In 2017, most of the cross-border films directed by actors failed to pass the box office and had a low reputation.

Since 2012, the film "Sorry for Thailand" directed by Zhao Wei and directed by Xú Zhēng has become "explosive" one after another, and acting with excellence has become a very remarkable phenomenon in the China film market in recent years. In the past year, there were more than a dozen works directed by actors. Although the proportion of them was not high compared with the annual output of more than 400 domestic films, they were a batch of works with their own flow and attention.

Debuts generally have a low box office reputation.

Last year, some directors who were transformed from actors handed in the second examination paper, and more were the first directors. The former includes Jason Wu, Alec Su, Han Han and Dapeng; The latter are from Wang Baoqiang, Huang Lei, Liming, Wang Xiaokun, Cai Kangyong, Jerry Lee, Gao Xiaopan and Wu Junru.

Regardless of word of mouth or box office, the former wins the latter. The highest box office was Wolf Warriors 2 (5.68 billion yuan), followed by Braving the Wind and Waves, with 1.049 billion yuan. The Dedication of Suspect X is not as good as the first two films at the box office, but it is also a qualified commercial film. Hu Jianli, editor-in-chief of the film and television weathervane, believes that this shows that Alec Su has become a mature commercial film director with stable level through experience.

"Grab the Red" directed by Dawn (16.9 million yuan) and "Brother, stop it!" directed by Gao Xiaopan! "(12.09 million yuan) is at the bottom of the box office and the score is 3.3 and 3.1 respectively. Among other films, Wang Baoqiang’s "Make a Big Scene in Tianzhu" won 758 million yuan at the box office, but it mainly relied on the star effect and the Spring Festival schedule. In addition, "Hunting in the Sky" and "The Demon Rinrin" also exceeded 300 million yuan each, but no matter whether the box office is good or bad, all the directors’ first films failed in word of mouth, and the douban scores were mostly between 3 and 5. According to Hu Jianli’s analysis, when an actor is a director across the border, the works produced actually have certain commonalities. For example, the actors’ performances and lines are the easiest to shine, and the overall grasp of the film, especially the structure and connotation of the film, needs to be tempered.

Tan Fei, an investor in film and television, believes that compared with previous years, the threshold for actors to make a blockbuster and successfully transform with the director’s debut has become higher and higher, because "the requirements of the audience are getting higher and higher. Although you are famous as an actor, if the director’s work is not good, the audience will not buy it".

Cross-border directorship becomes "addiction"

Over the past few years, actors’ campaigns as directors in the film market have not all been successful. Only a few people have truly transformed smoothly, and more people’s works have been put into the market, which soon became cannon fodder.

The film critic Sai Ren said, in fact, no matter in the world film industry or in China film industry, it is an uninterrupted tradition to play well and guide. Moreover, in all kinds of films, the success rate of actors transforming into directors is much higher than others. He casually cited a lot of examples, such as Wu Tianming, Zhang Yimou, Li Hsing, Hou Xiaoxian, Li Hanxiang, Zhang Aijia, etc. "So I don’t agree that many actors have lowered the threshold of directing. How do you know that people can’t direct good films?"

Indeed, the transformation of actors into directors has many inherent advantages. Hu Jianli analyzed that stars have popularity and influence, which is not only easy to attract investment when preparing movies, but also has a fan consumption base at the box office, which makes it easy to succeed in the market with half the effort. Cui Ting, a film critic, believes that there is a lot of hot money in the China film market, and many investors have money and no projects. "As long as actors get along well in the industry, they are not only investments, but also scripts and teams. And many actors know the audience better. "

So, why are some actors’ works not recognized? Fang Li, a famous producer, believes that the key factor is the motivation of filming. "Some actors have stayed in this circle for a long time, have the impulse to express and have their own ideas; There is another one, which is trapped by capital. Isn’t IP particularly popular in recent years? The name of the star can also be regarded as an IP. It is irresponsible to the audience to rush into the horse and circle money. " He recalled that when he helped Han Han’s directorial debut as a producer, he took a fancy to Han Han’s "no hurry" and "impulsiveness". "He first came to talk to me in 2011 and said that he had the idea of becoming a director. He had already made several short films with his photography partner Liao, but he didn’t start making movies until 2014."

A new wave of cross-border works is on the road.

I haven’t had time to recover from last year’s cross-border works, and recently several works directed by actors are about to be released. For example, Zhang Xinyi’s romantic film, which is about to meet the audience, is directed and acted by herself. It is said that for this directorial debut, she spent nearly two years, during which almost all other work was put off.

Just at the end of December, another batch of cross-border films were also killed. On the evening of December 23rd, Rene Liu issued a document in Weibo, announcing that his directorial debut was finished. The film, starring Zhou Dongyu and Jing Bo Ran, tells a love story similar to a song and will meet the audience this year. On December 24th last year, comedian Xiao Shenyang also announced that his first film as a director was finished. The film was prepared for nearly two years and shot for more than three months, with Taiwan Province actress Vivian Sung as the No.1.

In addition to these finished works, some have been started or are being prepared. For example, the love movie "Writing Poems for You", directed and performed by singer Wu Kequn, recently got the news that it was turned on in Guangzhou. The title of the movie comes from a song he once sang. The comedy directed by Song Xiaobao also announced that it will be launched after the Spring Festival. In addition, Chinese film versions in Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bo Huang and Wallace Chung are also being filmed.

Avoiding cannon fodder requires more precipitation.

So many works on the road, how to avoid becoming cannon fodder?

Hong Kong director Chen Kexin once said that among many actors, he is very optimistic about Bo Huang as a director, because it is actually easier for a good actor to be a director. Bo Huang "not only has excellent analytical skills, but also has rich studio experience". The contestants also mentioned that good actors, especially drama actors, tend to be good directors. "This is because they have to take care of many things when performing, such as the reaction of the actors in the play, such as the audience. This is actually a kind of director thinking training. Nowadays, many film and television actors can’t even take care of themselves, let alone more complicated director thinking. "

Tan Fei said that it is actually a good thing for many actors to transform into directors. "It shows that our industry is more open and inclusive, but the bad side is that many people may be impetuous." He said that the director is a miscellaneous person, who needs to reserve a lot of knowledge and practical ability and learn more. "A film will take at least two or three years to make, and actors must be prepared to give up many things, such as many opportunities to make money. The job of directing must not be false."

"No matter what you do, you will have a failed experience. Movies need to be precipitated. Few directors are particularly good when they come up with several films. If you really want to be a director, you have to calm down and shoot for ten years." In Cui Ting’s view, a really good director should shoot all kinds of films. "Now these actors are transforming into directors, and the types of films they shoot are too single, not comedies or romantic films. They should try different types."