In 2016, IP is still popular in the pan-entertainment industry. According to data from Entgroup.cn think-tank database, the box office of 86 films exceeded RMB100 million in 2016, with the accumulated revenues reaching RMB39.824 billion, including 37 IP-adapted films. Although these 37 films only account for 7% in 503 films of 2016, they generated 35% of total box-office revenues in the year, accounting for 38.94% of films with the box office exceeding RMB 100 million, demonstrating the strong profitability of IP-adapted films.
Among adapted films with the box office exceeding RMB100 million in 2016, most of them are adapted from the literature, seconded by the animations. It’s worth noting that there are six films adapted from animations and two adapted from games, which are mainly action and animation genres. Two films adapted from games generated the box office of more than RMB500 million, of which Warcraft ranks the first at an amount of RMB1.47 billion.
The year 2016 witnesses the outbreak of animation and gaming productions. According to the research report, the subscribers of Chinese Internet animations in 2016 exceed 70 million, which will keep growing in the future. In the summer of 2016, Warcraft adapted from the game created a box-office miracle and caused a sensation among fans. It’s reported that more games would be adapted to films in the future. In recent two years, Chinese game companies engage in film production by integrating games. Led by NetEase and Giant, leading gaming companies and some small and medium-sized game companies have established film companies to build their affiliated game IP industry chain. On the other hand, the private film giants such as Enlight Media and Huayi also make investment in gaming companies through acquisition or capital contribution.
Apart from online games, electronic sport are promising in the market. As stated by Chen Hongwei, Deputy General Manager of Tencent Pictures, “Game-adapted films are a broad concept, implying three layers of meanings: The first layer is to simply shoot films based on games, like Warcraft. The second is to integrate game culture into the film, such as online game articles among literature IP, showing many game elements in the process of film production. The third is films adapted from electronic sports. Although electronic sport is still a niche market, its economic potential will attract a wide range of attention. ”
Source: Entgroup.cn, By: Nancy