the ocean. In order to create a magnificent ocean world, Cameron built a huge water tank in the Manhattan Beach studio, about 36.7 meters long, about 18.2 meters wide and about 9.1 meters deep. A motion capture system specially prepared for underwater shooting is placed in this water tank. From the audience's experience, "Every shot can see that Cameron is very good at it, but it is integrated with the narrative and storytelling. It is not just to show off simply to show off the 3D special effects picture."
In 2010, "Avatar" opened the road of 3D technology transformation in cinemas around the world. In the next ten years, 3D movies gradually became the mainstream equipment in cinemas. Today's "Avatar 2" further divides categories in 3D technology, giving viewers more audio-visual choices.
On November 7, Huaxia Movie released a release notice for "Avatar 2", including 24 frames 3D 4FL, 3D6FL, DTSX 3D, ATMOS 3D, IMAX3D5.0, IMAX3D12.0, Chinese giant screen ATMOS3D, Chinese giant screen DTSX, 48 frames 3D, Dolby Vision 3D, CITITY3D, first-generation laser 3D12.0, second-generation laser IMAX3D5.0, second-generation laser IMAX3D12.0, XT laser IMAX3D5.0, XT laser IMAX3D12.0, Chinese giant screen 3D and other standards. What is the difference between them? Zhang Xin, a film projectionist who has many years of screening experience, told top news reporters that there is no need for ordinary audiences to distinguish the differences between each standard in detail. "Just remember a few key parameters. Frames refer to the freeze-frame picture of the movie. Each picture is 1 frame. The higher the frame rate, the smoother the picture. Nowadays, the mainstream movie frame rate is 24 frames per second. More than 48 frames per second is high frame rate movies." Nowadays, it can support high frame rates. The only movie theaters where movies are screened are CINITY Cinema and Dolby Cinema. "CINITY Cinema can support movies up to 120 frames. Now only Ang Lee has tried 120 frames of movies in " Billy Lynn's Midfield War " and "Temini Killer".
FL is the abbreviation of the screen brightness unit "Ford Lambert". The current industry brightness standards for 2D and 3D in China are 2D respectively. 14FL, 3D 4.5FL, the 3D version of highlighted dimming can better present various image details in the movie. However, when the theaters show this 3D version of highlighted dimming version, the theater must show at least at the same brightness level, otherwise it will produce an inverse effect of too dark and too dark colors. "But the movie projection light bulb has a lifespan. The higher the brightness, the shorter the lifespan, so in a sense it increases the movie projection cost." When "Avatar" was released, there were about 6,000 3D screens around the world, nearly half of which are in China. Now, according to statistics, China has more than 60,000 3D screens and more than 120,000 3D screens around the world. In addition to foreign brands such as IMAX, domestic screens and CINITY are now entering the daily movie viewing life of viewing the audience.
Some industry insiders believe that the role of new film technology and film creation is mutually helpful. Excellent film creators need corresponding technologies to achieve artistic expression ability, and film technology also requires more and more excellent films to support the screen. "Avatar", "Dune", "Alita: Battle Angel", "Billy Lynn's Midfield War", and today's "Avatar 2" are all promoting the mutual achievements of film technology and film works, so that the audience can appreciate more artistic works.
"Avatar 2" ticket price is expensive? How much does it earn for a theater to sell a ticket?
On December 14, the distributor of "Avatar 2" cooperated with CINITY Cinema to conduct nationwide pre-screening, and the high ticket price was mainly concentrated on this day. The CINITY Hall in Zhengzhou bought more than 200 yuan, and the CINITY ticket price of a theater in Shanghai was sold at 358 yuan, the highest in the country.
