We always ask ourselves, is there really no hope for domestic films? Is it bound to be a fiasco at the box office? The answer is no. In fact, as long as there is the blessing of stars, a wonderful plot, and publicity in place, domestic movies can also be successful.
However, when none of these conditions are met, it is not surprising that it fails. But we can't deny the development prospects of the entire domestic film because of this.
A movie called "Mistaken into Youth" only sold 1,172 yuan at the box office, which was regarded as the box office**. Unexpectedly, just two years later, a film called "Holding a Pen for a Knife" was released, and it only sold 167 yuan at the box office in the first 4 days, and only 4 viewers entered.
This is undoubtedly an even more tragic failure. Although the box office of "Mistaken into Youth" is not much, it is still at least four figures, and the three-digit box office of "Pen for Knife" is even more laughable.
It's unbelievable that a big-budget movie can only sell such a box office in such a short period of time. "Holding the Pen as a Knife" tells the story of a Qing official named Zhen Wan who entered the court during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, adhered to justice, and was not afraid of the powerful.
The film depicts many things such as Zhen Wan's solution to the local plague and his participation in cracking the rebellion case, which can be called a work of passionate and positive energy. Zhen Wan is a figure in history, and he risked his life to find out the inside story of a rebellion case.
Finally pay off the officialdom. Such a story should have touched people's hearts and inspired people to pay attention to positive energy, but in the end, it ended in four people watching the movie, which is really incredible.
is obviously such a positive and praiseworthy character, but in the end it failed to attract enough attention, which shows that "Pen for Knife" is problematic in many ways as a commercial film.
However, regardless of the plot, the film was surprisingly dismal at the box office upon its release. There are three main reasons for this.
Today's audiences prefer movie themes with the main theme plus war, from "Wolf Warrior 2" to "Operation Red Sea" to "Changjin Lake", the box office of this type of work easily exceeded 100 million.
And biopics of historical figures like "Pen for Knife" obviously do not attract the attention of modern young people. Young people prefer commercial blockbusters full of action and scenes, a film that depicts the struggle of ancient officialdom.
It's a far cry from the visual stimulation they seek. If more martial arts plots can be added, it may be able to barely attract some people. However, it may not be enough to just add a few movements to catch the eye of young people.
The need to fundamentally choose a subject matter that resonates with modern audiences is the key. Secondly, it is difficult to fully represent the life deeds of a historical figure in the 97-minute film time, which is more suitable for filming into a series.
Therefore, in the case of limited space, many plots of "Pen for Knife" can only be condensed and expressed, which will inevitably lose its attractiveness and give people a boring feeling. For example, the details of Zhen Wan's cracked rebellion case were not fully displayed.
The audience will not be able to generate enough interest in the story. If it is made into a series, with one highlight per episode, the effect may be better. However, making a TV series requires a lot of manpower and material resources, which may be difficult for small companies, which may be a helpless move.
Nowadays, publicity is very important for the success of films. Even if it is a bad movie, as long as the publicity is sufficient and the word-of-mouth operation is in place, it can still attract many audiences. But "Pen for Knife" is like "unsightly", and almost no publicity content has been seen for it.
Without trailers, tidbits, roadshows, etc., most people simply don't know it exists. Like a small-budget film released silently, "Pen for the Knife" has no intention of becoming famous at all, which is equivalent to death in today's environment.
Even if only one-tenth of the production cost is invested in publicity, shoot more tidbits and put them in *** or ask a few Internet celebrities to talk about their feelings, the results will not be so miserable. This incident proves once again that the importance of propaganda should not be underestimated.
However, for small companies and newcomers, publicity requires a lot of human and financial investment, which they may not be able to afford. We can't simply blame them for not doing publicity, but we should fundamentally solve the problem of difficult movie promotion.
The most fatal blow is that the leading actors of "Pen for the Knife" can be said to be nobodies. None of them have masterpieces, and the audience doesn't know them, so naturally they won't buy tickets for them. This is in stark contrast to some other films of the same period.
It can be said that the crew of "Pen for the Knife" did not do their homework at all when they were looking for actors, and the low grade of the actors directly led to the box office Waterloo. In fact, this also reflects the scarcity of domestic first-line star resources.
There are only a handful of stars who really have appeal and popularity, and the strength and popularity of other small stars are uneven, which puts great pressure on many producers and directors.
We can't simply blame these newcomers and small companies for not being able to attract first-line stars, but we should create a good environment at the institutional level to cultivate more excellent actors.
Similar to the release time of "Pen for the Knife", there are several domestic films that have achieved good box office, such as "Hiding from the Sky" and "Lighting Store". The reason why these two movies are blockbusters is largely because of the blessing of stars.
"Hiding from the Sky and Crossing the Sea" is starring powerful actors Hui Yinghong, Zhang Junning, and Yin Zheng, and its popularity is naturally very high. The audience has a good impression of these artists with superb acting skills, so even if the plot is generally good, they are willing to reward them.
"Lighting Store" gathers traffic stars such as Bai Yu, Zhang Ruonan, Liu Yijun, etc., and the attraction can be imagined. Fans of these new-generation idols will not hesitate to spend a lot of money just to follow their idols.
Then there is "Goodbye, Li Kele" joined by the ace Wu Jing, although it was only a short cameo, it directly pushed the box office to 200 million. Wu Jing's box office appeal is so strong. It can be seen that the quality of the actors directly affects the quality and reputation of the movie itself.
If we can cultivate more excellent actors, whether it is acting or traffic, we can greatly enrich the themes and means of the movie. This requires the film industry to work together.
Although the failure of "Pen as a Knife" has its own reasons, we cannot deny that in the current environment, domestic films are generally at a disadvantage compared to Hollywood and other products.
Chinese filmmakers do not have advanced production concepts and perfect systems like those in Europe and the United States, so they lack experience in many aspects. If you copy the Western model, you will often be timid.
This is fully reflected in the film's topic selection, investment, operation and other links. China's film industry has only developed for a short time, and many production companies and practitioners are still in the Xi stage, so they cannot be required to reach the world's advanced level in a short period of time.
And the current environment is indeed not as liberal and relaxed as in Europe and the United States. Therefore, we must give them time and space to grow, and under the premise of a two-pronged approach, we believe that Chinese films will eventually bloom with a unique light.
Therefore, filmmakers need to maintain a humble and cautious attitude, consider from multiple angles, and avoid mistakes. They need to study the actual needs of the market and the audience, and choose the right theme; The joint company fully invested in publicity resources.
Hire the best cast. As long as these basic tasks are done properly, they can also make domestic films successful. We look forward to the early release of such a work and truly reverse the decline of domestic films in the cinema market.
I believe that the masterpieces that are impressive and increase confidence are just around the corner.