"Gods of Honour Part II" and "Nezha: The Devil Boy Causes Havoc in the Sea" and other explosive classics are coming, will the film and television sector usher in the opportunity of the "Spring Festival box office storm"?

The strongest Chinese New Year box office is coming? According to the Lighthouse Professional Edition, the 2025 movie market Chinese New Year box office started pre-sale on January 19th, taking only 40 minutes, and the total pre-sale box office exceeded 10 million RMB, breaking the record for the fastest pre-sale over 10 million RMB in Chinese film history. At 14:27 on the same day, the total pre-sale box office exceeded 100 million RMB, breaking the record for the fastest pre-sale over 100 million RMB in Chinese New Year box office history! By 16:25 on January 21, the pre-sale box office had reached 2151.97 million RMB. As of the time of the report, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Xia" "Nezha: Demon Child Making Waves" and "Detective Tang 1900" ranked in the top three of the Chinese New Year box office pre-sale rankings. (Underlying data source: Lighthouse Professional Edition) Undoubtedly, the enthusiasm of the audience has clearly spread to the secondary marketrecently, the Hong Kong stock film and television sector has been continuously strong, recording an increase of over 8% in 7 trading days. In terms of individual stocks, from January 13 to 21, MAOYAN ENT (01896)'s stock price increased by over 10%, while ALI PICTURES (01060)'s stock price increased by over 9%. Since 2024, the sector market performance has shown an overall trend of correction. Currently, the media sector is in the bottom range of valuation. With the arrival of the strongest Chinese New Year box office, what development opportunities will it bring to the film sector? Multiple hot-selling films gather in the Chinese New Year box office, and box office may reach a historical high Looking back at the 2024 film market, although the box office performance of important periods in the first half of the year, such as the Chinese New Year and May Day periods, was decent, the box office performance of the film was weak in the second half of the year possibly due to a lack of popular films and low audience willingness to watch, which in turn dragged down the overall performance of the film box office to an unsatisfactory level. According to industry data, the total box office of the national film market in 2024 was 42.502 billion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of 22.6%, with 1.01 billion admissions, a year-on-year decrease of 22.3%. Specifically, the market's dependence on holiday periods has further increased. Apart from the holiday periods, both non-holiday period and non-period box office saw a significant decline year-on-year: the holiday period box office in 2024 was 13.5 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%. Among them, the Chinese New Year box office, Qingming Festival box office, and May Day box office all achieved good market performance. Non-holiday period box office was 14.14 billion RMB, a sharp year-on-year decline of 38.0%. Both the summer vacation period and the Spring Festival period saw a year-on-year drop of over 43% in box office, performing poorly. In addition, the box office in non-periods was 14.85 billion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of 23.0%, also showing a tepid performance. Now, as the 2025 Chinese New Year box office approaches, this holiday period lasts longer, with a strong family atmosphere, making it one of the most important periods in the film market. Therefore, this will be a major milestone for the total annual box office in 2025. Looking at the box office dimension, the Chinese New Year box office can account for over 10% of the total annual box office (the proportion of the box office in 21/22/23 was 13%/23%/15% respectively); looking at individual films, the Chinese New Year box office is a gathering place for high-grossing films, with 50% of films generating over 3 billion RMB in cumulative box office coming from the Chinese New Year box office. In terms of content, the 2025 Chinese New Year box office will feature several top new films in myth, animation, martial arts, comedy, and other genres, with the box office possibly reaching a historic high. According to the Maoyan professional edition, the 2025 Chinese New Year box office will run from January 28 to February 4, lasting 8 days. Currently, 6 works have been scheduled: the sequel "Nezha: The Demon Child Making Waves" of "Nezha: The Demon Child Making Waves" (Enlight Media), "The Second Part of Fengshen: War in the West" (Alibaba, etc.), "Detective Tang 1900" (Wanda, Ruyi, China Films, Maoyan, etc.), "Boar Bear Rushing into the Future" (Huayi Brothers, etc.), and the military action film "Dragon Operation" which is a continuation of the previous film "Operation Red Sea" (Bona, Huaxia, Guizhou Radio and Television, etc.). This lineup includes many highly acclaimed films from previous years, with diverse content to meet audience demands and great anticipation. Among them, it is worth mentioning that behind the lineup of these popular films, many listed companies actually hold long-standing "killer moves". For example, "Nezha: The Demon Child Making Waves" is primarily funded and controlled by Beijing Enlight Media (300251.SZ), the sequel to the 2019 box office champion "Nezha: The Demon Child Making Waves," which created a box office miracle of 5 billion RMB. "The Second Part of Fengshen: War in the West" continues the production team of the first part "Fengshen: Wind and Clouds of Chaoge," highly anticipated by the market, produced by Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism (000802.SZ), ALI PICTURES (01060), etc. "Detective Tang 1900" is a prequel to the "Detective Chinatown" series, with Wanda Film Holding majorly funding