The 2024 Spring Festival stalls are coming.
This year's Spring Festival stalls are longer than in previous years.
It is also highly valued by the filmmaker.
But the Spring Festival stalls have not yet begun.
Controversy has already arisen.
The reason is that it is rumored that many of the top films in this year's Spring Festival file adopt a separate distribution model, and the filmmaker has put forward the minimum film scheduling requirements for the theaters participating in the screening, and the cinemas that cannot meet the requirements cannot get the secret key, and the films cannot be released during the Spring Festival.
A number of studio managers confirmed the news in an interview with reporters.
Enforce the minimum film schedule?
The film scheduling ratio refers to the number of screenings of a film in the cinema, accounting for the proportion of the total number of screenings in the cinema. The number of films scheduled is directly related to the box office of a movie. Especially in an important schedule like the Spring Festival, the first two days of film scheduling are very important.
Taking 2023 as an example, the box office of the Spring Festival stalls will be 67 in 7 days6.5 billion yuan, accounting for 549 percent of the total box office for the yearThe proportion of 2.7 billion yuan is as high as 123%, the top two box office in 2023 are also produced from the Spring Festival stalls.
*: Lighthouse data.
According to the notice issued by industry insiders on social platforms, many Spring Festival films require that the number of screenings on February 10, 2024 (January 11 of the Lunar New Year (the second day of the Lunar New Year) be no less than 22% of the total number of screenings. Cinemas that do not meet the screening requirements cannot obtain the film key. If the studio that obtains the key does not meet the standard, the key will also be suspended in the future.
There are other Spring Festival films that have similar requirements, but the minimum number of films required is different. A cinema manager told reporters that the minimum film scheduling requirements he learned about are roughly 3 films requiring a minimum of 22% scheduling, 2 films requiring a minimum of 12% scheduling, and 1 film scheduling of a minimum of 10%.
In the past, theaters had the autonomy to schedule films. At the beginning of the release, the theater usually schedules the film according to the quality and characteristics of the film; After the release, the film schedule will be adjusted according to the specific box office performance and audience reputation, which is a completely market-oriented mechanism.
The mandatory minimum schedule for the first two days of the Spring Festival undoubtedly broke this principle and also caused dissatisfaction among theater managers:
In a schedule like the Spring Festival, we must arrange more films than the audience wants to see, and we all require the minimum number of films, one is difficult to meet, and the other is that the theater is also responsible for the risk. A cinema manager in the southwest region told reporters.
Two associations: do a good job in the reasonable arrangement of Spring Festival stalls.
The controversy over the Spring Festival schedule shocked the two industry associations.
On the afternoon of January 30, the China Film Distribution and Projection Association issued a document stating that in order to maintain a fair competition environment in the market, promote the high-quality development of Chinese films, and enrich and meet the people's viewing needs during the Spring Festival, in the afternoon of the same day, the China Film Producers Association, the China Film Distribution and Projection Association and representatives of the eight investors and producers of Spring Festival films held a symposium on the distribution and screening of Spring Festival films.
They unanimously agreed that no unit or organization should take advantage of its dominant market position to interfere in market business activities, including film scheduling, and make restrictive arrangements for the legitimate business activities of various market entities.
8 films for the Spring Festival are finalized.
Maoyan data shows that as of February 8, 8 films have been finalized for the Spring Festival, which is basically the same as the number of Spring Festival films in previous years, and all 8 films will be released on February 10.
At present, the lighthouse and Maoyan platforms have attracted the most attention to "Flying Life 2" directed by Han Han and starring Shen Teng and Yin Zheng, which is a sequel to "Flying Life", and the genre is also a comedy. "Flying Life" was released during the Spring Festival in 2019 and achieved a box office of more than 1.7 billion yuan.
Directed by Jia Ling, the comedy movie "Hot and Hot" starring Jia Ling, Lei Jiayin, and Zhang Xiaofei followed. With a box office of more than 5 billion yuan, "Hello! Li Huanying" is in front, making people look forward to whether Jia Ling can achieve another good result with "Hot and Hot".
Directed by Zhang Yimou, Lei Jiayin, Ma Li, and Zhao Liying, "Article 20" temporarily ranked third, but the gap with the top two is not big. "Article 20" is Zhang Yimou's third Spring Festival work, of which "Man Jianghong" defeated "The Wandering Earth 2" in the 2023 Spring Festival file and won the schedule championship with a box office of over 2.6 billion.
Other films in this year's Spring Festival include:
A bear infested series of movies "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space" every year. As an animation with huge IP influence, the cumulative box office of the "Bear Infested" series of animated films has exceeded 5.5 billion yuan.
"Mr. Red Carpet" directed by Ning Hao and starring Andy Lau. This is Ning Hao's new work that reappears on the screen as a creator after "Crazy Alien".
Directed by Han Yan and starring Peng Yuchang and Li Gengxi, "Let's Shake the Sun Together". This is Han Yanji's "Get Out! The final chapter of the "Life Trilogy" created after "Tumor Jun" and "Send You a Little Red Flower", which is also his first time in the Spring Festival.
"The Nether of the Canopy of the Eight Rings" presents a new image of Zhu Bajie, mainly showing the bravery and warmth of Marshal Tianpeng.
Huang Pi: The God of Wealth Cat from the Sky takes two screening modes in Mandarin and Cantonese, telling the story of the God of Wealth Cat Huang Pi planting a cash cow.
Mr. Red Carpet may face the bottom of the box office.
On the evening of January 29, the rumored Spring Festival movie "Mr. Red Carpet", which did not participate in the mandatory minimum film schedule, issued a poster, proposing to "let the audience choose for themselves and watch the movie quietly on the first day of the Lunar New Year", this slogan is in line with the theme of the movie itself, and it is also suspected to be a response to the sub-line release incident.
Some viewers expressed their good impression that this film did not follow the trend, but some people pointed out that judging from the pre-sale data, the box office of "Mr. Red Carpet" was the least optimistic among these films.
Behind "Mr. Red Carpet" is an "ancient" story in the Chinese film industry: director Ning Hao's famous work "Crazy Stone" has been appreciated and invested by "Bole" Andy Lau; Seventeen years have passed, and Bole, who is quite fateful, and Maxima collaborated on this "Mr. Red Carpet" about the movie.
This is a satirical comedy focusing on Vanity Fair in the entertainment industry, Andy Lau, as a model worker in the film industry, has a stable box office base. is reminiscent of "The Crowd" released during the Spring Festival in 2021, which was produced and starred by Andy Lau, although it had a bad start, but finally pushed the box office to more than 700 million yuan with Andy Lau's appeal.
*丨Rushing News.