Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 675 Adding insult to injury
Just a few days into the 2020 Spring Festival film season, when industry insiders thought this year's season would be a little bumpy, but the storm would eventually pass.

On January 28, relevant national departments stated that the current winter flu outbreak is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract, and there is a risk of further spread and serious consequences.

Following this, prevention tips from control centers in various regions also explicitly mentioned "avoiding enclosed, poorly ventilated public places and crowded areas."

As enclosed, densely populated venues, cinemas naturally became a key focus of attention.

Online, many netizens have also posted articles urging people to avoid going to the cinema as much as possible because the design of the screening room is extremely enclosed and the ventilation is poor. The call to "reschedule the Spring Festival film season" is also getting louder and louder.

However, for movies that have already been released, changing their release date after a few days will undoubtedly be a huge blow to their box office performance.

After all, the previous promotional funds have already been used up. Changing the release date now will undoubtedly require spending a lot more on promotional expenses when the film is re-released.

Moreover, if a movie that has already been released is of good quality and has good word-of-mouth, there is nothing to worry about. However, if the quality is not good and audience word-of-mouth plummets, the box office may be a complete flop when the movie is re-released.

However, some things are beyond one's control.

On the 30th, ticketing websites such as Taopiaopiao, Maoyan, and Meituan issued a statement saying that users who purchased movie tickets during the Spring Festival period can apply for an unconditional refund.

If a user requests a refund, the ticketing platform will adhere to the principle of putting customers first and, in accordance with the requirements of relevant departments, will do its utmost to communicate with the cinema regarding the refund process to minimize the user's losses.

A few days later, many second- and third-tier cities with more severe situations issued notices stating that all enclosed entertainment venues in the city must suspend operations immediately.

This includes large amusement parks and cinemas.

On the same day the notice was issued, the film "Boonie Bears: Wild Land" released a statement announcing its withdrawal from release.

Following closely behind, "The Rescue," which had performed extremely poorly at the box office during the Spring Festival season, also announced its withdrawal from the release schedule.

Thus, during the entire Spring Festival film season, only three films remained to compete in the few cinemas that were still open: "Lost in Russia," "Leap," and "Vanguard."

However, the closure of many cinemas and the concerns of audiences caused these films to experience a sharp drop in their daily box office revenue during the Spring Festival season.

For example, the box office of "Lost in Russia" plummeted to just over 100,000 yuan in a single day, making Xu Zheng, who pays close attention to film performance, turn green with envy.

The only good news is that he signed a minimum guarantee distribution contract before the film's release, so although he has encountered force majeure, his losses are not significant.

It's only because of the existence of Galaxy Pictures that many of Xu Zheng's projects have had their luck stolen, resulting in his current status in the industry being far inferior to Wang Hao's in his previous life.

If "Lost in Russia" fails again, his future opportunities to direct will likely be greatly reduced.

But that's reality, and there's nothing he can do about it; he can only blame his bad luck.

However, at this time, Xu Zheng would also think of "The Ladder" which was moved up in release date and "Ne Zha 2" which was withdrawn early, and then in the quiet of the night, he would sigh that Xinghe Pictures was really lucky.

However, while films like "Lost in Russia" were struggling to stay afloat in theaters, Jackie Chan's "Vanguard" was released for free on the Douyin platform.

Compared to the worries and anxieties of the "Lost in Russia" team, Jackie Chan was undoubtedly much more relaxed, because the film had already been sold to Douyin at a reasonable price.

Moreover, because the movie was offered to the public for free, the public was much more forgiving of "Vanguard". Although the movie still had various problems, the audience was not too harsh on it.

Different choices, different results: the fates of these films during the Spring Festival season undoubtedly make those who follow feel uneasy.

Seeing that the terrible situation in reality seems to be going to continue for some time, many films that were originally scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival have also put their plans on hold and are waiting to see what happens.

The influence of this external environment and internal choices have undoubtedly exacerbated the already dire situation of the film industry and the offline cultural and entertainment market.

On Xinghe Group's side, Wang Hao naturally had relevant industry data available during this period.

According to data, there are currently about 56 film and television-related companies still in operation nationwide, while 6686 have been revoked or deregistered.

Since cinemas closed, many listed companies in the film and television industry have been facing serious problems.

