The power of word-of-mouth to get out of the dark horse curve at the box office is becoming more and more important.

We expect the market to have more similar "counterattack works", but we hope that good films do not have to go through the bumpy road of "counterattack", but to get the market space they deserve.

although the box office of Pixar's new animated film "Journey of Dreams" has soared to nearly 200 million yuan after five days, although it grossed only 11.91 million yuan on its first day of release. Coincidentally, "Carnival", which just won "Best Director" at the Golden Horse Awards last weekend, was also distracted because of its theme, and the cinema staged a good show of "counterattack at the box office". By contrast, "Hunt" directed by big director John Woo is weak at the box office because of its poor quality. Industry insiders said that this phenomenon shows that the film market is becoming more and more rational and audiences are paying more and more attention to the power of word-of-mouth.

< strong > the animated film Journey to Dreams and crying < / strong >

A new film made by Disney Pixar Studios, "Journey to Dreams" quickly gained popularity after its release. With only 11.91 million yuan at the box office on its first day, the box office on Saturday and Sunday rose to 44.16 million yuan and 54.14 million yuan, which can be said to be out of the "box office counterattack" curve. As of the press release, the film has grossed nearly 200 million yuan five days after its release, and industry insiders are more optimistic that its final box office is expected to exceed 700 million yuan.

the good box office has something to do with the film's good reputation. On the Douban rating website, more than 60,000 netizens scored 9.3 points for the film, of which 68.4% were rated by five stars.

from the early Toy Story and finding Nemo to the Journey of the Flying House and the brain Secret Service in the past two years, Pixar animation has become a "quality assurance" in the hearts of many viewers. The Dream Journey has once again been hailed as "another peak work" and "tear gas", and boldly speculated that it is expected to compete for the 2018 Oscar for best animated feature film.

A Journey in search of Dreams tells the story of a little boy who loves music, who accidentally "meets" his deceased relatives in the process of pursuing his dreams, and re-recognizes the significance of family affection. Although the whole film is about the heavy topic of death, it presents a colorful "world of the undead" to the audience, playing down the heaviness and seriousness brought by "death" itself. Many parents like the film. They told reporters that despite the fact that children are young, they occasionally ask about "death", but such topics include topics that most Chinese parents seldom touch: "this is the topic of this film." but the whole animation looks warm and colorful, and the design of the skull is not scary, but it is lovely and warm at the end, which makes it more interesting for children to know death in this way. " Some audiences also think that the film's display of affection is ingenious and touching: "even on the old topics of affection and growth, Pixar can always find a new and moving angle."

< strong > the award-winning "Carnival" counterattacks < / strong >

another popular "Carnival" is the only Chinese-language film shortlisted for this year's Venice Film Festival, which was well received by audiences and critics when it was released earlier. However, as there are no big stars in the film, and it is more literary and artistic, the number of screenings on the first day of release is only 1.5%. With word-of-mouth after the film's release, and with the film winning "Best Director" at the Golden Horse Awards last weekend, the number of screenings rose to 5.2% yesterday.

the film tells the story of two girls whose fate has been changed as a result of an "assault case". Because the theme focuses on "protecting children", it resonates with the audience. The story of the film is out of mind, and the picture and atmosphere are extremely restrained, which is both artistic and ornamental.

in terms of performance, the performances of the two young actors Wen Qi and Zhou Meijun are impressive. Wen Qi, who has just been nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards, plays an "unregistered" girl who runs away from home and works in a hotel. She was only 12 years old when she took over the work, but with her acting skills beyond age, the sensitivity, inferiority, fragility and strength of the working girls are interpreted delicately and naturally. In this regard, Wen Qi said that at that time, he was still young, and his understanding of the role was limited, so he mainly depended on chatting with the director and acting in accordance with the instructions given by the director. Director Wen Yan revealed that when shooting the film, Wen Qi only read that part of the script, while Zhou Meijun did not read the script at all: "but they all acted very well, and they were really talented actors."

