"Avatar" is still raging in the domestic market. After 277 million in the first week, it took in 235 million in the second week. In less than half a month, the box office exceeded the 500 million mark.
However, domestic filmmakers and audiences have long been immune to stimulation and have become completely numb.
In the third week, the box office did not drop much, and it reached 200 million in a single week.
Even though it has been released for half a month, IMAX3D movie tickets are still hard to come by, and 3D tickets after 5 p.m. are also very hard to get.
Grava has become the most eye-catching website at the beginning of 2010 thanks to its IMAX and 3D tickets in cinemas in more than ten cities across the country.
When tickets are released every day, the traffic on the website is even comparable to that of large forums such as Tianya.
Domestic movies are still in trouble. "A Perfect World" took in 1.2 million box office last week, bringing the total box office to 411.4 million.
The single-day box office has hovered around 100,000 to 200,000 yuan, and the movie is almost finished, giving way to "Avatar".
It is still 4.6 million short of the Chinese-language film box office record of "The Founding of a Republic" of 416 million. It is already impossible to exceed it unless you buy a box office of 4 million.
4 million is not much money, but Li Qian will not waste it.
What's more, the current box office record of more than 400 million domestic movies seems insignificant in front of the box office of "Avatar", which is expected to exceed 1 billion. Who cares?
Even Cheng Long's newly released action comedy "The Agent Next Door" has no splash at all.
It was released for three days during the weekend last week, and it only took in a total of 16 million at the box office. It's not worth Cheng Long's reputation at all, and there wasn't much relevant news or discussion from the audience.
However, starting from Monday the 18th, a rumor began to spread on the Internet, saying that in order to protect domestic films, China Film Group would force "Avatar" to be downloaded.
The rumor came from Milijian in the Los Angeles Times. It is said that the news was obtained from within Fox to make way for the domestic blockbuster "Confucius" to be released on the 22nd.
As soon as the news spread back to China, the Internet immediately exploded.
Although "Avatar" has grossed 500 million at the box office, there are still a large number of viewers who have not gone to the cinema to watch it.
2D tickets are easy to buy, but viewers who have watched IMAX3D online continue to brag about the great effects of IMAX, which makes people itch. Even if they can't buy IMAX3D, many viewers at least want to watch in 3D, thinking that watching 2D is a waste of money.
Moreover, this kind of interference in the market and suppression of imported films has also made some people excited and attracted a lot of criticism on the Internet.
Even ordinary viewers with normal views cannot help but criticize China Film Group Corporation, saying that "Avatar" is really awesome.
Li Qian was also skeptical about this news, as similar things had happened before.
In 2006, "The Da Vinci Code" was canceled almost 20 days after its release. The box office had just exceeded 100 million. Optoelectronics personally ordered the theaters to stop showing it.
At that time, Mi Lijian's producer said that because the box office of "The Da Vinci Code" was too high, Optoelectronics was worried that it would affect the box office of other domestic films in the mainland's summer season, so they stopped showing it.
However, it is generally believed in China that it was banned because it was too popular among mainland Christians.
As we all know, Catholicism and Christianity are not at odds with each other.
The chairman of the Domestic Catholic Patriotic Association said when the movie was released that there were many plots in the movie that conflicted with Catholic teachings and were even insulting, and called on believers not to watch the movie.
As for whether it is because of religious relations or to protect domestic movies in the summer season, only those above know.
However, Hollywood firmly believes that Optoelectronics did this to protect domestic films.
“‘Avatar’ was flying high in China, but its wings were clipped by photoelectricity.”
The Wall Street Journal even gave "Avatar" such a title on its front page.
However, Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the Optoelectronic Film Bureau, gave an explanation. Only the 2D version was offline in advance, and its removal was in line with market rules. Since the 2D version of "Avatar" did not have a high box office, "the 3D version cannot buy tickets, and the 2D version cannot be bought."
"Version is not saturated" phenomenon.
When asked whether it was to make way for the biopic "Confucius", which China Film invested 200 million in, Zhang Hongsen also denied it, saying that "Confucius" is not 3D and does not conflict with "Avatar".
Even if Optoelectronics said this, the doubts from the outside world still could not dissipate.
"Avatar" was withdrawn from 60% of 2D screens on Friday the 22nd, which happened to be the day "Confucius" was released.
To say it was a coincidence that they happened to be on the same day would be too far-fetched.
With more than half of the 2D films canceled, "Avatar" was also greatly affected. It did not pass 200 million in the third week, but only received 197 million, and it exceeded 700 million in three weeks.
"Confucius" took over the film schedule vacated by "Avatar" and grossed 38 million at the box office in three days, which is pretty good.
However, this costume blockbuster, which cost as much as 200 million yuan, has a very average reputation.
Confucius is a must-talk figure in Chinese history. His name as a saint has been passed down for thousands of years.
It's a pity that Confucius is not shown in the movie, and his ideals, spiritual world, reflections, prospects, mentality, political opinions, etc. are not shown.
The plot selection was also a failure. Confucius fell into the three capitals, but there was no plot as exciting as the killing of Shao Zhengmao.
In the second half, Confucius traveled around the world for fourteen years. It was originally a fourteen-year struggle to realize his political ideals, but it was completely blank in the movie. It seemed that Confucius did not actively seek a career or pursue his ideals during those fourteen years.
