In the 2024 Spring Festival, more than 40 film companies will "participate in the war". Among them, the investors of the movie "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space", in addition to the main control of Huaqiang Fantawild and Hengdian Pictures, which have been deeply cooperating for many years, China Film, Maoyan, Wanda Film, Lianrui and Ruyi Pictures all participated in the production; "Flying Life 2" directed by Han Han is controlled by Tingdong Films, and the main producers are Taopiaopiao, Maoyan, Bona, China Film, Happy Twist Pictures, Hengdian Pictures, Shanghai Film and Ruyi Films; Jia Ling returned to the Spring Festival file with her new work "Hot and Hot", Xinli Media jumped to become the first producer, and China Film, Alibaba Pictures, China Literature Film and Television, Penguin Films, and Jia Ling's Big Bowl Entertainment and other companies also participated in the production; Zhang Yimou's new film "Article 20" is controlled by the owner of Light Shadow; Ning Hao's new film "Mr. Red Carpet" is produced by Huanxi Media, Bad Monkey Culture, and Andy Lau's Stupid Child Film and Television; "Let's Shake the Sun Together" is the first time that Lianrui Pictures has entered the Spring Festival file as the first producer.
In addition to Huayi Brothers and Beijing Culture, this year's Spring Festival has brought together most of the leading film companies. These companies are helping the Chinese film market prosper by releasing high-quality productions. "Variety" sorted out the market performance and future reserve projects of more than 10 leading film companies in the past year. At present, the four traditional private film companies (Huayi Brothers, Guangguang Media, Wanda Film and Television, and Bona Films) are ushering in more challengers, and the influence of domestic film companies in the industry may usher in a new round of reshuffle.
China Film Group
Total box office in 2023: 268$8.9 billion
As a "national film team", China Film Group will participate in the production of theatrical films in 2023, with a total box office of 2688.9 billion yuan, ranking first among major film companies.
On January 26, 2024, the company released a performance forecast saying that it is expected to have a net profit of about 2 in 20230 billion to 30 billion yuan, a year-on-year turnaround. China Film Group produced and released 37 films throughout the year, accounting for 58% of the total box office of domestic films45%；He led or participated in the distribution of 570 films, with a box office of more than 4139.7 billion yuan, accounting for 82 percent of the country's total box office93%。In addition, China Film Base provides production services for 443 film and television works. As of the end of 2023, the company has a total of 127 operating holding theaters and 957 screens, and the total number of theaters controlled and controlled by the company covers 2240,000 screens and 282240,000 seats. "The Wandering Earth 2" produced by China Film and "All or Nothing" participated in the production performed well in the 2023 Spring Festival and summer files, achieving 40 respectively2.9 billion and 384.8 billion yuan at the box office. Among other films, there are also high-quality masterpieces such as "Volunteers: Heroes Attack" and "No Name", as well as low-budget dark horses such as "Space Exploration Editorial Department".
In the 2024 Spring Festival, the films produced and distributed by China Film include "Hot and Hot", "Article 20", "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space", "Flying Life 2", "Let's Shake the Sun Together"; The company's main films "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero" and "Volunteer Army 2" are scheduled to be released within the year; There are also more than 40 film projects in production and in development. At the same time, the "China Science Fiction Film Park" created by China Film is under planning and construction.
China Film Group integrates the entire industrial chain of production, distribution, production, screening, import and export, etc., has resource advantages in the industry, actively deploys various projects of volume and type, and the company's performance also reflects the trend of China's film market from the side.
Alibaba Pictures
Total box office in 2023: 213$8.3 billion
Founded in 2014, Alibaba Pictures has grown into an industry leader in less than 10 years. Alibaba Pictures has performed well in terms of the number of major production projects and box office production capacity in the past year: in addition to the 2023 summer blockbuster "All or Nothing" and "Disappearing Her", Alibaba Pictures has also participated in popular films such as "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an", "Unfamiliar with Life", "Predecessor 4: Early Marriage" and "Warm". Diversified investment has further increased the success rate of Alibaba Pictures' bet on blockbusters.
In addition to participating in the bidding, Alibaba Pictures and Taopiao also continue to develop projects. In the movie "Dragon Horse Spirit" starring Jackie Chan, Alibaba Pictures is the first main control producer, and Alibaba Pictures is the second largest producer of films such as "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an", "King of the Sky", "Sneaking", "It's Worth the Trip". In addition, as the largest producer, Taopiaopiao, a subsidiary of Alibaba Pictures, mainly produced the movies "Priceless Treasure" and "Silent Record".
