Author/Nianbei
The magical 2020 is coming to an end, but the magical effect of 2020 will continue.
For example, at first glance, this list of annual expectation films in 2021 will give you a sense of disorientation, as if time had never passed. Detective Chinatown 3 and The Rescue’s "Bears: Wild Continent" and other original Spring Festival movies have been waiting for a year, and this time they finally come.
In addition, affected by the epidemic, the production rhythm of many films has been disrupted. For example, films originally planned to be released this year, such as "The Gods Trilogy" and "Going Alone", are likely to be released in 2021.
Of course, in the new year, there is naturally a new atmosphere. In 2021, it is the key time node of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party. On the big screen, there are inevitably some main melody films with this theme, such as "1921" with many stars. At the same time, 2021 is also a year of re-starting after the epidemic, and "war epidemic" has also become a major motif in film creation. From Bona’s "Doctor China" to China Film’s "Jiangchengzi in Wuhan", we remember the past in the name of movies.
In addition, sci-fi films, comedy films and animated films that have been silent for a long time will all usher in masterpieces worth looking forward to in 2021, and high-quality literary films that have been won in major film festivals will also appear in 2021.
It is said that a beautiful movie can be a refuge for vulgar people. When we walk through the haze of 2020 together, in 2021, these 110 domestic films that have been confirmed or are likely to be released will all light up your life and mine in the new year.
No blockbusters after the Spring Festival?
If you want to look to the future, you must focus on the present.
There is no lack of consensus in the industry that the impact of the epidemic has its lag. That is to say, due to the periodicity of film production itself, the number of start-ups and preparatory projects have plummeted this year, which may lead to a certain degree of film shortage in the next few years. Of course, there are still films worth looking forward to, and there are bound to be films that can "save the market".
Let’s look at the Spring Festival stalls that have been delayed for one year. As the opening battle in 2021, there is no need to repeat the importance of the Spring Festival file. Even from the audience’s point of view, only in a truly large-scale movie-gathering period can we achieve "revenge viewing" to the greatest extent.
Judging from the current Spring Festival file pattern, there are eight films competing together, including three "old films" such as Detective Chinatown 3 and The Rescue, and five new films such as The Order of the Gods by A Writer’s Odyssey and Hi, Mom.
Detective Chinatown 3 stills
As the latest work of "Exploring the Universe by Tang Dynasty", Detective Chinatown 3 is one of the well-deserved seed players in the Spring Festival regardless of the fan base or the popularity before screening, and if the word-of-mouth of the film can be guaranteed to some extent, it may become one of the box office hot movies throughout the year; The Rescue, as a new film directed by Lin Chaoxian, is also a visual blockbuster, which is also attractive to the audience. Hi, Mom has Shen Teng and Jia Ling as partners, and the all-age coverage of comedies further increases the possibility of its box office; This year, in addition to the animation IP "Bears: Wild Continent" to seize the basic disk, there is also the New Gods: Nezha Reborn sharing animation market.
Generally speaking, the competition in this year’s Spring Festival stalls is as fierce as in previous years, even worse, and it is very likely to produce hot films such as the annual box office champion and runner-up.
After the Spring Festival, will the film market face the dilemma of "no blockbuster"?
Not necessarily. For example, the trilogy of deities directed by Wu Ershan, as a large-scale production project with a total investment of over 1 billion yuan and three sets of films, has attracted great attention from the market and audience since its inception; Just at the beginning of this month, ChristianRandPhillips, one of the leading actors, said that it was being re-dubbed, and revealed that the first part would be released in 2021. I think, whether it is from the national popularity of the IP, the cast, or various topics around the film, the trilogy of the gods will be an unavoidable hot presence in the film market next year.
Stills of the trilogy of deities
In addition, it can be seen that 2021 is also a year in which various IP sequels emerge. In addition to Detective Chinatown 3, not long ago, when Wang Zhonglei was interviewed, he mentioned the "Mermaid 2" of Xingye. The production is basically over, and it should be no problem to release it next year; In Wanda’s latest annual film list, although detailed creative information has not been released for "Seeking the Dragon 2" and "Miskilling 2", the previous works of the two films have achieved good reputation and market returns, so the performance of the two sequels is also worthy of attention. If the quality can be guaranteed, it may also become a surprise for the market.
Next year will also be a year when sports films are on the rise. Among them, Playing Alone directed by Chen Kexin (formerly named Li Na) and China Ping Pong directed by Deng Chao have the same possibility of hitting the box office list by virtue of their theme advantages.
