Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
One day to go until the Chinese New Year's Eve.
The Spring Festival film frenzy has already shattered records.
Get ready for this season's ultimate cinematic breakdown.
And let Motivational Monday set the tone for new beginnings.
your winning week and year starts from today's show.
Coming to you live from Beijing, this is Roundtable.
I'm He Young. For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yuxin in the studio.
First on today's show.
As of the morning of January 27th, the pre -sale box office for the Spring Festival period has already exceeded 700 million yuan, or 96 million U .S.
dollars. Since pre -sales began on January 19th, the box office takings have been breaking records, reaching 400 million yuan in just four days, five hours, and six minutes, making it the fastest ever for this period in Chinese film history.
With a diverse lineup including fantasy, martial arts, comedy, military action, animation, and family films, the 2025 Spring Festival is shaping up to be a blockbuster season.
And also the spring festival is a critical time, crucial time for the movie business in China, with many films releasing during this period to capitalize on the surge in movie goers.
So give us the latest update and a little bit of a quick review since record after record have been shattered in just a month.
Yes, of course. So first of all, according to a report by the Beijing News, the pre -sale for the 2025 spring festival period is January 28th to February 4th and it officially began at 9 a .m.
on January 19th. So the data from Maoyen says that a domestic which is a domestic ticketing platform for performances by 2 41 p .m.
on January 19th the pre -sale box office for the new films in the spring festival period, had surpassed 100 million, which is a new record for being the fastest pre -sell to reach 100 million yuan in Chinese film history during the spring festival period.
That was just a few hours that that was done.
Exactly. And after that, every 100 million is setting a new record.
And until January 27th, it is setting the 700 million record for the Chinese film history during the Spring Festival period.
Yeah. Actually, this might be a good question for you, Steve, you know, from your international perspective.
For us in China, because the Spring Festival season is when we get a whole week off and this year it's going to be eight days off.
So people will have the time to do the stuff they love.
And going to the cinema could be one of them.
And therefore, it's a really important season every year for the movie industry.
They're anticipating big take -ins.
And, well, that's what they would like to see.
Do you see a similar kind of comparison, let's say, for the Christmas movie period?
I was just going to say Christmas is the perfect example for that because everybody is off of work and there's no there's no real association with travel.
You know, some families, of course, will travel, but many families will just stay home and everybody's together with no specific plans.
So it's a really big time for the for the movie industry, just like it is here in China.
And also, what are the top contenders?
You know, because everything's still kind of brewing and the anticipation is building up.
We don't really know who the clear winners are going to be, but there are some strong contenders.
Who are they? Yes, and it is obviously very competitive this year.
The top three films in pre -sale box office are Legends of the Condor Heroes, The Gallants, Neuja 2, and Detective Chinatown 1900.
These three are the, I think, most—in terms of the box office, they are the most expected films this year.
Can we give everybody a little bit of an explanation of what these movies are, especially for our international audience?
Yes, of course. And maybe we'll get into more details of all of these films later.
But some of these, at least two of these, first of all, we can see Nuo Zha and Legends of the Condor Heroes, the Gallants.
They are quite classic franchises here in China.
And Nuo Zha is the kind of a Chinese mythology, and The Legends of the Condor Heroes is an adaptation of a classic Chinese novel.
And also another one, Detective Chinatown, it is also quite a famous franchise in recent years.
It has, I think, three previous chapters, and now this is the fourth one.
It is telling the story before the whole series.
We were having a chat about Legend of the Condors.
The Condor Heroes, excuse me.
The Condor Heroes, pardon me, before the show.
And you were telling me that the author of these books, it's kind of like George R .R.
Martin or Tolkien, kind of like a Game of Thrones if we're searching for an equivalent in the West.
That would be kind of an accurate comparison, story -wise.
Okay, you're speaking— Or success -wise.
You're speaking to a hardcore Zinyoung fan.
Okay. She used to read all of Zinyoung's books when they were not recommended by the teachers, and she disobeyed the teachers' guidance.
Are you speaking in the third person?
Yeah, you're talking to her right now.
Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, she used to read until like after midnight, and her parents weren't very happy about that.
