On September 1st, Maoyan Research Institute released the "2024 Summer Film Data Insight Report" (hereinafter referred to as the report), which aimed at the box office situation of summer films in mainland China this year. The report stated that the decrease in the number of popular films was the main reason for the market cooling down. The report shows that the box office of movies in the summer of 2024 was 11.643 billion yuan (RMB, the same below). Among them, "Catch the Doll" became the box office champion of this year's summer with a box office of over 3.2 billion yuan, followed by "Silent Kill" in second place with a box office of over 1.3 billion yuan, and the imported film "Alien: Deadly Ship" in third place with a box office of over 600 million yuan. The total box office during the summer season decreased by 44% year-on-year, and the total number of moviegoers decreased by nearly half year-on-year. Due to the increasing number of cinemas in recent years, the total number of screenings has slightly increased, but the average number of people per screening is lower than in previous years. This summer, there is a diverse range of domestic film genres, covering comedy, suspense, plot, crime, science fiction, animation, etc. However, the top films are only "Catch the Doll" and "Silent Kill", lacking the effect of last year's multiple films leading the way. In terms of imported new films, there are 9 films that have grossed over 100 million yuan, with both the quantity and box office volume higher than in 2023. Among them, the box office performance of "Alien: Deadly Ship" exceeds that of North America. The report believes that the decrease in the number of popular movies is the main reason for the market cooling down. Although 26 films have grossed over 100 million yuan during the holiday season, only 3 have grossed over 500 million yuan, and only one phenomenal film has grossed over 2 billion yuan. Adequate supply of top tier films is a necessary condition for the full play of the summer box office effect. The report shows that compared to last year, this summer's films lack post screening word-of-mouth feedback and discussion heat, and the number of hot searches on online platforms is significantly weaker than last year. The lack of nationwide hot topics has led to weak long-term box office growth. The report points out that as the longest span of time throughout the year, the summer season presents new challenges to the film market. Nowadays, audience consumption is becoming more rational. Only films that can provide emotional value, spark interest in watching movies, stimulate social attention, and generate discussion heat can attract audiences into cinemas. In addition, the report shows that the trend of top tier and regional box office sales during this summer season is still significant. The box office of the champion film during the period accounted for nearly 30% of the total box office, and the concentration of box office increased. Compared to previous years, the popularity of imported films has rebounded. Although the proportion of new users purchasing tickets during the summer season has significantly decreased, the profile of new users is younger than that of the general market, which means that creating more "young" content is an important direction to attract new users and increase the proportion of young audience purchasing tickets. (New Society)