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Mia Nurmamat

China’s Lunar New Year box office slid to its weakest level since 2020, weighed down by the absence of major breakout films, despite the country leading global single-market takings so far this year.
Cinemas generated 5.75 billion yuan (US$831 million) over the nine-day holiday that ended on Monday, according to box-office tracker Dengta Data – a drop of nearly 40 per cent from last year’s record 9.51 billion yuan haul.
The result marked the lowest Lunar New Year takings since 2020, when Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns caused the holiday box office to plunge to 18.4 million yuan. This year’s performance also failed to reach 2018 levels, when holiday takings stood at 5.77 billion yuan.
Cinema attendance during the holiday fell 45.5 per cent from a year earlier, while average ticket prices slipped 5.9 per cent, according to Dengta Data.
The Lunar New Year has become a crucial period for China’s film industry in recent years, with studios often scheduling big-budget releases to coincide with the holiday, when hundreds of millions of workers enjoy a rare weeklong break. Last year, sales during the holiday made up nearly one-fifth of China’s total annual box office.
This year’s holiday saw the debut of six new films ranging from spy thrillers to comedies and martial arts epics, but none of them managed to match the startling success of last year’s smash hit: animation Ne Zha 2.
The motor racing-themed comedy Pegasus 3 led the pack during this year’s holiday, grossing nearly 2.93 billion yuan – 50.9 per cent of the total box office.
National security thriller Scare Out, directed by star filmmaker Zhang Yimou, and the martial arts film Blades of the Guardians ranked second and third, respectively, accounting for 15.1 per cent and 14 per cent of total takings.
“Although the number of Lunar New Year releases in 2026 hit nearly a five-year high, the season lacked a true breakout capable of sparking nationwide discussion,” Zheshang Securities said in a research note on Monday.


The brokerage noted that none of this year’s films had generated the word of mouth momentum achieved by Ne Zha 2, which scored an impressive 8.4 average rating on the Chinese review platform Douban during the 2025 holiday period.
“The absence of a comparable blockbuster this year limited market enthusiasm,” it added.
Ne Zha 2 took 4.8 billion yuan during last year’s holiday period and went on to become China’s highest-grossing film of all time, accounting for about 30 per cent of the country’s total box office in 2025.
China’s film industry is also facing growing competition amid an increasingly fragmented entertainment landscape. Zheshang Securities pointed to the rise of micro dramas in particular, with micro-drama platform Hongguo ranking third on China’s free app download charts over the holiday.
Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform think tank, said rising consumer confidence in China may also have contributed to the decline, as families splashed out on expensive holidays rather than trips to the cinema this year.
In previous years, China’s holiday box office revenues may have been boosted by a “lipstick effect”, with consumers spending on affordable luxuries like film tickets even as they cut back on big-ticket purchases, according to Peng.
“When confidence in economic growth improves, people tend to spend more on travel and outdoor activities instead,” he said.
Despite the Lunar New Year slowdown, China remains the world’s largest film market in terms of gross sales so far this year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday. China’s total box office for the year to date – including presales – stood at more than 8.3 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), according to the report.
China’s Ministry of Commerce and the China Film Administration recently launched a “film plus consumption” pilot programme across 16 cities – including Beijing and Shanghai – in an effort to support cinemas and related businesses.


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China’s holiday box office fell nearly 40 per cent year on year as studios failed to find a breakout hit to match last year’s Ne Zha 2


China’s holiday box office fell nearly 40 per cent year on year as studios failed to find a breakout hit to match last year’s Ne Zha 2.


China’s Lunar New Year box office hits 6-year low as releases fall flat

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China’s holiday box office fell nearly 40 per cent year on year as studios failed to find a breakout hit to match last year’s Ne Zha 2

China’s holiday box office fell nearly 40 per cent year on year as studios failed to find a breakout hit to match last year’s Ne Zha 2