So anyhow, you mentioned Jin Yong, and he's, in my opinion, J .R .R.
Tolkien, and who's the other guy again?
George R .R. Martin.
Yes, those two combined.
So in a way, Jin Yong has been called China's modern Shakespeare.
Oh, okay, so this is a big deal then, this book series, trilogy.
Yes. So the Conjurer Heroes, this trilogy, actually, you know, this movie is only showing part of the first series of books of the trilogy.
And because of the popularity of the books, which have, OK, so Mr.
Jin Yong, he finished all his writing in the late 1970s.
So these books have been around for so long, TV series, movies, everything have spung from it.
So for the Chinese people, most of us know the stories already really well.
And therefore, I mean, one commonality out of just these three movies that you shouldn't just introduce to us, you can tell that these are all tested and tried and beloved properties.
And that's why they're the big three in terms of anticipation.
I actually looked it up just a little bit, because I was curious to know.
This is from The Guardian, by the way, from a few years ago.
Tell me if anything of this is inaccurate.
Guo Jing, a young soldier among the masked ranks of Genghis Khan's invading army and son of a murdered warrior, may soon become as familiar a questing literary figure as Frodo Baggins from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, or Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.
In fact, this Chinese fighting hero is already part of a phenomenon that can match both of those epics in size.
For the books of Guo Jing's creator, the author known as Jin Yong, have already sold more than 300 million copies.
I think that's correct, right?
I think so. And actually, the popularity of the character as well as the books of Jin Yong, I think, might just multiply by magnitude.
According to what you just said there, it's just even more popular because it's so ingrained in our pop culture.
Yeah, I think it is also a part of many Chinese people's childhood memories, just like our rebellious little girl, right?
Since its first serialization in 1957, it has been beloved by a wide range of readers and has been adapted into numerous TV dramas, films and stage plays, right?
And this story tells, as you said, how a martial hero, Guo Jing, grows into a great hero during the Southern Song Dynasty.
And also, it revolves around the love and adventures between Guo Jing and another character named Huang Rong, while also depicting how this main character Guo Jing matures from a naive young man into a towering hero in the vast world of martial arts.
So everybody must be I mean, if this is deeply ingrained in pop culture, everybody when a new film comes out, everybody must be really excited to watch it and see what's going to happen next in the story.
See, that's a really great point, because actually that is a question that we will wait to see the answer in seven days.
Well, the very popular male actor Xiao Zhan, who's playing Gu Jing this time, he's already got a very strong fan base who have purchased the pre -sale tickets.
And this is exciting because in a couple of days, we'll know how well he's doing in this performance.
The response to the performance.
Yes, and also the movie itself.
Because like we've said, this is a story that we know.
And then whether this generation of people wants another rendition of this property, there's a question mark there.
But the director Xu Ke, already in his 70s, time and time again has reinvented himself.
But also he has this very distinct, romantic, but also mind -blowing way of portraying a martial arts world.
So will this master prove himself once again?
I mean, that's something we're very excited to see as well.
On top of that, you've got the Neja second, the sequel to the previous very successful animation movie.
Is this a children's movie or just an animated film for adults?
It could be for both.
I think the intention is for both.
Yeah, I think if it is like mainly targeting for children, it wouldn't be that massive amount of a box office previously.
Right. We can see Nejia 1, which grossed five billion yuan, a box office.
And I think this is becoming a kind of a trend, you know, among all of the five, sorry, six Chinese New Year film.
And five of them are sequels to classic franchises.
As we mentioned, this Nuo Cha and also Feng Shun and other ones, aside from Legends of the Condor Heroes, also Detective Chinatown, Feng Shun Part 2, Operation Heddle and Boonie Bears.
Oh, the Boonie Bears are back.
Yes, we talked about it.
Even I know the Boonie Bears.
Of course. I remember the first time we talked about, well, the first time I talked about Boonie Bears on Roundtable, you guys were sitting here, whoever was on the show that day, sitting here chatting back and forth, Boonie Bears, Boonie Bears, and I'm like raising my hand like, what's a Boonie Bear?
Now I know very well.
