appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

He Huifeng

China’s box office presales topped 200 million yuan (US$28.9 million) by Saturday ahead of the coming Lunar New Year holiday, led exclusively by domestic productions – a decline of more than 60 per cent from about 600 million yuan over the same period last year, according to Taopiaopiao, the online ticketing arm of Alibaba Pictures.
Presales are closely watched by distributors and investors as an early indicator of holiday audience demand.
Long seen as a crucial pillar of China’s film market, the Spring Festival season is facing cautious expectations for its 2026 releases, analysts said.
The holiday season’s box office has expanded dramatically over the past decade, growing from 336 million yuan in 2011 to over 9.51 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion) last year – accounting for nearly one-fifth of annual takings and becoming a crucial determinant of the industry’s full-year trajectory.
That success has also raised the bar. The 2025 Spring Festival season shattered multiple records in China’s film market, attracting 187 million film-goers, making it one of the strongest holiday performances in China’s film history.
A single domestic animated feature, Ne Zha 2, defined that peak, with 4.8 billion yuan in holiday takings. The film not only captured a dominant share of season revenue but also contributed about 30 per cent of China’s annual box office in 2025.
Against that high base, the overall supply for this year’s Spring Festival season has yet to show comparable breakout potential, independent film producer and commentator Guan Zhi said.
“For the 2026 Spring Festival box office to surpass last year’s record, it would require a phenomenon on the scale of Ne Zha 2,” he said. “While the scheduled films offer diverse genres and casts, their appeal to younger audiences remains to be tested.”
This year’s new releases span espionage thrillers, martial arts epics, racing comedies, animation and fantasy adventures.


Zhang Yimou’s Scare Out, a contemporary national security thriller, weaves real-world security themes into a strongly patriotic storyline; martial arts film Blades of the Guardians features a cross-generational cast – including Jet Li, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Nicholas Tse; the racing comedy Pegasus 3 continues the established IP route, while family-friendly animated film The Boonie Bears and the Jackie Chan-led comedy, Panda Plan, both target the relatively stable family audience segment.
However, as audience demographics shift, genre diversity and star-driven casting no longer guarantee box office success, Guan said.
Traditional genres such as martial arts films are increasingly struggling to engage Gen Z viewers, he noted, adding that most Lunar New Year releases remain dominated by directors and stars aged 40 and above – a generational mismatch that could weigh on overall box office performance.
The duration of this year’s holiday period – nine days, the longest on record – appears unlikely to provide a significant boost to theatrical demand as releases remain concentrated around the third day of the break while longer holidays divert spending towards travel and cultural tourism.
Beyond the holiday window, China’s film market showed signs of recovery in 2025, with annual box office revenue rising 22 per cent year on year to 51.83 billion yuan and total admissions reaching nearly 1.24 billion. Even so, the market has yet to return to pre-pandemic scale, with revenue and attendance standing at 80.8 per cent and 71.6 per cent of 2019 levels, respectively.
To support cinema attendance, several local governments are planning to roll out film vouchers during the Spring Festival period and in the coming months.
In Hubei province, authorities plan to distribute about 75.5 million yuan worth of movie vouchers in phases over the first 10 months of the year, lowering ticket prices through targeted subsidies to help offset softer demand.


Mooncakes for the dog? How China is reinventing its iconic festive snack

Blue Bottle bets that Chinese consumers will drink more premium coffee

Skydiving, whale watching and a burst of bookings as holidays extend for millions in China

China’s top priority should be wages, not AI

China consumption

China’s box office presales fall over 60% from last year in crucial Lunar New Year window

Moviegoers walked past posters for 2025 blockbusters Ne Zha 2 and Captain America: Brave New World at a cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP

Why China’s film industry is banking on Zootopia 2 being a smash hit

A still from the Disney animated film Zootopia 2, which is scheduled for release on Wednesday. Photo: Disney

A young woman poses for a photo next to a booth showcasing Zootopia-branded merchandise sold by the retail chain Uniqlo at an exhibition in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

More Chinese went to cinemas this summer, but film industry still facing challenges

People watch a film at a cinema in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on August 17. Photo: Xinhua

People queue to watch a film at a cinema in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on August 17. Photo: Xinhua

China is on a ‘strong currency’ mission to make the yuan a global reserve: Xi

Beijing has been pushing for the internationalisation of the yuan over the past decade or so, but its global footprint remains limited. Photo: Reuters

Economist Huang Yiping on why China’s AI push must be ‘job-oriented’

 Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

China’s expat pilots arrived on a red carpet – now, they’re taking a red-eye out

 Illustration: Henry Wong

Pietro Soddu, an Italian captain who has been with Shanghai-based Spring Airlines for 13 years, has had a front-row seat for the rise of China’s civil aviation sector. Photo: Handout

Jang Kwang-chol, a Korean pilot with Chengdu Airlines, says he has faith in China’s civil aviation sector and expects it will continue to lure foreign professionals. Photo: Handout

Economy

China Economy

News

China

Culture

Film & TV

Home-grown films lead the charge but fail to meet the phenomenal success of last year’s Ne Zha 2, which attracted record-breaking crowds


Home-grown films lead the charge but fail to meet the phenomenal success of last year’s Ne Zha 2, which attracted record-breaking crowds.


China’s box office presales fall over 60% from last year in crucial Lunar New Year window

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Home-grown films lead the charge but fail to meet the phenomenal success of last year’s Ne Zha 2, which attracted record-breaking crowds

Home-grown films lead the charge but fail to meet the phenomenal success of last year’s Ne Zha 2, which attracted record-breaking crowds