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China’s once-booming theatrical box office has begun to crumble. Total movie ticket sales revenue in the country so far this year is down a whopping 22 percent compared to last year. The results represent a dramatic downturn from the strong postCOVID recovery China’s film market achieved in 2023, when revenue surged 83 percent to finish the year at $7.73 billion. This year started strong for the Chinese industry, with box office during the Lunar New Year holiday week topping $1.1 billion, led by local blockbusters Yolo ($479.6 million) and Pegasus 2 ($468.9 million). But a prolonged fallow period extending through the summer has left the Beijing film industry wringing its hands, wondering whether a lasting shift in the marketplace may be underway. Filmmakers and analysts suggest an overlapping array of factors are behind the earnings plunge, but the truth is, no one fully knows what’s gone wrong.

“I read a local research report recently...

Five Chinese productions are being presented in market screenings on the sidelines of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in an effort, organizers of the program say, to give North American audiences a “three-dimensional” view into contemporary China.

Put together by the China Film Co-Production Corporation (Cfcc), the selection includes comedian Da Peng’s box office hit Post Truth ($98 million), which focuses on how a former gang boss-turned-burial plot salesman deals with online rumors.

There’s also the pandemic lockdown-themed romance Embrace Again from director Xue Xiaolu, whose breakthrough rom-com Finding Mr. Right (2013) was famously credited with an upsurge in Chinese tourism to Seattle.

Two romance-tinged films from director Yan are also screening this week: Love Never Ends, a tale of old-age friendship and love with a winning turn from Hong Kong action veteran Tony Leung Ka-fai (Election), and Viva La Vida, which follows the relationship that develops between...

China’s summer box office (June 1-July 31) was down 40.9% year-on-year to $1.1bn (RMB7.6bn), despite July being the second highest month of 2024 boosted by the success of comedy drama Successor, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.

July concluded with $757.3m (RMB5.4bn), only behind February’s takings of $1.6bn (RMB11.1bn) from a record-breaking Chinese New Year. But despite being the second-best month of the year to date, July was down 38.3% on the same period in 2023.

Family-themed feature Successor topped the month with $341m (RMB2.4bn), accounting for 45% of the monthly total. It is the summer season’s highest grossing film...

“A Place Called Silence,” a remake of a crime thriller that debuted at the Busan film festival in 2022, kicked off its commercial career in mainland China with a $50 million theatrical debut.

The new film is directed by the same filmmaker, Sam Quah, but with a different cast from his 2022 effort. It earned RMB290 million ($40.9 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. It was given an early start on Wednesday and over its full-five day opening run amassed $52.8 million.

The film is structured as a thriller about a masked killer targeting the students of a girls’ high school.

Quah previously directed “Sheep Without a Shepherd,” an official remake of India’s “Drishyam,” which previously opened on top of the Chinese box office in late 2019.

Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” climbed up a couple of places, into second position. It earned $6.9 million in its third week...

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.

China’s movie box office made a roaring start to the year, but sales have waned in the months since. Ticket revenue for the first half of 2024 totaled $3.4 billion (Rmb 23.9 billion), down 9 percent from last year, according to data released Tuesday by consultancy Artisan Gateway. Total admissions for the period reached 550 million, an 8.9 percent year-over-year decrease, as average movie ticket prices in the country — at $6.1 billion (Rmb 43.4 billion) — remained relatively stable compared to the past three years.

China’s theatrical market began the year with enviable strength as ticket sales set a new record during the traditional Lunar New Year holiday in February, racking up a record $1.1 billion (Rmb 8.1 billion). But that eight-day stretch came to represent a whopping 33.9 percent of the full first-half haul.

Sales revenue has gone especially soft in the first month of summer, a period once dominated by imported Hollywood movies (Beijing’s film regulators block U.

Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies Worldwide (2024)(Photo Credit – Instagram)

It’s only June, but we’ve witnessed some great content in the Hollywood industry. The list of the Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies Globally features films from versatile genres, including Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes and Inside Out 2. Dune 2 topples the list with a considerable margin from the rest. Scroll below for a detailed box office analysis.

As mentioned above, number 1 on the list of Top 10 Global Box Office Grossers of 2024 is Dune: Part Two. The Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya starrer is made on an estimated budget of $190 million. It went on to rake a whopping $712.4 million at the worldwide box office.