, but just passively wandering around and running away, doing nothing and doing nothing.
As for the scene where Zi meets Nanzi, it is not as exciting as the audience imagined. Zhou Xun did not support Nanzi who is talented, beautiful, and ambitious, and the costumes are even more outrageous.
However, with so many films lined up to support it, there should be hope for it to exceed 100 million, which is at least better than "The Agent Next Door" released last week.
"The Agent Next Door" also benefited from the withdrawal of "Avatar" from the 2D screen this week, earning 26 million in a single week and a total box office of 42 million in ten days.
The action comedy that Cheng Long is best at is undoubtedly a failure if it gets this box office.
However, "Confucius" was criticized a lot, making the movie once again attract controversy.
"Avatar" was removed from the 2D screen, and if it were replaced by a wonderful domestic movie, the audience would have no problem with it. They want to watch it in 3D.
However, the movie he replaced wasn't that good, so he was going to be scolded.
Not only China Optoelectronics, but also China Film and Television, and "Confucius" were also criticized.
However, at this time, a large number of domestic filmmakers began to complain, saying that the release of "Avatar" had caused a bleak box office for many domestic films in the Lunar New Year period, and called on relevant departments to provide corresponding care for the next few films in the Lunar New Year period.
Even "The Storm 2" and "The Tomb", which failed miserably at the box office in December, have been released. It seems that without "Avatar", they can still make efforts in the later stage and the box office will soar.
"Three Guns" did not exceed 200 million, and it was also blamed on "Avatar".
"October Siege" has no hope of breaking 300 million, which is also the fault of "Avatar".
Not only domestic filmmakers have spoken out, but some media are also building momentum.
Even for Li Qian's "A Perfect World", some media were complaining about him, saying that if it weren't for "Avatar", Li Qian would have broken the box office record for Chinese-language movies in the mainland.
What happened now, Li Qian almost thought he was giving money to the media.
But then I thought about it, I guess some of the domestic movies that are about to be released will be sympathetic.
There are many movies released in early February. In addition to "On the Road", which was released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, there are also "The Guard" starring Donnie Yen, "Little Soldier" and "Su Qier" starring Cheng Long.
, "Love in the City", "The God of Wealth Arrives", "Happy Events in the Flower Field" and many other movies were released.
Express your grievance first, and then express your sympathy.
With so many movies, there are many producers and distributors behind them, so there is quite a lot of movement.
For a time, the bad environment during the Lunar New Year holiday was all blamed on "Avatar".
At the end of January, Li Qian was a guest at Lu Yuyou and also talked about this topic.
"Actually, whether it is affected or not depends on the movie itself. If it is really a good movie and makes the audience want to go to the cinema, then the impact will definitely be small. If the movie is average or even bad, I think it doesn't matter if it is in the same period.
No matter what movie is released, it will not do well at the box office in the end."
Lu Yu was a little surprised when he heard Li Qian say something different from those in the industry, but it was still the same as before.
Crossing his legs and resting his arms on the sofa, he continued to ask, "Director Li's "A Perfect World" also had a box office of 412 million due to the release of "Avatar". There is no hope of breaking the box office record for Chinese-language films. Is there no regrets?"
"
"Why have regrets?"
Li Qian shook his head and said with a smile, "The so-called records will be refreshed every year. If it is broken this year, it will be broken again next year. Why should we worry about it? Do a good job in every movie you make, and the box office will be better next time. Isn't that right?
Something?"
"It seems that Director Li is really open-minded and doesn't take this kind of record seriously. So how should Director Li think about the deterioration of the overall domestic film market environment caused by "Avatar" and the impact it has on other films?
Woolen cloth?"
"The market should follow its own changes. We filmmakers can only try our best to make good movies that satisfy the audience. The core competitiveness of the movie lies in the movie itself.
No matter what the general environment is, as long as the audience likes your movie, it will have a foothold in any environment. Otherwise, if the box office is not good, it is the general environment. Could it be that it is someone who specializes in destroying the general environment."
The withdrawal of "Avatar" from the 2D screen seems to be protecting domestic films, but what does this kind of protection mean? We can't do this every time there is such a phenomenal movie in the future.
Moreover, even so, it still sold well at the box office.
Improving one's own competitiveness is the key point. Hollywood is tired of seeing the same old costume blockbusters, let alone domestic audiences.
The protection in December during the Lunar New Year period is enough, but we can't protect it all year round, so we might as well just close the door and play by ourselves.
Domestic films are not competitive enough and need protection, but over-protection is not a good thing.
Moreover, I don’t know who pushed his own as a shield. Unknowingly, he thought he was complaining that if it weren’t for “Avatar”, “A Perfect World” would have broken the record.
He was shot for no reason. Although he didn't know who it was, it was definitely one of the blockbusters to be released in February. Li Qian was not polite.
You can't stop telling the truth just because you offend others by telling the truth. What's the point in that? Besides, none of the movies in February were good.
"Instead of complaining about the environment, it is better to spend more time thinking about how to make good movies. I would like to advertise here that the road comedy "People on the Road" directed and starred by Xu Zheng will be released to the audience on the first day of the new year.
It's a comedy worth watching. I hope it can bring more joy to everyone in the New Year."