The key question is what the future holds? Whether things will improve or worsen is unclear to everyone, so the industry as a whole is leaning towards a conservative strategy.

Even the Xinghe Group is the same; even though the Spring Festival holiday has ended, the group has notified its employees to postpone the start of work.

Except for employees in some key positions, they should stay at home as much as possible, and work remotely online whenever possible.

In addition, projects and film crews that were originally in the process of being initiated or filmed are currently in a state of suspension, and the various studios inside [Galaxy Cinema] have not yet been used.

However, compared to the huge impact on the offline entertainment industry and the uncertainty it faces in the future, the online entertainment industry has ushered in a spring because of this special external event.

The data clearly shows that the "stay-at-home economy" spurred by the flu pandemic has not only led to a new trend of theatrical films shifting to online streaming, but has also created an opportunity for new changes in the cultural and entertainment industry or a restructuring of the traditional film and television industry.

In the past, even during economic downturns and film and television industry slumps, it was still common for the film industry to look down on the television and variety show industries.

As for emerging online movies, web series, and live-streaming influencers, they are even less of a concern for these film stars.

However, the future trend is that mobile internet will replace the traditional film and television entertainment culture dissemination system. This sudden event is just prompting further changes in the industry.

In fact, unexpected events have indeed changed the way online entertainment is played in China.

During this period of flu control, online entertainment such as virtual clubbing, virtual variety shows, and virtual dancing have become extremely popular.

For example, the Douyin app launched by Xinghe Group has seen a surge in users both domestically and internationally.

The losses suffered by Galaxy Pictures due to the industry's black swan event and subsequent stock price decline were immediately offset by the rise in Douyin's stock price.

Not only Douyin, but data shows that during this year's Spring Festival, the revenue of China's game market also increased by 25.2% compared to the previous period, and the number of game users also saw a surge.

In addition, compared to the huge impact on the film market, the television drama market is obviously much luckier.

At the beginning of the year alone, TV dramas of various genres have been airing one after another, and the number of online viewerships for TV dramas has increased almost as much as in the same period of previous years.

Among these themes, romantic love, family affection, and youth growth remain the mainstream in the market.

On January 26th, the drama series "Find Yourself," starring Song Weilong and Song Qian, which deals with the theme of a romance between an older woman and a younger man, premiered online, immediately sparking a viewing frenzy. Simultaneously, the youth time-travel drama "Someday or One Day" also became a dark horse, gaining widespread popularity with its 9.2 rating. It brought Xu Guanghan to the forefront of viewers' minds, and Ko Chia-yen also rose to fame. The theme song from the series became a wildly popular and catchy hit.

In addition, ancient costume dramas and fantasy dramas, which also make up half of the online drama market, remain popular.

Historically, period dramas have always been hits. The battle of "fantasy martial arts" on the screen has created many on-screen couples and made a number of new actors famous.

On January 22, the fantasy romance drama "Eternal Love of Dream," produced by Galaxy Entertainment, premiered, starring Dilraba Dilmurat and Gao Weiguang.

Adapted from Tang Qi's novel of the same name, the drama continues the popularity of "Eternal Love" and has gained the favor of many loyal fans.

The popularity of these online dramas stands in stark contrast to the lukewarm reception of the film industry.

Some actors who were originally film stars have become even more determined to switch from the big screen to the small screen because of this.

Of all things under the heavens, money is the greatest.

This shift, coupled with the construction of 5G networks, is further driving people's demand for high-definition content and immersive experiences, leading to the accelerated popularization of various new entertainment technologies.

In Beijing, Wang Hao also took this opportunity to rest for what was a very long "vacation" for him, and spent a peaceful time with his wife and children.

Since the company is temporarily shut down, they don't need to worry about their daily lives. After all, there is a Galaxy Shopping Plaza near the community, so it is extremely convenient to order online and pick up the goods by car or have them delivered to their door.

Moreover, speaking of Galaxy Shopping Plaza, besides the booming development of Douyin and online business, Galaxy Shopping Plaza is the best performing offline business of their group during this period.

Thanks to Wang Hao's prior arrangement to fill the shopping mall's warehouses, Xinghe Shopping Plaza always had an ample supply of basic materials after the emergency, and residents of nearby communities all benefited accordingly.

