On-line screening of movies is emerging, and cinema and network are complementary and integrated for new films.
Original title: The rise of movie online screening, the complementary integration of cinema and network for new films
Good news came from the first weekend after the national cinemas resumed work: on July 25, the box office broke through 30 million yuan for the first time, and more than 5,000 cinemas resumed work nationwide, with a resumption rate of 45.7%; In the first weekend, the national cumulative box office exceeded 100 million. Among the new films released, imported films Dolittle and Bloodshot are the most eye-catching, firmly occupying the top two in the box office list, and the literary film "The First Parting" is also quite good.
The movie "Journey" goes online simultaneously with the network.
The first time to make up for the online and offline users’ viewing needs.
From January 24th, the national cinemas closed down, and on July 20th, cinemas in low-risk areas finally opened their doors to welcome guests. After nearly 180 days without cinemas, the film industry finally ushered in a long-awaited recovery.
For the cinema, it stopped working during the epidemic; For video websites, the cinema is closed for nearly half a year, the supply of new films in the head is lacking, and the second window of film screening disappears together with the first window. The platform and users are particularly looking forward to a large number of new films.
On July 24th, the fantasy action movie Journey adapted from the popular game of the same name was exclusively launched in iQiyi. Directed by Chen Desen and supervised by Zheng Baorui, and starring Henry Lau and Peter Ho, this film is the fifth new cinema film provided by iQiyi in the first time window under the mode of single-point payment. This mode of online paid viewing of new cinema films on the video platform is called PVOD(Premium Video on Demand) mode overseas.
Using PVOD mode to show films simultaneously in a short window period or in the cinema network is no longer a case in both Chinese and foreign film markets. Previously, Universal Studios, Disney, Warner Bros., Lions Gate and other Hollywood blockbusters have adopted this model to launch a number of films, including "Magic Hair Wizard 2: A Journey to the World" and "Hamilton". Recently, Paramount also announced that Spongebob: Rescue Adventure, which was originally scheduled to be released in August 2021, will be released in PVOD mode. In terms of pricing, Hollywood films broadcast in PVOD mode are mostly priced at $20 for 48 hours (equivalent to RMB about 140 yuan).
Iqiyi is the first video platform in China to use PVOD mode to make movies online. On February 1st, the action comedy movie "Flying Dragon Across the River" was officially launched by this mode, and then the action movie "We Never Give Up" starring Han Geng and Vivian Wu, the literary film "Spring Tide" with high reputation and the Oscar-winning film "Marriage Story" were also broadcast by this mode.
A recent data study by Ampere Analysis Company shows that digital transactions are more common in markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom and the whole of Europe, and PVOD has been proved to be a feasible model and is developing rapidly.
PVOD mode helps film distribution
The battle of iqiyi’s journey was successful in the first battle.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in the world, cinemas in many countries fell into a wave of closure, and a large number of cinemas could not resume work in a short period of time, so the film distribution was blocked, and many films that had already been produced were overstocked and could not meet the audience. Even the super blockbusters like Tenet and Mulan have to withdraw their files again and again.
When more and more films are blocked from being shown in theaters due to the epidemic, PVOD provides them with a brand-new distribution channel, and also provides movie lovers with a way to experience the charm of light and shadow without leaving home.
As a visual blockbuster, although domestic cinemas have started the pace of returning to work one after another four days before the official announcement of Journey, the film still decided to show online in the same way. In this regard, Song Jia, general manager of Aiqiyi Film Center, analyzed that "Journey" was launched in PVOD mode mainly for three reasons: First, the producer of the film and Aiqiyi have always been close partners. As early as 2019, Aiqiyi has won the exclusive online copyright of "Journey"; Second, the cinema will resume work, and a large number of backlogs will be released. The competition will be fierce, and the chances of winning the online broadcast of Journey will be even greater. Third, Journey is adapted from the game of the same name. 2020 coincides with the 15th anniversary of the game’s launch, and it must be released at this time node. Moreover, the users of the game are also netizens, and the transformation and diversion are relatively more advantageous.
In order to make the user’s viewing experience at home close to the cinema effect, iQiyi tried various technologies to achieve high standards of audio-visual protection. "From the hardware side, we judged that the more broadcast source of this film is TV, so we started to talk about cooperation with many TV manufacturers in June, and specially produced 4K, Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Panoramic Sound, iQiyi HDR, ultra-high frame rate and other configurations for this film. And talked about a lot of promotional resources through TV channels to help promote this film. "
After the launch of Journey, it achieved a good market response: the film earned 42.62 million yuan in 72 hours, and the film ranked first in the real-time hot movie list of Douban. At the same time, it won the first place in the weekly movie list of Weibo, the third place in the daily movie list, and the first place in the daily movie list of Yunhe. The cumulative reading of Weibo topics such as Journey of Movies exceeded 700 million. According to the data of iQiyi, on the first day of the launch, the per capita viewing time of Journey TV exceeded that of the mobile terminal, and the users playing on the TV terminal in the evening peak accounted for nearly 40% of the total. It can be seen that special effects blockbusters are favored by large-screen users.
Home theater becomes the trend of watching movies in the future
"Super Cinema" fits users’ viewing habits.
In the long run, an irresistible trend is that online movie viewing is becoming an increasingly mainstream consumption habit, which complements the cinema. According to "China Smart Big Screen Development Forecast Report in 2020", in 2019, the penetration rate of smart TV households reached 59%, covering 200 million+households with over 600 million users. With the popularization of smart TV and the upgrading of video website technology, home theater has become the trend of watching movies in the future. Television, projection screen and mobile phone may all become the broadcast carrier of the seventh art of film.
In addition to technology, iQiyi intends to launch a "super cinema" to carry new cinema films in PVOD mode, so as to prepare for users’ home cinemas. It is understood that Journey is the first visual blockbuster launched by iQiyi’s "Super Cinema" in PVOD mode. In the future, iQiyi will continue to cover fantasy, city, youth, love, plot, suspense, vigilance, literary films and other domestic and overseas high-quality new films with different types and volumes in PVOD mode. At present, the popularity and reputation of Journey proves the sustainable development of this model.
At the same time, users are more willing to pay for this model. The latest data from Hub Entertainment Research shows that the PVOD model is being welcomed by young consumers, and more than 60% of the respondents (aged 18-34) said that they might pay for the latest release of movie on demand. On the other hand, in China, the user’s payment behavior has been formed. The "Research on the Development Countermeasures of the Film Industry under the Influence of the Epidemic-A Survey Report on Audience’s Willingness to Watch Movies" released by the China Film Association and Cat’s Eye Research Institute shows that more than 70% of the respondents have paid for watching movies online, and more than 60% of the respondents think that online payment is acceptable.
Liu Zhenfei, a data analyst of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, believes that online viewing may become a long-standing choice for viewing consumption in the future, and some users’ habits may be changed to some extent. Internet users, especially young consumers, hope to have more flexible ways to watch movies, and provide more free time and space for watching movies online. "From the general trend, the online process of movies can be foreseen, but the epidemic has accelerated the cultivation of audience consumption habits. However, online and offline are not absolute opposites, and the industrial ecology with different focuses is a reasonable and benign model. "
"In the future, online distribution like PVOD will become a new choice for some film companies, which actually broadens the road, because some films are naturally suitable for cinemas. But when the film doesn’t find its place in the cinema market, the network can give it new routes and opportunities. " In Song Jia’s view, PVOD is even expected to form the concept of film arrangement in the future. You can see at a glance what you want to see in the future, what films will be shown tomorrow, which ones will be shown in cinemas and which ones will be shown on video platforms. (Yuan Yuner)