After the box office hit by "Nezha 2", how high is the ceiling of the Chinese film market? On the 19th, the Industrial Forum of the 15th Beijing International Film Festival Core Forum was held. Chinese and foreign guests not only revealed the latest situation of "Nezha 2" being released overseas, but also looked forward to the future of the Chinese film market from the perspective of market and technology.

　　Phenomenon

　　"Nezha 2" has crossed cultural barriers

　　As a hit movie this year, the attention attracted by "Nezha 2" is phenomenal. The film's screening in China is coming to an end, but the journey of "Zha'er" to conquer global audiences has just begun.

　　Trinity CineAsia, the British company is responsible for the release of "Nezha 2" in Europe. At the forum, the company's co-founder Cedric Berrell excitedly shared with everyone the latest good news of the release of the film. He said that "Nezha 2" has become one of the most influential Chinese-language films in Europe in the past 20 years. "We are witnessing this phenomenon - Nezha 2 has become a cultural symbol. This work, led by a Chinese team, has a great influence beyond the local level and has resonated strongly among overseas audiences, especially among young audiences. We have seen unprecedented participation. The unique way of telling stories by Chinese creators has crossed cultural barriers."

　　Chinese Film is responsible for the release of "Nezha 2" in North America and Oceania. Ying Xujun, vice president of Chinese Culture Group, sighed that this is not only a grand event in the Chinese film market, but also a grand event in the world film market. "Where we go, we feel the kindness and blessings from filmmakers all over the world. This work proves the charm of movies and cinemas." She revealed that the film has achieved very good results in both film schedules and box offices in North America and Oceania, and is carefully preparing for the second release of the English version of the film.

　　"We are in close communication with Director Jiaozi and have also invited some English voice actors to help the film. Please stay tuned." Ying Xujun admitted that she deeply realized the importance of publicity and promotion when she was releasing "Nezha 2". She said that compared with domestic, overseas promotion and distribution costs are one order of magnitude higher, so we must be careful in our budgets. In terms of steps, the first wave of publicity needs to attract the audience, while the second wave relies on the fermentation of the film's reputation to achieve "word of mouth". In this process, precise promotion and distribution of social media is very important, because many overseas viewers only know about "Nezha 2" by referring to the internet celebrities on social media. "In the future, "The Wandering Earth 3" and "Nezha 3" will be released, and we must prepare and plan in advance to ensure the precise delivery of publicity and distribution costs."

　　analyze

　　The potential of the Chinese film market remains

　　After the Spring Festival, the domestic film market has been in a relatively dull state. However, Chinese and foreign guests participating in the forum unanimously agreed that the Chinese film market still has good potential and prospects, and they are full of confidence in the Chinese film industry.

　　"This year marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of world films and the 120th anniversary of Chinese films. Compared with arts such as music, dance, drama, and art, movies are still a hot child with strong energy. Don't worry, they will definitely make a more interesting path!" Director Huang Jianxin said that the annual box office of the US film market has been floating around US$10 billion over the years, representing the total industry. The domestic box office of "Nezha 2" exceeds 15 billion yuan, representing the "industrial ceiling". "You can't expect the ceiling to replace the total." He encouraged his peers not to be anxious or discouraged. The total movie market is still there, which is a rule. "Chinese filmmakers must have confidence, and we will continue to climb upwards. If the summer season performs well, I think the total box office will exceed last year."

　　Director Liu Weiqiang also strongly agreed with Huang Jianxin's speech. He said that he has experienced the ups and downs of the Hong Kong film market over the years and is deeply touched. Whether it is peak or low, filmmakers will insist on making movies, and the market is always changing, but filmmakers will work together.

　　Meng Danqing, CEO of IMAX China, listed a set of survey data on the spot: the proportion of audiences in European and American countries who are willing to go to theaters is about 32% to 38%, while the data in China is 78%, the highest in the world. "Last year, the entire market was indeed relatively weak, but this year's Spring Festival, the market has returned. Chinese people are still willing to watch movies in theaters." He said bluntly that the responsibility of filmmakers is to constantly attract audiences to the theaters, and IMAX is to ensure that the audience can get the best viewing experience. He introduced that this year IMAX will continue to launch original content, such as broadcasting e-sports competitions in theaters, with the purpose of attracting incremental audiences. "We broadcast the League of Legends finals last year. Eighty percent of the audience have not been in the theater in five years, but they watched the game, and as many as 90 percent of the audience said they will come to the theater to watch movies in the future."

　　Outlook

　　Half of the future movies are filmed by AI

　　At the end of the forum, the guests looked forward to the future development direction of the film from the perspective of technological innovation.

　　Talking about the popular AI technology, Huang Jianxin predicted that in the future, half of the movies may be completed by AI, while the other half will maintain the most unique creations of human beings. Liu Weiqiang, who was a photographer, said that technology changes every day, but in the final analysis, technology is just a tool, and people are the main body to control and utilize tools. "AI can't communicate, but people need communication. I don't object to technology, but movies need to express feelings, and AI is just a tool to assist us."

　　As one of the brands representing the industry's highest projection technology level, IMAX will increase its cooperation with Chinese directors this year. Meng Danqing said that five domestic films shot with IMAX cameras are expected to hit record highs this year. "In the shooting stage, we will communicate with the director to help them achieve all-round creative goals; the subsequent later stages and the IMAX Hall screenings are all guaranteed from the production level that the audience can see the stories and ideas the director wants to express, and present the audience with a more immersive audio-visual experience."

　　Interestingly, Liu Weiqiang, who made the content, and Meng Danqing, who made the technology, explained the importance of each other respectively. Liu Weiqiang said that regardless of the picture or sound, the movie has always used the upgraded technology to allow the audience to have a better audio-visual experience. "Many people don't know what Dolby and IMAX are. We must work hard to promote these contents to let the audience know that watching videos on mobile phones is different from watching movies in theaters. Use these technologies to attract audiences to the theater." Meng Danqing said that the most fundamental thing is "the story itself", "no matter how good the screen is, it cannot cover a very bad story." He was very happy to see the entire industry start to slow down, to polish the story seriously and focus more time on development.

　　Photo by our reporter Yuan Yuner, Gannan

[Editor in charge: Susan]