There is youth and love “May 1” file sweet ending “Small but beautiful” film into “Spring”
Hangzhou Daily News The “May 1st” box office in 2022 finally ended with 297 million yuan. This result was achieved in the absence of Beijing and Shanghai, the two major voting cities. Although the numbers are not bright, they are precious to filmmakers who persevered under the epidemic.
From the perspective of film supply, there are only 3 new films released in the “May 1” file this year, which is a bit deserted compared with the 13 new films released in the “May 1” file last year. Many people in the industry believe that under the circumstances of repeated epidemics and low theater operating rates, small and medium-sized movies are gradually becoming the main force of theaters, because certain market risks can be avoided.
Blockbusters can save the market, but “small” movies also have a considerable box office market as long as the content is well-made and well-made. For Chinese films, only by forming a good model of “walking on two legs” for mainstream commercial blockbusters and small and medium-budget films can they overcome the epidemic and allow more people to enter the theater and indulge in light and shadow.
Small-cost films lead May 1st
This year’s “May 1st” box office champion is “I Really Hate Long-distance Relationships”. As one of the few domestic films in the same period, the theme of “Youth + Love” has attracted many female audiences. Judging from the box office performance, the box office for 13 days of release was 119 million yuan, which is quite good when theaters across the country are not fully open.
In terms of quality and word of mouth, the film is not a perfect film. The reason why it can be recognized by the audience is due to the objective factors such as the withdrawal of many high-investment films under the influence of the epidemic and making room for low-cost films. It is also because the story of the film is close to life, and the whole film is full of real and natural emotions. Resonates especially with female viewers.
The producer of the film, Guangguang Media, had a similar operation last year. The release of “Your Wedding” achieved a box office of nearly 800 million yuan and a very high return on investment. At the end of last year, Maoyan Film, which took 55 days to shoot, became the dark horse of the year, with a box office of over 855 million yuan, known as the best genre film since the epidemic.
With such successful cases ahead, more and more producers are turning to choosing small and medium-cost movies for development. In their opinion, the basket is still so big, and now they are not pursuing just one watermelon, but more apples. Develop 4 to 5 “small films” with the money of one “blockbuster”, as long as one becomes a hit, the income is also considerable.
The boat is small and good to turn “small but fine” into a weather vane
Although small and medium-sized films cannot be compared with blockbusters such as “Changjin Lake” in terms of production scale, their genre-based themes can also make up for the insufficiency of many blockbusters in storytelling, showing the box-office potential of small to big.
At the same time, because its production cost is relatively low and the cycle is short, it can give full play to the advantages of “small boat and good turnaround”. During the epidemic, not only movie theaters were affected, but also upstream producers and producers. Blindly pursuing large-scale investment in movies will accumulate a large amount of funds and even break the capital chain.
Reasonable investment, selection of low-cost movies, careful polishing, and striving for a small and broad-based film are also a good way out and opportunities for producers who are not well-off at the moment.
Enlight Media mentioned in its 2021 financial report that in order to cope with the adverse impact of the repeated epidemic on the size of the film market and the box office, it will continue to strengthen cost control, increase the production of small and medium-cost films, appropriately control the number of high-cost films, and reduce the number of films. market risk.
No matter the size of the film, “content” always comes first, and the basic rules of creation must be followed. Only by continuously strengthening the supply of high-quality films can the audience have the confidence to enter the theater, pay for the domestic film, and re-inspire the audience’s views. Shadow enthusiasm.