Why did 17 new films ＂squeeze into＂ the May 1st file？ The industry predicts that the 3 billion box office sprint is ＂the strongest in history＂
Poster journalist Qin Wen reports from Jinan, Zhang Yifan.
With 17 films announcing the May Day holiday, "the most crowded May Day file in history" has become a hot topic in Weibo. After the smoke-filled Spring Festival, the film market was deserted for two months, and 17 films "squeezed into" the five-day May Day file, which is bound to set off a movie-watching craze for the film market in the first half of the year.
According to the data of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, Out of Fire, the film "King of the Sky", which was produced by China films, has been included in May 1st this year. The film "Prosecutorial Storm" produced by Wentou Holdings; Hengdian film and television participated in the comedy "Unfamiliar Road to Life"; WANDA CINEMAS’s Countdown Love You; Seventeen films, such as the animated film "New GG Bond Movie Super Racing" produced by Jinyi Film and Television, were finalized. At present, there are 6 films that want to see the index exceed 100,000, and the insiders predict that the box office of May 1st this year will reach 3 billion yuan.
On April 14th, the reporter saw in Jingsi Road Store of Jinan Wanda Studios that the cinema was carrying out the May 1st movie promotion.
"There are 17 films released on May 1st this year, with a variety of films. In the past two days, we will start pre-sales. At present, all nine cinemas are open, and each cinema will be screened from 8 am to 2 am." On April 14th, at Jingsi Road Store of Jinan Wanda Studios, Juck Zhang, the studio manager, told the reporter that during the May Day period, the studio expected 3,000 customers to come to the store every day, and they had made plans to cope with the movie-watching craze.
Why do you "get together" in the May 1st gear?
Judging from the films currently on file, the most concerned films are King of the Sky produced by Alibaba Pictures, Bona Film and China Film, Unfamiliar Life Road produced by Taobao Film, Cat’s Eye and China Film, Out of Fire produced by Lianrui Film and China Film, and Procuratorial Storm produced by Supreme Censorship Film Center, Cat’s Eye and Wentou Holdings. These four films will be released from April 28th to 28th.
In addition, so many years, Countdown Love You, Changsha Nightlife, Jian Bozan, Aoki Robbery and Shizuoka Spark are scheduled for April 28, and the Cosmic Guard: Storm Force, New GG Bond Movie, The Gem Princess of Magic Romance, Super Meng Time Baby are scheduled for April 29, Mazhuang Village.
Among these "clustered" films released in May 1st, there are many popular films that were withdrawn from the archives in 2022. "The King of the Sky" was originally planned to be released in the National Day in 2022. At that time, the pre-sale box office of the film had exceeded 30 million yuan, but two days before the release, the film suddenly announced its withdrawal. Out of Fire was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2022, but the film side announced the cancellation of the release plan. "Prosecutorial Fengyun" was originally planned to be released in May 1st in 2022, but the film later announced that it was withdrawn due to the severe and complicated epidemic situation.
At the same time, this year’s May 1st file is also regarded as the "touchstone" for industry recovery by film and television companies. From January to March 2023, the box office of national city cinemas was 15.857 billion yuan, and the Spring Festival file contributed about two-thirds of the box office, which made film and television companies pay more attention to the power of the schedule. "On the one hand, film and television companies take out the three-year backlog of movies for release, on the other hand, they also want to use the box office results of May 1st file to lay out the summer file and future schedule." Industry insiders told reporters.
"The King of the Sky" Out of Fire has a considerable momentum and is expected to lead the May 1 ST file
"According to the Cat’s Eye Movie Professional Edition and the Want to See Index on WANDA CINEMAS APP, King of the Sky, Countdown Love You and Unfamiliar Life Road are hot. Among them, "The King of the Sky" led by nearly 500,000 people who wanted to see it. " Juck Zhang, studio manager of Jingsi Road Store, Jinan Wanda Studios, told the reporter that compared with the highest box office record of 1.5 billion yuan in May 1st in 2021, there are six films with "want to watch index" exceeding 100,000 this year, and it is expected that May 1st this year will surpass the total box office of May 1st in 2021.
The professional edition of Lighthouse shows that the box office forecast of "King of the Sky" by the media before the screening is 657 million to 900 million yuan; Out of Fire’s box office forecast is 350 million to 1.2 billion yuan, and the above two films are expected to compete for the May 1st box office title.
The cinema is also preparing a series of activities for the May 1 ST file to cope with the movie-watching craze for the May 1 ST file.
"During the five-day period of the May 1 ST in our cinema, it is estimated that more than 3,000 customers will go to the store to watch movies every day. The daily box office is about 100,000 to 150,000 yuan, and the overall box office income will be about 500,000." Juck Zhang told reporters that in order to cope with the movie-watching boom of the May 1 ST file, the theater recruited many part-time students. "There will be more movie-watching people in each session, and we also trained the cleaning staff to ensure timely disinfection and cleaning; In order to ensure the safety of the screening, a safety inspection will also be conducted every two hours. "
Animated films have a high momentum.
Animated movies have always been the main force of watching movies during holidays. There will be six animated films released in May 1st this year. Among them, the Japanese animated film "Slam Dunk Master", which will be released before April 20th, is expected to become a favorable competitor of the May 1st box office head echelon.
The reporter saw that the related peripheral products of "Slam Dunk Master" have been put on the shelves, and the studio staff revealed that they will also launch a doll-sending activity for the film.
According to the data of Lighthouse Professional Edition, the pre-sale box office of the film Slam Dunk Master exceeded 4.54 million, surpassing Little Yellow Man with Big Eyes to become the box office champion of China film history animation at zero field.
At the same time, according to the data of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, 7 days before the film was released, the total box office of point screening and pre-sale has broken 30 million, and Cat’s Eye wants to see the index of 1.038 million. As a phenomenal classic IP, "Slam Dunk Master" won the weekend box office championship for eight consecutive weeks after it was released in Japan, with Douban score as high as 9.2. The slam dunk, which represents the youthful memories of many fans, will probably become an explosion. The May 1st file is only one week away from the film’s release, so it is likely to have an early impact on the May 1st file.
However, most of the animated films released during the schedule are family fun, and movies such as Adventure in Paradise Valley, Super Baby in Time and Space, Princess Jewel in Magic, New GG Bond Movie Super Racing, Cosmos Guard: Storm Force will become the choices of young audiences. The six animated films are of different types, which provide a variety of choices for family viewing and are expected to achieve good box office performance.
There was "Slam Dunk" before, followed by "Galaxy Guard 3", and the animation film has a high momentum. "On May 5th, the highly anticipated Marvel Comics film" Galaxy Guard 3 "will be released on May 1st, which will continue the popularity of the film market after May 1st. At the same time, there is also a heavyweight film "Speed and Passion 10" in May, so the film types in May are very rich, and we also hope for the box office in May. " Juck Zhang said.