I have read many reports these days, saying that Avatar 2's box office performance in China was not as good as expected. "Avatar 2" is considered a top-notch American Hollywood film. It can represent the overall strength of Hollywood. No one should object, right?

Avatar 2’s box office in China fell short of expectations. Is the Chinese market not that profitable?

I have read many reports these days, saying that the box office of Avatar 2 in China was not as good as expected. "Avatar 2" is considered a top-notch American Hollywood movie. It can represent the overall strength of Hollywood . No one should object, right? So if the box office in China is not as good as expected, is it the decline of Hollywood blockbusters? Or is it the rise of domestic films?

I remember 2010, which was my first year as an intern right after graduation. It also happened to be the year that the first "Avatar" was released in China. At that time, my internship salary was calculated on a daily basis, which was 35 yuan a day. The first "Avatar" is one of the pioneers of 3D movie stunts. Although it is not the first Hollywood 3D movie, it can be regarded as the leader in the 3D movie special effects at that time.

For the gimmicks of Hollywood blockbusters and 3D special effects, I took my meager salary and bought a movie ticket worth more than 100 yuan. After watching the movie, I felt that it was well worth the money. After all, it was my first time to experience a movie full of 3D special effects, and the many fresh feelings were still very good. The score of a certain flap is also as high as 8.8 points. The first part of "Avatar" earned a box office of 1.339 billion in China. Adding in 375 million from re-releases, the total box office is as high as 1.715 billion. It is conceivable that the popularity caused by this film cannot be underestimated.

After more than ten years, Cameron has once again set off the Avatar visual craze with "Avatar: Water Path". In fact, many clues can be seen whether this time it can reproduce the glory of the year. Since its release in December 2022, the cumulative box office as of the last day of 2022 has been 954 million yuan, ranking ninth in China's box office in 2022. The box office on the first day of 2023 has exceeded one billion yuan, with full stamina, showing a state of "open low and go high". However, the domestic films released one after another will be its strong rivals. The box office of "Avatar 2" in the Mainland is expected to be 2.5 billion, but the pressure will still be high depending on the situation. One thing to say, I have watched both Avatar movies. If I compare them side by side, the special effects of the second movie are definitely much better than the first one. However, the story content of the second movie feels inferior, but overall it is still exciting.

In the global movie environment of that year, the first part of "Avatar" almost dominated the box office in several important markets around the world. It can be said to be at its peak. Nowadays, with the progress of and in Chinese movies, and the many actions taken by the country to strongly support domestic films, it is not easy to compete with many domestic blockbusters. Such brilliant results in the first film can still be attributed to the overall strength of the United States. Whether it is economy, culture or military, it can crush all opponents in almost all aspects.

The United States has the world's largest economic strength. How many years has this status been maintained? An important indicator to measure economic strength is GDP data. However, GDP is a concept that only appeared in the 1950s. Before that, economic indicators mainly used gross industrial output to measure the economic development of various countries. The total industrial output value of the United States surpassed the United Kingdom as early as 1894, becoming the world's largest industrial country. Therefore, everyone believes that the United States' economy has ranked first in the world since 1894. To this day, the United States is still the world's largest economy, a record that the United States has maintained for 129 consecutive years.

In the two world wars , the United States was not the main battlefield and had limited impact on the economy. With the exception of the United States, the other major economies have been severely depressed by the two world wars. This is an indisputable fact, and it is precisely because of these two world wars that funds and talents from all over the world flowed to the United States. This accelerated the accumulation of wealth and talent reserves in the United States, and provided sufficient economic support for the development of culture.

The film and television industry or the film industry is the main battlefield for American culture to export . American films entered the golden age of the 20th century and began to enter industrial production, and have gradually formed a very mature production process. For example, "Jurassic Park " filmed in 1993, twenty or thirty years later, the special effects are still very exciting.Many netizens believe that the U.S. film industry is ahead of China for at least 20 years.

Looking around the world, the special effects of Hollywood blockbusters are already second to none. Of course, the manufacturing costs are also quite astonishing. After all, you get what you pay for. In the twelve years from 2010 to 2022, the special effects technology of Hollywood blockbusters has certainly kept pace with the times. This is indeed an indisputable fact. But a good movie can be convincing as long as it has good special effects? It's obviously impossible.

In addition to the amazing special effects, the polishing of the story content is the soul of the film. What really supports the work is the powerful story content. So tell the story well, even if there are no cool special effects, people will still be moved by it. On the contrary, if it just makes the audience happy for a while, it will not be far away from the decline of the box office.

The essence and difficulty of the movie is to tell the story well. The cool special effects can only help. The box office accumulated through the cool special effects and visual effects has the advantage that the picture is a universal language. Everyone sees the gorgeous picture and it does win a lot of applause. It is indeed effective to promote it to the world, but can it be guaranteed to last long? To use an inappropriate analogy, suppose the movie is compared to a person going on a blind date, and the box office is the blind date. The normal state of a person's healthy development is to cultivate both internal and external aspects, and his value in the dating market will be higher. Nowadays, he only wants to rely on his external beauty to win people's hearts. If he lacks continuous internal practice to improve himself, and covers up his internal shortcomings with the external appearance, it may be easier to attract someone at the beginning. However, as you continue to get along, his shortcomings will become more and more exposed, and the other party will gradually leave you. As time goes by, they will lose more and more market share in blind dates.

It is undeniable that the Hollywood film industry is indeed still the first echelon in the world. With the support of high-end special effects, it has not only promoted American films to the world, but also pushed the box office of Hollywood films in the United States to a climax. Relying on gorgeous special effects to win box office hits all over the world, and polishing the content of the story to reflect American values, it is really difficult to sustain it in the long run. To paraphrase a Chinese proverb: A person is not as good as a thousand days, and a flower is not as good as a hundred days.

The rapid development of China's economy is also reflected in the film and television industry. The rise of Chinese films has shortened the peak period of American films in China and accelerated the decline of American films. Because movies are both cultural carriers and cultural products. The game between the two cultures is often reflected in the box office.

The period from 2010 to 2020 is a period of fighting between Chinese movies and American movies. In order to protect enough room for development of Chinese films, China has limited the number of American films it can introduce. Therefore, the movies that can enter China are basically Hollywood blockbusters with guaranteed box office. The PK between domestic movies and Hollywood blockbusters is actually a competition between Chinese filmmakers and American filmmakers to see who can tell the story better and earn more box office.

As an ordinary person who has watched Chinese movies for more than ten or twenty years, regardless of the box office, comparing Chinese movies with myself vertically, in the past ten years, Chinese movies have made a qualitative leap in terms of special effects and story content. This is understandable. This is a manifestation of the awakening of cultural self-confidence when the economy develops to a certain extent. The film industry is inherently an industry that requires the accumulation of technology and experience. With the frequent moves to rectify domestic entertainment in recent years, Chinese films will undergo earth-shaking changes. Of course, there are still many things worth mentioning in domestic films. The development of things requires a certain process. In the next ten years, it is expected that domestic films will continue to have good films that will refresh the box office. We will wait and see!