Box office of movies in the first half of the year is expected to reach 23 billion yuan, and 2016 is expected to enter the era of 50 billion yuan

According to Yien data, as of 11:00 on June 27, the total box office of newly released films in the first half of the year was 22.63 billion yuan, of which domestic films (including domestic co-productions) contributed 11.36 billion yuan and imported films contributed 11.27 billion yuan.

June is coming to an end, and the box office of China's film market will also be settled in the first half of the year. According to Art data, as of 11:00 on June 27, the total box office of newly released films in the first half of the year was 22.63 billion yuan, of which domestic films (including domestic co-productions) contributed 11.36 billion yuan and imported films contributed 11.27 billion yuan. By the end of June, the box office in the first half of the year is expected to reach 23 billion yuan, compared with 20.1 billion yuan in the same period in the first half of last year. This year, while the box office is growing, the growth rate has slowed down significantly. Among the top 10 films in the first half of this year, 6 seats were held, and domestic films occupied three seats. They were "Mermaid","Journey to the West: Monkey King Three Beats the White Bone", and "Macau Fengyun 3", all of which exceeded the 1 billion yuan mark, but the "explosion" of domestic films relied on the Spring Festival schedule.

A Film Market Observation

"Mermaid" set a record of 3.391 billion yuan

. The most "phenomenal" blockbuster in the first half of the year was Stephen Chow's new film "Mermaid".

"Mermaid", which was released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, continued to break box office records. The box office exceeded 100 million yuan during the pre-sale period. The box office on the first day of release totaled 280 million yuan, breaking 1 billion yuan in 4 days and 1.56 billion yuan in 7 days. It quickly broke the box office record for the first day and single day set on Valentine's Day, earning nearly 300 million yuan in box office on Valentine's Day. On February 19, the film surpassed "Monster Hunt" to reach the mainland box office championship. On February 26, it broke through the 3 billion yuan mark, becoming the first film in mainland film history to exceed 3 billion yuan per piece. The film also helped the total box office in the mainland in 2016 exceed the 10 billion yuan mark on February 23, and also set many records for the highest single-day box office of mainland Chinese films and the highest first-day box office of mainland Chinese films. In the end,"Mermaid" won 3.391 billion yuan at the box office and became the "overlord" of the movie market in the first half of the year.

The "phenomenal" film in the first half of last year was "Speed and Passion 7", which cost 2.427 billion yuan. The appearance of two consecutive domestic films,"Monster Hunt" and "Mermaid" within a year has already put "Speed and Passion 7"'s box office record behind. The 3.391 billion yuan box office of "Mermaid" has also brought domestic films into the era of 3 billion yuan + per piece. However, as to who can surpass "Mermaid"'s box office score of 3.391 billion yuan, most theater people are conservative, believing that there have not been any blockbusters with 3 billion yuan + appearance in this year's scheduled films, and "Mermaid"'s box office record will probably last until at least this year's New Year.

Domestic films and imported films are equally

divided According to Yien data, as of 11:00 on June 27, the total box office of newly released films in the first half of the year in China's film market was 22.63 billion yuan, of which domestic films (including domestic co-productions) contributed 11.36 billion yuan, accounting for 50.2%, and imported films contributed 11.27 billion yuan, accounting for 49.8%. Domestic and imported films are evenly matched and move forward hand in hand. In the first half of 2015, the revenue from imported films was 10.78 billion yuan, accounting for 53.5%, and the revenue from domestic films was 9.36 billion yuan, accounting for 46.5%. Last year, imported films led slightly.

About 192 films were released in the first half of this year (due to the existence of small-scale films released, the number of films released is for reference only), compared with 156 films in the same period last year. While the number increased, the box office of the film market also increased significantly, compared with the first half of last year. 20.1 billion yuan increased. However, the growth rate and range of box office in China's film market are also slowing down. The ratio between the total box office of 20.1 billion yuan in the first half of 2015 and the box office score of 29.6 billion yuan for the whole year of 2014 is very alarming. However, the growth rate of money attracted by the film market this year has slowed down significantly.

