Cheap film tickets harder to find but the reward is better movies
Print Edition
SINCE 2014, when online cinema ticket sales exploded, Chinese moviegoers have been spoiled for choice, with websites offering tickets for as little as 9.9 yuan (US$1.5), a fraction of the face value — but the good times look to be over for the bargain hunters.
As more people bought tickets at heavily discounted prices, companies had to dip into their own coffers to foot the rest of the bill.
However, the bargain offers have this year become much rarer and ticket prices currently stand at about 35 yuan.
China’s box office revenue hit 12.429 billion yuan from June to August, nearly the same as last year’s 12.431 billion yuan for the same period, according to the film fund office of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. However, of that total revenue, domestic films earned 4.7 billion yuan in the first half of 2016, 3.2 billion yuan less than that in the same period last year.
It will come as no surprise that e-commerce companies want to stake a share in the booming film industry.
“Alibaba and Tencent invested huge sums of money to offer discounted tickets just to encourage people to book tickets online,” said Zhang Wenyue, an employee of dianping.com, a major online consumer guide in China.
Film producers have also got in on the act. Despite the huge outlays associated with offering discounts, their motivation was often financial. Larger audience numbers result in more exposure, bringing in more investment for the next project, with higher box office takings, in turn boosting the price of listed companies.
Too many tired films
Figures from Analysys, a data analysis company, show that box office takings for 2015 on the mainland reached 44 billion yuan, with nearly 5 billion yuan of that earned from ticket discounts. “In New York, the ticket price is about $15 for adults,” said Chen Fengqi, a US-based film and media postgraduate student.
On July 22, Alibaba Pictures warned it looked set to lose 400 million yuan in the first half of 2016, almost three times more than the same period last year, mainly because of ticket discounts. “It is a great cost for Internet companies to offer discounts. It is impossible to continue this way,” said Huang Guofeng with Analysys.
Another reason for the dropping box office sales of domestic films is their quality. Moviegoers are reluctant to pay top dollar for tired, boring productions. Last month, for example, six out of 13 domestic movies were romances. The audience want more.
Chinafilm.org and the China Film Producers’ Association have issued a guideline on film ticket marketing and sales, which made it clear that the price of a ticket should not be lower than its agreed value — effectively drawing a line under the practice of discounted tickets.
Opportunity for change
Although the phasing out of discounts will impact box office sales in the short term, it offers a rare opportunity for change.
Production houses will now have the opportunity and the funds to explore different approaches to storytelling, and support rising talent.
“The outlook is not dim this year, but it was overheated last year,” said Peter Chan, a Hong Kong-based director.
He said that film market should become more rational in the post-discount era, and will be able to focus on high-quality, rich content.
Tong Gang, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said the government must strengthen supervision and encourage better quality filmmaking.
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