Applauding the blockbuster ＂Breaking the Circle＂ and absorbing powder, domestic movies set off a summer movie-watching craze.

　　As an important schedule in China’s film market, summer movie box office accounts for about 30% of the annual box office. This year’s summer movie market has not only returned to the "Billion Era", but also set a new box office record in China’s film history in July. In particular, domestic films have sprung up all over the world, setting off a summer movie-watching craze, and achieved good results of "applauding and making a big impression".

　　It is still difficult to predict who is the biggest "dark horse" in summer, from The Octagonal Cage to The Disappeared She, and then to The Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an and The First Goddess, but one thing has been decided: it is a thing of the past to win by relying on the inertia of watching movies and the path dependence, and more China filmmakers are beginning to think about what kind of movies China audiences need.

　　China film history hit a new high at the box office in July.

　　In the past July, there were 212 million people watching movies in China, and the total box office reached 8.717 billion yuan, setting a new high in the film history of China in July.

　　The "second half" of the ongoing summer file is also in full swing, and the heat exceeds expectations, welcoming both supply and demand. According to the data of Lighthouse Professional Edition, since June 21st, the single-day market has exceeded 100 million yuan for 48 consecutive days. By 10: 00 on August 7th, 97 films had been released in the summer of 2023, with more than 363 million people watching movies and a box office of 14.736 billion.

　　One of the manifestations of ultra-high popularity is that there are many films, many kinds and more audiences. Abundant and high-quality supply meets the differentiated viewing needs of different audiences, bringing about a "double rise" in the number of films arranged and the number of people watching movies, and accelerating the recovery of the film market.

　　This summer’s films cover plot, action, animation, suspense, crime, comedy, science fiction, horror and many other types. The reporter saw in many cinemas that there were not only "student parties" enjoying the summer vacation, but also many parent-child families and "rice partners", "movie partners" and "square dance partners" of different ages, which broadened the audience this year.

　　Another manifestation of the ultra-high heat is that a number of domestic "dark horses" continue to appear, driving the proportion of multi-frequency viewing to continue to rise. In the past, the pattern of summer movies was that "one head movie led the way, and the other films were mediocre". This year, "the spire widened" and many "dark horse" films performed well. For example, domestic genre films such as The Octagonal Cage, Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an, The Disappeared She set new records, and many summer movies such as Feng Shen I were hotly discussed by fans.

　　In terms of release time, The Lost She was released at the end of June, The Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an was released in early July, The First Part of Gods was released in late July, and several "dark horses" with unexpected performances staged a "relay race", which attracted fans to enter the cinema many times, driving the proportion of multi-frequency movies to continue to rise.

　　The industry believes that with the further recovery of creation, investment, production, distribution and projection, the film market in China has accelerated its recovery, and industry confidence has continued to rise. In 2023, the film market is expected to usher in both supply and demand, and the annual box office is expected to reach 45 billion yuan to 50 billion yuan.

　　Domestic movies are applauded and sold well.

　　This year’s summer file, domestic films have sprung up everywhere, and the box office and word-of-mouth performance are gratifying. According to the data of Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 10: 00 on August 7th, all the top five single-chip box offices were taken over by domestic films: The Lost She was 3.515 billion yuan, The octagonal cage was 2.139 billion yuan, The Goddess Part I was 1.669 billion yuan, The Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an was 1.653 billion yuan and The Passion was 722 million yuan.

　　In particular, the animated film Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an, which is inspired by the Tang poetry and the life stories of the poets in the Tang Dynasty, and the fantasy film Feng Shen I, which was born out of China’s classical mythological novel Feng Shen Romance, have innovated the means of expression and demonstrated the charm of Chinese traditional culture in the form of movies, thus becoming a new round of box office harvesters in summer.

　　In fact, this year’s summer file started with the release of Hollywood blockbusters. From June 1st to June 20th, imported films such as Spider-Man: The Vertical and Horizontal Universe, Speed and Passion 10, Transformers: The Rise of Super Warriors, The Flash and Crazy Element City were released one after another, and took turns to occupy the top spot in the box office. With the release of the domestic films "She Disappeared" and "In the Octagonal Cage" in late June, the situation reversed, and the "super explosion" of the summer file began to be occupied by four domestic films. In July, the beautifully-produced animated film Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an and the fantasy film Feng Shen I received rave reviews. During the collective chanting of a piece of Tang poetry and the rereading of Feng Shen Romance, the audience "moved the DNA of traditional culture".

　　This scene is also a true portrayal of the new pattern of domestic films and imported films recently. The pattern of "imported films leading, domestic films accompanying" is disappearing, replaced by domestic films breaking records and emerging.

　　"Three Major Changes" Reflect the New Trend of Domestic Films

　　The movie market is booming in summer, reflecting three changes in the domestic movie market:

　　— — Change from "traffic-driven" to "content-driven".

　　A number of film critics said that in previous years, one of the first conditions for domestic films to make a hit was the starring role of streaming stars, and the "sky-high film pay" constituted the biggest production cost, so the cost of improving the script and production quality was squeezed, and the film quality could not be guaranteed. This year’s win-win films of word-of-mouth and box office have no flow stars, but they have attracted the audience by full stories, sincere production and ups and downs.

　　— — From "single type and overlapping themes" to "multiple types and scattered themes".

　　This summer’s domestic films cover comedy, suspense, science fiction, sports, animation and many other types. At the same time, the theme has been further broadened, including animated films based on traditional culture, fictional suspense works, and fantasy films based on myths for secondary creation. Many fans said that a single type of film will cause the audience’s aesthetic fatigue. This year’s film market is characterized by multiple types and themes, significantly reduced concentration of types and low overlap of themes, attracting more audiences.

　　— — From "remake imitation" to "forming style".

　　Since the beginning of this year, images and audiences have been mutually constructed, which has promoted the remarkable progress of domestic film aesthetics. A major breakthrough in domestic films is reflected in the IP remake from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Europe to independent creation, and gradually formed its own style through exploration. The formation of the national style of domestic films is closely related to the increasing viewing preference and aesthetic improvement of the current audience.

　　Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Art and a critic of the signing of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that since the second decade of this century, China’s films have been at a new starting point after breaking through the threshold of 10 billion at the box office, making great strides and achieving an exponential growth rarely seen in the history of films, and after adjustment during the epidemic.

　　When the new cycle begins, the path dependence of "eating the old capital" and the lying win of "eating the scale dividend" are not effective. A new consensus is emerging: China filmmakers have gradually found their own style through groping, and started to think about and practice "What kind of movies do China audiences need". China films should further seek the means and methods based on local characteristics to meet local needs, better tell the story of China, and show the credible, lovely and respectable China.