Made in Hollywood

With its own unique charm, Star Wars has evolved into a symbol, a permanent logo, and this culture has penetrated into all aspects of Americans. Understanding Star Wars knowledge has become a basic quality of life, and it is even said that Star Wars is It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a god-like existence in the hearts of Americans, just like the people on the other side of the Pacific Ocean feel about "Journey to the West".

There is no doubt that Star Wars is the national myth of the Americans, not the national myth of the Chinese.

"The box office of Chinese movies experienced explosive growth in 2013. This growth is reflected not only in the rapid growth of the movie box office as a whole, but also in the change in the box office ratio between Chinese local movies and Hollywood movies."

In the Star Wars Studio of Warner Studios, Duke looked at the professionals from Lucasfilm and Warner Bros. involved in the meeting, and said very seriously, "The box office growth of Chinese films has exceeded our expectations. By the end of this year, the entire Chinese box office market may exceed 30 billion RMB."

The importance of the Chinese market to Hollywood is unquestionable. If "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" wants to explode and maximize its benefits, the Chinese market must not be ignored.

"Here, I just want to say one thing." Duke said seriously, "The promotion work we have done in the Chinese market is far from enough."

It has to be said that the great success of the Star Wars series has also brought a wrong hint to many people in Lucasfilm and Warner Bros., making these people think that Star Wars can break out in Japan and South Korea, and it can also break out in the Chinese market. It will explode of course.

But Duke knows that the facts are definitely not like this. If they want Chinese audiences to buy Star Wars, they need to pay more.

"I request to formulate a comprehensive publicity and promotion plan, and double the resources invested in China." Duke specifically emphasized, "In the final stage before the release. I request that the name of Star Wars appear in front of every Chinese audience. "

It is of course an exaggeration to say this, but the potential of the Chinese market cannot be overemphasized, and Duke has already seen the quiet changes in the Chinese film market from the data and reports transmitted by Warner Greater China.

In the past year, the box office ratio of Chinese movies and Hollywood movies in China has undergone important changes. For the first time in more than ten years, the box office of Hollywood films accounted for less than 60% of China's box office. This major change is actually the result of the rapid growth of the Chinese film market in recent years.

Chinese movie audiences have grown rapidly in recent years, which is inevitable in the process of "nationalizing" Chinese movies in recent years.

In recent years, the super metropolis formed since the 1990s has determined the structure of China's movie box office to undergo a fundamental change. This change comes from two new increments. Second, the young audience groups of "post-80s" and "post-90s" have become the main force of current cultural consumption.

The superposition of these two elements happens to be the "new audience" of movies formed by the "small town youth" group that has attracted great public attention. The rise of these "new audiences" has fundamentally formed a new increase in Chinese movie audiences. Their appearance has brought about fundamental changes in film culture and taste. This is actually the internal driving force for the continued growth of the Chinese film market. This internal driving force will dominate the continued rapid growth of the Chinese film box office for at least five to ten years.

This kind of growth is precisely the result of China's "urbanization" deepening. China's new middle-class audience will make China the undisputed new center of Chinese-language movies and even global movies. These two forces are the most important consumption growth in China. quantity. It is also a new growth point of economic and social development, and it is under their influence that the box office of Chinese movies will have such an increase.

This is the result of the increase in infrastructure configuration. The rapid popularization of cinemas in large shopping malls to third- and fourth-tier cities and the increase in the number of screens are all necessary conditions for third- and fourth-tier cities to join the movie market. In recent years, the rapid expansion of middle-income earners and the rapid income growth of ordinary workers have provided sufficient evidence for movie consumption.

Young people have always been the main force of film consumption, but the increase of young people today is no longer the youth of the metropolis. It is the young people in the third- and fourth-tier cities. Their tastes have also had a huge impact on the film market. The enlargement of the film market today is the agglomeration effect of the two overlapping increments of the third- and fourth-tier cities and youth.

The first choice for young people in small towns to watch movies is often not the type of Star Wars. It is more popular Hollywood movies and down-to-earth domestic movies.

This will further deepen the "locality" of Chinese films.

Today, the North American film market has stagnated in recent years. Most Hollywood blockbusters appear in the form of sequels, and the lack of innovation is becoming increasingly serious.

Although Hollywood still has a strong strength, the continuous activity of the Chinese film market and film production has begun to change the overall structure of the Chinese film market.

