Why is the classic myth ＂White Snake IP＂ popular on the big screen for nearly a hundred years？

As of press time, the cumulative box office was 281 million.

Special feature of 1905 film network Six days after its release, White Snake 2: The Green Snake Robbed (hereinafter referred to as "The Green Snake Robbed") reached 273 million at the box office. Compared with the box office of 75.5 million in the first six days, it is quite outstanding. However, the predicted total box office of The Green Snake has been decreasing, from the initial over 600 million to the early 500 million, only about 100 million higher than the previous work.

But at the same time, this year is well-deserved "The Legend of the White Snake". With a strong reputation, a relatively small Cantonese opera film has been constantly attacking at the box office, eventually including more than 20 million yuan. As a well-known mythological theme, Legend of the White Snake has made countless films based on it over the years. The performance of two related films this year will also make people feel a little question: Do we still like to watch white snake stories now?

"White Snake" hit the box office from 20 million to 200 million in the year.

White Snake, a Cantonese opera movie, has a box office of over 20 million yuan, which can be said to be a surprising little dark horse this year. A traditional Chinese opera film, which is only popular in Guangdong, can get such a box office nationwide, and people have to sigh that The Legend of the White Snake is really a household name with undiminished charm.

It can be said that White Snake has just caught up with the popularity of the national tide in recent years. China-style ink background, bridges, pavilions and pavilions built according to Song paintings all attract young people who love China traditional culture. Judging from the portraits of users who want to see them provided by the ticketing platform, the proportion of female viewers has reached 59.5%, and the proportion of people aged 20-24 has reached 32.5%.

By comparing this data with the National Consumption Report released by a platform in 2021, we can also see that the main force of national consumption is precisely the audience of this film. According to the report, the proportion of female consumption will increase by 5% in 2020, and it will increase by 10% in 2020 after 1995.

According to Accenture data, there are nearly 400 million female consumers aged 20-60 in China, and their annual consumption expenditure is as high as 10 trillion yuan, which is enough to constitute the third largest consumer market in the world, close to the sum of retail markets in Europe, Germany, France and Britain.

From this, we can judge that White Snake just touched the female audience who loved the national trend and China traditional culture. They have also become strong supporters of this film’s box office, so that a minority drama film can achieve a box office counterattack in the second week of release and break through the miracle of the first week.

In fact, the same is true of White Snake: The Origin, which was released two years ago. The portrait of this film is very similar to that of White Snake. After the film was released, it also relied on word of mouth and kept going against the wind to achieve box office breakthroughs week after week.

When it comes to "The Green Snake Robbed", the movie’s desire to see portraits is more inclined to female audiences and young audiences. However, movies are no longer their favorite national style. When the White Snake and the Green Snake replaced the take off your coat Bo Band and made bunt costumes, they were also moving closer to steampunk and wasteland aesthetics visually and far away from the female audience aesthetically. Therefore, it can be inferred that the story of Legend of the White Snake is still effective, but what kind of cultural context should we put the story in?

The two White Snake movies released this year are so different in volume and the ratio of input to output is also obviously different. Compared with the previous work, the box office of "The Green Snake Snatches Up" has only slightly increased, which really reminds the light-chasing animation that we need to readjust our thinking in future creation.

How will more than 60 white snake film and television works be developed in the future?

According to incomplete statistics, since the black-and-white film "The Legend of the White Snake" directed in 1952, there have been at least more than 60 films, videos and animation works based on the story of the white snake. It can be said that a classic and representative White Snake was born in every era.

In 1958, Japan filmed the country’s first color animated feature film with the theme of The Legend of the White Snake. As early as two years before the publication of The Legend of the White Snake, The Demon Love of Lady Bai, starring the Shaw Brothers in Japan and Hong Kong, was released.

The cartoon "The Legend of the White Snake" is more family-oriented, and many supporting animals are added to fill the plot, which has become a common pattern of animal gratitude in Japan. At the beginning, Xu Xian found a white snake in his childhood. In the end, the Leifeng Tower in Yongzheng was also changed to a happy plot. The real-life version of Lady Bai’s Demon Love is a special film made in that year. The whole film is filled with a kind of "demon spirit", which is different from the themes of karma and gratitude in previous lives, but it is an infatuation.

In fact, most of the early films about the legend of the White Snake still stick to the legend itself and basically tell the whole story according to the familiar structure. In 1972, musicians cooperated with others to adapt the story of the legend of the White Snake into the musical "White Empress". Although the box office was not good that year, the reputation was very good. The song "Love you becomes harm to you" has also become a classic.

The musical closely revolves around the feelings of the two people. In the famous song "Love You to Harm You" written by James J.S.Wong, it is also sung that "ten thousand kinds of kindness turn into disaster." It can be said that the appearance of this musical also laid the foundation for the appearance of White Snake today.

From the initial complete restoration of this legendary story, to the later discussion of the emotions in this story, 1993 became a peak of the white snake story. The film not only shifts the perspective from the traditional protagonist, the white snake, to the green snake, but also deeply discusses the two rather heavy topics of "what is love" and "how to be human".

"Green Snake" not only created a new way to tell the story of the white snake, but also "ended" the new ideas of other creators and became an insurmountable peak in the story of the white snake.

In 2011, it was released. Although the film was invited, it failed to save the reputation of the film. Compared with the previous white snake stories, The Legend of the White Snake has a more westernized perspective, adding many elements such as the underworld and demon spirits, and the image of Fahai is more positive, and it is also close to the image of the exorcist in the West.

It is not until recent years that the creation of the white snake story has returned to the environment of national aesthetics. Masterpieces before, "White Snake: The Origin" and White Snake stood on the shoulders of their predecessors and climbed a storey still higher.

The White Snake: The Origin opens up China’s literature records about snakes, and combines the story of the white snake with Liu Zongyuan’s The Snake Catcher’s Theory to form a new narrative. But such a legendary story, after several shots, is really difficult to tell new ideas again in a short time. Therefore, after the story of the White Snake was finished in the closing credits of White Snake: The Origin, the selection of The Green Snake opened up a new space, making a fuss about the identity and reincarnation of the white snake and the green snake.

Although the wasteland style has replaced the national aesthetics, I believe that such a brave breakthrough will also bring brand-new creativity to the white snake story in the future.

After all, the owner of Baoqingfang in the egg finally found his own broken tail, which makes us curious. In the eyes of the current creators, what are the possibilities of white snakes and green snakes?