Special feature of 1905 film network With the closure of Beijing Yaolai Studios (Wukesong Store) due to problems in its shopping mall, the box office ranking of cinemas in China film market has been reshuffled again.
In the past few years, the cinema has always occupied the first place in the national cinema revenue. Nowadays, according to the data of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, the national cinema rankings often change every month, which also makes everyone see different possibilities.
Since 2020, Beijing Capital Cinema (Xidandian) has become the new champion of the national cinema box office revenue.
Beijing Capital Cinema (Xidan Branch)
According to statistics, as of the time of publication, the annual box office of China mainland film market has reached nearly 46.006 billion yuan. By the end of September, 2021, the total number of big screens in China film market had reached 80,743.
As a cinema in the lower reaches of the industrial chain, it has the most direct and real feelings about the changes in the whole market and has the most say. What are the characteristics and changes of China cinema market in 2021? In this regard, 1905 Film Network interviewed Wu Xiuqi, vice president of Lumiere Film Operation Center, Yu Chao, deputy general manager of Capital Cinema, Cai Xiaoxue, director of UME Cinema Operation, and other domestic head cinema representatives.
Box office centralization
Diversification of revenue
"The key schedule has a certain box office output guarantee throughout the year, which is the first choice for head films. Compared with previous years, the difference is that in 2021, due to the uncertainty of the epidemic situation, the film schedule will be adjusted more, and the situation of focusing on the key schedule will indeed be more obvious. After all, the number of people watching movies in key schedules and box office output are more. " Wu Xiuqi took the lead in giving his own views. Under the influence of realistic factors, the phenomenon of film clustering in key schedules is more obvious.
At the same time, she also said that "the content of the film is still the core of box office competition, and the selection and promotion of the schedule are very important. Squeezing into the key schedule means more competition, and the choice is still in the hands of the audience. Cinema filming is mainly based on box office output. In 2021, there are also many cases of squeezing into key schedules but losing at the box office. "
According to statistics, as of now, Lumiere’s top ten box office films in 2021, etc., all come from the golden period.
In addition to the more concentrated box office output, the diversification of cinema revenue has become the norm in the market. In addition to the regular sales revenue in the past, in 2021, many cinemas began to cooperate with business models such as drama, talk show and script killing.
"In 2021, the cinema is still in the recovery stage. Now it will take some time to recover, so survival is the top priority for the cinema. Many of our cinemas, including the Xidan store of the Capital Cinema, are already doing some high-definition screening of stage images, cross talk, or the introduction of similar content. " Yu Chao said that how to make the best use of the idle resources of cinema time and space has become a thinking question in front of the cinema. The attempts and explorations of cinema+various business models are gradually increasing.
In the survey of the living conditions of the old cinemas conducted by 1905 Film Network in July this year, it was found that many theaters with a long history, such as Geological Auditorium, Jinsong Cinema and East Palace Cinema, also began to cooperate with Mahua FunAge and other drama teams, and some even provided services such as conference and venue rental. Some new cinemas are cooperating with wedding companies and script killing teams to unlock more scene experiences.
"Regardless of public perception or self-positioning. At present, cinemas are movie screening places, but in the Internet era, this can no longer meet people’s needs. " At an industry forum in 2021, Huang Sha, CEO of Pacific Film of Eying Group, admitted that facing the new situation, cinemas should be brave in self-innovation. She believes that the diversification of formats, the display of content value, the reconstruction of cinema space and the experience of consumption scenes will become the four key points of cinema development in the future.
Surprise of domestic film contracting
Multiple schedules create the highest record in film history
In 2021, the box office of New Year’s Day, Spring Festival and Qingming reached record highs, laying the foundation for the rapid recovery of China film market. As the "nerve" of the film industry, cinemas have more revenue protection.
"The first is surprise. This year, we started in Hi, Mom during the Spring Festival, and then went to The Battle at Lake Changjin in the National Day file, including the recent box office dark horse. The surprises brought by domestic films are one after another." Cai Xiaoxue said that from a personal point of view, surprise is one of the key words for the development of the mainland cinema market in 2021. Domestic films have contracted all the surprises of domestic audiences.
In 2021, domestic films became the absolute protagonist of the market. Among them, The Battle at Lake Changjin and Hi, Mom, two films with box office of 5 billion+,the former has surpassed the cumulative box office, creating a new single-chip box office record in the history of mainland film.
"From these domestic films, including cinema practitioners and other industries, we can see that everyone is working hard and the whole industry is very promising." I hope to be another key word for Cai Xiaoxue’s year-end summary of the mainland film market. The persistence of filmmakers and the succession of good works make the market development prospects full of hope.
This coincides with Yu Chao’s view.
"Because at least in this year, we saw Hi, Mom’s" Tang Detective 3 "and The Battle at Lake Changjin, which have grossed over 4 billion or even 5 billion. Good schedule, popular movies, let us see the hope of follow-up development. " Yu Chao believes that the excellent performance of domestic films has given more hope for the future market recovery.
The relevant data performance of the upstream content production section of the film and television industry shows positively that the whole industry can expect in the future. In the first quarter of 2021, the number of crews in Hengdian, Xiangshan and other film and television bases exceeded the best results in the same period in history.
The number of big screens will keep growing.
Future opportunities and challenges coexist.
According to the statistics of the National Film Bureau, by the end of September 2021, there were 14,235 cinemas and 80,743 screens in China film market, and the number of screens officially exceeded 80,000, with an average of 17.8 new screens per day.
Under the normalization of the epidemic, this growth is hard-won.
"I think market demand and state support have become the main reasons for growth. Market demand is the main factor, that is, the audience’s demand for good content will not change. As part of the cultural life, the support and support for the entire film industry at the national level is still visible. " Yu Chao believes that there are two reasons for the continuous growth of the number of big screens in China’s film market in 2021, and the growth trend will be maintained in the future.
In the future, the growth of cinemas in different cities will be further subdivided according to the actual situation.
"The number of cinemas in first-and second-tier cities is relatively saturated, and the growth rate is slowing down. The population and construction of third-and fourth-tier cities are accelerating, and the number of new cinemas will grow faster." Wu Xiuqi believes that in the future, third-and fourth-tier cities will become the main force of big screen growth, and the cinema layout in first-and second-tier cities will be more reasonable. Differentiated growth will become one of the trends of domestic cinema development in the future.
With the further improvement of urbanization rate in China, township cinemas will become a low-lying market value of cinema. According to statistics, when the number of screens in mainland China reaches 80,743, the number of screens in township cinemas is 12,958, accounting for 16% of the total, and there is still room for improvement.
With the efforts and support of all parties, the future of China film industry can be expected.