During the 2023 Chinese Film Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, Alibaba Pictures launched a new "Jincheng Co-production" plan. The planned works include more than 30 theatrical films such as "Falling Dust", "Youth Song Xing", "Reinforcements Arrive Tomorrow", "Wind and Water".
Maoyan Entertainment
Total box office in 2023: 1960.3 billion yuan
Maoyan, which started as a ticketing platform, has become more and more involved in film investment, production, marketing and distribution. The company has a large number of projects and diversified types. The data shows that among the 25 domestic films with a box office of more than 500 million yuan in 2023, Maoyan Weiying has participated in 16. The 2023 box office champion "Man Jianghong", the summer hit film "Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun", "In the Octagonal Cage" and the May 1st box office champion "Unfamiliar with Life", and the 2024 New Year's Day file "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" Behind popular films such as "Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle Star", there are cat's eyes. At the same time, Maoyan also tried to control the main film project, behind "I Passed Through the Storm", "One and Four" and "Gentle Shell", Shanghai Maoyan Pictures is the largest producer.
Maoyan Entertainment went public in Hong Kong in 2019, and continued to make profits from 2021 to 2023, with a net profit of 3 in 20216.9 billion yuan, net profit of 10.5 billion yuan, net profit of 40.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 167%. Next, Maoyan Entertainment will also participate in the production of "Crisis Route" and "Impromptu**" Huang Que is behind! "Child of Time" and many other works.
Light Media
Total box office in 2023: 844.7 billion yuan
Guangguang Media's main business is film content production, and compared with other leading film companies such as Alibaba and China Film, Guangguang does not have a large-scale layout in the cinema business and offline live entertainment business.
Guangguang Media will participate in the voting and release a total of 9 films in 2023. Among them, the two films "Man Jianghong" and "Solid as a Rock" directed by Zhang Yimou have a total box office of 589.5 billion yuan, accounting for nearly seventy percent. In the past few years, Guangguang Media has made a lot of profits through its deep binding with director Zhang Yimou. "Solid as a Rock" controlled by the company is the box office champion of the 2023 National Day stalls, and "Man Jianghong" produced by the company is the box office champion of the Spring Festival stalls in 2023. In the 2024 Spring Festival, after "Sniper" and "Solid as a Rock", Guangguang Media will cooperate with Zhang Yimou for the third time to launch a new film "Article 20", and the distribution of the film is also monopolized by Guangguang Media.
In addition to binding big directors, animated films and youth films are still the key areas of light. The two animated films "Deep Sea" and "Tea Ah No. 2 Middle School" have successively landed in the 2023 Spring Festival and summer seasons, and have achieved a box office of 91.9 billion yuan, 3$8.4 billion; Last year's May Day, the youth romance film "So Many Years" controlled by Guangguang Media achieved a box office of 300 million yuan.
In 2024, Guangguang Media may usher in a big year of animated films, and the key projects "Nezha's Demon Boy in the Sea" and "Xiaoqian" are expected to be released within the year. According to the 2023 interim report of Guangguang Media, the company currently has nearly 40 films that are being promoted in stages, more than half of which are animated films. It can be seen that in the future, Guangguang Media will continue to make efforts in the field of animation and form a brand effect with differentiated content.
Hengdian Pictures
Total box office in 2023: 63800 million yuan
In recent years, on the basis of the distribution business, Hengdian Film and Television has taken the initiative to transform to content output, and its development has grown by leaps and bounds.
In 2023, Hengdian Pictures will participate in "The Wandering Earth 2", "Bear Infested, Stay with Me "Bear Core"", "Unfamiliar with Life", "Predecessor 4: Early Marriage", "Warm", "Keep You Safe", "Slam Dunk", "I Love You!" and many other theatrical films, but the main control works are missing. The animated film "Bear Infested, Stay with Me "Bear Core", which is the second producer, has a cumulative box office of 149.5 billion yuan. In the 2024 Spring Festival, Hengdian Pictures participated in the production of 3 films: "Flying Life 2", "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space", and "Let's Shake the Sun Together". Among them, "Flying Life 2" and "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space" are regarded as "seed players".
On January 29, 2024, Hengdian Film and Television Co., Ltd. issued a pre-profit announcement. It is expected that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in 2023 will be 13.5 billion yuan to 1800 million yuan to turn losses into profits. It is estimated that the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies after deducting non-recurring gains and losses in 2023 will be 57 million yuan to 77 million yuan.
