Why did the wolf warrior of the main theme win? Let’s get married.

“We don’t understand why we were defeated, no one can understand it.” said a person in charge of the publisher of “Let’s Get Married”. Before its release, this romantic comedy, which had already built a solid mass base through TV series and brought together popular stars such as Gao Yuanyuan, Liu Tao, Zheng Kai, and Li Chen, did not compare to "Wolf Warrior", a military-themed movie with a slightly melodic theme. Be an opponent.

Even when "Wolf Warrior" was released and grossed nearly 30 million yuan at the box office, many people in the industry still took it for granted that this might just be the result of the "special treatment" enjoyed by the main theme. . Unexpectedly, after the Qingming Festival holiday, the box office of "Wolf Warrior" has exceeded 250 million, while the box office of "Let's Get Married" has been less than 180 million. The real "counterattack" appeared like this, without any precautions.

At the same time as these two movies were released, there were 7 new movies, including "Crazy" starring Huang Xiaoming and Liu Qingyun, and "Assault Truck" starring Wu Zhenyu and Leo Ku, both of which were also among the best. Hong Kong films that have been on the market and have always been expected to occupy the second tier of the Qingming Festival are now struggling to even make over 100 million yuan.

We can see that China’s film market has entered a stage of extremely fierce competition. There are no longer taken-for-granted successes, only unexpected instant sales. How did “Wolf Warrior” win so many “big names”? ? Next, we will try to get rid of the appearance of "miracle" and explore the essential reasons for the success of "Wolf Warrior".

When a "tough guy" meets a "male god":

The "straight man" temperament brings "destructive innovation"

"Wolf Warrior" is directed by Wu Jing Self-directed and acted, co-starring Yu Nan and Hollywood action star Scott Adkins, who has starred in "Ozark 2" and "The Ultimate Fighter 3", the film is about the "Wolf Warrior" team member played by Wu Jing The story of Leng Feng fighting to the death with criminals who invaded the Chinese border to defend Chinese territory and the dignity of Chinese soldiers.

At first glance, this is an out-and-out main theme, but "Wolf Warrior" cleverly puts the main theme under the cloak of a commercial blockbuster, with handheld photography, high-speed editing, and real guns and cannons. The advanced weapons of the military, coupled with a thrilling and passionate story about family, country, world and brotherhood, have become a Chinese version of "Band of Brothers", "Suicide Squad", "Saving Private Ryan" and even "The Hurt Locker". It is the main theme of a Hollywood commercial blockbuster. For the mainland market, which is "daunted by the main theme", it can be called a "destructive innovation".

Zhang Zhiyuan, the founder of the WeChat public account "Let's Make Movies Together" said: "If you want to gain a foothold in the highly competitive Chinese film market, there are currently only two ways. One is the concentrated advantages of big production companies, big directors and big stars. resources to make blockbusters (this path has been subverted by "The Wheel"), and the other is "disruptive innovation", such as Xu Zheng's "囧", Guo Jingming's "Little Times", Han Han's "The End of Time" and other box-office hits. All the films sold have the gene of 'destructive innovation'."

The so-called "destructive innovation" is to subvert the existing aesthetics. For example, "囧" brought "sillyness". "Two" culture, "Tiny Times" deepened the "Mary Sue" civilization, "The End of Time" followed the Japanese "cold cute" route, and "Wolf Warrior" used the retro "tough guy" style to break the He has formed the "male god" ecosystem that has dominated the entertainment industry for many years. What about "Big Black Bull" (Li Chen), "Little Cheetah" (Zheng Kai), "Huang Jiaozhu" (Huang Xiaoming), "Wu Sansui" (Wu Zhenyu), are these nicknames obtained by being cute on variety shows? Wu Jing, a pure man who had heard of EXO, suddenly became a girl in front of him. The male audience suddenly reacted: "Ouch? It turns out that men should play with M-25 instead of tearing off famous brands." The female audience was "fessed" every minute. "It's protected", let go of the domineering president Bian'er, the hormones stimulated by the feelings of family and country are truly full.

This is "disruptive innovation".