Chen Kexin’s on-site work photo
It is worth mentioning that several new sci-fi movies will be ushered in next year. Since The Wandering Earth opened the door to China’s sci-fi blockbusters, the sci-fi craze in the film market has intensified, and sci-fi genre films such as Beyond Time and Tomorrow’s Battle are likely to meet the audience next year. Some time ago, Chen Sicheng, who tried science fiction elements in My People My Homeland, directed Mozart in Outer Space, which is also a science fiction theme, with Bo Huang and Rong Zishan as partners, which can be said to be another big box office seed in 2021.
There are also strong competitors in the animation field, such as Tian Xiaopeng’s new film Deep Sea. In 2015, it was the Return of the Great Sage on the Journey to the West directed by him that set off a national craze. Now, after several animated films such as The Big Fish Begonia and The White Snake: The Origin, there are movies like Ne Zha who won the annual box office champion.
Stills of Deep Sea
The formation of the basic audience and the mature development of animated films all provide the possibility for the box office ceiling of Deep Sea.
Theme films and comedy films become two major attractions.
Of course, the most existential blockbuster in 2021 is the theme film that has to be mentioned, which also constitutes a significant feature of the big screen landscape next year.
On the one hand, this year marks the 70th anniversary of Chinese people’s Volunteer Army’s war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea. On the big screen, there are already urgent task-oriented films like The Sacrifice. Of course, there are more such films that have been delayed by the epidemic and will probably be released next year.
For example, The Battle at Lake Changjin, a film co-produced by Bona and Bayi Film Studio, just announced its launch at the end of last month, with Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Lin Chaoxian as co-producers and co-directors, and Jason Wu and Jackson Yee as the leading actors. With the escort of the production company, the annual explosion has basically been scheduled. Of course, the final box office depends on the production and completion of the film itself.
The Battle at Lake Changjin boot site
Similarly, there are films such as company of heroes and Forty-three Days in Shangganling, all of which are thematic tribute films with the theme of "Resisting US Aggression and Aid Korea".
In addition, the theme film of the Anti-Japanese War is still in progress. For example, the film "Dongji Island" appearing in the semi-annual report of Beijing Culture, directed by Wang Jing and directed by Guan Hu, is currently under preparation or will be released next year; Directed by Yang Feng and starring Zhang Hanyu, "flying tigers 1939" will be launched in mid-December, and it will probably grab the market next year.
On the other hand, this year’s epidemic has affected all aspects, and what happened during this period will inevitably become the source of material for film and television creation. At the same time, this is also in line with the positive values that society needs to carry forward.
Previously, TV dramas with related themes have been broadcast, and in terms of movies, the foothold of "China Doctor" directed by Liu Weiqiang and starring Zhang Hanyu lies in the "spirit of war and epidemic"; Fu Ruoqing, the general manager of China Film Co., Ltd., also mentioned that the new anti-epidemic film "Jiangchengzi in Wuhan" will start shooting on January 23 next year, one year after the closure of Wuhan.
"China Doctor" boot site
At the same time, next year is still a key time node, that is, the centenary of the founding of the party. To some extent, these anti-epidemic films can also be regarded as a gift film for the founding of the party for a hundred years. The film "1921", which is scheduled for July 1st next year and directed by Huang Jianxin and Dasheng Zheng, and attended by many stars such as Huang Xuan, NiNi and Haoran Liu, is a film about the founding history of communist party. Bona’s new "Unknown" is a spy film about the hidden front of the underground party of the Communist Party of China. Infinite Depth, an action adventure blockbuster being prepared by China Film, is the key tribute film of Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China.
Today, it is no longer necessary to discuss the significance of the main melody film. Obviously, the task will always exist, and after years of commercial operation, such films have already possessed the basic box office disk. As for the market return and the audience’s reputation, in fact, it depends on the quality of each film-movies that are shoddy and only talk about gimmicks and don’t talk about standards will eventually be eliminated by the market.
Therefore, in addition to the Spring Festival, the National Day archives near various time nodes, due to the emergence of various main theme films, may also become another major schedule with fierce competition next year.
In addition to the theme films, there will be some comedy films worth looking forward to in the film market next year. In fact, comedy, as the genre film with the least movie threshold and no age limit, has always been the candidate for high box office movies. However, in the past two or three years, there are not many pure comedies that can really occupy the forefront of the box office list, that is, gain public recognition.
Hi, Mom stills
However, in 2021, this phenomenon may be improved, and comedy movies may reap a new wave of enthusiasm. As mentioned earlier, the Hi, Mom in the Spring Festival stalls is headed by the most popular comedians Shen Teng and Jia Ling, who have already taken an advantage in the audience expectation in the early stage.
