Replay of the May Day movie season: "Endgame" in the north, "Raging Fire" in the south, evenly matched but lacking surprises.

The box office reached 1.527 billion RMB, with 37.775 million moviegoers. Five films broke the billion mark. The performance during the May Day holiday was stable, without many surprises, but it was not as "tragic" as expected. Both the box office and the number of moviegoers maintained a level similar to last year. The total box office predictions for films such as "Peacekeeping Riot Team," "End of the Wild Money," and "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" all exceeded the pre-release predictions. Despite the competition from tourism and live performances, movies are still a "must-have" form of entertainment.

Under the "stability," there are also worries. The most criticized aspect of this year's May Day box office was the lack of headlining films and overall poor quality, causing concern within the industry about the exacerbation of a "film shortage" and the continued weakness of subsequent box office periods.

However, in terms of box office performance, the daily average box office of 305 million yuan has remained stable. "Peacekeeping Riot Squad" had the fastest start, with a first-day box office of 136 million yuan. "Crazy Money at the End of the Road" seized the need for comedy, and the "northeastern comedy" spread from the northeast to northern cities. By the third day, it had surged to become the top-grossing film. "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" continued to decline, showing a clear long-tail effect. The top three films contributed to nearly 70% of the box office during the period. "Spy War" has a clear fan base, with a majority of young audiences. "Howl's Moving Castle" benefited from the endorsement of Hayao Miyazaki. The two Japanese animated films performed steadily, while "A Journey Through the Moon" and "A Hot Pot Can Solve Anything" quickly fell behind after the first day.

The overall poor quality has had a greater impact on the long-tail box office after the box office period. The box office trend of "Crazy Money at the End of the Road" may not be as good as last year's "Unfamiliar Life," which grossed over 1 billion yuan. Although "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" has good word-of-mouth and increased screenings, it will also face the challenge of "War for the Planet of the Apes" a week later. "Peacekeeping Riot Squad" has mixed reviews, and due to reasons such as a weak plot and reshoots due to actor changes, the box office forecast is only 600 million yuan.

In addition, a report from Maoyan Professional Edition shows that the average number of films watched per person during this year's May Day box office was 1.07, the highest in nearly three years. The demographic of moviegoers tends to be older, with the average age of ticket buyers being the highest in nearly three years. The evenly matched situation and the diverse supply of film types have led to an increase in the average number of films watched per person, but the loss of young audiences still exists.

"Postponement" has continued from before the release to after the box office period. Yesterday (May 5) at 1 p.m., "A Hot Pot Can Solve Anything" officially announced its postponement, stating that "due to various environmental factors, the film did not meet more audiences." As of the time of writing, the box office for "A Hot Pot Can Solve Anything" had just exceeded 50 million yuan. Except for the first day of release, the daily average box office did not exceed 10 million yuan, and the screenings dropped from 7.9% on the first day to 3.5%.

During this year's May Day period, the attention of the audience was diverted by 23 music festivals and nearly 50 concerts by artists such as Phoenix Legend, Hua Chenyu, and G.E.M., which took away the focus from movies. Whether it was traveling or attending concerts, people had more diverse choices than just movies, which indeed led to the "diversion" of cinema audiences.

However, as an essential part of entertainment, the May Day movie market still remains stable. Despite lacking major blockbusters, the diverse range of genres still meets the entertainment needs. The May Day holiday period is not as long as the Spring Festival, summer, or National Day holiday periods, nor does it have the clear thematic attributes of Valentine's Day or New Year's Eve, making it more suitable for diverse supply and precise marketing strategies.

Overall, the May Day holiday market has remained stable this year, and the market is returning to normal order.

Mainstream films have a solid foundation, and comedy films are still in high demand during this period.

The lineup of the first two films during the May Day holiday this year is similar to that of last year, with mainstream and comedy films competing head-to-head. Even the box office trends are similar: comedy films start from the northeast and expand to northern cities, with increasing box office showings, and on the third day, they surpass mainstream films to become the top-grossing film of the day.

