follows the decision of Dapeng’s new film " to keep you safe " to be withdrawn from the December schedule.
The much-anticipated "The Wandering Earth 2" was once rumored to be withdrawn from the Spring Festival release, until director Fan Guo refuted the rumor: it would insist on being released as scheduled.
Three years after the epidemic, the film industry has become one of the industries that has been hardest hit.
A set of data allows you to intuitively feel the tragedy:
The total national box office revenue in 2018 was 60.7 billion, in 2019 it was 64.1 billion, and in 2020 it was 20.3 billion, a head-on fall of 
0%.
As of the end of December 2022, this figure is only 29.5 billion, which is equivalent to the level of 2014 and a setback of 8 years.
Behind the cliff-like box office is the unemployment pain and sadness of countless practitioners surrounding the industrial chain of the film industry.
According to the "2020 China Film Market User Report": In 2020 alone, the number of theaters closed in China will reach more than 2,000.
You can imagine how many people will face the helplessness of finding another way out, and how many families will experience labor pains.
Of course, if you look at it from a distance, the tragic experience of the film industry is also a microcosm of many industries in the past three years.
In the final analysis, it is the impact of the "natural disaster" caused by the epidemic.
but.
Although the epidemic has hindered people from actively going to theaters to consume.
almost destroyed Chinese movies, but is the dilemma of having no films to upload to .
This is a "man-made disaster".
There are two hands stuck on the neck:
One is the frequent withdrawal of popular domestic movies .
Many popular movies have chosen to withdraw their films out of fear of the adverse impact of the epidemic on the box office, in search of a more profitable release date.
Xu Zheng's "囧Mom", which caused a stir in the Spring Festival of 2020, switched to the Internet for its premiere.
and then to , Shen Teng 's " Super Powerful Family ", which has been postponed for two years.
Although many of us filmmakers can always sing a moving high note at various academic conferences or higher-level conferences.
At the critical moment, whether they should withdraw or not is definitely not as righteous as you imagine.
Therefore, in the winter of 2022, when the Chinese film market is in desperate need of a "savior", the role of the white knight actually fell to an American film.
Although the box office curve of "Avatar 2" is not as good as expected.
is finally a piece of firewood in the cold winter.
understands very well that many domestic films have indeed invested a lot of money. In order to at least make back their money, they choose to wait for the price.
However, when it comes to investment costs, I am afraid that none of them can beat "Avatar 2".
At a time when the global epidemic is tense, James Cameron has the courage to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in an epic sequel that fans have been looking forward to for 13 years.
No matter what the box office results are, this stubborn spirit is worthy of admiration.
"Avatar" series director James Cameron
The second is "tightening". Although
does not have any clear policy direction.
But the actual experience is very obvious - the number of imported movies in has decreased significantly compared with before.
In 2019, China introduced 136 foreign movies, but as of mid-December 2022, this number is only 55. What is the concept of
? In 2012, the number of movies imported into China was 71.
If there is still in it, it is "excusable" for foreign movies to reduce their production due to the epidemic.
But the quality has also plummeted, which is really puzzling.
American movies still account for the majority, but many of them are unpopular and have failed Douban ratings.
Popular works such as "Spider-Man: No Home", which has a global box office of US$1.971 billion, have not been introduced, leaving many young people disappointed.
In the end, those who should watch it watched it through online channels, leaving the cinemas alone to miss a good opportunity to make a comeback.
Looking at "Avatar 2", a global topical movie with a huge audience, it was only finalized for release at the last minute at the end of November.
and it has some meaning to calm public opinion in it.
Except for British and American movies, the movies imported from other countries are also lackluster, and they even do not hesitate to overindulge.
For example, in 2022, an Indian movie "Manslaughter" filmed in 2015 will be released.
This film has been famous on the Chinese Internet for a long time. Over the past seven years, countless Chinese audiences have watched it through various channels.
Not to mention, there was also a Chinese remake of "Manslaughter" in 2019, produced by Chen Sicheng, starring Xiao Yang, , and caused a sensation at the box office at the time.
