Economic Daily: "Dragon Restaurant" calmly faces "Odyssey."

The summer of 2026 is marked by surging waves, with box office figures hitting new highs time and again. In the latter half of the season, the domestic realistic film "Welcome to Long Restaurant" is going head-to-head with the international epic blockbuster "Odyssey," and market enthusiasm continues to rise. "Welcome to Long Restaurant" is confidently facing this challenge, a scenario that would have been nearly unimaginable a few years ago. At that time, China's film and television industry was still in the early stages of industrialization, with an immature industry system and underdeveloped genre creation. Faced with heavyweight industrial blockbusters created by mature overseas IP and internationally renowned directors, domestic films generally lacked the confidence to take on direct competition, often avoiding head-to-head confrontations by advancing or delaying their release dates. After years of accumulation, the domestic film and television industrial chain has become increasingly complete, and the entire processfrom script polishing and shooting to post-production effects and marketinghas grown more standardized and mature. The public's recognition of local stories and willingness to consume these films have continued to rise, leading to a comprehensive improvement in the film industry's ecology. This evolution is precisely what gives domestic films the confidence to compete with international blockbusters on the same stage.