With the approach of the National Day Golden Week, the film market will usher in a wave of movie-watching craze.
During this year's National Day schedule, the cinema chain will provide a variety of film options, from exciting disaster films to gripping war films to light-hearted and humorous comedies.
According to the statistics of the reporter of "Consumer Reports", there are currently a total of 10 movies scheduled for the National Day, and the number of people who "want to watch" more than half of the new films has exceeded the 100,000 mark. Among them, as of September 30, the number of people who "want to watch" the action/sci-fi film "749 Bureau" has exceeded 350,000.
On September 24, many films in the National Day file announced the start of pre-sale. According to Maoyan Professional Edition, as of 18:44 on September 30, the total box office (including pre-sale) of new films in the 2024 National Day file exceeded 200 million yuan. Among them, "Volunteers: Battle for Survival", "749 Bureau" and "Road to Fire" ranked among the top three.
Which films will be released during the National Day? Let's take a sneak peek with Consumer Reports.
The number of people who want to watch 5 new films exceeds 100,000
According to the statistics of "Consumer Reports", there are currently 10 films planned to be released during the National Day, of which 7 films will be released on the first day of the National Day (October 1), and the other 3 films will be released on the day before the holiday (September 30).
From the perspective of film types, the National Day movies are still based on disasters, actions, crimes, wars, etc., with "Crisis Route" starring Andy Lau, Zhang Zifeng and others; "Volunteers: The Battle of Survival" starring Zhu Yilong, Xin Baiqing and others; "In and Out of Peace" starring Xiao Yang, Ayunga and others; "749 Bureau" starring Wang Junkai, Miao Miao and others, etc.
In addition, in terms of comedy films, "Panda Project" starring Jackie Chan, Wei Xiang and others, and "Popular Good People" starring Ge You, Li Xueqin and others are also scheduled for National Day.
During the National Day, the cinema is one of the important places for parent-child activities, therefore, animated films are indispensable. This year's National Day file, there will be "New Big Head Son and Little Head Dad 6" and "Pipiru and Lu Xixi's 309 Dark Room" for parent-child families to choose.
Through the Maoyan APP, the reporter observed that the most anticipated movie by the audience on the National Day is "749 Bureau", which tells the growth story of the soldiers of the third squad of the 749 Bureau in response to a huge disaster in the context of the "near future" in 2030. It is reported that the film was originally scheduled to be released in 2020, but due to problems such as funding and post-production, it was postponed until this year before the final premiere time was finalized. On Maoyan, a total of more than 353,000 people want to watch the movie (as of September 30).
"Crisis Route" is the first 10,000-meter-high crime blockbuster in China, mainly telling the story of a five-star ultra-luxury A380 passenger plane that suffered a violent hijacking on its maiden international flight. In the film, there are not only thrilling fights with all the members, but also the joint rescue of all people, and a total of more than 318,000 people clicked "want to watch", becoming the second most anticipated movie in the National Day file.
On last year's National Day, the movie "Volunteers: Heroes Attack" showed the real process of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea through panoramic and multi-dimensional narrative techniques, as well as the heroic and fearless spirit of the volunteer soldiers and the spirit of sacrificing their lives and forgetting death, which left a deep impression on the audience. The film also won the Best Film Award at the 19th China Changchun Film Festival "Golden Deer Award" and the Best Film Award at the 37th Popular Film Hundred Flowers Award.
On this year's National Day, the second part of the "Volunteers" series, "The Battle of Survival", arrived as scheduled, and the film focused on the key battle of the 63rd Army of the Volunteers to resist US aggression and aid Korea - the Cheorwon sniper battle, and gained more than 285,000 potential viewers.
National Day movies cumulative want to watch list (as of September 30)
Source: Cat's Eye
Audiences are more likely to recognize films with emotional value
The charm of the movie is that different release schedules will show different emotions. Most of the films in the National Day schedule attract audiences with grand narratives and profound themes, while the summer schedule focuses more on showing a light-hearted atmosphere and diversified genres.
The summer file is a popular schedule among many holidays, but this year's summer file performance is not as expected.
According to the data of Lighthouse (Taopiao Ticket Upgrade), a total of 135 new films will be released in the summer this year, with an average ticket price of 40.9 yuan, which is basically the same as last year. Although the average number of daily screenings hit a new high in the past decade, reaching 416,000, the overall box office and moviegoers fell by more than 40% year-on-year. Among them, the total box office was 11.643 billion yuan, and the total number of moviegoers was 285 million.
(Source: Lighthouse)
From the multi-dimensional data of the summer file, we can see the new consumption trend of the film industry this year. Recently, the Beijing Film Association organized practitioners and experts from all links of the industrial chain such as creation, production, and cinemas to discuss and summarize, pointing out that the current domestic audience's demand for the emotional value of the film is increasing, and the film with an effective combination of social topics and emotional value can gain more box office; In addition, comedies are still in demand in the domestic film market, and domestic cartoons are gradually recognized by the market and have sprung up as dark horses.
For the total box office of this year's summer file is not as expected, Zhang Chunlin, a researcher at Guangzhou Feiyun Investment, told the "Consumer Reports" reporter that it can be seen from some high-grossing films that the Chinese film market is not short of audiences, but the audience's requirements for films have changed.
"During the summer vacation, the phenomenon of parent-child tourism, Olympic events, and other entertainment activities has decreased. In addition, the new coronavirus infection will achieve Class B and B at the beginning of 2023, and the pent-up emotions and consumption desires will be released, resulting in a high total box office base for the year. Zhang Chunlin added.
It is worth mentioning that the Mid-Autumn Festival has always been regarded as the "outpost" of the National Day file, but among the 21 films launched in the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, only "Wild Child" has a box office of more than 100 million yuan, and the total box office performance of the entire Mid-Autumn Festival file has almost returned to the level of ten years ago. The box office of "Tying the Knot" on the first day of release was only 624 yuan, and the number of viewers was only 14, making it the worst-performing new film during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year.
In stark contrast, the National Day schedule is often regarded as the golden age of the film market, and major film production companies and distributors will choose to launch their blockbuster works during this period.
With the end of the Mid-Autumn Festival schedule and the arrival of the National Day schedule, the film market is expected to usher in a new wave of movie-watching boom. In this year's National Day schedule, the competition among major films will be very fierce, what are the box office results, and which films can become hits, it is worth looking forward to.