This week's performance of the mainland Chinese New Year stalls is as cold as the weather. originally thought that "The Three Teams" led by Chen Sicheng and Zhang Yi would be able to drive the box office and save the Chinese New Year market, but the word-of-mouth was disappointing. The final box office of "The Three Teams" only broke 500 million, which was far less than expected, and the two blockbusters "Aquaman 2" and "Dunhuang Heroes" released this week also fell into a downturn, and the Chinese New Year market may have to wait until the new New Year's Eve to be saved.
Aquaman 2 invested 1.5 billion, and 6.2 million pre-sale tickets were issued on the first day, and the vitality of Hollywood movies in the Chinese market seems to be stifled by "Aquaman 2"!A total of 14 new films were released this week, but most of them were low-budget domestic films, with almost zero popularity and a dismal box office.
The cumulative box office of "Queen of Hanwen", which was released on December 18, was only 120,000, and the documentary "Ten Years of Avenue" was only 150,000, and "Ice Kingdom" only has a box office of 4556 yuan!The box office of "Our July" on December 19 was only 070,000, "The Wind Rises in the Guy" is completely zero box office, because there is no screening plan at all. The only new films that have really attracted attention this week are "Aquaman 2" and "Dunhuang Heroes".
"Aquaman 2" is undoubtedly the highest-cost blockbuster for this year's Chinese New Year, with an estimated investment of up to 21.5 billion US dollars, about 1.5 billion yuan, and the previous work "Aquaman" broke through the box office of 2 billion in the mainland, setting a record for a superhero single film in Chinese film history, making the DC Cinematic Universe emerge in the case of successive failures of new superhero films such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. "Aquaman 2" is undoubtedly the last pride of the old DC cinematic universe.
The film has high hopes for the Chinese mainland market, and was released in China on December 20, two days earlier, earlier than December 22 in North America. The main creative team of the film has also carried out roadshows in major cities in China for rare promotion, and short marketing has also emerged in an endless stream, so it can be said that the film has invested considerable publicity expenses in the Chinese market. Unfortunately, all this turned out to be fruitless!As of 19 o'clock on December 19, less than 1 day before the movie was released, the first-day pre-sale box office of "Aquaman 2" was only 6.2 million.
This achievement is not only inferior to the domestic hit "Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle", but also not as good as Hollywood movies such as "Ant-Man 3" and "Captain Marvel 2", which are dismal in the Chinese market. This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the confidence of Hollywood films in the Chinese market. Since 2023, whether it is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Fast and Furious" or "Transformers" and other old IPs in the Chinese mainland market, they will no longer be able to easily pick a billion box office flowers as in previous years.
Even Wu Jing's "Megalodon 2", which uses Chinese elements as its selling point, cannot escape the fate of word-of-mouth. Now, "Aquaman 2" has even adopted a down-to-earth publicity strategy, trying to cater to Chinese audiences through short roadshows, etc., which shows that this is Hollywood's last resort to please Chinese audiences. And "Aquaman 2" happens to be the finale of Hollywood blockbusters in the mainland in 2023. However, although the movie has not yet been released, it has already suffered an early cool, which is undoubtedly an embarrassment for Hollywood.
This also means that it is unknown whether Hollywood still has a glimmer of life in the Chinese mainland market. At present, the final box office of "Aquaman 2" in the mainland has dropped to the level of two or three billion, if there is no miracle, then like the previous work "Aquaman", this "Aquaman 2" may set a record, but that will be the largest sequel box office decline record in superhero movies. At the same time, the news of the withdrawal of "Dunhuang Heroes" also caused a sigh.
Hollywood blockbusters are struggling to gain a foothold in the Chinese market, while domestic blockbusters don't even dare to have the courage to fight a war. As the most powerful domestic film this week, "Dunhuang Heroes" has not yet opened pre-sale, and even the publicity work has ended early, and it is foreseeable that the withdrawal of the film has become inevitable.
Dunhuang Heroes" is directed by Cao Dun and written by Ma Boyong, gathering nearly 30 stars such as Zhang Yu, Dou Xiao, Lei Jiayin, Zhu Yawen, etc., to tell the story of Shazhou's separation from the Tang Dynasty for more than 60 years, and finally rebelled against the brutal rulers under the leadership of the famous Zhang Yichao and returned to the Tang Dynasty. Judging by the trailer, the film is well-made and the quality should not be bad. This withdrawal is likely due to dissatisfaction with the schedule, and at present, the Lunar New Year file has become no longer attractive, and even the top blockbuster has become extremely difficult to break through the billion box office.
According to the information on Douban, "Dunhuang Heroes" may choose to be withdrawn to the Spring Festival in 2024, although the competition will be more fierce, but the box office ceiling will also be increased. can only sigh that it is becoming more and more difficult to retain blockbusters during the Chinese New Year, and blockbusters have also lost the courage of the past to be released in unpopular schedules. However, how many ** slots are there in a year?The problem of domestic films piling up in the first schedule urgently needs to be solved.