Dune 2 is followed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which was released on March 29, 2024. The sequel to Godzilla x Kong (2021), the Adam Wingard directorial, garnered $570 million despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.

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Censoring Streamers

Malaysia’s Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said that he plans to hold meetings with the Communications Ministry with a view to extending the remit of the country’s Film Censorship Board (Lpf) to video streamers. Currently, the Lpf has jurisdiction over theatrical releases, but not content carried on the internet.

Malaysia has been notable in demanding cuts – sometimes refused by rights holders – to imported and local films, especially where they touch on religion or homosexuality, even tangentially. Hollywood films “Thor” and “Lightyear” were both banned. Last year, local director Amanda Nell Eu denounced the censored cut of her prize-winning film “Tiger Stripes.”

Speaking in parliament, Saifuddin said “the Lpf will not approve the screening of any films that promote LGBTQ, communism, Islamophobia, and those conflicting Islamic beliefs.”

VFX Investment

Japanese broadcaster TBS Holdings has announced “a significant capital investment” in Megalis a Tokyo-based VFX production company...

Wong Ching Po’s crime thriller The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon has emerged as the second biggest Taiwanese film of all time on release in mainland China, having grossed over $69.5m (Rmb 500m) amid a simultaneous worldwide launch on Netflix.

Distributed by Star Alliance Movies, the film opened third on March 1 at the tail end of the Chinese New Year period, behind festive hits Article 20 and Pegasus 2. But it climbed to number one on its third day of release and has since been topping China’s daily box-office chart for 16 consecutive days, beating other new releases such as Dune: Part Two,...

Worldwide box office March 1-3 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $127m $367.5m $81m $210.5m 73 2. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $80.5m $80.5m $22.2m $22.2m 42 3. The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon (various) $20.7m $54.9m $20.7m $54.9m 1 4. I Miss You (various) $13.2m $13.3m $13.2m $13.3m 1 5. Imaginary (Lionsgate) $13.1m $13.1m $3.1m $3.1m 28 6. Exhuma (various) $11.3m $54.8m $11.3m $54.8m 4 7. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $9m $160.5m $4.9m $71.2m 53 8. Article 20 (various) $8.3m $335.3m $8.3m $334.7m 2 9. Cabrini (various) $7.6m $7.6m $65,670 $65,670 7 10. Pegasus 2 (various) $6.7m $472.7m $6.7m $470.9m 3

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

Worldwide box office March 1-3 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $127m $367.5m $81m $210.5m 73 2. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $80.5m $80.5m $22.2m $22.2m 42 3. The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon (various) $20.7m $54.9m $20.7m $54.9m 1 4. I Miss You (various) $13.2m $13.3m $13.2m $13.3m 1 5. Imaginary (Lionsgate) $13.1m $13.1m $3.1m $3.1m 28 6. Exhuma (various) $11.3m $54.8m $11.3m $54.8m 4 7. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $9m $160.5m $4.9m $71.2m 53 8. Article 20 (various) $8.3m $335.3m $8.3m $334.7m 2 9. Cabrini (various) $7.6m $7.6m $65,670 $65,670 7 10. Pegasus 2 (various) $6.7m $472.7m $6.7m $470.9m 3

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

Worldwide box office March 1-3 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $127m $367.5m $81m $210.5m 73 2. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $80.5m $80.5m $22.2m $22.2m 42 3. The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon (various) $20.7m $54.9m $20.7m $54.9m 1 4. I Miss You (various) $13.2m $13.3m $13.2m $13.3m 1 5. Imaginary (Lionsgate) $13.1m $13.1m $3.1m $3.1m 28 6. Exhuma (various) $11.3m $54.8m $11.3m $54.8m 4 7. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $9m $160.5m $4.9m $71.2m 53 8. Article 20 (various) $8.3m $335.3m $8.3m $334.7m 2 9. Cabrini (various) $7.6m $7.6m $65,670 $65,670 7 10. Pegasus 2 (various) $6.7m $472.7m $6.7m $470.9m 3

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

“Dune 2” launched in mainland China cinemas this weekend with a solid $19.9 million three-day haul. That put it in second place, narrowly behind holdover crime-drama “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon.”

Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway, showed that “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” earned $21.3 million (RMB151 million) between Friday and Sunday, for a 10-day cumulative of $54.1 million (RMB384 million). “Dune 2” managed RMB142 million.

Many Hollywood titles have struggled in China over the past three years, especially franchise titles. But “Dune 2” with its particularly spectacular visuals looks to have escaped the rut.

Giant screen provider Imax, which has nearly 800 screens in the Middle Kingdom, reported that some $6.5 million of the film’s opening weekend was earned at its venues. That was nearly a third of its opening total in China.

Local cinema ticketing firm Maoyan has increased its predictions for “Dune 2’s” performance in China.

As Filmart gets underway, Hong Kong’s major production companies, including Edko Films, Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp), Media Asia, One Cool Group and Universe Entertainment, will be unveiling their new titles in enormous booths at the front of the trade show floor, some of which will be as elaborate as film sets.

Many of the films they are launching are big-budget Hong Kong-China co-productions, featuring top Hong Kong stars and directors, and aimed at audiences in both China and Hong Kong. Emp has Derek Kwok’s Raging Havoc, starring Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse; Mandarin Motion Pictures has The Prosecutor, starring and directed by Donnie Yen; and Media Asia is launching four new titles headed by Behind The Scene, produced by Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau. One Cool’s slate includes a trio of action films starring Louis Koo and produced by Soi Cheang.

But behind all the glamour, stars and action,...

Taiwanese-produced crime action film “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” opened on top of the mainland China box office over the weekend, ahead of a quartet of holdover titles from Lunar New Year. Sony’s ‘Madame Web’ and a rereleased “Dune” also opened, but they failed to penetrate the top five.

“The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” earned $16.2 million (RMB115 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Other than the Lunar New Year titles, that represented the highest opening by any new film in China this year. But it was not entirely a convincing performance. It came in only narrowly ahead of “Article 20,” the Zhang Yimou-directed crime comedy drama that has been in cinemas for four weeks now.

Directed by Hong Kong’s Wong Ching-po and starring Ethan Juan, the films tells the story of a gangster who discovers, first that he has cancer and...

Worldwide box office March 1-3 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $178.5m $178.5m $97m $97m 72 2. Exhuma (Showbox)

$17.2m $43.6m $17.2m $43.6m 1 3. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $16.2m $146.1m $8.8m $63.3m 57 4. Article 20 (various) $14.4m $319.4m $14.3m $318.9m 4 5. The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon (various)

$13.3m $17.6m $13.3m $17.6m 1 6. Pegasus 2 (various)

$12.8m $459.4m $12.7m $457.6m 4 7. Madame Web (Sony)

$8.2m $91m $5m $50.6m 66 8. Boonie Bears: Time Twist (various) $7.9m $268.1m $7.9m $268.1m 1 9. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - To The Hashira Training (various) $7.7m $56.9m...

Taiwanese black comedy thriller The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon brought some fresh momentum to China’s theatrical box office over the weekend, beating four local blockbusters that had dominated the market since the Lunar New Year holiday kicked off early last month. The hit crime movie, which was released in Taiwan last October, earned a healthy $16.2 million from its mainland China debut.

Zhang Yimou’s Article 20 came in a close second with $16 million, which lifted its cumulative score to a whopping $320.1 million, according to data from Artisan Gateway. The other Chinese holiday tentpoles also continued to do solid business. Han Han’s race car-driving sequel Pegasus 2 earned $14.4 million in its fourth frame for a total of $457.5 million, followed by children’s animation Boonie Bears: Time Twist at $8.7 million ($267.7 million in total) and Jia Ling’s heartwarming comedy Yolo with $8 million ($478.2 million).

The five Chinese films were miles...

