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Interface News reporter | Hu Yujing
Jiemian News Editor | Zhang Youfa

According to data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of July 30, the total box office (including pre-sales) for the 2024 summer season (June 1 to August 31) reached 7.5 billion yuan. "Catching Dolls", "Silent Killer" and "There is a Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud" are temporarily ranked in the top three of the box office list with 2.34 billion, 1.25 billion and 500 million yuan respectively.

The summer season is more than halfway through, and the box office is not optimistic compared with last year. Last year's total summer box office was 20.63 billion yuan, with a total of 505 million tickets sold. This year, the progress bar for the summer season has been loaded to two-thirds, but the box office is only one-third of last year's.

In horizontal comparison, there were five films that broke 1 billion yuan in box office last summer, namely "All or Nothing", "Gone Girl", "Investiture of the Gods Part 1", "In the Octagonal Cage" and "30,000 Miles from Chang'an", of which "All or Nothing" and "Gone Girl" both made over 3.5 billion yuan. In addition, there were three films that made over 500 million yuan and 15 films that made over 100 million yuan, respectively, with a relatively balanced distribution.

So far, only two movies this summer have grossed over 1 billion yuan. The third one, "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud", has a clear inverse relationship between word-of-mouth and box office, with a box office of nearly 500 million yuan, but only a Douban score of 5.1.

From the supply point of view, imported films accounted for a large proportion of this summer's movie season, with more than a dozen films entering theaters. Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and the recently released Deadpool vs. Wolverine have grossed over 200 million yuan, ranking among the top three imported films.

However, compared with overseas box office, most imported films have not performed well in China. "Inside Out 2" has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, surpassing "Frozen 2" to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, while mainland China only generated 330 million yuan in box office revenue. "Despicable Me 4", a new IP from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, may only have one-third of the 1.037 billion yuan of its predecessor, "Despicable Me 3," at the mainland box office.

The number of animated films in the summer season this year is still impressive. In addition to the above-mentioned European and American animated films, Makoto Shinkai's old work "Your Name." has grossed 125 million yuan since its re-release on July 19, and "Slam Dunk," which set off a nostalgic craze in April last year, will also be re-released on August 3.

In addition, Japanese animations such as "Haikyuu! ! Garbage Showdown" and "Blue Forbidden Zone: Nagi", as well as domestic animations such as "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Guardian" and "Falling into the Mortal World" are all vying for young audiences during the summer vacation.

Among the films currently showing in theaters, the blockbusters that have been replenished in the past week are two comic book adaptations, "Deadpool and Wolverine" and "Under the Inhumans". The Lighthouse Professional Edition predicts that the box office will be 368 million and 151 million respectively, both of which are lower than expected. The former won a box office of 205 million US dollars in North America last week, becoming the highest-grossing film in North America in 2024. The current box office in the mainland is 239 million.

Before its release, "Under the Stranger" was highly anticipated by the market because it was Wuershan's new work and a comic-adapted blockbuster. However, after its premiere, it quickly fell into controversy over failed adaptation and "male cohesion". Its box office has just exceeded 100 million yuan, and it lacks recognition from fans of the original comics. With a Douban score of only 6.1, "Under the Stranger" is unlikely to replicate the long-tail counterattack of last year's "Fengshen I: Chaoge Fengyun".

The two blockbusters are unlikely to provide much help to the box office in the next leg of the summer season. Last weekend, it was "Catching Dolls", which had been released for more than half a month, that won the weekly box office championship.

Currently, many films that will be released in August are pre-screening and checking the box office. Director Li Yang's "Safe Escape from the 21st Century" has grossed over 33 million yuan in the past few days. The film has a novel visual style and is expected to become a dark horse in August. Chen Sicheng's new work "Decoding", adapted from Mai Jia's novel of the same name, has also grossed over 66 million yuan in the box office. Next, Light Chaser Animation's new work "White Snake: Floating Life" will also start previewing on August 3.

According to the data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, there are 40 new films to be released in August. "Reverse Life" directed by Xu Zheng is another realistic film in the summer season after "Catching Dolls" and "Silent Killing", focusing on the group of food delivery boys. The romantic film "Negatives Make Positive" directed by Wen Shipei and starring Zhu Yilong and the animated film "White Snake: Floating Life" are expected to support the Chinese Valentine's Day season.

The film market is sluggish, but the Paris Olympics is sending "heat" to cinemas. On July 21, China Film Distribution said that from July 27, hundreds of cinemas across the country that meet the conditions for live broadcasting will broadcast CCTV's 2024 Paris Olympics programs, and viewers can purchase tickets and make reservations through platforms such as Maoyan, Tao Piaopiao and China Film Film Channel.

Data from Lighthouse Professional Edition shows that the cumulative box office of the "July 30 Table Tennis Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match + Final 2024 Paris Olympic Games Cinema Live Broadcast Event" was 1.15 million, with a total of 18,000 visitors. As the Olympic Games progress, more popular Olympic events such as basketball, badminton, and table tennis may provide a certain main force for the summer season.