Mahua FunAge, as a comedy signboard, will continue to exert its strength on the big screen next year. Among them, there is a new film "National Carnival" jointly produced by Yan Fei, Peng Damo and Shen Teng after "goodbye mr. loser" and "The Richest Man in Xihong". There is also "Super Family" directed by Song Yang and starring Allen and Shen Teng; Zhang Chiyu directed the comedy Moon Man with sci-fi elements; The healing comedy "Brother Wu", produced by the owner of Moke Cinema and starring Mary, Chang Yuan and Wei Xiang, is not a twist work, but the twist labels of the actors also attract much attention.
"National Carnival" was launched at the scene
In addition, as mentioned above, Stephen Chow’s Mermaid 2 and Xiaogang Feng’s new work "One Year in Spring", whether the two great directors can return to the familiar comedy creation field will bring a phenomenal movie-watching craze again is also what we expect.
Hong Kong films and literary films may usher in a small outbreak?
As mentioned above, the lag of the epidemic may slow down the production of some head films, but at the same time, it will also bring more survival opportunities to some small and medium-sized films, which may be more obvious in 2021.
If we carefully review the coming year’s big screen, it is not difficult to find that Louis Koo, a model worker, is absent, which reflects the difficulties of the Hong Kong film industry in this year. However, with a one-year buffer period, next year, if it goes well, some Hong Kong films that have been suppressed for some time or whose production has been stagnant for some time will be released one after another.
This includes many Hong Kong films such as Searching for Qin, Fenglin Volcano, Anti-corruption Storm 5, money empire: The Battle of the Peak, Death Notice: The Dark Ones, The True Three Kingdoms, etc. starring Louis Koo. Perhaps at the moment, to some extent, Louis Koo’s hegemony actually represents the recovery of Hong Kong movies.
Stills of Fenglin Volcano
In addition, there is Chen Musheng’s posthumous work "Anger Serious Case", and Hong Kong films such as "When the Wind Comes Again" directed by Weng Ziguang and starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Aaron Kwok are also worthy of attention.
On the other hand, we can see that there are many literary films in next year’s film list. Just like the other day, in the market which is colder than Beijing, the performance of the crime film "Calm Down" with literary temperament is still outstanding. In fact, since the film market recovered this year, many literary films have been selected for release.
Regardless of the economics behind this. In fact, with the expansion of the film market in recent years, there are many examples of literary films with high reputation, or genre films with literary temperament, such as "Heart Labyrinth" and "Roadside Picnic", which have achieved high returns. It was also after this that literary films gradually gained more volume in the market than before.
Next year, we can not only see some directors’ new works, such as Lou Ye’s Lanxin Grand Theatre, Jia Zhangke’s Swim Until the Sea turns Blue, and Cheng Er’s Unfamiliar. At the same time, we can also see some filmmakers’ first films, such as Chen Chong’s English, and Amanda’s Nostalgia. In addition, such as The Reunions of Dapeng and Wuhai of Zhou Ziyang have gained a good reputation in previous film festivals, which also made the film gain more audience expectations before screening.
Stills of Lanxin Grand Theatre
It is worth mentioning that with the impact of the epidemic, changes in some industries are also accelerating, especially in the distribution mode of literary films. For example, this year’s film festival’s word-of-mouth work "Great! Teenager has chosen the way of combining online and offline distribution, and this situation may be more next year, which will also be a phenomenon worthy of attention in the future film market. Of course, this is not limited to literary films, but for the entire film market.
Generally speaking, in 2021, there will be many films worth looking forward to, including some new films by directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, including some crime films, some atypical comedies and some remakes. Perhaps they may not all be as great as the head films, but they may pass the quality test and bring more vitality and excitement to the film market after being released.
As far as the schedule is concerned, in addition to the large-scale Spring Festival, National Day and summer holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, May Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and even other atypical movie schedules, there may be more such small and medium-sized films stationed.
Stills of Moses on the Plain
In fact, after the special year of 2020, the film industry is also adjusting itself in the process of change. On the one hand, the gradual withdrawal of some external funds has cooled the film investment, further shuffled the market, and made the really good content more valued, and filmmakers also know how to pay more attention to the creation of quality in order to get better returns; On the other hand, under the new policy situation and external environment, there will always be some new phenomena.
Of course, everything will remain the same. For the film market, what can really promote its continuous development and become bigger and stronger is that there is enough high-quality film supply and more marginal audiences are absorbed into the mainstream audience.
Under this circumstance, it is also crucial to start again in 2021. I am looking forward to these domestic films that are worth looking forward to, and I am looking forward to the light of the screen in 2021.
