Compared with the same period of last year, an important trend in 2023 is the increase in the number of Hong Kong films and imported films.
The Hong Kong film "When the Wind Comes Again", originally scheduled to be released in mid-February, was temporarily filed until the Lantern Festival on February 5. Directed and written by Weng Ziguang, starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Aaron Kwok, the film reinterprets the story of the four Hong Kong detectives. On March 3rd, the movie "Broken Net" is a slogan of "Three Best Actors Assemble", with Aaron Kwok as a programmer, Yam Tat-wah as a police officer and Lin Jiadong as a villain. Following the popularity of The Knockout, black and white crime action movies are expected to continue this popularity.
2023 is also a great year for the works of Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok. At present, there is a movie Wandering Earth 2 in Andy Lau, and there are five films to be shown-Crisis Route, Operation Moscow, Stealth, Mr. Red Carpet and Goldfinger. Aaron Kwok also has five works to be shown, such as When the Wind Comes Again in February, Disconnected from the Internet in March, Anti-drug 3 in the summer, and Temporary Robbery and Inside Story in the second half of the year. Since last year, Hong Kong films have shown a trend of going out of the trough. Tomorrow’s Battle won the highest box office in Hong Kong’s film history, Still Think You Are the Best became the most popular Hong Kong-made comedy, and The Corridor of Justice achieved a double harvest in topic and word of mouth. It is expected that Hong Kong films will continue to "rejuvenate" in 2023.
In February, there were also the late Marvel superhero Panther 2, Ant Man and Wasp Girl: Quantum Frenzy, and the last film released in Marvel Comics was Spider-Man: Heroic Expedition in 2019. From the perspective of the Marvel universe, Panther 2 is the final work of the fourth stage of the Marvel movie universe, while Ant Man and Hornet Woman: Quantum Frenzy (Ant Man 3) is the beginning of the fifth stage, and the two films are regarded as a connecting link. According to Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, Black Panther, the previous work, made 662 million box office in China, and Ant Man 2: The Hornet Woman Appears made 831 million box office, with a solid fan base, which will attract a batch of Marvel Comics powder into the cinema.
DC Chaoying’s new work "Thunder Shazan! The wrath of the gods is also scheduled for March 17, but the previous box office "Thunder Shazan! "Only 294 million yuan, the box office is expected to be small. China Ping Pong, which will be released on the same day, will also play head-on with the above-mentioned super-English movies.
"China Table Tennis" has been changed twice before, the first time isOn January 16th, it was announced that it would be extended to January 24th (New Year’s Day). However, the Spring Festival was released for two days, and the box office was less than 40 million. The official said that the publicity and distribution team had serious mistakes and shortcomings in decision-making, preparation and promotion, which caused the film to fall into a particularly passive situation during the Spring Festival, and then it was officially released nationwide on February 17. The film had a good reputation when it was screened, and the douban score was 7.0. But under the attack of several superhero movies,The expected "window period" of "China Ping Pong" has not been realized, and it is doubtful whether it can be "Jedi counterattack" as the title says.
In terms of imported films, two popular Japanese animated films "Journey to the Bell Bud" and "Detective Conan: The Ghost of Baker Street was confirmed to be introduced. According to the schedule calendar of Cat Eye Professional Edition,《Detective Conan: The Ghost of Baker Street will be released on April 4th.《Detective Conan: The Ghost of Baker Street premiered in Japan on April 20, 2002, with a douban score as high as 9.1, which was re-released in the mainland 21 years later.
Journey of bell budsThe schedule is to be determined. The filmIt was released in Japan on November 11th, 2022. At present, its box office performance ranks third in the box office list of Japanese domestic films in 2022, and it was shortlisted in the main competition unit of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. It is a Japanese animated film that was shortlisted in the main competition unit again after 21 years after Spirited Away in Miyazaki Hayao. Previously, many films of Makoto Shinkai have accumulated high box office in China, with "Your Name" earning 570 million yuan and "The Son of the Weather" earning 288 million yuan. With high reputation and Makoto Shinkai’s healing style, the number of people who want to see "Journey to Bell Bud" is 254,000, and that of Taobao Film is 116,000.
Valentine’s Day, Qingming Festival and May Day are three important dates in the first half of the year. On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, five love movies were scheduled-Sadness Without Tears, Take a look at me again, Fast Bodyguard, Battle Around the Sea and Love of Populus euphratica. Among the five films, "Sadness Without Tears" has 37,000 people who want to see it, ranking first. Coupled with the Spring Festival movies being shown, there are many types of Valentine’s Day movies. Last year, the total box office of Valentine’s Day was 520 million yuan. Considering the relatively stable demand of lovers, romantic films will have a place on that day. It is expected that this year’s Valentine’s Day will usher in a small peak of "post-Spring Festival files".
There are two domestic films scheduled in early April-Cosmic Exploration Editorial Department on April 1st and Dragon and Horse Spirit on April 7th. This year, Tomb-Sweeping Day only has a one-day holiday on Wednesday, April 5th, and there are no holidays and minor holidays, so the slotting effect is not obvious. Therefore, the two films chose the wrong peak to be released on Saturday. "Cosmic Exploration Editorial Department" byHong WangWei, Frant Gwo, producer, had previously won many awards at Pingyao International Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival, and was shortlisted for Rotterdam International Film Festival. At present, the douban has reached 8.6 points, with a total of 2074 people scoring. "Dragon Horse Spirit" was written and directed by Yang Zi, starring Jackie Chan and Liu Haocun, recreating Jackie Chan’s classic action comedy. The former focuses on "high reputation" and the latter focuses on "strong lineup". The performance of the two films is worth looking forward to.
At present, three films have been officially announced in the May 1st file, namely, the road comedy Unfamiliar with Family Fun, the air combat movie King in the Sky andSubject of criminal prosecutionProcuratorial Fengyun.
Of the three films, King of the Sky has the highest expectation. The King of the Sky was originally scheduled for the National Day in 2022, but three days before its release, it was suddenly announced that it was changed, and the release plan was adjusted "in order to present better production effects". The film, starring YiBo, Hu Jun and Zhou Dongyu, is one of the key projects of Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and one of the first batch of key literary and artistic creation projects with the theme of "Centennial Party Building" and "All-round Well-off Society". Starring in traffic and endorsement by official media, The King of the Sky broke 10 million at the box office within 9 hours of pre-sale on National Day last year. Taobao Film wanted to see 624,000 people, and Cat’s Eye wanted to see 403,000 people, which will be the strongest competitor in May 1st.
Generally speaking, in the first half of 2023, the number and types of domestic films were rich, and the addition of Hong Kong films, Super British films and Japanese films provided the audience with fresher and more diversified choices. The movie-watching consumption enthusiasm released by the Spring Festival stalls will continue further, and the "spring" of China film industry is going on.