This will be really popular, I guess, during this season too.
For the families, for the children.
Yeah. Yeah, this one, yeah, the Boonie Bears is more for the kiddos instead of adults.
and child audience.
Or more like a family -friendly film for a whole family to go to the cinema and enjoy their time.
But there has to be a child.
It's not the kind of movie that I will take my parents to the cinema.
It's like going to see Little Mermaid with your parents or something.
It would just be weird.
And there's also Function, the sequel, which is something a lot of people are looking forward to as well.
Yes. This is the second part.
it's called demon force okay and function part one also earned two point six billion yuan at the box office and this is what i said the kind of trend that people are using these famous franchises or ips in of course it originally named as intellectual property but in today's world in chinese film market
it is actually has the meaning of kind of a brand effect that bringing people to know this kind of franchise and actually attract people to watch this and another trend i would like to mention is a longer average runtime of all of these spring festival films so according to domestic media outlet jimu
news this year spring festival films have an average runtime of over 137 minutes setting a record for so many records for the longest average runtime in spring festival history and this is an increase of nearly 30 minutes compared to the same period last year and some of the experts are saying that this may potentially
limit the number of screenings.
Yeah I looked that up in Hollywood as well because when I was when I saw that statistic I thought oh I wonder if Hollywood movies are getting longer too because it feels like they are.
Avengers End game was 182 minutes oh yes uh the leonardo dicaprio won killers of the flower moon that was 206 minutes i think i spent four days watching that um in 1989 the little mermaid i just mentioned it it was 83 minutes long the 2023 remake was 135 minutes long so in hollywood movies are getting
uh longer as well it's just kind of a i don't know if it's a spring festival thing but in hollywood but it seems to be a trend.
And how do you guys feel about that?
Before you guys share, let me just put my opinion on the table.
I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve today.
That is almost every day, actually.
But anyhow, I don't understand why movies have to be that long.
The audacity of these directors thinking that, I mean, like two hours, I think that is the max an average person could take without going to the bathroom and stuff.
And, you know, like after COVID, the thought of being in a dark room with a whole bunch of strangers for two and a half hours, that is unbearable.
Yeah. And if you wait a little while, then you might be able to catch the movie on your TV at home.
Right. Right. They said I was looking that up, too, and I was searching on different movie websites and they said that the length of a movie used to be limited to the size of a film reel.
But nowadays, that's not the case because you can shoot movies on digital film and also you don't have to worry about how much that film actually weighs.
right which is important for shipping and manufacturing costs and things like that um and it gives directors a lot more freedom so they can kind of they have carte blanche if you will they can do whatever whatever they want um is it better or worse i don't know but in terms of what you mentioned about the limited
number of screenings um they say that's not i'm not sure about china but they say it's not such a big deal internationally or in the united states because it's shown in more movie theaters so it might reduce the amount of time it can be shown in one theater but when you have multiple theaters showing
it it doesn't really make that big a difference Okay, and I think as an audience I wouldn't be that unhappy if the movie is longer No, you're more generous than I am for sure I think that's depending on the plots or the content the quality of this movie if the plot and the special effect is like attractive
enough, I wouldn't even notice it is longer.
Right. At the end of the film, I was, oh, why it is so fast?
And I think that is the result.
The huge, terrible thing that can happen during watching a movie is that moment you look at your watch.
That's when you know it's not great.
And people are going to be looking at their phones.
You just know it. And these days we have such short attention spans.
Yeah, well, I suppose, you know, you're going to get audience members like you, Shun, and myself, and then we'll see which movie can win.
But also, there's good news that, you know, you might think that longer run times generally lead to higher ticket prices and fewer screening times.
But since 2023, cinemas and studios have reached an understanding in this country to keep prices stable and focus on filling seats rather than raising prices.
And also this year in China, we're seeing for this period of time, there's subsidies given out, vouchers given out so that folks can buy the movie tickets at an affordable price.
In Beijing alone, 33 million yuan has been allocated to movie ticket subsidies this spring festival.
And the 19 .9 yuan ticket promotion quickly became a trending topic with cinemas offering tickets at pretty much discounted prices.
