On July 14, Chinese renowned comedian Chen Peisi released a video to apologize to the audience. He mentioned that due to multiple new movies being released this weekend, there is immense pressure on scheduling and screening for his new film “Stage”, which he directs, produces, and stars in, costing up to 100 million RMB. Therefore, he has decided to postpone the original release date of “Stage” from July 17 to July 25 in mainland China.
The “multiple new movies” mentioned by Chen Peisi are believed to include films directed by Jiang Wen, “You Can! Up You Go!” and directed by Da Peng, “Litchi in the Tang Dynasty”. Both of these films have recently announced earlier release dates.
As a result, on July 18, there will be 8 new films released, including “You Can! Up You Go!”, “Litchi in the Tang Dynasty”, “Flourishing Girl Murder Case”, “The Little Prince”, “White Snake 2”, among others. Even though “Stage” has been rescheduled to July 25, the same day will also see the addition of “Nanjing Photo Studio”, “Fantastic Four: Rising Heroes”, and “The Gold Rush”. Furthermore, another film “731” is scheduled to premiere on July 31.
In addition, in August, there will be the re-release of Wang Yibo’s “Nameless”, as well as the highly anticipated new work by popular actors Zhu Yilong, Wu Lei, and Ni Ni, “Eastern Island”, which is seen as a potential box office hit for this summer.
Public information indicates that “Stage” is written, directed, and acted by the mainland “King of Comedy” Chen Peisi, with renowned actors Huang Bo and Jiang Wu joining the cast. The film is adapted from a highly-rated play of the same name from 2015, set in the early years of the Republic of China, depicting the intertwined destinies of various characters on and off the stage, presenting a farcical comedy.
According to reports in mainland media, the film has the potential to become a box office success in terms of its subject matter, cast, and plot. However, audience feedback has been polarized. Some feel that the Beijing accent and theatrical style are too heavy, making it feel more like a play rather than a movie. This controversy undoubtedly affected the box office performance, as the film “Stage”, with a production cost of 100 million, only earned 1.37 million in ticket sales during the three days of advance sales and previews, a disappointing result.
Industry estimates suggest that based on the trend of advance ticket sales, the final box office of the film may only reach around 200 million, far from the 500 million box office dream. If the final box office of “Stage” does indeed remain at 200 million, the production company will face a loss of tens of millions.
The summer film season is the longest among China’s three major film seasons, running from June 1 to August 31. The summer season used to be the golden period of the Chinese film market, but this year’s situation has raised concerns among many Chinese filmmakers. A prominent phenomenon is that domestic films have been losing out to Hollywood blockbusters in terms of box office revenue. Data shows that the total box office of the mainland summer season so far is only 2.834 billion, with only 3 domestic films entering the top ten, while Hollywood movies occupy 5 spots.
Some analysts suggest that if no domestic films can achieve a breakthrough in box office performance, this year’s summer season total box office is likely to be less than 10 billion. Looking back over the past decade, only during the 2021 summer season amid the COVID-19 pandemic did the box office fail to reach 10 billion. Based on this prediction, this year’s Chinese summer box office performance could be the worst in history.