Huanxi Media
Total box office in 2023: 454.4 billion yuan
Huanxi Media was founded by producer Dong Ping, Ning Hao, Xu Zheng and others, and later bound to directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kexin, Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yibai, Gu Changwei, Huang Bo, Jia Zhangke, etc. In 2023, Huanxi Media will only have 1 main control project - "Man Jianghong" directed by Zhang Yimou. The film ended with 45With a box office of 4.4 billion yuan, it won the 2023 annual box office champion of the Chinese mainland film market. In addition, "Learning Dad", which was produced by Huanxi Media as the third producer, also got a share of the movie war last summer, and finally won a box office of more than 600 million yuan.
"Mr. Red Carpet" controlled by Huanxi Media will be released during the 2024 Spring Festival. In addition, the company participated in the production of "Hedgehog", "In the Name of the Father", "Morning Clouds and Twilight Rain", "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century" and other films are expected to be released within the year.
One with legendary film and television
Total box office in 2023: 42$1.4 billion
In 2023, Yitong Legendary Film and Television, founded by Chen Sicheng, will participate in the production of "Disappearing Her" and "Three Teams". Among them, "She Who Disappeared", produced by Yitong Legend, won 35 in last summer2.3 billion yuan box office. At present, the film "The Three Teams", which is produced by Chen Sicheng and invested by Yitong Legend as the second production, is being screened in theaters, with a box office exceeding 600 million yuan, achieving a bumper harvest of word-of-mouth and box office.
From the "Detective Chinatown" series to the "Manslaughter" series to "She Who Disappeared", Chen Sicheng has repeatedly made precise bets, allowing Chen Sicheng to win the title of "Product Manager Director". His unique vision and mature ability have helped Yitong Legendary Film and Television make a lot of money. Next, among the company's reserve projects, Chen Sicheng's film "Decryption" is being filmed, "Manslaughter 3" has been approved, the "Tang Detective" series will have new perspectives and expressions, and works such as "Ball Lightning" science fiction themes are also under development.
Bad Monkey Pictures
Total box office in 2023: 396.4 billion yuan
Ning Hao's Bad Monkey Pictures will have a lot of harvest in 2023. The two films produced by him as the producer and the main controller of Bad Monkey have created a total of nearly 4 billion yuan at the box office. "Bad Monkey 72 Change Plan" signed a director to bid for the Olympic Games, and presented the dark horse film "All or Nothing" in the summer of 2023, which ended with 38The box office of 4.8 billion yuan became the champion of last year's summer file. Another satirical comedy "Second-Hand Masterpiece" starring Bad Monkey also achieved 11.5 billion yuan box office.
Realistic themes were a hot trend in the film market last year. The double success of "All or Nothing" in terms of commercial value and social value has made Bad Monkey Pictures a well-deserved label in this track. Bad Monkey Pictures, which adheres to the values of "innovation, locality, contemporary, fun, and individuality", has successively cultivated new generation directors such as Lu Yang, Wen Muye, and Olympic bids, providing a new sample for the industry to cultivate young directors.
Bona Films
Total box office in 2023: 29900 million yuan
Bona Film has had a mediocre 2023 year. Of the 4 projects controlled by the company, only "No Name" won 93.1 billion yuan box office, the remaining "Breaking Point", "Knife Point", "Don't Call Me "God of Gamblers", as well as the box office of "If You Are Honest Do Not Disturb 3" and "When the Wind Rises Again" did not exceed 100 million yuan.
Bona Film's net profit from 2018 to 2021 was 26.4 billion yuan, 31.5 billion yuan, 19.1 billion yuan, 36.3 billion yuan, which is outstanding compared with other companies in the same industry. Bona Film will be listed on the domestic A-share market in 2022, and in the year of listing, its performance loss was more than 72 million yuan. In the first three quarters of 2023, the performance loss was 23.6 billion yuan. After the two "Changjin Lake", the main theme promoted by Bona Film and the box office of Hong Kong film projects failed one after another. Nowadays, realistic films that are close to life and resonate are more popular with audiences. For Bona Films, it is urgent to reconsider the direction of creation.
Next, "Legend", "Amai in the Army", "Dream of Red Mansions: Golden Jade Relationship" and "Internship Eros" controlled by Bona Films are ready to be screened; "Operation Red Sea 2: Operation Killer Whale" has recently announced the starring lineup; "Outwitting Tiger Mountain Prequel", "Sanxingdui Future Apocalypse" and "Xiaoxiong" have been approved.
Wanda Films
Total box office in 2023: 267.7 billion yuan
In 2023, Wanda Film's main control works will only have 2 films: "Countdown to Say I Love You" and "Three Teams". Among them, "The Three Teams", which was released at the end of last year, performed well in the market, with a cumulative box office of 6$8.9 billionThe company's co-produced films such as "The Wandering Earth 2", "Bear Infested: Stay with Me "Bear Core"", "Space Exploration Editorial Department", "All or Nothing", "Predecessor 4" and other films performed well at the overall box office.
