Looking at the current situation of the domestic documentary market from "22": Industrialization is slowly fermenting

some creators believe that documentary films can also have more attempts in market-oriented operation in the future, such as art exhibitions, publications, and so on. If these can try to come up with a model, it is not impossible for documentaries to become an industry.

original title: looking at the current situation of the domestic documentary film market from "22"

from more than 100 million at the box office to the besieged producers of "emojis", the documentary "22" has become one of the most concerned films in the domestic film market. From the market in the past two years, it can be found that as a minority type of documentary, whether in word-of-mouth or at the box office, the frequency of popular styles has become higher and higher. The emergence of "22" also makes people look forward to the future of documentary films.

strong > the success factors of "22" / strong >

this summer, in addition to "Wolf Warriors 2," which has miraculously exceeded 5 billion yuan at the box office, the original niche documentary "22" also uses an amazing market performance, allowing people to see more possibilities for the future of domestic films.

now in reviewing the period from the release of" 22 "to the box office, the whole process has become a favorite topic. On its first day of release, the film had only 1.5% of national screenings and grossed 3.95 million yuan at the box office. But a 32.1% attendance helped the film quickly begin to break through the market. Soon, the box office rose to 13.14 million yuan the next day, and the figure rose to 25.92 million on the third day, and the national film production went up all the way, rising to 10.9% at its peak.

of course, the excellent quality of the film itself and bringing people deep thinking are the most important factors for the success of the film. However, from the perspective of external factors, the fermentation of word-of-mouth and the spontaneous help of stars, to a certain extent, led to a rapid increase in attention. Zhang Xianyi, Yuan Hong, Feng Xiaogang, Huang Bo, Wu Gang, Zhang Jingchu, Xu Zheng, Pu Cunxin …... A long list of stars have helped the film's box office through Weibo recommendations; on the other hand, the newly released "Gang Rinpozi" grossed nearly 100 million yuan, laying the groundwork for "22" to open the market. Although this is a pseudo-documentary, to some extent, the film sends a clear signal to cinemas that excellent works of art will be paid for by the audience.

strong > Big "IP" is not equal to high box office / strong >

if you look back at the development of domestic documentary cinema lines, you can clearly feel a problem. Some documentaries that seem to have box office factors often fail to achieve the expected box office after they are released. One of the most famous cases is "I am me", which was released in 2014.

this documentary film" I am me ", which is based on" Happy Boys "by Hunan Satellite TV in 2013, has traffic stars such as Hua Chenyu, Ouhao and Bai Jugang. Originally, the creator was looking forward to the market performance of this film. But unexpectedly, this documentary was labeled as a "fan movie" early, and was widely questioned by netizens. Although the film has won many documentary awards since then, it can not change its failure at the box office and word-of-mouth. However, in terms of word-of-mouth and market performance, Fan Lixin, the film's documentary "Earth: a Magic Day", which was co-directed with British directors this year, has finally recovered some "lost ground".

is also a star factor of" all the way against the Wind ". Although Deng Ziqi has become a first-tier singer, this documentary can also be described as embarrassing in terms of word-of-mouth and market performance. In addition, the two documentaries "China on the tongue" and "I repair Cultural relics in the Forbidden City", which are popular on the Internet, have all tried to compete in the big-screen market by launching film versions, but at present, the high ratings on the Internet do not have a high conversion rate at the box office.

strong > fixed market trend / strong >

in the eyes of a cinema line practitioner in charge of film production, it is normal for "22" to get only 1.5% of the layout on the first day. For documentaries, the disadvantages of minority subjects and no stars attracting attention will naturally not become the focus of the box office in the eyes of cinemas. But in fact, from the perspective of network evaluation, in addition to a few documentaries featuring star elements, almost all cinema documentaries have received a high rating of more than 7 points. Therefore, it is not difficult to find that almost all documentaries with good box office results have gone through a process of "opening low and going high".

for example, before "22", "We were born in China," which had always been the top documentary at the box office, was also embarrassed at the box office at the beginning of its release. However, the process is almost similar to that of "22". Supported by high attendance, voices from all walks of life and good reputation of consumers, the box office exploded in the first weekend and then earned more than 60 million at the box office.

similarly," return to the Wolves ", which was released in June this year, took seven years to produce by two Chengdu residents who had no shooting experience. Under the condition of good word-of-mouth, the first two weeks of release achieved more than 10 million box office results, and finally won 32.92 million yuan at the box office.

strong > / strong >

market For this film, there are IP adaptation films such as "three generations and Ten Mile Peach Blossom" and "the Legend of mackerel Pearl", followed by action movies such as "Kill the Wolf, greedy Wolf" and "break the Bureau", plus the high temperature of "Wolf Warriors 2". Therefore, the achievement of "22" also reflects the market's desire for diversified themes, and high-quality documentaries may be ushering in their own spring.

in fact, after careful observation, it is not difficult to find that in this summer, most films with high box office elements such as "stars" and "popular adaptations" have not achieved ideal results, which is also regarded as over-development of commercial elements. caused by the audience's aesthetic fatigue. Therefore, after themes such as "Gombo Renzi" and "22" have been recognized by the market, no matter for creators, investors or distributors, they all have more confidence in documentary films.

but for the film market, profit is still an unavoidable topic. Previously, some documentary directors thought that the biggest difficulty in making documentaries has always been the lack of money, and the broadcast channels after shooting are very limited, which will certainly affect the revenue of the film. after all, documentary films also have to follow the laws of the market, only talking about social benefits. Without economic benefits, the industry cannot develop. Therefore, some creators believe that documentary films can also have more attempts in market-oriented operation in the future, such as art exhibitions, publications and so on. If these can try to work out a model, it is not impossible for documentaries to become an industry.

Edit: xiongwei