"Avatar: Path of Water" (hereinafter referred to as "Avatar2") was poorly received at the box office in the mainland market. This was a situation that was hard to imagine before the film was released.
As of midnight on December 23, the film’s cumulative box office in the Mainland was 520 million yuan. After seven days of release, the average daily box office of "Avatar 2" was less than 80 million yuan. For such a super blockbuster, such results are not enough to satisfy people.
Chairman of Bona Pictures Yu Dong summarized the market performance of "Avatar 2", "Foreign movies have gradually begun to adapt to the viewing habits of Chinese audiences, which has led to Chinese audiences preferring domestic movies."
The box office of "Avatar 2" is low. Is it really because mainland audiences don't like foreign movies? With questions, Film and Television Dutongue communicated with industry experts and theater managers to find out the market reasons for the box office failure of "Avatar 2".
Did the epidemic lead to high refund rate?
On January 4, 2010, "Avatar" was officially released in mainland China. At that time, the mainland market had more than 1,600 theaters and more than 6,200 screens, and there were only more than 800 3D screens. With its shocking special effects and realistic 3D effects, the film attracted many viewers into the theater.
In the end, "Avatar" took in a box office of 1.339 billion yuan, once becoming the box office champion in mainland film history. It was also the first mainland movie to exceed 1 billion yuan in box office.
"Avatar 2" started pre-sale on December 7 this year. In just 4 days, the pre-sale box office exceeded 100 million. At this time, the mainland film market has just undergone adjustments to epidemic prevention and control measures, and most theaters across the country have resumed operations. The timely arrival of "Avatar 2" seems to help theaters get out of trouble.
On December 16, "Avatar 2" was officially released, and the film reported a box office of 397 million yuan in its first week. If we only compare the box office of "Avatar 2" with the first film, the box office in the first week is close to one-third of the first film, which doesn't seem to be bad.
However, in the twelve years between the release of the two films, the size of the mainland market has undergone earth-shaking changes. According to the Lighthouse Professional APP, the total number of screens in mainland China has reached 76,258 this year, and the total number of theaters is 12,529. Even taking into account the epidemic factors, the theater operating rate remains at around 75%, and there are more than 9,300 theaters in operation. After the release of "Avatar 2", the daily film schedule accounted for more than 70%. The box office performance of 397 million yuan in the first week can only be said to bring a little warmth to the huge market.
In comparison, this summer’s domestic science fiction film " Wanders Alone on the Moon ". The film's first week box office revenue was 997 million yuan, and the final revenue was 3.1 billion yuan. The gap is clear at a glance.
The box office of "Avatar 2" is sluggish, and the phenomenon of ticket refunds deserves attention. According to the Maoyan professional version APP, the refund rate for the zero-point screening of the film was 20.5%, and the refund rate for the first day of the release was 14.8%. Compared with "The Return of Ten Thousand Miles", the refund rate on the first day of the film's release was only 6.9%, and it has remained around 3% since then.
Such large-scale user refunds for "Avatar 2" are rare. Considering the actual increase in positive patients in various places, the impact of the epidemic on the box office cannot be ignored.
Weibo movie blogger Wente has been paying attention to the film market trends all year round. He believes that there are three reasons for the cold market of "Avatar 2":
"First, the film has a heavy emphasis on family relationships, which does not meet the expectations of most young audiences. Second, the film crew excessively promoted the film before the screening. IMAX, C The effect of special cinemas such as INITY has led to very good attendance rates in such cinemas. In fact, there are only more than 800 IMAX screens, and 3D theaters are the mainstream. Third, many viewers want to wait until this wave of the epidemic is over before watching, which will also affect the box office trend. ”
The author checked three theaters in Beijing on the evening of December 22. Some ordinary theaters were even empty, but the attendance rate of the IMAX theater was very impressive.
Since the first film, the audience has already established the viewing habit of the "Avatar" series.It is generally believed that only IMAX theaters can see the most shocking effects of movies, resulting in ordinary 3D theaters being left out.
