Sequels of popular franchises gear up for Spring Festival

As the Year of the Snake approaches, the festival film market is heating up with fierce competition, as six big-budget movies are set to premiere on Wednesday, the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Widely regarded as a sign of the maturation of the domestic film industry, five of these titles are sequels to popular franchises, with Hong Kong director Tsui Hark's martial arts tentpole Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants standing as the sole exception.

The film, starring pop idol Xiao Zhan as Guo Jing, a skilled martial artist, saw its presale box-office revenue surpass 10 million yuan ($1.37 million) in just 40 minutes after online booking began at 9 am on Jan 19, propelling it to the top of the Spring Festival's advance ticket revenue charts. It is also the first martial arts film to compete during the festival, the country's most lucrative box-office season in recent years.

Many industry insiders attribute its commercial success to the star power of Xiao, who is followed by millions of fans on the popular social platform Sina Weibo, as well as to the influence of the movie's archetype.

Adapted from seven chapters of one of the most renowned novels, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, by the late wuxia writer Jin Yong, pen name of Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924-2018), the tale recounts the adventures of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, the protagonist's once-in-a-lifetime lover, in the martial arts world as they team up to fight and defend the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In addition to Legends of the Condor Heroes leading by a significant margin in presales, three other films have closely followed in presale revenue: the animated film Nezha 2, the suspense comedy Detective Chinatown 1900, and the mythological epic Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force, occupying the second, third and fourth positions, respectively.

Marking itself as a spinoff prequel to filmmaker Chen Sicheng's Detective Chinatown franchise, the new film features actors Liu Haoran and Wang Baoqiang as an unlikely duo, following their mystery-solving adventures in San Francisco in 1900.

As the sequel to the 2019 blockbuster Nezha, Nezha 2 depicts the resurgence of the titular hero and his friend, Aobing, the prince from a dragon clan. The tale follows their journey as they overcome a series of difficulties while confronting an unprecedented crisis: The leader of the dragon clan releases thousands of sea monsters to threaten the existence of humankind.

Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force picks up where the first movie left off, following Ji Fa, the brave son of a lord, as he returns to his hometown to lead a rebel army in fighting against the tyranny of Yin Shou, whose archetype is King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC).

Interweaving mythology and history, the highlight of the film centers on battles among people, celestial beings and monsters. Director Wuershan revealed that a main challenge was representing the 12-meter-tall four sibling giants of the Mo family, powerful figures in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods), which serves as a major inspiration for the movie.

The other two are the military-themed Operation Hadal, a follow-up to Operation Red Sea (2018), and the animated film Boonie Bears: Future Reborn, the 11th installment of the Boonie Bears franchise.

Chen Jin, an analyst of Beacon, Alibaba Pictures' real-time information tracker, says the movies competing for this year's Spring Festival showcase a diverse range of themes and genres, and all are adorned with special-effects scenes. He analyzes that the holiday will serve as a barometer for the entire year's film market, leading the Chinese film industry toward a better recovery this year.