Why did this small-budget movie become a dark horse at the box office？ The film denied water injection.
Poster of Ex-3: Goodbye to Ex-3
Beijing, Jan. 6 (Reporter Zhang Xi) Recently, the small-budget movie Ex-3: Goodbye to Ex-3 (hereinafter referred to as Ex-3) stood out as the box office champion on New Year’s Day, far ahead of popular movies such as The Legend of the Demon Cat and Worry-Free Grocery Store. Although some netizens questioned the suspicion of water injection, both the producer and the distributor denied it, and some film critics believed that a big factor that made the film a dark horse was that it poked the audience’s own emotional experience.
— — It broke 800 million in 8 days.
"Former 3" became a dark horse at the box office on New Year’s Day.
Precedent 3 is the third film in the Precedent series, directed by Yu-sheng Tian and starring Han Geng, Ryan, Romy and Kelly, which continues the comedy style of the previous two films.
Image source: screenshot of Cat’s Eye Movie Professional Edition
Since its release, the film has topped the single-day box office list for three consecutive days. According to the data of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, as of 4:00 p.m. on the 5th, the box office of "Former 3" exceeded 800 million, and the number of films ranked as high as 33%, second only to the Hollywood film "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on the first day of release.
In contrast, Chen Kaige’s The Legend of the Demon Cat and Karry’s The Worry-Free Grocery Store, which have high hopes, all have a mediocre box office, especially The Legend of the Demon Cat, which has just broken 500 million at the box office for 15 days, with only 2% of the films arranged, which is obviously insufficient in stamina.
It is worth mentioning that the first two works of the "predecessor" series, Predecessor Raiders and Predecessor Raiders 2, were released in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and won 129 million yuan and 251 million yuan at the box office. The current performance of Predecessor 3 has surpassed the sum of the box office of the two previous works.
"Ex 3" poster
— — Question: Is there anyone to see it when it snows heavily?
The film retorted: The budget is so low, how to inject water?
For the unexpected box office of "Previous 3", some netizens questioned it on the Internet and published screenshots. "Did someone go to see it under heavy snow?" "Is there a booking in the middle of the night?" However, some netizens responded that "there are more people at 10 o’clock than at 7 o’clock" and "I can’t buy tickets after work".
In this regard, the reporter contacted and interviewed the person in charge of Beijing Infinite Freedom Culture Media Co., Ltd., one of the producers, and the other party denied it: "There is no possibility, our budget is so low, how can we inject water?" The person in charge of the distributor said that the film’s high ranking and good box office are due to the good quality of the film, and "good content is the first".
In addition, the reporter found from the professional version of Cat’s Eye that the film is the most popular in second-tier cities, with an attendance rate of 19.2% and female audiences accounting for 60.8%, which shows that the film playing emotional cards is still more popular with female audiences.
Data Map: Starring Han Geng is enthusiastic about fans at the scene. Photo by Zhong Xin
— — Good luck or schedule?
Poke the audience’s own emotional experience
Why can this small-budget film stand out in the New Year’s Day schedule?
Rao Shuguang, secretary-general of the China Film Association, bluntly said in an interview with reporters that on the one hand, the audience in the holiday schedule are willing to watch relatively relaxed movies. "Now the social attributes of movies are getting stronger and stronger, so the probability of winning comedy films in the holiday schedule is relatively high"; On the other hand, he thinks that "Ex 3" is very grounded. "Breaking up was a very heavy topic, but it eased everyone’s anxiety through comedy, which is also one of the elements of box office success."
Some media also commented that when watching movies has become the daily entertainment of the public, ordinary audiences need not only large-scale production with swords and shadows, but also empathy experience. "The audience who gave praise generally thought that although the film was mediocre, it poked its own tears and made people feel emotional. They were not moved by the plot, but the film inspired their own emotional experience. "
Judging from the film reviews on Douban, although many fans didn’t give a high rating, the topic of "predecessor" still sparked discussion. Rao Shuguang said that this is the biggest advantage of "predecessor 3", "making the audience feel brought in and have emotional identity".
"Ex 3" poster
— — Dilute the director’s personal color
Division of labor to write scripts to find the audience’s resonance point
Unlike some movies, Ex-3 has a screenwriter team, and everyone has a different division of labor: some people are responsible for the paragraphs, some are responsible for the structure of the film, and some are responsible for the lines, and finally they are handed over to the director Yu-sheng Tian, who will summarize and write.
"The disadvantage is that it is difficult to unify and the speed is very slow. The advantage is that there are many different colors in it. I quite like this kind of collective creation, because it may be fast or easy for a person to create, but it will be too personal. " Yu-sheng Tian told reporters that he not only played down the director’s personal color, but also strengthened the authenticity. Many plots came from the real experiences of friends around him. "For the theme of urban love comedy, the most important thing is to find the resonance of the audience. People will not accept things that are too fairy tales or too fairy." (End)