BAT completes the last movie puzzle but also has to work for the audience

However, it is difficult to explain in one sentence who works for whom; but what is certain is that BAT will be stronger after completing the puzzle and they will bring more changes to China's film industry.

On September 11, Tencent Penguin Pictures held its inaugural meeting in Beijing; so far, BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) all have professional film companies and officially completed the last piece of the puzzle.

Thinking back more than a year ago, Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group, shouted in Shanghai that "all film companies will work for BAT in the future." I have to admire his foresight.

However, it is difficult to explain in one sentence who works for whom; but what is certain is that BAT will be stronger after completing the puzzle and they will bring more changes to China's film industry.

After all, this is a blessing for the audience.

Disclosure reveals that

Penguin Pictures has participated in nearly 5 billion films.

In June 2014, Alibaba Pictures was established; in July of the same year, Baidu's iQiyi also established a special film company; in early 2015, Baidu quietly established Baidu Pictures.

On the surface, the overall situation is surging, but Tencent remains inactive. As China's largest Internet giant, is Tencent so "unresponsive"? Obviously impossible! In fact, since the second half of 2014, Tencent has relied on its huge advantages in the video and media fields to extend its reach into the film industry and participate in the production of "Ruffian Hero 2" and "My Morning Watch Girlfriend". Both films have box office exceeding 100 million yuan.

This is the predecessor of "Penguin Pictures".

By 2015, Penguin Pictures had participated in the production of more than 10 films such as "The Celestial Master","Zhong Kui Conquering the Devil","The Demon Hunt","Charlotte Worries" and "Journey to the West: Fighting the Bone Bones", among which films such as "The Celestial Master" and "The Demon Hunt" have been released, and the cumulative box office has exceeded 4 billion yuan. Especially for "Monster Hunt", as of September 11, data from the National Film Industry Development Office showed that the total box office of "Monster Hunt" in the mainland has reached 2.42859 billion yuan, with 65425600 visitors. It is the first domestic film to win the film history championship in the 21 years since the opening of the China mainland film market.

If you add in 2014's "Ruffian Hero 2" and "My Morning Watch Girlfriend", as well as the upcoming release of "Charlotte Worry", the cumulative box office will go straight to 5 billion yuan, which is more than the total box office of China's film market in 2008 (4.341 billion yuan).

In other words, although Penguin Pictures was only established on September 11 this year, Tencent's entry into China films actually began more than a year ago.

A summary of the box office of the movies Penguin Pictures participated in 2015 (as of September 11)

Tencent is up to a big game.

After the establishment of Penguin Pictures on September 11, Tencent Pictures will announce the establishment and announce relevant project plans on September 17. Penguin Pictures owns Tencent Video, the largest video playback platform in China, and also owns the best in China.(entertainment) media platform-Tencent Entertainment; Tencent Pictures has a large number of original IPs such as "Battle of God" and "QQ Speed".

Pattern After

BAT completes the last jigsaw puzzle piece,

Penguin Pictures and Tencent Pictures, which is about to enter the historical stage, BAT will officially complete their last jigsaw piece in the field of China film.

So far, five film companies, including Penguin Pictures, Tencent Pictures, Alibaba Pictures, Iqiyi Pictures, and Baidu Pictures, are both partners and competitors;BAT's impact on the entire China film industry will be mainly realized through them.

These five companies will deeply intervene in every aspect, from script development to filming and production, to marketing and distribution, terminal playback (including theater release and online release), and the development of related post-products, forming a complete closed loop.

After

completing the puzzle that affects every aspect of the film industry

, the era when BAT comprehensively affects and promotes China films will inevitably come.

In the field of investment and production, Penguin Pictures, a company owned by Tencent, alone, had a cumulative box office of films produced in 2015 exceeding 4 billion yuan, accounting for about 15% of the country's total box office this year. Alibaba Pictures is also one of the producers of the Hollywood blockbuster "Mission Impossible 5" that is currently being screened in China. Iqiyi Pictures has participated in the production of films such as "One Step Away" and "Gorgeous Office Worker". It can be said that in the field of investment and production, BAT's film companies have made comprehensive efforts.

In the field of shooting and production, BAT may be a relatively weak link, but it is also recruiting talents on a large scale in an effort to make up for its shortcomings.

Promotion and distribution is BAT's strength, because they all have an extremely large user base and can achieve seamless connection between movie products and target users. For example, in the past two or three years, online ticketing has changed the traditional ticketing model and brought more convenience to viewers; by the end of this year, online ticketing may exceed half of the total, gradually becoming the mainstream ticketing model.

In terms of terminal playback, Alibaba Pictures is trying smart theaters. In the future, when entering the movie theater, you won't need to take tickets, just swipe the QR code directly; and you can refund and change them a few hours before the broadcast, completely subverting the previous movie ticket. The consumption model of "no refund, no exchange".

On the other hand, Tencent and iQiyi both have millions of online paying users, and they have gone to tens of millions during the year. In the future, even if some films are not released in theaters, they can recover their costs simply by broadcasting them online.

At the post-product development end, BAT has greater advantages because they understand the needs of the audience and have smooth channels. For example,"Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" relied on Alibaba this year to achieve a historical record of selling more than 10 million products a day.

Looking forward

to ranking first in the world within two years and breaking through 100 billion in five years,

Jack Ma once said that he is not interested in whether a certain movie makes money or loses money, but is interested in how to make the China film market reach 300 billion yuan.

Ten years ago, it might have been a joke, but now, it is not completely impossible. So far this year, the cumulative box office of China's film market has exceeded the 30 billion mark, and is expected to reach 45 billion for the whole year. In the past 10 years, the annual growth rate of China's film market has remained at around 30%. The highest growth rate in 2004 and 2010 exceeded 60%; the lowest growth rate in 2007 was 27%.

Let's calculate at an annual increase rate of 30%, this year's 45 billion yuan will be close to 60 billion yuan next year, and will definitely exceed 70 billion yuan the next year, surpassing the North American market (about US$10 billion per year) to become the world's largest film market.

According to this growth rate, by 2020, the annual box office of China's film market will reach more than 160 billion yuan; even if the growth rate slows down in the next few years, there is still great hope of reaching 100 billion yuan within five years.

Conclusion

In the future, all film companies will work for audiences, including BAT

. Judging from the actual combat in the past year or so, BAT's entry into the film industry is not a threat to other film companies, but a help; this is just like Tencent's "Giving the Tiger Wings" plan last year. As claimed, BAT has given wings to traditional film companies.

After Yu Dong said the sentence "All film companies will work for BAT", his Bona Pictures not only did not "work for BAT", but also successively produced blockbuster films such as "Taking Tiger Mountain with Wisdom","Macau 3" and "The Burning Sun", making a lot of money. The sold well of these films are all closely related to the Internet. For example, related marketing distribution and word-of-mouth communication rely on the Internet, and BAT also contributes.

At the same time, in the past year, we have been pleasantly surprised to find that although domestic films are still surrounded by curses, they have always moved forward amidst curses. Films such as "Wolf Totem","Monster Hunt","Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" and "The Burning Sun" have both won the box office and applauded, which has greatly increased the audience's confidence in domestic films.

Therefore, in the future, not all film companies will work for BAT, but all film companies will work for audiences, including BAT.

Editor: yvonne