Special feature of 1905 film network On the fifth day of its release, it surpassed (488 million) with a box office score of 507 million, making it the highest-grossing work in China. The film won the Best Animated Feature Film Award at the 96th Academy Awards, and Miyazaki Hayao won the award for the second time after Spirited Away. Winning the grand prize and the promotion of "Miyazaki Hayao’s Farewell Work" helped the movie box office to become popular, and China mainland became its largest ticket warehouse.
Recently, there are many excellent films in the film market, and more than one film has won heavy awards, but the box office trend is quite different.
He was shortlisted for Venice International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival, and was awarded the best film in the main competition unit of Tokyo International Film Festival. It is the last gift left by Tibetan filmmakers to the world. Unfortunately, the box office was less than 3 million in five days, and the market share became more and more limited. The film released statements in Chinese and Tibetan respectively, saying that even in this case, it is hoped to meet everyone’s movie-watching needs as much as possible and coordinate the appropriate times for the needy audience.
Even though commercial films and literary films can’t be completely discussed in the same market dimension, they are also films that have won heavyweight awards and are also manipulated by influential filmmakers, but the market reaction is two extremes. It is an indisputable fact in the current film market that some award-winning films are well received.
In the market evaluation system, the audience will not only pay attention to the word-of-mouth blessing brought by the film award, but also the influence of the main creation and the attraction of the theme can not be ignored. The road to winning a masterpiece is only the first step.
PART.
01
Winning awards before screening, especially winning heavy prizes, will often become an important label for announcement. Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Academy Awards Ceremony are world-renowned film events. In China, the Golden Rooster Award and the Hong Kong Film Awards are the most recognized by the audience. The films that can be shortlisted for these film festivals are regarded as guaranteed in quality. Nomination is already one of the graspers of publicity, and finally winning the honor is the icing on the cake. The awards will be further amplified during the announcement process to enhance the audience’s confidence in the films.
In recent years, many Chinese films have appeared in three major international film festivals and Oscar awards, but few of them have the last laugh and won the grand prize. Based on the aesthetic standards of western film festivals and the fierce competition in the world film industry, most of the award-winning films come from Europe and America, and a few from Japan and South Korea. As an important part of the world’s films, China always adheres to the attitude of openness, tolerance and exchange and learning. From the perspective of imported films, award-winning films have also become popular works in the mainland market except Hollywood cool films.
For example, "What kind of life do you want to live" won nine international animation awards, such as the best animated feature film at the 96th Academy Awards and the best animated film at the 81st Golden Globe Awards. He won the best original screenplay in the 96th Oscar and the best film in the 76th Palme d ‘Or in Cannes. Previously, the romantic comedy "Dead Leaves", which won the jury award of the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 2023, also confirmed the introduction and schedule to be determined.
As of press time, what kind of life do you want to live? The cumulative box office has exceeded 500 million, while the box office of The Trial of Falling has only crossed the 20 million mark for 10 days. One is hot, the other is cold, and they also represent two extreme market trends of award-winning imported films.
The reason for this phenomenon is closely related to cultural differences.Award-winning foreign language films have been recognized in the international film industry, but they have to face cultural differences when entering the mainland market. Compared with Europe and America, Japan and China have deep cultural roots, and animated films are more popular than most live-action films. Therefore, it is easier for Japanese animated films to break through aesthetic barriers and get the love of China audiences.
In addition to "What kind of life do you want to live" in the hot screening, it broke the single box office record of Qingming file. Last year, the finalists in the main competition unit of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival also ranked second in the box office of imported films in China in 2023, only after (984 million).
Apart from the aura brought by the awards, the above two films have performed well in the China market, which is more due to the box office appeal accumulated by Miyazaki Hayao and many years, as well as the relatively popular genre advantages of animated films. In 2018, after being awarded the best film of Palme d ‘Or at Cannes International Film Festival, the sword-wielding actor bravely broke into the mainland market, and finally the box office failed to break through 100 million yuan.
For European and American films, past award-winning films have made great achievements in China market. In 1998, the Oscar for best film was released in China soon after winning the prize, which set off a high tide of watching movies. In the following 30 years, a number of European and American films that won international film awards have landed on the big screen in the mainland.
Five or six years ago, Harmony, which swept through major film festivals and awards ceremonies, shined brilliantly in the mainland film market. Winning four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director at one fell swoop, is a fierce box office.
Although the success of these films is inseparable from the big names in film circles such as Winslet and Hehe, in recent years, the appeal of European and American films in the mainland market has gradually failed, even if they are blessed by bring up the rear or IP effect. The last movie that broke the box office by 1 billion has been traced back to 2022 (1.698 billion) and Jurassic Century 3 (1.059 billion).
A large number of European and American films are no longer in the box office in the mainland, and it is more difficult for small-budget masterpieces to make a splash.
Although The Trial of Falling has the title of the Palme d ‘Or and the premiere in China, it has aroused widespread concern, but the overall lack of topicality and resonance has aroused the enthusiasm of the audience to enter the cinema, and it is difficult to break the circle from the current box office trend.
We will wait and see how "Dead Leaves", which won the jury prize at Cannes Film Festival, performed after its introduction.
PART.
02
For imported films or local films, the high reputation of award-winning films does not mean that they will be equated with high box office. Local movies don’t need to face cultural differences, but just like imported movies, the main lineup, theme content and temperament are the most important things that affect the box office performance of a movie.
A flash in the pan in the cinema is the fate of most award-winning literary films.
Snow Leopard, which was awarded the best film in the main competition unit of Tokyo International Film Festival, was cold at the box office. On the one hand, Tibetan films are relatively small, and the literary and artistic attributes have deepened the difficulty of breaking through the film market; On the one hand, the foundation of starring and fans is weak, which can’t drive the film to attract more attention. Earlier, the best film in the main competition unit of the Venice International Film Festival was directed at less than 500,000 box office. Blame the cause, similarly.
In the field of literary films, it is very rare. After winning the best film award at the Berlin International Film Festival, it easily broke through 100 million at the domestic cinema box office, achieving a win-win situation between art and business.
Even if it is an award-winning commercial film, it is common for the box office to be cold.
The box office that helped win the best actress in the 36th Golden Rooster Award was less than 1.5 million; Those who won the grand prize in the film exhibition tried their best to close the distance with the migrant workers in the announcement, but there was no successful replication of the red-hot path. It was released for 9 days and the box office reported 4.113 million.
In contrast, it helped win the Akira Kurosawa Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and also crowned the Best Actress Award at the Asian Film Awards, with the current box office approaching 60 million. Compared with other directors of the new generation, with the budding Gu Xiaogang, the attention is more focused on the shadow circle, and it is not easy for his first film released in the mainland market to hand over such achievements.
Market achievement and artistic achievement depend on two completely different evaluation criteria. The relationship between awards and box office is essentially the connection between word-of-mouth and market. Awards are a bonus item for a movie to achieve box office success, but they cannot be the only bright spot for a movie to enter the market.
In the market evaluation system, the audience will not only pay attention to the word-of-mouth blessing brought by the film award, but also the influence of the main creation and the attraction of the theme can not be ignored. The road to winning a masterpiece is only the first step. The right time, the right place and the right people are indispensable. How to strike a balance between art and business requires every film to explore carefully.
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