Worldwide box office February 23-25 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Article 20 (various) $39.2m $288.6m $39.2m $288.6m 4 2. Pegasus 2 (various) $34.9m $433.2m $34.7m $431.6m 4 3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - To The Hashira Training (various) $28.5m $41.7m $17m $30.1m 57 4. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $28.5m $120.5m $15m $49.4m 60 5. Yolo (various) $24.7m $463.2m $24.7m $463.2m 1 6. Boonie Bears: Time Twist (various) $21.9m $256.9m $21.9m $256.9m 1 7. Exhuma (Showbox) $16.7m $16.7m $16.7m $16.7m 1 8. Madame Web (Sony) $16.5m $77.4m $10.5m $42m 65 9. Migration (Universal) $7.8m $268.7m $4.8m $148.3m 80 10. Wonka (Paramount) $7.7m $617.2m $5.2m $402.7m 72 Worldwide...

The four strongest Chinese titles that launched over the Lunar New Year holidays continued to dominate the mainland China and global office charts for a third successive weekend, albeit with a change of order that put Zhang Yimou’s “Article 20” in top spot.

Global box office tracking service ComScore showed “Article 20,” “Pegasus 2,” “Yolo” and “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” as ranking first, second, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the world over the latest weekend.

Within mainland China, the quartet’s numbers were sufficiently solid that the year-to-date aggregate is now closely comparable to 2023’s. And, even in their third week, the four were many miles ahead of the top newcomer, “Argylle.”

China data, provided by consultancy Artisan Gateway, showed “Article 20” earned $40.1 million (RMB285 million) between Friday and Sunday. Having placed fourth on opening and third in its second weekend, the latest weekend win means that the gaps between the cumulative...

Andy Lau starrer The Movie Emperor and romantic drama Viva La Vida have had their releases cut short in China amid stiff competition, while Yolo and Pegasus 2 are among four local breakout hits that contributed to a record-breaking $1.1bn box office over Chinese New Year.

Satirical comedy The Movie Emperor earned just $11.1m (RMB80m) after one week following its release on the first day of Chinese New Year (February 10), which also saw the opening of a string of hot local titles.

Chinese producer Huanxi Media issued a statement on social media to say it would be pulled from...

Worldwide box office February 16-18 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Yolo (various) $84.4m $402.4m $84.4m $402.4m 1 2. Pegasus 2 (various) $79.2m $358.1m $78.86m $357m 3 3. Article 20 (various) $68.4m $206m $68.4m $206m 1 4. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) $56.7m $74.6m $29m $29m 48 5. Boonie Bears: Time Twist (various) $50.5m $207.7m $50.5m $207.7m 1 6. Madame Web (Sony)

$40.9m $49.1m $25,7m $25.7m 62 7. Haikyu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump (various)

$15,2m $15.2m $15.2m $15.2m 1 8. Wonka (Warner Bros)

$11.2m $254.8m $7m $395.1m 75 9. Migration (Universal) $10.7m $254.8m $7m $140m 6 10. Anyone But You (Sony) $10.2m $188.9m $7.8m $104.2m 44 Paramount celebrates...

Four Chinese films dominated the mainland China and global box office charts over the latest weekend. “Yolo,” a comedy drama about weight loss and self-discovery, was crowned as the top earning film worldwide for a second weekend running.

“Yolo” took $86.5 million (RMB614 million) between Friday and Sunday, giving it a 9-day cumulative total of $402 million (RMB2.85 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

The second film by Jia Ling, who previously directed 2021 Lunar New Year smash hit “Hi, Mom”, “Yolo” released on Saturday, Feb. 10 and has retained the number one position since the second day of the Chinese New Year holidays, staying narrowly ahead of racing comedy “Pegasus 2.”

Over the latest weekend “Pegasus 2” earned $80.6 million, giving it a running total of $356 million.

“Article 20,” the Zhang Yimou-directed legal comedy, improved significantly. It climbed up one place to third in the Chinese and global weekend charts and earned $70.2 million over the weekend.

Updated: Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love brought folks together around the world in its opening frame, singing up a sweet estimated $80M global bow. After coming on strong in early overseas play this week, and as audiences turned a deaf ear to critics, the international box office portion of that is $29M, landing well ahead of expectations.

The Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed biopic is out in 47 overseas markets and on a like-for-like basis including previews is 14% above Elvis and 12% above Rocketman for the same grouping, making it the second biggest music biopic opening behind only Bohemian Rhapsody.

Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, currently attending the BAFTA Film Awards here in London, Bob Marley: One Love opened at No. 1 in 13 markets and set new opening-day records for a music biopic in the UK and France among others.

