Latest Upgrade to Online Release Rules Further Enhance Efficiency

BEIJING, Aug. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, saw growing efficacy of its Cloud Cinema with two films released in July both achieved strong box office performances. The box office for Fight Against Evil 2 and the iQIYI-presented film The Comeback both surpassed RMB 10 million within ten days of the films' respective launches.

Thanks to the strong performance of the two films, both of which were released through iQIYI Cloud Cinema's Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) model, the number of iQIYI Cloud Cinema film releases netting over RMB10 million in box office in 2023 climbed to five in total; ŚAKRA, Northeastern Bro II: Endless love, and Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre also previously reached the milestone.

The Comeback stars Simon Yam Tat-wah, the Hong Kong Film Award-winning actor who also served as a producer of the movie. With a thrilling plotline coupled with nuanced storytelling, the film received a 9.5/10 rating on iQIYI platform following its Jul. 21 online premiere, with user interest continuing to climb.

The Comeback

Fight Against Evil 2 features renowned actor XIE Miao and tells the story of a righteous police officer who stumbles upon a crime organization while on a blind date. The film quickly rose in popularity after its online premiere on Jul. 8, becoming one of two most highly rated films on the iQIYI platform as well as the most popular film under the iQIYI action films category. The film also topped the popularity chart compiled by Maoyan, a leading Chinese film ticketing agency.

Fight Against Evil 2

The latest achievements followed the footsteps of previous success under the iQIYI Cloud Cinema Premiere model, which continues to benefit content creators and support overall industry growth—all while connecting viewers with quality content. According to iQIYI, a total of 13 titles were released through the iQIYI Cloud Cinema Premiere model last year, more than half of which recorded a box office of over RMB 10 million in PVOD model. Also in 2022, more than 12.2 million users have watched films on the iQIYI Cloud Cinema through the video-on-demand model.

iQIYI Cloud Cinema promotes quality content and boosts revenue for creators thanks to the company's strong commitment to helping build a fairer media ecosystem, which translates to continued upgrades the company has introduced to iQIYI Cloud Cinema. Following two major upgrades in April and September 2022, iQIYI announced that starting on Aug. 1, 2023, films that already received official approvals to premiere online or in theatre can premiere online on iQIYI without additional platform review. The upgrade further simplifies the process by which a film reaches the viewers.

According to SONG Jia, Vice President of iQIYI and General Manager of iQIYI Film Center: "iQIYI has long committed to providing film creators with an open and transparent platform for online distribution. I believe that the latest upgrade to our rules for collaboration can further energize creativity and promote productivity, allowing more filmmakers to work with iQIYI more efficiently and effectively. Meanwhile, we will continue to enhance the service quality of our platform and make the online premiere system more agile and robust for filmmakers."

Source: iQIYI