Is this really done to meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people?
Let’s look inside.
What is the domestic film with the most theaters in the past three years?
main theme.
does not deny that the main theme movies in every normal country are mainstream and main movies, including the United States.
"Top Gun 2"
But our problems lie in two places:
First, the definition of the main theme is too narrow. It is either far-sighted or united and selfless dedication...
The expression method is basically limited to singing and praising, simplifying the complex reality, and the false and empty perception is difficult to trigger the audience's empathy.
Performing artist Li Xuejian teacher has publicly appealed against the shackles of China's main theme: All Chinese films that promote truth, goodness and beauty should be counted as the main theme.
The second is to swarm in and only shoot the main melody.
Famous director Jia Zhangke said bluntly that except for movies with main themes, it is more difficult for movies with other themes to pass review.
Indeed, from Zhang Yimou 's " Solid as a Rock " about the gang fight in a southwest city, to Cao Baoping's crime movie " Crossing the Angry Sea ", to Tian Xiaopeng's animated film "Deep Sea " in which Tian Xiaopeng was almost "killed".
Not to mention "English" directed by Chen Chong and starring Wang Zhiwen, Yuan Quan, which involves a special era and a special region.
These movies were once so close to being released, only to become so far away again.
What the market economy fears most is uncertainty.
invests money in making a film but doesn’t know when or what month it will be released. In the end, everyone seeks the advantages and avoids the disadvantages, and invests a lot of resources into the movie with the most certain main theme.
has created a crowding-out effect of and , so that no one dares to invest in movies of other themes, especially small and medium-cost literary films.
And these movies are exactly the breeding ground for young practitioners.
If things go on like this, it will be a blow to the systematic cultivation of talents in Chinese films.
(The young director Li Ruijun of the realistic rural-themed literary film "Into the Dust" not only paid for the film himself, but also recruited seven aunts and eight aunts to be actors in order to save money)
Art needs a hundred schools of thought to contend before a hundred flowers can bloom.
As early as the "People's Daily" published on October 8, 1980, it published an article titled "If management is too specific, there is no hope for literature and art."
There is a sentence in it: " In the history of literature and art throughout the ages, when one family is respected and hundreds of others are dismissed, there will be no prosperity of literature and art."
is still inspiring to this day.
Entering the 21st century, there have been two milestones in the Chinese film market.
First, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" was released in 2002, ushering in the era of domestic blockbusters and accelerating the marketization process of mainland movies.
Taking this as an opportunity, China's movie box office revenue has been increasing steadily, and it has begun to cultivate a huge market, which in turn has fed back the continuous shaping and improvement of the Chinese film industry, catching up with Hollywood .
The second is the release of the 3D movie "Avatar" in 2009, which greatly stimulated the explosive expansion of domestic 3D screens and high-end screens represented by IMAX.
has made China's film infrastructure a global leader and laid a material foundation for the prosperity of Chinese films in the next few years.
Both times were innovations and breakthroughs in film content, stimulating market vitality.
Despite major war themes such as "Changjin Lake", it has achieved record-breaking box office revenue in 2021 when the epidemic has been relatively eased.
can be successful , which cannot cover up the loneliness of other movies.
If movie theaters only have a single taste of main theme movies, will sooner or later cause audiences to experience aesthetic fatigue, which will eventually lead to market decline and the film industry may go back to 30 years ago.
Some people may say that there is also the Internet as a carrier.
But as long as that force is still there, sooner or later the Internet will follow the footsteps of the theaters.
Therefore, Chinese movies have reached a crossroads of destiny: survival or death, whether they should do this or that.
The choice is in our own hands.
requires all practitioners to disregard selfish motives, adhere to the original intention of art, and move forward indomitably.
Managers need to follow the laws of nature, fertilize and water to grow round watermelons, and do not need artificial intervention to grow square watermelons. I believe that
can be achieved.
hopes that everything will be fine in 2023, the country will be peaceful and the people are safe, and you can see more wonderful movies in the cinema, especially good domestic movies.
text/poluke
(pictures are deleted from the Internet for infringement)
