Back to basics

Three Chinese films－Operation Mekong, Song of the Phoenix and Kaili Blues－are recommended by the critics committee of the China Film Association. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The film did very well at the box-office, which the report says was due to a combination of patriotism and humanity that it shows.

Zhang Wei, deputy head of the critics committee at China Film Association, attributes some current difficulties in domestic filmmaking to the genre that tries to copy popular films.

"After nostalgic youth-themed films became popular a few years ago, big screens were full of such productions but the audience got bored after a few," says Zhang.

"Now that genre is almost dead."

He says Chinese studios should have better planning when developing story ideas.

"Hollywood studios have detailed plans about films they are going to shoot and have clear business plans."

Liu Fan, a researcher with the Chinese National Academy of Arts, says filmmakers' dependence on intellectual property for adaptations is another reason for the box-office setback.

"Fans of the original works (mainly novels) cannot continuously support such film adaptations," Liu says.

"And when the IP bubble gets bigger, some screenwriters get careless and ruin the original stories."

Love O2O, adapted from a popular online novel, and L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties, a fantasy derived from a popular novel, encountered huge losses at the box office.

"Their failure has warned film investors that a cobbled-up IP production with popular young actors won't always make money," says Raymond Zhou, an independent film industry analyst on the critics committee.