When "family, country, world" meets "you and me":

Don't underestimate the market value of patriotism

"Wolf Warrior" The theme is "Those who offend China will be punished no matter how far away they are." The theme of "Let's Get Married" is "Let's Believe in Love." One is about the country, and the other is about the "small family." Take a quick look at most of them. You will feel that "Wolf Warrior" is more "earthy" and "fake and empty". The original film producers also thought so. According to the producer Lu Jianmin, before the film was released, many people in the theater believed that the film was too patriotic. The propaganda was too explicit, such as several close-ups of the five-star red flag armbands on the arms of the "Wolf Warriors" players. Some people in the industry even suggested that the close-ups of the five-star red flag armbands must be deleted to avoid offending the audience, but Wu Jing insisted not to delete it. He also said that he "would rather not have box office than delete it" because "What's wrong with being patriotic?"

Chen Hui, the person in charge of the film's distributor and president of Fujian Hengye, also revealed that "Wolf Warrior" was released a few months ago I watched the film twice in national theaters and in the media. Everyone thought it was a well-made movie with a "main theme", but no one was optimistic about the film's market. There was no voice of encouragement, and there was pressure to discuss resource integration. : "We all doubted that the media should not be allowed to watch the film? But on the other hand, we found that countless data continue to prove that those born in the 70s, 80s, and 90s express their patriotic emotions through different channels. We decided to bet A handful, we believe that patriotism can bring about a passion.

Sure enough, as the film's release date approached, theaters continued to receive inquiries about the film's information from the audience. In the end, these close-ups and lines became the highlights and tears of the film, igniting the audience's patriotic enthusiasm. "

Suddenly I remembered that when the first part of "Ip Man" was released many years ago, every time it reached the climax, the audience would shout excitedly "Okay!" "They found a sense of national pride while watching the movie, and passed this feeling on to their friends or others around them.

For a country that has experienced various histories of aggression, perhaps The spirit of passionate patriotism has always been in everyone's heart, but it has been suppressed by movies with lifeless main themes. When this type of movie can reasonably use this emotion, patriotism should be easier to inspire than a love story. The audience's passion is transformed into productivity in greater quantities.

When a "newcomer" meets a "TV celebrity":

Wu Jingchu is a director who doesn't know much about the audience of the film "Death-Based". Liu Tao

"Wolf Warrior" has no advantage in terms of cast, but its route is extremely clear, which is to fight all the way, so the actors Wu Jing found are all people who can fight. Even the heroine Yu Nan is a "female man". If a group of martial arts masters get together to watch a movie, they can at least have a fun time.

In contrast, the starring role in "Let's Get Married" although. They are all very popular, but except for Gao Yuanyuan, almost all of their influence comes from TV series and variety shows. So the question is, are movie audiences and TV audiences really not the same audience? For example, do you think those who follow them at home every day? Aunts who watch "The Good Wife" will buy tickets to watch Liu Tao in the cinema? Do those literary college students who love movies know which TV series Zheng Kai and Li Chenhong have starred in that we are willing to spend money to see them? Are you at that point? It seems that there is no such thing~

On the other hand, there is a big difference between using popular stars and second-tier stars. Stars are a double-edged sword, although they can make your movie look more high-end. However, it may also be because they are too popular and have little time to promote. For example, during the promotion of "Let's Get Married", both Li Chen and Zheng Kai refused to answer certain questions because of their respective scandals. Two big stars, Gao Yuanyuan and Liu Tao, On the other hand, for "Wolf Warrior", Wu Jing went on a nationwide promotional tour like a madman, visiting dozens of cities and major theaters in each city. The person in charge of the promotion said: "Generally, celebrities go on a promotional tour. , it is very good to go to 2 to 3 theaters in each city. Wu Jing will go to more than 7 theaters in almost every city to build momentum. He is really dedicated! "At the same time, Wu Jing also maintained a high level of attention through a series of event marketing such as Xie Nan giving birth to a child, attending the Spring Festival Gala with Zhang Zhen, and quarreling with EXO fans, which raised the expectations of "Wolf Warrior".