In Jamaica, it now holds the record for the biggest film opening of all time.

Worldwide box office February 2-4 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Yolo (various) $110.4m $110.4m $110.4m $110.4m 1 2. Pegasus 2 (various) $104.6m $104.6m $104.6m $104.6m 3 3. Boonie Bears: Time Twist (various) $60.8m $60.8m $60.8m $60.8m 1 4. Article 20 (various)

$46.6m $46.6m $46.6m $46.6m 1 5. Argylle (Universal) $15.9m $60.1m $9.4m $31.3m 82 6. Anyone But You (Sony) $12.4m $170.1m $9.7m $90m 51 7. Wonka (Warner Bros) 11.6m $587.5m $8.5m $382.3m 75 8. Migration (Universal) $9.7m $235.2m $6.7m $125.0m 80 9. The Movie Emperor (various) $7.9m $7.9m $7.9m $7.9m 6 10. Poor Things (Disney) $7.7m $81.2m $6.6m $50.9m 44

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

China wins top four spots in...

Four Chinese films dominated the global box office charts over the weekend, with combined takings of $350 million earned over just two days.

And, as North America watched the Super Bowl instead, the weekend’s top Hollywood title, “Argylle” earned just $15.9 million worldwide.

Chinese titles eschewed their usual Friday release pattern and opened on Saturday, the first official day of the Lunar New Year holiday period in China and much of Asia.

Female-directed comedy drama “Yolo,” earned $113 million (RMB802 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was narrowly ahead of car-racing comedy “Pegasus 2,” which earned RMB758 million or $107 million and was the bigger title on Saturday. “Yolo” is poised to release in international markets in the future, having recently been acquired by Sony.

In third place, both in China and worldwide, Chinese animation film “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” earned a stunning RMB443 million or $62.4 million. “Article 20,” a Zhang Yimou...

The international box office was generally muted this weekend, save for in China which ushered in the Year of the Dragon on Saturday, and with it the lucrative Chinese New Year moviegoing period. According to early figures from Maoyan, the first two days of Spring Festival 2024 amassed Rmb 2.44B ($339M), just a touch below the comparable days in 2023.

Although Maoyan’s Pegasus 2 was tops on Saturday, the first day of the holiday, ultimately it was the Jia Ling Cfg/Alibaba inspirational film Yolo that won the weekend with an estimated Rmb 804M ($112M/comScore has it slightly lower at $110.4M) across the two-day stretch. IMAX accounted for $3.6M of that. It often happens that the day-one winner is overtaken on day two.

An adaptation of the 2014 Japanese movie 100 Yen Love, Yolo (aka You Only Live Once) centers on Le Ying (Jia), an unemployed woman in her 30s who still...

Eight Chinese-language films release simultaneously this weekend in mainland China and will vie for a slice of the Lunar New Year holiday box office business.

The week-long nationwide holiday period has in recent years become the most lucrative season for cinemas, and key films stake out their slot in the release calendar months or years in advance.

The new Chinese films all debut on Saturday (Friday is the normal day for releases in China) and should have an unchallenged two weeks on screen. But if the new Chinese films don’t perform well, there is already a string of new Hollywood releases queuing up for screen time, starting with “Argylle” on Feb. 23.

The week-long holiday this year officially runs Feb. 10-17, but employers are encouraged to give workers time off on Friday, Feb. 9 as well, ostensibly giving city dwellers time to return to their native villages and family seats in...

“Dune” and “Oppenheimer” will both enjoy a return to cinemas in mainland China next month.

They head a fleet of Hollywood titles aiming for renewed success in the world’s second-largest theatrical box office market – albeit after the Chinese New Year holiday period has prioritized local titles.

Mainland China’s film market is heavily controlled by authorities, which use a variety of methods including script approvals and censorship, to regulate the content arriving on screens and manage the market’s orderly development. The import of foreign film titles into China is additionally controlled through import permits and distribution quotas, though these currently appear to be loosening in an attempt to revive a sector which last year was 15% below 2019 levels, despite tens of thousands of new cinema screens coming on stream.

Part of the 2023 problem for Chinese cinemas may have been the collapse to less than 15% market share of Hollywood in a territory that U.