Negative public opinion accounts for 40%, but it is the most popular. Who is in charge of the movie box office？

"So-and-so movies are really good-looking, definitely more than the box office of hundreds of millions now!"

Surfing the internet, you can brush such messages from time to time.

Especially in this year’s Spring Festival, audiences have raised similar box office arguments in Deep Sea, Unknown and even Wandering Earth 2. Whether it’s fans’ grievances, capital control or even the film’s self-disclosure, it also shows that the final result does not match the quality of the film itself.

Although there has always been a phenomenon in the film market that a certain film is "not a blockbuster" or "popcorn movies are in power",However, judging from this year’s Spring Festival movies, the phenomenon of different box office and word of mouth is particularly impressive.

Take "Man Jiang Hong", the box office champion of the Spring Festival, as an example. During the period, it gained nearly 2.8 billion yuan, but the discussion surrounding the film flooded the network. According to the public opinion statistics of the whole network from the media, the negative accounts for nearly 40%.

Image source: HeadlineNo. @ 京京京京

China Ping-Pong’s Jedi Counter-Strike, which was delayed for many times and received good response, was previously scheduled for the National Day last year, and this time it was scheduled for the first day of the New Year’s Day, and then it was postponed to the third day of the New Year’s Day. But unfortunately, even after the file change, the box office is still not improving.

On the third day of the New Year’s Eve, "China Table Tennis Jedi Counterattack" accounted for 10.2%, but the box office was only 2.6%; On the day of the premiere, the box office failed, and the cinemas also adjusted and lowered the film’s schedule the next day, and the box office went down all the way.

In the end, the film had no choice but to announce the withdrawal from the Spring Festival file and change the Spring Festival to a small-scale screening, and change the battle to February 17.

Image source: Sina Weibo

In the statement issued on January 25, the film also clearly admitted: "Due to the serious mistakes and shortcomings of the publicity and distribution team in decision-making, preparation and promotion, the film fell into a particularly passive situation in the Spring Festival file."

It can be said that the success or failure of the film is determined by many factors, such as the announcement team, the choice of schedule, the audience’s reaction, the innovation of the film theme and so on.

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Schedule is the primary consideration.

For this year’s major films, the choice of schedule is particularly important.

Due to the backlog of many films last year, it is bound to be released in all major schedules this year. The number of slots is limited and the number of films released is increasing. The competition pressure at the box office and film arrangement is bound to become more intense. During this year’s Spring Festival, Deep Sea and China Ping-Pong’s Jedi Counter-Strike have staged "tragedies" that caused the box office to fail because of improper schedule selection.

Many examples seem to have proved:It is better to "set the file early" than "set it skillfully".

The "Deep Sea" with an investment of 200 million yuan can only be returned to the book in the Spring Festival file; "I really hate long-distance relationships" with an investment cost of only 20 million yuan can also sell well in May 1st, winning nearly 200 million box office.

For the film, the importance of choosing the timing of the release is self-evident.

Image source: Cat’s Eye Professional Edition

Judging from the many films that have been scheduled in the first half of the year, compared with last year, many films were crowded into the popular schedule, and this year’s Chinese film schedule is no longer superstitious and deliberately pursues the popular schedule. For example, February, as the traditional "introduction month" and off-season, ushered in a large number of films such as Panther 2, Ant Man 3, China Table Tennis Jedi Counter-attack, Broken Net, When the Wind Comes Back, and so on, and all of them were released on Fridays in February and March.

The number of films released is increasing, and the competition for arranging films is fierce. The film release should be both "timed" and "measured"; For these films, choosing to be released in the off-season and avoiding weaknesses also avoids the fate of being released in major schedules and being "cannon fodder" for a big fight between immortals.

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The key to the decision-making of publicity and development

On the other hand, this year’s film team’s announcement and decision-making means have a key impact on the box office.

This year’s Spring Festival is a great success for commercial films. In terms of how to stimulate the audience to watch movies, the head film has achieved the ultimate.

On the eve of the release, "Man Jiang Hong" won the first wave of family fun by focusing on "suspense+comedy".