On the first day of the May Day holiday, "Peacekeeping Riot Team" topped the box office with 136 million yuan. Despite having fewer presales before the release, it had a 26% share of the screenings on the first day. The film, distributed by Taopiaopiao, was understood by Entertainment Capital to have a 28% share of screenings bundled with "Spy War" and "Moon."

"Peacekeeping Riot Team" focuses on Chinese peacekeeping police carrying out peacekeeping missions abroad. The director, Li Dachao, was previously a martial arts instructor in Hong Kong and pays more attention to the action and visual effects of the film. The film's plot does not break free from the traditional constraints of urgent mission, unexpected events, and a happy ending, leading to audience fatigue after watching several years of new mainstream films. Short video platforms used popular stars such as Huang Jingyu, Ou Hao, and Wang Yibo as attractions to attract their existing fans, which led to slow expansion of the film's audience.

It is worth noting that this film was shot in 2021. Due to the accidents involving the main actors, it faced difficulties in replacing and re-editing, and after being backlogged for many years, the audience's emotions have changed. The hot trend of themes such as "police" and "counter-terrorism" has gradually lost its suitable market environment with the change of aesthetics. The Douban rating is 5.6, lower than the passing score of last year's "The King of Long Sky," and it is difficult to sustain in the long run.

On the other hand, "Crazy Money at the End of the Road," which had only 9.98 million yuan in presales before May Day, became a dark horse due to the comedy demand during the holiday season. Before the release, the film's publicity was relatively low-key, basically giving up the Weibo platform and focusing on Douyin. The roadshow was also concentrated in the northeastern region, and the premiere was held in Beijing only three days before the release.

Due to the comedic tone and the demand for comedy atmosphere during the May Day holiday, coupled with the participation of comedy actors such as Jia Bing, Xiao Shenyang, and Tan Zhuo, the actors also showcased the Northeastern dialect during the roadshow and interacted positively with the internet celebrity "Northeast Rain Sister," firmly grasping the audience in the Northeast. According to Maoyan Professional Edition, the proportion of screenings for "Crazy Money at the End of the Road" in the northeastern region is generally higher than in other regions, accounting for 24% on the first day of release, and increasing continuously in the following days, reaching 33.9% on the last day of the holiday season. The advantage in screenings and box office has also expanded from the Northeast to the northern regions, and the box office forecast has increased to nearly 800 million yuan.

The promotional strategy and box office trend of "Crazy Money at the End of the Road" are similar to last year's "Unfamiliar Life Road," starting from the northeast and gradually occupying the northern region. However, due to the quality of word-of-mouth and the advantage of "Kowloon Walled City" in the south, it is difficult for the subsequent long tail to reach over 1 billion yuan like "Unfamiliar Life Road."

Stable Japanese animation, word-of-mouth Hong Kong films counterattack, and Yang Mi's new film has limited long-term potential for the May Day holiday.

Compared to the number and types of new films released during last year's May Day holiday, this year's May Day holiday films are clearly more abundant. "Spy Family" and "Howl's Moving Castle," two Japanese animated films, have gained a foothold, while the Hong Kong film "Kowloon Walled City" has gradually gained momentum in Guangdong, with strong long-term potential.

During the Qingming period, Miyazaki Hayao's "What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live" has achieved great success, while "Howl's Moving Castle," which also carries Miyazaki Hayao's sentiments, has received a lukewarm response during its re-release. Due to the film's lack of strong fan base and its proximity to the release date of Miyazaki Hayao's new film, the audience was divided, resulting in the overall performance of the film not benefiting much from the May Day box office boost. Similar to the previous re-releases of Miyazaki Hayao's classic films, the box office of "Howl's Moving Castle" also settled at around 200 million, far from reaching the 4.88 billion box office of "Spirited Away."

As another Japanese film, "Spy Game: Code White" has far surpassed "Howl's Moving Castle" in box office revenue. This comedy successfully earned 228 million during the May Day period. Apart from its commendable approach, the film's universal values, character development, and narrative structure have evidently attracted Chinese audiences. The juxtaposition of confrontational spies and non-confrontational families has created a series of comedic situations. The outdoor premiere and special viewing incentives have attracted the attention of fan groups, but the film's impact is limited, and the post-screening box office forecast is expected to reach around 300 million.

