China’s box office totalled $3.4bn (RMB 23.9bn) in the first six months of 2024, down 9% year-on-year despite a strong start at Chinese New Year, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.
Ticket sales from the first half of the year were also the lowest since 2016, according to additional figures from Maoyan Research Institute, a subsidiary of service provider Maoyan Entertainment. This excludes 2020 and 2022 when cinemas were closed for lengthy periods due to the Covid pandemic.
Artisan Gateway highlighted that cinema admissions dipped 8.9% year-on-year to 550 million, while the average ticket price stands at just over $6 (RMB43.4), which has remained relatively stable for the last three years.
Chinese New Year once again proved to be the most important season. The eight-day holiday, which ran from February 10-17 this year, set a new record as the biggest Chinese New Year to date, with $1.1bn (RMB8.1bn) representing 33.9% of the total revenue for the first half of 2024.
However, box office takings fizzled out by the halfway mark. The month of June concluded with $314.1m (RMB 2.2bn), down 46% year-on-year and marking the lowest month of 2024 to date. Chinese novel adaptation Moments We Shared was the top film for the month, generating 16.1% of the monthly total with $50.6m (RMB359.3m), following its opening on June 22.
Local audiences continued to embrace local productions, which accounted for six of the top 10 titles in the first half of the year. Four local Chinese New Year films led the box office: Yolo, Pegasus 2, Article 20 and animation Boonie Bears: Time Twist. These were followed by Johnny Keep Walking, which opened on December 29, in fifth place, and The Last Frenzy, which opened during the May 1 holiday, in eighth place.
Import success
Unlike 2023 when local productions claimed all the top 10 slots in the annual chart, a slightly more diverse range of films cracked the top 10 in the first six months.
The biggest import, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire ranked sixth with $134.7m (RMB956.4m). But Hollywood films were still playing catch-up with local Chinese productions. Kung Fu Panda 4 ($52.5m/RMB372.6m) and Dune: Part Two ($49.7m/RMB352.6m), the second and third biggest Hollywood films respectively, sat outside the top 10.
Studio Ghibli’s animation The Boy And The Heron by acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki came in seventh with $111.4m (RMB 790.8m). Its release on April 3 was timely, only three weeks after its best animated feature win at the Oscars.
Two action films that captivated local audiences rounded out the top 10: Hong Kong’s Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, which benefited from strong buzz following its Cannes premiere, and The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon, a sleeper hit that became the second biggest Taiwanese film of all time in mainland China.
A slew of blockbuster films is scheduled for release in the coming weeks, which the industry hopes will break the downward spiral at the box office. These include Sam Quah’s A Place Called Silence, opening on July 3, Song Haolin’s Welcome To My Side (July 5), Yin Ruoxin’s Stand By Me (July 12), Successor by Yan Fei and Peng Damo (July 16) and Under One Person by Wuershan and Xia Peng (July 26). Hollywood titles include Despicable Me 4 (July 12) and Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26).
No comments yet