Yeah, that's about, I don't know, $2 .70 or $0 .75, which even by American standards, that would be a huge discount.
I think the average ticket price there is somewhere between $9 and $20, depending on the type of theater you're going to.
And also, this year's Spring Festival films have been crafted with a lot of technology.
We can see, according to CCTV News, the staff at the filming location of Fengsheng, who we just mentioned, stated that the film features over 2 ,000 special effect shots.
And effects such as silk swirling in the wind and the flames and water effects during the fierce battle in the movie were all achieved through rendering technology.
And also what we mentioned, Legends of the Condor Heroes not only continues the martial art genre's passion and nostalgia, but also incorporates modern special effects technology striving to deliver a visual feast.
Of course, I think they'd have a huge eagle, right?
Is that the same story?
I hope you're not asking me.
What do you mean? In the story, there is a huge bird, an eagle.
Oh, I see. Sorry, I can't remember the name of that particular breed of bird.
Condor? Yeah. Would that be it?
No, it's, yeah, but the big bird that Yu Shun has just mentioned, I think it only appeared in the second of the trilogy.
So in the first one, it's still the condor.
The bird that he's referring to is even bigger.
Oh, bigger than a condor.
Yeah, but I can't remember whether if we've explained to everyone about Feng Shun.
It's got the origins in Chinese mythology that goes back more than a thousand years, I would think.
So it's a lot of the fantasy and mythological imagination goes into this movie.
And therefore, one thing that's shared by those two movies of The Condor Heroes as well as Feng Shion, the sequel, is you'll expect big scenes of battle of ancient wartime.
So it's going to be epic in that way as well.
So that film must be one that everybody's familiar with as well.
You mentioned the Condor series.
It's a big part of pop culture.
This one would be two, I would think, yeah, because it's steeped in mythology.
Yes, actually we have also watched many, many films and television adaptations of this Feng Sheng kind of thing.
And actually it is based on the classic Chinese novel Feng Sheng Yan Yee, which was written during the Ming Dynasty.
And the novel tells the story of the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, also blending history with myth and religion and legendary heroes.
This kind of thing called Feng Shen Bang, which is a mythical list of individuals who deified after death and given godlike powers.
So this kind of movie adaptation of the function typically reimagines these classic myths and bringing them to life with modern, as we said, special effects and action packed scenes while maintaining the essence of the original story.
So kind of like Greek gods.
Imagine this for our Western audience.
Right. You can imagine that this is an epic movie about just one chapter of the Greek mythology as an equivalent to imagine.
And, you know, Zeus and his sons and oh, the obnoxious things that happen, you know, in between.
So then, you know, you have a modern rendition of all of that drama.
I wonder how the purists would feel about all of this technology being used in the retelling of the story.
If the literary purists would think, no, kind of like Shakespeare, when I talked about Shakespeare before and when Lerman did the Leonardo DiCaprio version, some people thought, oh, you can't touch Shakespeare like that.
I wonder if some people feel that way about, you know, these mythological stories being retold with a modern A .I.
twist, if you will.
I think that should be something that these people expect because we are talking about all of these mythology, right?
And they will all have these kind of powerful tricks and they can control fire and water.
And this got to be using all of these AI and technology.
Yeah, if you don't, how are you going to tell the story?
And I think that's what people would expect because it is actually the point that people would like to watch.
But also what these movie makers these days, at least for the spring festival period, it seems like on the one hand they've been kind of conservative in not really making the characters look that different.
It's more like they're using technology to help us relive our imagination.
It's not like the modern day, was it the 1990s or the 2000s you mentioned of that.
Shakespeare, yeah. Yeah, it's not like Leonardo's Romeo when everything just looks strikingly different to what people imagined or anticipated of the Romeo and Juliet story.
So this time it's like, yes, what you imagined is going to go even further as the movie makers have made it.
But the storytelling could have a modern flavor to it.
Cool. So, yeah, there's a lot to look forward to.
And also, this is very much needed injection of blockbusters, big established franchises that are going to be available for moviegoers to enjoy during this spring festival season.
What an exciting time it is.