Distributed by Lian Ray, "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" conducted large-scale previews before its release and topped the pre-sale charts on April 28. However, due to the disadvantage in initial screening and the audience's aesthetic fatigue towards traditional Hong Kong films in recent years, the daily box office has remained stable at around 50 million. Nevertheless, "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" has experienced a continuous surge in box office revenue due to its outstanding quality and word-of-mouth. By May 5, it had surpassed "Peacekeeping Riot Team" to become the second highest-grossing film of the day, and Maotao's predicted box office revenue is expected to exceed 700 million.

As a classic theme, "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" has sparked new creative vitality. As a gangster film, it has shifted away from the traditional gangster image portrayed in "Infernal Affairs" and "Young and Dangerous," and instead presents a diverse group of characters within the current social environment. If traditional gangster films depict the various dilemmas faced in society's development, "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" showcases the resolution of these traditional dilemmas and the subversion of the old order. The characters portrayed are often more complex and diverse, struggling between brotherly love, human nature, and sociality.

"The Kowloon Walled City" reaffirms the difficulties faced by people in today's society. The film not only presents the traditional themes of brotherhood, chivalry, and social reality as shown in early Hong Kong films, but also places each character as an individual within traditional propositions, and examines them from a contemporary perspective. Characters like Chen Luojun and Long Juanteng seem to have different fates, but in reality, everyone is struggling in the dark reality.

According to Maoyan Professional Edition statistics, "The Kowloon Walled City" is the highest-rated Hong Kong action film in the past five years, with top ratings on Maotao and Douban. Actors such as Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, and Richie Jen have witnessed the glorious era of Hong Kong action films, while the new generation of Hong Kong film industry represented by director Benny Lau is also emerging. The realistic set of the walled city and the Hong Kong comic style action scenes satisfy the audience's sensory spectacular needs. On the first day after its release, "The Kowloon Walled City" has already rivaled "Raging Fire," firmly occupying the box office in the southern region.

The film "Nothing Can't Be Solved by Hotpot" produced by Bainaqiancheng and Dongfang Mei, announced on the last day of the schedule that it will be withdrawn on May 6, stating that "due to various environmental factors, the film did not meet more audiences." As of the release, the box office of "Hotpot" has just exceeded 50 million, with a daily box office of no more than 10 million except for the first day, and the screening rate has dropped from 7.9% on the first day to 3.5%.

The film was originally scheduled for the cold period after New Year's Day and before the Spring Festival, and was later rescheduled to May Day, seemingly hoping to "gamble" for higher box office. However, the pre-screening strategy of avoiding first-tier cities did not work, and the word of mouth gradually became polarized after the scale of the pre-screening expanded. The first-day screening rate was only 7.9%, ranking second to last among the new films, and the final five-day box office just exceeded 50 million.

Similarly, "Traveling Through the Moon," also produced by Bainaqiancheng, failed to replicate the outstanding performance of past May Day romantic films. In 2023, "So Many Years," in 2021, "Your Wedding," and even in 2019, Guo Caijie's starring "The Next Ex: Ex" all occupied the top three positions in the May Day schedule. "Your Wedding" even exploded to become the first in the schedule.

Before the screening, as the only film with a clear romantic genre in the schedule, the industry predicted that the film would attract a fixed group of couples. However, the film also faced the disadvantages of insufficient actor popularity, insufficient pre-release publicity, and no prominent "selling point" of ceremony. Although the 6.8-point Douban score is already a good result for domestic romantic films, the current box office is still less than 40 million.

Looking at the overall performance of this year's May Day schedule, the diverse genres provided audiences with more choices, but the gap in the lineup did not widen, which increased the competition pressure for box office and screenings. Although the total box office of the schedule is still 1.5 billion, there is still a lack of high-quality films that can generate broader discussions. In the end, this May Day schedule landed smoothly, but without too many surprises.