Special feature of 1905 film network On February 12, it ranked among the top ten box offices in mainland film history with a box office of over 3.65 billion. Since its release, besides its reputation, its official surroundings have accumulated sales of over 100 million yuan, which has greatly set a new record for the sales of film derivatives in China.
How exaggerated is this wave of "saturated crowdfunding"?
The crowdfunding goal was achieved within one minute after the project was launched, and the accumulated sales exceeded 100 million in eight days. Later, the officials and merchants repeatedly called for "rational consumption", and the fans of "Little Broken Ball" have "urged" from inside the play to outside the play: "One household is stupid" and "One door frame for one family" have not been achieved. How can you sleep? Let’s buy!
Up to now, many manufacturers involved in the production of official derivatives of Wandering Earth 2 have far exceeded their expected targets in crowdfunding and sales. At the same time, popular new products such as "Ma Ou" around a variety of popular IP and subsequent calls from the audience continue to be sold and developed.
When the movie Wandering Earth 2 successfully "knocked down" the door of China science fiction movies, the new record of "Benben" also showed us a new blue ocean of film derivatives.
Replay Wandering Earth 2 "Saturated Crowdfunding";
Sales surged with the box office year-on-year, and the cooperation cycle still needs to be advanced.
According to the statistics of various platforms, the sales amount of many crowdfunding and pre-sale projects related to Wandering Earth 2 has far exceeded the expected targets of various manufacturers.
In the movie, the scene of "Benben, you are a military dog" impressed countless audiences. This mechanical dog with sci-fi futuristic feeling and "cute point" has also become the "popular king" around the official authorization of Wandering Earth 2.
Saifan Science Fiction Space released four batches of assembled and finished "Benben" models before the crowdfunding cut-off, with a cumulative number of more than 226,000 boxes. And 52TOYS achieved over 10.74 million yuan with a turnover of over 57,000 only by using this product of the all-purpose box series.
Wang Yin, senior product director of 52TOYS, revealed in an exclusive interview with 1905 Film Network that the amount of this crowdfunding project obviously increased with the rapid growth of the box office of Wandering Earth 2: "Three days before the crowdfunding began, the daily amount increased at a rate of 100,000 yuan, and on the fourth day, the influence of the film expanded, and with our continuous marketing actions, the amount gradually increased at a rate of nearly one million yuan per day."
In mid-2022, 52TOYS reached a cooperation with Wandering Earth 2, which is still in the production period, and developed a deformed mecha toy for the mechanical dog Benben, which appeared in the film. Whether the scenes in the film are "out of the circle" or the strength of attracting gold in the market today, it proves the success of the "two-way trip" between the film makers and manufacturers at the level of product selection and research and development.
According to Wang Yin, at the beginning of the cooperation between the two sides, the image of "Benben" in Wandering Earth 2 has not been fully determined, and the content of the film was officially confirmed until the fourth quarter. However, the development time of BOX series deformation mecha is usually at least six months, so the time left for 52TOYS in this cooperation is not too much. From the early stage, according to the "thick line" modeling framework of the film, to the use of supply chain to make dozens of "ep1 stage" final color samples in advance before the release, and finally completed the relevant content required for product details before the crowdfunding period.
The characteristics of film production and the relatively uncertain market also make "crowdfunding" an ecology more suitable for the sales of derivatives in the film and television industry. "When we clearly knew that the time to market of the product could not be synchronized with the release of Wandering Earth 2, we began to think about how to sell the product, and finally adopted the crowdfunding method. First, because crowdfunding can provide consumers with more ways to play besides sales, for example, after the crowdfunding amount is full, you can unlock some benefits; Second, there are huge uncertainties in the domestic film derivatives market, including this year’s Spring Festival file itself, so we can estimate the sales situation in advance and prepare the corresponding production capacity through crowdfunding. " Wang Wei said.
"Dynamic unlocking" has indeed become one of the important graspers to drive sales in the crowdfunding stage of Wandering Earth 2. With the increase in the number of people involved in crowdfunding, various projects are constantly adding various new cooperation or benefits under the suggestion of the "small broken ball" spiritual shareholders.
Taking 52TOYS as an example, in addition to matching the stupid magnetic expression, the company also closely communicated with the film during the film’s hot screening, and added the door frame robot that attracted everyone’s attention and love in Wandering Earth 2 to develop deformation toys, which is also a brand-new attempt in its similar cooperation projects. "At present, we are still in close contact with the film side to jointly explore more opportunities in the derivatives of Wandering Earth 2."