and MAOYAN ENT (01896) participating, also enjoying great popularity. In addition, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Xia" is produced by China Film Co., Ltd., Hengdian Entertainment, etc., with a martial arts theme and a large audience base. "Boar Bear Rushing into the Future" is produced by Huayi Brothers, a family-friendly franchise film that has landed in the Chinese New Year box office for multiple years. "Dragon Operation" is produced by Bona Film Group, known for its high critical and box office success in the "action series," being the only main theme genre film in the Chinese New Year box office. In terms of audience preferences, the storyline and word-of-mouth are still the core factors influencing ticket purchases and movie-watching. Good word-of-mouth is an important determinant of high box office earnings. It is easy to see that many of the previous works in the 2025 Chinese New Year box office were blockbusters in their respective years. With the dual drive of big IP and high-quality content, these films are expected to empower the development of the film and television industry at the beginning of the year and significantly increase the number of viewers, leading to a rise in box office revenue and achieving a "good start" for the Chinese New Year box office. In the era of "Content is King," high-quality content is the key to breaking through the current challenges in the film industry. After the good start of the 2024 Chinese New Year box office, China Film Co., Ltd. market seemed to lack momentum due to consumer tightening. Behind the industry's "inadequate momentum" lies the inevitable hidden concerns of the current film industry development. In terms of market competition, under the impact of multiple entertainment options and online viewing, it is difficult for the willingness to watch movies to be effectively improved.Rise.Specifically, short videos and short dramas, with their fragmented and convenient characteristics, cater to the fast-paced life, capturing a large amount of audience's time and attention. By 2024, the market size of micro-dramas has surpassed the mainland film market. Live performances have been booming, with a significant increase in box office revenue in the third quarter of 2024, posing competition to the film market. Additionally, home entertainment equipment upgrades, such as hundred-inch TVs and projectors becoming popular, along with rich content on online video platforms, allow audiences to enjoy high-quality viewing at home, reducing the willingness to go to theaters. At the content creation level, the lack of high-quality content and severe homogenization of themes make it difficult to stimulate audience interest. It is observed that in 2024, there is a decrease in small and medium-budget films that support the market's high box office and reputation, making it difficult to meet the demand for high-quality films from the audience. Furthermore, severe homogenization of themes, such as domestic romantic films and films with strong female leads, often fall into the dilemma of homogenization of themes and formulaic plots, making it challenging to stimulate audience interest. Generally speaking, increasing the number of viewers requires frequency and ticket prices, and looking at ticket prices relatively stable, the core of increasing the number of viewers lies in attracting users to the cinema, which cannot be separated from the supply of high-quality content. Therefore, in this era where "content is king," high-quality content remains a scarce resource. So, how can film companies seize the development opportunities of "content is king"? On the one hand, it is necessary to encourage innovation and integration of themes. Exploring new thematic areas: daring to try new themes, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or focusing on niche cultures and marginalized groups, broadening the audience's perspective. For example, the "Black Mirror" series explores the relationship between technology and humanity and is highly popular among audiences. Promoting theme integration: integrating different thematic elements with each other to create new film genres, such as the film "Monster Hunt," which blends elements of fantasy, comedy, and adventure, giving audiences a new viewing experience. On the other hand, it is essential to enhance production quality. Firstly, increase investment in technology, film production companies need to invest more in shooting equipment, special effects technology, post-production, etc., to enhance the visual and auditory effects of films and provide audiences with a high-quality viewing experience. For example, "Avatar" created a new era of visual effects in films with its stunning special effects technology. Furthermore, as AI technology continues to catalyze, the productivity revolution is undergoing innovation. The combination of AI technology and content creation will enter a substantial stage, leading the content market into a long-term recovery trend, and the prosperity of the content ecosystem is also the basic foundation for consumption growth. At the same time, with the improvement of content production efficiency and the decrease in production difficulty, AI technology is expected to unlock new business models and innovative ways, helping more high-quality content to be better presented and monetized. In conclusion, the record-breaking pre-sale box office for this year's Spring Festival movie lineup has driven the film sector to strengthen in the secondary market. This is not without reason, as the strong appeal of high-quality content and its enduring appeal is the key to effectively increasing the willingness to watch movies. Along with the orderly supply of high-quality film content, from beta to alpha, the long-term value of high-quality content production companies remains unchanged.