First of all, it has brought a bigger cake. Chinese films have been able to compete with Hollywood films in the local area. Especially with the help of a series of policies such as the domestic protection month, there is a tendency to tie with Hollywood films. There are very few countries outside the film industry that can do it.

Secondly, it also brings the Chinese film market's great attraction to Hollywood and its core position in global Chinese films. Commercial directors such as Duke have also made changes for this, for example, he used Daniel Wu.

How to attract new audiences in the Chinese film market is an important task for the promotion of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in China.

The previous "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" promotion plan failed, and the lessons are not insignificant.

Of course, there are many objective reasons for this.

For example, Chinese audiences did not meet Star Wars at the right time.

In 1977, the release of "Star Wars" left all the people in the United States. In that year, China had just ended a special ten-year period. During those ten years, most Chinese people watched it on the big screen pulled up on the threshing floor. After going through the "eight model plays" several times, the "Star Wars" trilogy never had the opportunity to be released in China.

Some things, if you miss it, you will miss it, and you will not call if you meet at another time.

To this end, Duke asked Lucasfilm to also make a targeted strategy, authorizing Chinese TV stations and video sites to play the six-part "Star Wars" for free for a certain period of time, so as to increase their chances of meeting Chinese audiences .

Movies are the basis of derivative products. There are not many fans of "Star Wars" in China, so not many people will care about the "Star Wars Universe". What about Star Wars fans? Ultimately it becomes a matter of the chicken does not lay the egg and the egg does not hatch.

The extreme scarcity of the Chinese film derivatives market is also an important reason.

When "Star Wars Prequel" was released in China, many theaters here did not sell derivative products, or even purchase channels for genuine authorized derivative products. Occasionally, some theaters wanted to develop this business, and even sent people to Hong Kong to purchase , and the purchase volume is also very small, and theaters can't stand the backlog of inventory.

Missing the best time to watch movies, and without the cultivation of derivative products, what "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will face in China is actually a market that is almost passer-by. There are no "memory" Chinese audiences and no "myth" Chinese audiences. At best, "pop culture" has just emerged in China, and these elements that are firmly tied to American audiences are impossible to talk about in China.

These are all objective reasons, but the biggest failure in the promotion of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in China is that it did not attract the attention of "small town youth".

With the development of the Chinese film market, even Duke, who is far away across the Pacific Ocean, has to admit that if a film wants to have a box office of 1 billion or more in China, it must be recognized by "small town youth".

It's a pity that without an eye-catching targeted publicity strategy, "small town youth" don't like Hollywood blockbusters very much at all, and down-to-earth domestic comedies are what they like.

Even if they sometimes choose Hollywood blockbusters, they mostly pay attention to their fast-food entertainment function, and sensory stimulation is the primary pursuit. Therefore, "Iron Man", "Avengers", "Transformers" and other movies that play a big role in visual effects and are full of various fighting and explosion scenes are more popular among young people in small towns.

The previous "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" also has elements of this aspect, but the weight is obviously not enough. Tell the "small town youth" "Conquer your fear, or you will fall into the dark side of the force", most of them will I also rolled my eyes at the movie.

In Duke's view, "Star Wars" is like "Journey to the West" in the United States. It is normal for Chinese audiences to be less enthusiastic. If you understand it, you will know how to appreciate it.

Perhaps this "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will not completely break out in the Chinese market as Duke expected, but he and Lucasfilm will not give up the layout of the Star Wars series in China.

The invitation of Jiang Xiaojun and Wu Jing to star in "A Star Wars Story: Rogue One", which Lucasfilm has confirmed to start filming, is an important signal.

As the Chinese film market matures, Chinese audiences, including "small town youth", will become more and more accepting of foreign cultures; as the Chinese film derivatives market matures, Chinese film fans will become more and more bonded high.

Since the day Duke acquired Lucasfilm, it has made every effort to promote the spread of Star Wars culture in China. Lucasfilm CEO Catherine Kennedy has personally traveled to China several times to formulate publicity promotions with a group of partners. plan.

Although it is far less than the influence of Star Wars in Japan and South Korea, the influence of Star Wars in China is not at the same level as it used to be.

And in Duke's view, with proper publicity and marketing, it is not difficult for Chinese audiences to understand Star Wars culture. (to be continued ~^~)

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