Moreover, the shopping plaza has not only expanded its delivery rider fleet, but has also developed a community group-buying business, specifically targeting various communities in the TZ district to provide them with online grocery shopping services.

For this part alone, the group's fixed asset management department had specifically consulted him about whether to spin off the business and establish a new community group buying company.

Wang Hao, who possesses memories of his past life, naturally knows the future prospects of this business.

To be honest, community grocery shopping is very popular, but it also has many problems. Later companies such as Shihuituan, Duoduo Maicai, and Meituan Maicai burned through a lot of money to seize the market, but in the end, none of them benefited.

Some companies, after burning through their last reserves, have had no choice but to quietly exit the market.

Moreover, selling vegetables online, to put it bluntly, is competing with the people for profit, and that doesn't sound good if word gets out.

So after careful consideration, Wang Hao finally instructed the Fixed Asset Management Department that the business was viable, but there was no need for large-scale expansion. Relying on the existing reputation and warehousing and logistics of Xinghe Shopping Plaza, they could focus on providing fresh food delivery services in the surrounding area, like Sam's Club, and concentrate on serving high-value users in Beijing.

They don't need to do low-end community group buying for farmers' markets.

The Fixed Assets Management Department had no objections to this and quickly began to adjust the development direction of the business in accordance with Wang Hao's instructions.

Besides matters concerning the Fixed Assets Management Department, other departments would occasionally report or request instructions from Wang Hao.

It was supposed to be a vacation at home, but it wasn't actually as relaxing as I imagined.

After all, Xinghe Group is a large multinational corporation, and the future of more than 100,000 people in the group rests on his shoulders.

Soon, thanks to strict management, the social situation in China quickly improved. After the downturn in February, many industries gradually resumed work in March.

After implementing new management measures, the Galaxy Cinema has begun to accept film crews to enter the park for film shooting.

There's no way to stop filming; even if film crews stop working, they still have to spend money every day.

而且场地租赁时间也存在着很大的问题，那些原本预定了1、2月份摄影棚的剧组，是不好延后到3、4月份乃至是以后进行拍摄的，因为3、4月份及以后也都有其他剧组预定了。

If you want to postpone its use, they may not be willing to move the time back.

Therefore, the various film studios in [Galaxy Cinema] had to be put into use.

Fortunately, the film studio itself is partitioned. Once the crew members are in place, as long as they are under closed management and simply travel between the film studio and the hotel, there shouldn't be any major problems.

So, starting in March 2020, the previously deserted Oriental Galaxy Cinema regained its popularity.

By April, open-air entertainment venues like [Star River Amusement Park] had reopened to the public after consulting with relevant departments in TZ District and BJ City. However, the number of visitors allowed to the amusement park each day was still limited to no more than 30,000.

This is still quite attractive to many tourists, since fewer visitors in the park will definitely increase the overall experience.

Even though Galaxy Park has reopened, cinemas across the country have not yet returned to normal. Many cinemas are still unable to open due to their own limitations and the impact of local policies.

Another group of cinemas in third- and fourth-tier cities were unable to survive this even more severe winter and closed down completely.

Even those cinemas that dared to open despite local policies being in favor of doing so faced a situation of almost no customers.

According to statistics, the total box office revenue of at least 500 cinemas nationwide is still less than the daily box office revenue of a single first-tier cinema before the Spring Festival.

As a result, and with the tragic fate of predecessors like "Lost in Russia" during the Spring Festival as examples, those films that were already produced and waiting to be released dared not take the lead.

If you're really short on funds and can't wait, there are online platforms available.

On March 20, Da Peng's movie "The Big Winner" also premiered on Douyin, a platform under Xinghe Group, just like "Vanguard".

Other film production companies are also actively contacting Galaxy Group to try to find alternative release methods.

This situation has thrown many struggling cinemas into a panic.

If a cinema has no good films scheduled for release and can only use old movies to fill the gaps, how can it expect audiences to risk buying tickets to watch the film?

Faced with this vicious cycle, the capital and companies behind those cinema chains have no choice but to turn to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the cultural authorities for help.

At the same time, Xinghe Group did not overlook the fact that Xinghe Cinemas was not much better off than them, so they had to play the "unity card".

(End of this chapter)