In the later stage of the film’s release, the publicity team frequently appeared on the hot search list of Weibo topics because of "mistakes" in posters and fonts. The eyes of netizens who are good at discovering loopholes are naturally sharp, but it cannot be ruled out that the film announcement team will take the "black and red" route and attract people’s attention.

Screenshot Source: Sina Weibo

At the same time, "Exchange of Life", which is just a comedy theme for the Spring Festival file, has a poor box office because of the diversion of its core audience and the unfavorable publicity of the film.

Wandering Earth 2, which takes the box office "stamina" route, is also not to be outdone, and many topics such as # Crowdfunding around #, # Film Details # and # Film Cost # are listed on Weibo Hot Search. As more details behind the film were gradually revealed, it also aroused the curiosity of the audience when they walked into the cinema.

Launching various forms of publicity, marketing and topic manufacturing through multiple platforms on the network will attract more attention and test the wisdom and innovation ability of the publicity team, which will naturally affect the final market performance.

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The mobile movie market and audience taste are more important.

In addition, the audience’s viewing habits and tastes have a significant impact on the box office.

Take the two animated films "Deep Sea" and "Bear with Me" in the Spring Festival as an example. As of February 7, the box office of "Bear with Me" exceeded 1.27 billion, nearly twice the box office of "Deep Sea" of 682 million.

Image source: Cat’s Eye Professional Edition

In addition to being greatly influenced by the schedule, the reason why the two films have such a wide box office gap is essentially that the two films have a gap in grasping the core audience.

The story of Deep Sea is self-contained. Although the art picture is excellent, considering the atmosphere of family reunion during the Spring Festival, the heavy story tone makes it unattractive to the parent-child audience, which is the main force of the Spring Festival animated film, resulting in poor box office.

While "Bear Haunted with Me" Bear Heart "firmly grasped the just-needed parent-child viewing demand during the schedule, the theme of maternal love’s film was more in line with the schedule atmosphere, and the unique track of" Zi Gong Xiang "also created favorable conditions for the further fermentation of film reputation, and finally ended up with the third place in the schedule.

In this regard, director Tian Xiaopeng also voluntarily admitted that there were scheduling and investment mistakes in the live broadcast of Tik Tok, indicating that the film investment was too large due to the deep obsession with creation; Moreover, the film’s expression is too artistic, lacks commercial considerations, and does not take into account the audience’s feelings, which leads to the film’s defeat in the "left and right attack" of the Spring Festival file.

In addition, "Man Jiang Hong" replaced "Exchange of Life" as the lever of the "comedy movie" in the Spring Festival, which also proved that:With "suspense+comedy" and "sci-fi+comedy" and other films, a single comedy film has become increasingly unable to meet the diverse viewing needs of the audience.

However, with the change of time, the wind direction of the film market has also changed for all to see.

A major trend reflected by the national film market after the Spring Festival is:The proportion of family-style movies has been reduced, and movie fans, friends’ parties and couples’ movies have gradually become the mainstream.

Image source: Ivey Movie Gallery

Under such a background, dramas with certain movie-watching threshold, individuality and unsatisfactory initial box office will usher in the "second spring".

Wandering Earth 2′ s national roadshow, which started on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year’s Eve, is aimed at grasping the strategy of the working party returning to the first and second lines after the holiday and taking the "long-term" box office. Up to now, the daily box office of Wandering Earth 2 has surpassed that of Manjianghong, and major media predict that the final box office of the film will exceed 3.9 billion.

There is no doubt that the box office of movies can be said to be more unpredictable under the influence of multiple factors:Schedule selection and audience’s aesthetic preference all affect the final box office performance of the film in real time.

Excellent quality, pleasing announcement, and the release opportunity that caters to the audience’s taste … These factors have produced different chemical reactions to the box office in different periods. It also proves that:There is no single fixed process and so-called experience from the announcement to the market, which requires more imagination and innovation.

For the cinemas in the middle and lower reaches, it is necessary to realize the changing logic behind the key factors that affect the box office of films and actively allocate resources such as activity planning, film arrangement adjustment, marketing and publicity for film audiences.