Among the top ten films at the box office in the first half of this year, imported films accounted for six seats, followed by "Zootopia","Warcraft","Captain America 3","Fantasy Forest","Star Wars: The Force Awakens", and "X-Men: Apocalypse". The Sino-US co-production "Kung Fu Panda 3" ranks seventh, and domestic films account for three seats. They are the spring releases of "Mermaid","Journey to the West: Monkey King Three Beats the Bone", and "Macau 3". Many of the films that have hit the box office are sequels, and sequels that have accumulated popularity through the series are still popular. Judging from the first half of this year, the explosion of domestic films is more obvious than last year's dependence on schedules, especially during the Spring Festival period.

At this point, the Prehistory Ten of Mainland Shadow has also changed rankings, and "Mermaid","Zootology" and "Warcraft" have advanced to the Prehistory Ten of Mainland Shadow.

The off-season results in April and May were bleak

. In February this year, affected by the many blockbusters during the Spring Festival, the film market exploded. The national monthly screenings were 5.95 million, a year-on-year increase of 52%. The monthly movie-watching audience exceeded 192.83 million, approaching 200 million., a year-on-year increase of 73.7%. The monthly box office reached 6.88 billion yuan, raising domestic monthly film output to a new benchmark, setting a record for the best-selling month, surpassing the single-month score of 5.5 billion yuan set in July last summer.

The gratifying situation at the beginning of the year did not continue. In April and May, no phenomenal films appeared in the film market, and the newly released blockbusters failed to make the film market popular. In this traditional off-season, the film market showed a significant decline, and the monthly results were relatively bleak, with 3.11 billion yuan and 3.14 billion yuan respectively, which were lower than the monthly results in nine months last year.

Youth films are no longer popular. The Korean Wave has turned cold.

In the first half of this year, the number of new films has increased, and the types have also been very diverse. However, youth films that sold well in the same period last year have a little lack of stamina this year. In the same period last year, the three youth films "Left Ear","Back to 20" and "How to Sheng Xiao Mo" totaled more than 1 billion yuan, attracting money crazily. In the first half of this year,"Brothers Sleeping on My Top Bunk", produced by Gao Xiaosong and starred by Chen Xiao, Qin Lan, Du Tianhao and others, failed to achieve expected results during the Qingming Festival holiday. It only earned 100 million yuan from the beginning of the month to the end of the month, and the final box office was 128 million yuan. It also confirmed that the youth-themed films that followed the trend have exhausted the audience. Even if they flaunt the so-called IP, the film's market impact and final box office are far from those of "You at the Same Table"(456 million yuan) with the same theme the year before last. Another youth movie starring Bai Jingting and others,"Whose Youth Is Not Lost", ended at 179 million yuan. Many other youth films with star starring lineups, including "The Formula of True Love for a Girl" and "The Half-Sold Girl", have become cannon fodder for less than 100 million yuan."Half-Sold Girl" box office only 2.32 million yuan. The demand for youth films in China films is no longer in a craze period.

In addition, many South Korean directors came to China to film, and the "report cards" handed over in the first half of this year were not optimistic. The Korean Wave almost became a "cold wave." "Dream Partner" directed by "You from the Stars" director Chang Taiwei only grossed more than 77 million at the box office, while "My New Sassy Girlfriend" directed by South Korean director Cho Gen-chi grossed 34.14 million at the box office."Uninvited Guest" produced by An Bin-ki and directed by Lim Daxiong only grossed less than 4 million at the box office. Several films received low scores, which attracted the industry to marvel and think.

Many filmmakers lamented that there are fewer and fewer youth films and romance films that rely on the lineup of big stars to easily exceed 500 million. The best-selling romance film in the first half of this year was "Beijing Meets Seattle's Best Love Letter". The film's final box office was 786 million yuan, ranking 11th among films in the first half of the year, closely following the 10th place "X-Men: Apocalypse". The film became the box office champion on May Day and also set a box office record for a domestic romance film. Director Xue Xiaolu also became the best-selling female director in a single Chinese film.