This cooperation, the box office sales of the previous works and the great influence of the series of works are all important indicators for the cooperation and reference of major manufacturers such as 52TOYS. The success of Wandering Earth 2 has also given all parties greater confidence in this IP.
Wang Yin bluntly said that the company expects to reach a deeper cooperation with the filmmakers in the next project. At the same time, what it expects more is that the film and television derivatives industry can take a more important step: "I hope to participate in the project at the early stage of film production, just like the mature overseas film derivatives model, so as to develop more and better derivatives and launch the products in a more timely manner, so that everyone can feel the fun of derivatives while enjoying the film."
After exceeding the target by 120,000% and refreshing the record:
Where will the future of "Benben" turn?
After the total crowdfunding amount of all parties exceeded the target of 120,000%+,the derivatives of Wandering Earth 2 have not only set off a sales frenzy around the film, but also attracted more people’s attention and investment through the "out of the circle" of this IP.
Miss Su, the audience, is a variety of peripheral and hand-made enthusiasts. After watching Wandering Earth 2 on New Year’s Day, she bought a variety of products including 52TOYS universal box stupid model, 1:2.5 replica of sheep and digital life cards produced by Saifan Science Fiction Space through crowdfunding.
"Wandering Earth 2" is popular around this time. I think there are two main reasons. First, the science fiction theme (advantage), ordinary movies rarely buy so many models around, objectively do not have such conditions, The Wandering Earth is stupid, Moss and doorframes, and so on. In addition, the models that have come out at present are also well done, such as Benben, and there are many types for the audience to choose from. As a souvenir, you can buy a finished product that you can play directly. Fans who like to assemble can buy an assembled version. There is always one for you. " Miss Su gave her opinion.
As a "veteran player", she said that at present, "non-film" peripheral products in China already have a very mature market, and many brands that cooperated with Wandering Earth 2 this time are "familiar faces" in the industry. This also provides a layer of quality assurance for the surrounding production of this film.
However, as Wang Yin mentioned above, due to the particularity of the production cycle of film and television works and the great uncertainty of the domestic film and television derivatives industry at present, the timing of joining the production link is still relatively late. If you can participate in the image production of the role in advance, it may have a more positive impetus to the later R&D and sales.
The form of crowdfunding is bound to further lengthen the production cycle of peripheral products. Take the announcement of Saifan Science Fiction Space, which cut off the order in advance, for example. At present, the earliest batch of four batches of products must be delivered before the end of June, and the fourth batch will be completed at least in November. At the same time, because the number of orders is close to the annual capacity limit of the factory, there may be some delay in the later period.
Xiao Liu is the first time to buy "new users" around crowdfunding movies. According to the announcement, the finished products Benben and customized digital life cards she bought will not be "delivered" until the second half of the year. "I’m not in a hurry, but I’m a little sorry. For example, I’ve brushed the’ small broken ball’ three times, but I can’t punch in with my stupid and life card."
Too long waiting time will affect the sales of products to some extent. For example, before "Wandering Earth 2", the film also planned additional derivatives because of the box office boom, but due to the lag of the cycle, even pirated products greatly affected the related income.
Miss Su understands the production cycle, but she also admits that the derivative industry in the domestic film and television industry has not yet formed a climate. Compared with the development of hot IP in foreign countries such as Marvel Comics and Harry Potter, it needs more careful planning: "Otherwise, the audience will not generate electricity for love for a long time, and the future will become more and more strict and’ picky’."
Wang Yin also gave feedback on the current test of research and development around film and television from the perspective of the industry: "Although film derivatives have taken shape in overseas markets, not all IP is suitable for developing derivatives. IP, which is suitable for developing derivatives, can first make the public feel emotional when watching film and television content, thus giving birth to the desire to buy. Usually, most of such IP often appears in science fiction films, animation and even monster films; Secondly, even if IP has room for development, if the market performance of the film is not good, it will also affect the success or failure of derivatives. "
It can also be seen from the outbreak of The Wandering Earth series that the domestic market is not short of creativity, productivity and purchasing power, but needs stable and high-quality content to escort the derivatives market in the blue ocean. The cycle of film release is doomed to a short-term explosion of a single work, which cannot support the complete sales scene of the whole industry.
After the target of 120,000% is exceeded, our derivatives need more stable "clumsiness" to help improve IP R&D, operation and industrial chain construction. At the moment, we want to borrow the classic lines from The Wandering Earth’s "Same Door" and "Three-body": I lit the fire, but we must find ways to control it!