While romantic movies make people tired of looking at them, "straight male cancer movies" tap the potential of the market

After "Wolf Warrior" was released, a new term appeared on the market: straight male cancer movies with its typical characteristics. The main actors are all muscular men (except for the heroine); they are all capable, and it doesn't matter if they go up to the sword or into the sea of ??fire; they punish the evil and promote the good, support the weak and pick up the strong, they are righteous but have a bad temper, and they fight with fists and kicks at every turn. The big guns are at your fingertips, in one word: "hard".

This type of film is quite rare among domestic films. The "Assembly" a few years ago became the success of Zhang Hanyu and "Ip Man" series. Donnie Yen was a success, Peng Yuyan was a success in "The Good Fight", and "Taking Tiger Mountain" was a box office success of nearly 900 million. There are just a few movies about straight men with cancer that you can count on your fingers. No wonder straight men are getting better. So, when "Wolf Warrior" was launched with all-round advanced combat equipment on land and air, it could first win over those military fans who usually like to stay at home and play "Modern Warfare", and then it could also summon those military fans. Camouflage controllers who like off-roading, and then there are political enthusiasts who pay attention to national defense construction. These audience groups that have been ignored in the film industry for many years are not only huge in number but also extremely productive, just like "Wolf Totem" maximized the tapping of middle-aged and elderly audiences. , "Wolf Warrior" finally brought the majority of military enthusiasts into the theater.

And the romantic comedy theme of "Let's Get Married", "Love Is Not Blind", "Beijing Meets Seattle", " After the success of films such as "Beijing Love Story", there has been a trend of "flooding". From the end of last year, "A Coquettish Woman Has the Best Life", "My Girlfriend Who Changes Early", "Micro Love: Getting Better", " Since "There's a Place Only We Know", the box office of such films has shown a decline. Although the above films are all well-made works, there is a phenomenon in the world called "aesthetic fatigue". This is the truth.

When 3D meets 2D: Theater business is also a decisive factor

The running time of "Wolf Warrior" is 90 minutes, and both 2D and 3D versions are available. Yes; "Let's Get Married" is 127 minutes and only has a 2D version.

Many theater insiders said in interviews with reporters that about 90 minutes is the "optimal length" of a movie. It won't feel too short, and the theater can arrange more screenings; if it exceeds 120 minutes, it will be "uncomfortable". Not only will some viewers not be able to hold it for that long and have to go to the toilet midway, but it will also be uneconomical for the theater.

According to this length, "Wolf Warrior" will only take 360 ??minutes to screen 4 times (excluding the time for changing scenes in the middle), while "Let's Get Married" will take 381 minutes to screen 3 times . "You do the math yourself. Showing 3 shows of "Let's Get Married" is enough to show 4 shows of "Wolf Warrior." When the attendance is about the same, which one do you show?" a theater insider asked.

Not only that, "Wolf Warrior" is released in 2D and 3D at the same time, and the average ticket price is more expensive than "Let's Get Married", which is also a big attraction for theaters.

Statistics provided to reporters by Yien Consulting show that the cumulative box office of "Wolf Warrior" in the first three days was 134 million, with 3.89 million moviegoers and an average ticket price of 34.45 yuan; "Let's Get Married" The cumulative box office in the first three days was 98 million, the number of moviegoers was 2.93 million, and the average ticket price was 33.45 yuan. Although the difference is only 1 yuan, 1 yuan is still money, and it is mainly because "Wolf Warrior" performs better in second-, third- and fourth-tier cities and the ticket price is relatively low, so the difference in numbers is not big.

In short, compared with "Let's Get Married", "Wolf Warrior" has a shorter film length - and not even a star. The ticket price is more expensive, the attendance rate is about the same, and theaters are more willing to have more It’s self-explanatory as to who is being screened.

Conclusion: Innovation is the last word

Of course, there are many other reasons for the box office success of "Wolf Warrior", such as the implementation of the distribution strategy and the military's support for film arrangement. Subtle influences, etc., but ultimately, the breakthrough of "Wolf Warrior" is the fundamental reason for the film's success. For the increasingly prosperous mainland movies, audiences will become more and more inclined to choose those types of movies that they have never been exposed to. , so if you want to become popular at the box office, it is the last word to follow the trend less and innovate more.