"Crazy Zootopia" and "Hot Pot Hero" become the biggest dark

horse The strongest dark horse film in the first half of this year was the counterattack "Crazy Zootopia", and the domestic film was the "Hot Pot Hero", which won by word of mouth. The Hollywood animated film "Zootopia" opened in early March, but because the opening was on the same day as "Ip Man 3", the filming was crowded. The filming on the first day was only 14%, and the box office on the first day was only about 22 million yuan. Such a low-key start does not affect its box office counterattack. Relying on its strong strength and reputation, as well as the "box office counterfeiting" of the "Ip Man 3" incident, the subsequent box office was released. Even the weekend box office jumped to 167 million yuan in a single day a week after its release."Zootown" won the championship twice and ranked second on the weekly list several times. Even a month after its release, the "Qingming Festival" could still earn 100 million yuan. The film finally became the runner-up in the first half of the year with a score of 1.53 billion yuan. Another film,"Hot Pot Hero", fell behind "My Secret Service Grandpa" during the "Qingming Festival holiday" in terms of film schedule and box office. In the later period,"Hot Pot Hero" relied on word-of-mouth fermentation to rise in the box office. It won among a number of domestic films that month. The box office was 324 million yuan, making it the top domestic film in the first half of the year.

B Industry analysis The

market is mature and the growth rate in some regions is

slowing down. Talking about the increase in box office in the first half of this year compared with the same period in the first half of last year, Yu Chao, general manager of Capital Cinema, said in an interview with the Beijing Times that China's film market as a whole is growing and the market is still developing rapidly."Although judging from some terminal theaters, there has not been much change compared with the same period last year, some theaters are even lower than the same period last year. The growth rate of the film market is indeed slowing down, because the growth of the film market in the past two years has been caused by the rapid development of new theaters and screens, as well as supporting market-based means, such as the stimulation of online ticketing subsidies, but these cannot be sustained in the long term. This year, the growth rate of some theaters or regions has slowed down. This is a positive adjustment to themselves after the market becomes more mature and standardized."

The 3.391 billion yuan for "Mermaid" in the first half of this year was much more than the 2.426 billion yuan for the champion "Speed and Furious 7" in the first half of 2015. The box office of the top 10 films in the first half of this year was higher than the top 10 last year. Yu Chao said that this also represents the overall trend of the market this year.

In the first half of this year, the highest-grossing foreign film "Zootopia" grossed 1.53 billion yuan. Why is it not as crazy as last year's "Super 7"? Yu Chao believes that with the development and expansion of market capacity and space, there will still be high-box office movies. Whether it is domestic or foreign, the specific number of hits a single film can make and whether it can achieve phenomenal "anti-heaven" box office depends on various factors and conditions. "Reaching the phenomenal level is not easy. The overall market space has not shrunk, and there is still a chance to achieve higher box office in the future. Last year,"Speed and Passion 7" told us how big the market capacity was. In July,"Monster Hunt" exceeded it, and the mermaid during the Spring Festival reached more than 3 billion yuan, further demonstrating how big this capacity is. Records will be broken sometimes, there will be no ceilings. These depend on the schedule, the audience, the subject matter, as well as various assistance, such as ticket subsidies, marketing, and showdown."

The bubble was squeezed out after the "Ip Man 3" incident

. Talking about the downturn in Yue Ying City in April and May of the first half of the year, Rao Shuguang, secretary-general of the China Film Association, said in an interview with the Beijing Times that the fundamental reason for this traditional "off-season" film market is the lack of high-quality local blockbusters."But high-quality local blockbusters may prefer to focus on summer and National Day blockbusters-this is not determined by the will of any individual, but by market rules and scheduling rules." He believes that it may be a good thing that China's film market is relatively sluggish in April and May."I personally don't think the slowdown in growth is an issue that should be entangled. I have always advocated that we should moderately stabilize the growth rate and improve the quality of films. People only see the box office success of "Mermaid" and don't see the risk side of the market.(In the first half of the year), there were also losses for film market companies and film projects, which many people didn't see."

Rao Shuguang believes that overall, the overall box office in the first half of the year was not as high as everyone predicted at the beginning of the year, because the box office growth rate has slowed down in the past three months, and market supervision has been strengthened and refined after the "Ip Man 3" incident. The original box office bubble has been squeezed out. "After the" Ip Man 3 "incident, the film management increased penalties for violations such as ticket buying, which to a certain extent suppressed the ultra-high growth of the box office and effectively squeezed out the bubble in the film market, especially the box office. It is conducive to the overall interests and long-term development of China films. In other words, this kind of box office is more authentic, reliable and effective."