According to the statistics of Lighthouse Professional Edition, the national average ticket price of "Avatar 2" on December 14 was 132.2 yuan, with a total number of 151,000 people, an average of 90 people, an attendance rate of 26.8%, and a pre-shot box office of more than 20 million yuan. Currently, the average ticket price is 84.53 yuan, the average ticket price in the IMAX hall is 123.48 yuan, and the ticket price for cinemas is in the range of 30 yuan to 70 yuan. Who sets the ticket price for
? The answer is the market. The ticket price for movies has always been market regulation. The high ticket price of "Avatar 2" is not an isolated case. In April 2019, the premiere of " Avengers 4" showed a high ticket price of more than 400 yuan at 0:00 on the premiere of " Avengers 4". "Price-based pricing is the rule of movie ticket price. Different theaters have great differences in projection equipment, and the quality of the screening and viewing experience are also different. The film authorities generally do not give guidance prices, but give the lowest ticket price. Other floating departments are decided by the theaters themselves." A theater manager in Zhengzhou who did not want to be named explained.
The lowest prices released by "Avatar 2" this time are: digital 3D 25 yuan/person, IMAX and laser 3D 30 yuan/person, and CINITY 30 yuan/person. So how much money can the cinema make when the audience buys a 100 yuan movie ticket for "Avatar 2"?
Currently, the box office share ratio of the producer and theater chain is generally 43:57. A movie ticket needs to be used first as the national film development special fund, and then deduct 3.36% of the income tax, and the remaining 91.64% is regarded as 100%, and distributed according to the ratio of the producer and distributor (57%) and the theater screening party (43%). If you convert
in this way, selling a 100-yuan Avatar 2 movie ticket will be 39.4 yuan in the theater. For screening halls such as IMAX, China Giant Screen, CINITY, etc., the comfort and supporting services of movie viewing rooms have been improved. The investment in theater equipment will be high, and the ticket price will be increased accordingly to offset the cost. From a market perspective, the high ticket price of "Avatar 2" seems understandable.
But from the perspective of the audience's willingness to watch movies, it is always a bit reluctant to spend a high price to watch "Avatar 2". "At the risk of the epidemic, I always feel that it is not a good deal to watch a high-priced movie in the cinema." Some movie fans complained.
"Avatar 2" is a competent life-saving straw?
How difficult is the cinema? Let’s take a look at the data.
From January to November 2022, the box office revenue in mainland China was 28.4 billion (including service fees), while in 2019, this number was 64.2 billion. What is even more sigh is that the attendance rate of cinemas in 2022 is only 5.9%.
The reason is obvious. In addition to the impact of multiple rounds of epidemic closures, no movies can be played is also an embarrassment for theaters. From 2020 to 2022, the average number of domestic movies released per year was about 340, and the number of imported movies released has also dropped sharply, with about 50 movies per year. "In the past decade, there has been almost no such situation as this day box office as low as 10 million this year, and no heavyweight films have been released for two or three consecutive months." Recently, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Film Association and Professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University Yin Hong is now evaluating the current status of the film industry.
htmlOn December 14, top news reporters reported to the theater that the audience generally complained about the high ticket prices, but the feedback they received was: "The theater is too difficult. After three years of loss, it depends on whether "Avatar 2" can make the theater last."
How high are people's expectations for "Avatar 2"? Lighthouse Professional Edition data shows that as of 16:00 on December 15, the total pre-sale box office of "Avatar 2" has exceeded 182 million, the total pre-sale box office of the first day was 62.465 million, and the first day's film schedule accounted for 84%. At present, the industry has always believed that "Avatar 2" can earn 3 billion box office.
filmmaker Li Xin said that "Avatar 2" has a significant boost to the domestic film market. It can allow viewers to flow back to the theaters. What is particularly commendable is that the changes in domestic epidemic prevention and control measures have provided great convenience for the release of "Avatar 2". It was officially announced on November 23, and the "New Ten Regulations" for epidemic prevention and control were promulgated on December 7, announcing that there will be no temporary ban or full staff testing. Beijing has also issued the latest notice specifically for the theater industry, and theaters may no longer require viewers to provide nucleic acid certificates. According to Maoyan Professional Edition, as of December 11, there were 9,151 cinemas operating nationwide, with a national operating rate of 73.60%.
"But now the new problem facing Avatar 2 is that cinemas have resumed work, and there is no limit to going to the cinema. Are people willing to risk being infected? Do you dare to watch Avatar 2?" Some movie fans asked on social media.
3 years later, Cameron weaved another beautiful movie dream for the audience. What exactly does it mean when they wake up? Everything is unknown.