The left and middle are ordinary 3D theaters, and the right is the IMAX theater
Ding Baoping, CEO and producer of Yaozhong Pictures, worked on the front lines of theaters many years ago. He personally experienced the popularity of "Avatar" when it was released. He analyzed the current box office performance of "Avatar 2", "First of all, the high ticket prices have blocked the enthusiasm of some viewers. In the first week of the film's release, IMAX ticket prices of 200 yuan appeared in first-tier cities, which is an act of driving away customers. Secondly, the epidemic has affected the audience's travel, and many viewers want to wait and see it again. In addition, the audience's Movie-watching habits have changed. People prefer to watch a three-minute movie on a short video platform, or watch a home theater at home. Audiences are less enthusiastic about going to theaters. "
How do viewers who have watched "Avatar 2" rate the film? On December 14, "Avatar 2" scored 8.5 on Douban. As of December 22, as the number of people rating it increased, the current average score given by 140,000 people was 8.1 points, and the film's word-of-mouth rating was in a straight line of decline. Among users who rated it, 32.9% rated it five stars, 44.5% rated it four stars, and 19.4% rated it three stars.
Taken together, what dissatisfied the audience with "Avatar 2" is that the story is lengthy and the family scenes are difficult to impress. The film's special effects are universally acclaimed, but special effects alone cannot fully ignite the audience's enthusiasm.
How far can "Avatar 2" go in the mainland market?
Maoyan Professional Edition APP predicts that the total box office in mainland China will exceed 1 billion based on the real-time box office trend of "Avatar 2". If the prediction comes true, then the mainland performance of "Avatar 2" will not be as good as the first one. Will James Cameron's box office myth really be shattered?
Winter said: "There is still hope that the mainland box office of "Avatar 2" will reach 1.3 billion. I checked the city box office last week. Beijing took in 26.01 million yuan and Guangzhou took in 14.83 million yuan. , Chongqing’s revenue was 9.15 million yuan. Several major box office cities were affected by the epidemic, and box office revenue was only about half of normal times. When the epidemic stabilizes, more audiences will enter the theater. "
"Avatar 2" will still have a strong market competitiveness. The film's presentation of underwater 3D effects will give the audience an immersive viewing experience; the battle scene at the end of the film also brings together a head-on confrontation between human technology and Pandora's aerial beasts and aquatic beasts.
"Avatar 2" is far beyond the scale of ordinary commercial films from the story level to the special effects scenes. Recently imported films to be screened in the Mainland include the animated film "Puss in Boots 2" and the action comedy "The Fool". From type to production scale, these movies will not pose a direct threat to "Avatar 2".
Producer Ding Baoping analyzed: "If "Avatar 2" wants to break through the 1 billion yuan mark at the box office, or even go further, it must first achieve long-term screening, such as screening for more than 3 months. The overall effect of the film is good, and long-term screening is conducive to word-of-mouth communication. Secondly, theaters must consider lowering prices to attract audiences. High ticket prices are fishing in a dry land and are not conducive to cultivating audience stickiness."
The author checked the ticket prices of three theaters in Beijing on the Maoyan APP. IMAX 3D movie tickets range from 144 to 209 yuan, CINITY 3D ticket prices are around 169 yuan, and ordinary 3D ticket prices range from 66 to 94 yuan. Overall, ticket prices in specialty theaters are still relatively high.
Manager Liu of a theater in Beijing said: "Our theater recommends viewers to apply for membership cards. It is 10 to 20 yuan cheaper to purchase with a membership card than on the APP. Some theaters sell coupons through Douyin , IMA X movie tickets have great discounts. Audiences are accustomed to third-party ticket purchasing platforms. In fact, there are many channels to buy cheap movie tickets. If you pay a little attention, you can find out. "
In the past, it was difficult to get a ticket for "Avatar" in the mainland market, and some viewers queued up all night for an IMAX movie ticket. Now, the audience is no longer so obsessed with the visual shock created by "Avatar 2". Perhaps the era of James Cameron dominating the box office is coming to an end.
It is reported that "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3" have been filmed back-to-back. The third part is currently in post-production. It is hoped that the third part can avoid the problems of the previous part and revive the glory of the series.
Although "Avatar 2" failed to assume the important task of significantly boosting the mainland market, the success or failure of the film only represents the performance of a work.
The prosperity of a market requires more commercial films with appeal to enter the market. Only when the market enters a state of "letting a hundred flowers bloom" can it truly recover.
[Text/Cui Ting]