We should be wary of the shortcomings of domestic films

, ranging from the peak box office during the Spring Festival to the decline in the box office in April, May and June. Rao Shuguang said that considering the core competitiveness of China films, there are still certain shortcomings, and the barrel effect may happen anytime, anywhere. In addition, the number of screens of China films has reached 35,000, and the growth of box office and movie-goers has been lower than the growth of the number of screens. The output per unit area of both cinemas and screens has declined, highlighting some signs of structural excess."This requires us to think forward-looking and effectively resolve it."

Talking about the increase in the box office of this artistic film caused by the incident of Fang Li kneeling in "Hundreds of Birds Facing the Phoenix" in the first half of the year, Rao Shuguang said that this is only a case and cannot be replicated. However, this phenomenon reminds us that we can seize this opportunity to make structural changes and make the development of China films more sustainable.

C Box office forecast

that in 2016 or entering the era of 50 billion yuan,

the total box office of films in 2015 will be 44.069 billion yuan. Previously, some experts have optimistic predicted that this year's mainland films will exceed the total box office of 53 billion yuan. Theater companies are generally conservative about this. Yu Chao said that it is not certain whether they can exceed the total box office of 53 billion yuan."The increase in the first half of the year was not as much compared with last year, and the increase in the second half may not be as much, but there should still be a growth rate of nearly 20%."

The average growth rate of China films in the past three years is about 34%. If the average growth rate in the past three years is based on, China films will reach 60.4 billion yuan in 2016. Many experts made this prediction at the beginning of the year. Rao Shuguang believes that based on the current situation, the total box office of movies this year may not reach this figure, but the total box office for the year exceeds 50 billion yuan is not a problem."This is not a bad thing. It can make us more clearly understand the problems and contradictions in current China films, and objectively view the rapid growth of China films. This kind of growth has some irrational elements, and some expansion of capital scale is non-professional and is not beneficial to improving the quality of films." Rao Shuguang is relatively optimistic about the film market in the second half of the year."Even if the box office growth slows down, as long as the quality and efficiency of films are improved, the introduction of a large number of young directors will help the sound and rapid development of China films."

D Looking forward to the second half of the year, who will become the leader in the National Day Lunar New Year festival

Yu Chao, general manager of the Capital Cinema, said that in recent years, imported films have been relatively stronger in the first half of the year, while domestic films have made efforts in the second half of the year. This year's summer, National Day, and New Year domestic films are expected to hit box office highs. In terms of external films in the second half of the year, Matt Damon's new films "Bourne 5","Star Trek 3: Beyond the Stars","Harry Potter" spin-off films "Where are the Fantastic Animals","Ice Age 5", etc. will be released in the mainland.

Many domestic films choose to schedule early, and it seems that the competition will be fierce at present. Among the domestic films that will be released in the second half of the year, it becomes a suspense who will become the leader. "I am Not Pan Jinlian" directed by Feng Xiaogang and starred by Fan Bingbing and others took the lead in locking up the National Day slot. In the same period, there were also "Ace Comes with Ace" directed by Wang Jing and starred by Andy Lau, Huang Xiaoming and others, Guo Jingming's "Grand Tradition", and "Passing Through Your World" and "My War", etc., the competition is very fierce. The industry expects that "Jue Ji" and "I am not Pan Jinlian" are expected to lead this schedule.

In December, famous New Year directors are rushing for new works. The action film "Railway Flying Tigers" directed by Ding Sheng,"The Death of Romantics" directed by Cheng Er,"The Great Wall" by Zhang Yimou,"The Sky Fire" by Lin Lingdong, and "One Hundred Thousand Cold Jokes 2" will be released. The industry expects that "Railway Flying Tigers" and "Great Wall" are expected to compete for the championship.

In addition, Cao Baoping's new film "The Murderer" and "The Ferry Man" produced by Wong Kar-wai, directed by Zhang Jiajia and starred by Leung Chiu-wai will also be released in the second half of the year, which is worth looking forward to.

Editor: Nancy