Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 1st, Wire Title: Chinese Films in 2021: Box Office Continues to Maintain the World‘s No. 1 Film Industry Shows Its Strong Strength
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Peng, Xu Xiaoqing, Wei Jingyu
The National Film Bureau released data on the 1st. In 2021, the total box office of Chinese movies reached 47.258 billion yuan, of which the box office of domestic films was 39.927 billion yuan, accounting for 84.49% of the total box office. The annual gross box office continued to rank first in the world.
From “Hello, Li Huanying” telling about the warmth of maternal love, to “My Fathers and Me” singing the selfless dedication of several generations of fathers; from “Chinese Doctor” reproducing the “retrograde” who came forward after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, To “Changjin Lake” to promote the great spirit of resisting the United States and aiding Korea, filmmakers used a series of works to reflect the spirit of the times, promote the rapid recovery and development of my country’s film industry, arouse the patriotism and patriotism of the audience, and create a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the celebration and the creation of history. The strong atmosphere of Weiye.
The annual gross box office continues to rank first in the world
Outstanding works created good box office results, which was a prominent feature of my country’s film market last year.
Statistics from the National Film Bureau show that in the past year, my country produced 565 feature films, and 8 of the top 10 films at the box office for the year were domestic films. Among them, the two films “Changjin Lake” and “Hello, Li Huanying” both broke into the top three in the box office list of my country’s film history.
“Changjin Lake” released on the National Day file, after breaking a number of my country’s film history records including the National Day box office record, became the box office champion of my country’s film history with a box office of 5.772 billion yuan (as of the end of 2021). Jia Ling’s “Hello, Li Huanying” as the director was in full swing during the Spring Festival, and finally ranked third in the box office list of my country’s film history with a box office record of over 5.4 billion yuan.
In addition to the above two phenomenal works, different types of films including “1921”, “Revolutionary”, “Above the Cliff”, “My Sister”, “White Snake 2: The Green Snake Rise”, etc. have all achieved good box office results. It fully demonstrates the rich themes of my country’s film creation and the huge potential of the film market.
In addition, statistics show that in 2021, my country will add 6,667 screens, and the total number of screens will reach 82,248. The total number of screens also ranks first in the world.
In 2021, Chinese filmmakers have overcome the effects of repeated epidemics and provided sincere gifts to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the party. The film work has achieved a good start to the “14th Five-Year Plan”.
New mainstream movies continue to attract attention
Looking at my country’s film market last year, the new mainstream films always performed well during important schedules.
In the 51st file, Zhang Yimou’s spy war film “Above the Cliff”, which eulogizes the Communists on the hidden front, has become a new breakthrough in the new mainstream film. In the summer, “1921”, “Revolutionary” and other films dedicated to the centenary of the founding of the party, or panoramic or close-up reappearance of the historical moments of the birth of the Communist Party of China; “Chinese Doctor” pays tribute to the magnificent fight against the epidemic with a movie, and once again evokes the collective memory of the audience . In addition to “Changjin Lake” in the National Day archives, “My Fathers and Me” continued the style of the series and reproduced the heritage of the spirit of struggle, which was also welcomed by the audience.
The new mainstream film that combines the spirit of the times and the popular style will become the main force in the domestic film market in 2021. These films continue to innovate in themes, styles, production techniques, etc., gradually breaking the barriers between the main theme film and the commercial market, and continue to attract attention and praise——
Innovative expression and pursuit of diversified development have become an important way for new mainstream movies to reach audiences, especially young audiences; spy films, action movies, disaster movies, suspense films…the new mainstream movies have increasingly diverse themes and styles, attracting different ages Duan’s audience walked into the theater; through the small characters under the background of the big era, showing family and country feelings in the presentation of the relationship between the “little ego” and the “big ego” is also an important reason for the new mainstream movies to win widespread empathy.
Yin Hong, vice chairman of the Chinese Film Association and professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, said that starting from the individual, strong typology, emphasis on listening effects, and shared value are the basic creative laws of the new mainstream film. Only Chinese films created under this rule can make strides forward in the intersection of history and future development.
The film industry has jumped to a new level
From the creation of grand war scenes to the restoration of real overseas scenes, Chinese films will present a shocking “blockbuster sense” in 2021.
Taking “Changjin Lake” as an example, the film presents the heroic scenes of the war in all directions. “We use high-tech to provide technical support, through highly impactful images, to highlight the cruelty of war and the mission of the Chinese People’s Volunteers to defend our country.” said Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group.
From the pre-shooting to the post-production of the film, the total number of staff has reached a staggering 12,000. “I have never seen such a long ending credit before staff subtitles, “Changjin Lake” fully demonstrates the current strong strength of my country’s film industry.” said Zhan Qingsheng, a professor at the Military Culture College of the National Defense University.
Also used a large number of high-tech films for post-processing, as well as “1921”, which just won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Screenplay. Co-director Zheng Dasheng introduced that due to the epidemic, “1921” failed to achieve overseas filming of European scenes. Part of the scenery was a high-tech restoration on the Bund in Shanghai with the help of the background of the “World Architecture Expo”. “This has also created a grand international space for the narrative of “1921” and made the film’s story more complete.”
The dazzling box office, the variety of themes, the steadily increasing level of the film industry… the past year, my country’s big screens were brilliant and colorful.
“Under the premise of preventing and controlling the epidemic, my country’s film box office performance in 2021 will be excellent. This fully shows that the main body, creators, and audience groups of my country’s film market have matured day by day, and the film industry has moved towards high-quality development. Stay firm.” said Liu Haibo, a professor at the Shanghai Film Academy of Shanghai University.