< strong > feelings and pigeons can not save the "chase" < / strong >

compared with the "chase" performance is mediocre. Although the film is the latest work of famous director John Woo, and the cast of Zhang Hanyu, Fukuyama Yaji and Qi Wei is also very bright, it is weak at the box office.

as a classic in film history, the Japanese version of Hunt, starring Takakura Ken, has influenced a generation of audiences. Today, John Woo, who is good at violence aesthetics, interprets this classic story again, but the effect is not good enough. In the eyes of some audiences, the film is too slow in rhythm and relatively chaotic in editing: "the logic is so confused that people are sick to see it."

the film incorporates a strong John Woo style, the compassion between tough men, the authentic aesthetics of violence, as well as John Woo's signature scenes of "stand up the pigeon" and "double shot". All made the audience sigh that "the feeling of familiarity has returned". Many audiences who like it think that the film has John Woo's style in the shooting scene. "Director Wu started shooting a gun war film, and his momentum remains the same as in those days!" Compared with the Japanese version, the film is more tense and better-looking in the action scene.

but some viewers believe that even feelings and pigeons can not save the film, and some even say that such a design does not have a quasi-market lifeline: "for today's audience, such films are out of date."

as we all know, Takakura Ken is the soul of the Japanese version of Hunt, and several leading creators also admitted that Takakura Ken's influence was a very important factor in filming Hunt. However, the new versions of du Qiu and Zhenyumi interpreted by Zhang Hanyu and Qi Wei are difficult to convince the public. Some viewers said that the new version of du Qiu's character is too facial: "is an indestructible hero." It not only lacks the charm of Takakura Ken, but also has no breakthrough in the performance. And Qi Wei's "Zhenyumi" lacks a sense of existence and almost no bright spots in the film. By contrast, the policeman played by Masaji Fukuyama is impressive: "Fukuyama's performance is more flexible and serious, and it is the most prominent of the three protagonists."

< strong > headline < / strong >

< strong > A really good movie does not need to "counterattack" < / strong >

the film market boomed in the past two years, and it once showed a state of barbaric growth, and all kinds of capital swarmed in. The film industry seems to have entered a strange circle of competing stars, directors, and investments. All kinds of behaviors that violate the laws of the market lead to failures everywhere. On the other hand, some creators made shoddy products and mistakenly mistook them for unconditionally catering to the market in line with the aesthetic taste of the public, and the final works were miserable. The audience is not mature enough, no one to watch good movies, bad films popular word of mouth, box office upside down chaos from time to time.

however, this phenomenon has begun to change significantly in recent years. More and more "tap water" spontaneously cheer for good movies, and many bad films are also faced with the embarrassment that no one is interested. The increasingly rational audience pays more and more attention to the reputation of the film itself. is the theme attractive enough? Is the script solid? Is the story good? Do actors have good acting skills? Are included in the audience to judge an important standard of a film. Instead of just considering whether there is a favorite idol in the lead actor.

and the spread of word-of-mouth from the audience can also bring a movie back to life, or even counterattack into a dark horse at the box office. For example, "Wrestling" last year! Dad's "Genius Gunners" relies on word-of-mouth to achieve a counterattack at the box office. As long as it is a good movie, it should not be buried, and it has become a consensus in the hearts of more and more audiences. Even genres that used to be widely regarded as niche have springs. Since the beginning of this year, Zhang Yang's "Gang Rinpozi" and the documentary "22" are the best cases in which minority subjects rely on word-of-mouth to achieve a counterattack at the box office.

however, the market still has more room for improvement. For example, many high-quality films still do not have the opportunity to meet the audience, and there is nothing more regrettable than not being seen by the audience for a good film that is carefully produced. We expect the market to have more similar "counterattack works", but we hope that good films do not have to go through the rough road of "counterattack", but to get their due market space so that more audiences can see and like it.

Edit: mary