On January 30, 2024, Wanda Film released a performance forecast, which is expected to have a net profit attributable to the parent company of 900 million yuan to 1.2 billion yuan in 2023, compared with a loss of 19 in the same period last year2.3 billion yuan, turning losses into profits. It is worth mentioning that with the continuous acquisition of Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television, the largest shareholder of Wanda Film will change hands at the end of 2023, and the actual controller of the company will be changed from Wang Jianlin to Ke Liming (Chairman of China Ruyi). Recently, Wanda Film announced that Chen Xi (stage name: Chen Zhixi) will serve as the company's new chairman and president. Chen Xi has served as the executive director of China Ruyi Holdings since 2021, and is known as one of the "most profitable" female film players in the industry, and she participated in the production of "People Are Embarrassed in Thailand", "Pancake Man", "Detective Chinatown 1", "Animal World", "Send You a Little Red Flower", "Hello, Li Huanying", "Warm" and other works, with a total box office of more than 10 billion yuan.
Among the Wanda film reserve projects, "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" is expected to be released in 2024, and films such as "Hey, Dude" have completed the filing and approval.
Beijing Culture
Total box office in 2023: 263.4 billion yuan
In the summer of 2023, "Fengshen Part I: Chao Song Fengyun", which is controlled by Beijing Culture, has a bumper harvest in word-of-mouth and box office, with a box office of 263.4 billion yuanDirector Wu Ershan said that "Fengshen Part II" is planned to be released in the summer of 2024. The cinema film projects invested by Beijing Culture also include "Dongji Island", "749 Bureau", "Let Me Stay by Your Side", "Dunhuang Xuanzang Code", "There is a Canteen by the Cloud" and so on.
Beijing Culture has lost money for 4 consecutive years from 2018 to 2022, and the company recently released a performance forecast for 2023, which is expected to achieve an operating income of 5 for the whole year600 million to 6200 million yuan; Net loss of 2$500 million to 2900 million yuanAlthough it holds the big IP "Fengshen" series, Beijing culture still has not been able to get rid of the quagmire of losses.
Tingdong Pictures
Total box office in 2023: 211.1 billion yuan
In 2023, Tingdong Film will control 3 works: "King of the Sky", "Unfamiliar with Life" and "Forgetting Each Other". Among them, "King of the Sky" and "Unfamiliar with Life" were released during last year's May Day and won 8 respectively500 million yuan and 11With a box office of 8.4 billion yuan, it is firmly in the first and second place in this schedule. In addition, the company will also push "Flying Life 2" to the 2024 Spring Festival.
Tingdong Pictures' outstanding performance in the film market in 2023, especially the success of "Unfamiliar Life" and "King of the Sky", marks that the company is gradually transforming from "Han Han customized" films to a broader high-quality content production platform. In terms of content production, Tingdong Pictures not only gradually got rid of the single Han Han style, but also expanded the scope of themes, improved the maturity of production, and firmly moved towards the direction of film industrialization. At present, Tingdong Pictures has filed two new films, "Driving a Meteor" and "The Skin of Life", the former is a popular science fiction theme, and the latter continues to cultivate the field of realistic literary films.
Huayi Brothers
Total box office in 2023: 18$8.3 billion
In 2023, Huayi Brothers will control the cinema movies "Love is Delicious", "Rock and Roll Tibetan Mastiff: Riding the Wind and Waves", "Predecessor 4: Early Marriage" and "If You Are Honest Do Not Disturb 3". Among them, the cumulative box office of "Predecessor 4: Early Marriage" exceeded 1 billion yuan. Huayi Brothers also participated in films such as "The Wandering Earth 2", "Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle Star", "Wading Through the Sea of Anger", "It Doesn't Seem to Be So Enthusiastic", "Volunteers: Heroes Attack", "Space Exploration Editorial Department" and other films.
From the perspective of performance, Huayi Brothers has lost money for 5 consecutive years from 2018 to 2022, and will continue to lose 2 in the first three quarters of 2023800 million yuanThe company recently released a performance forecast, and it is expected to have a net profit loss of 4 in 2023600 million yuan—6900 million yuan, a loss of 9 in the same period last year8.2 billion yuan.
At present, Huayi Brothers' main film "Rifle Hotel" is ready to be screened. In addition, the company has participated in theatrical film projects such as "Dog Formation", "Mermaid 2", "Special Gift", "Man in the Net", "Super Marie" and so on. Judging from the reserve items, the head works are still lacking.
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