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China’s box office receipts hit 10-year low as ongoing Covid-19 restrictions produce a sad storyline for country’s cinemas

  • Analysts attributed the decline to Covid-19, which has affected cinema opening times and the scheduling of new films
  • The traditional film industry is also facing a growing challenge from internet companies such as Alibaba Pictures and Tencent Pictures

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Cinema box office receipts hit 10-year low in China. Photo: AFP
Yaling Jiang

Cinema box office sales in China during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday hit a 10-year low amid the country’s ongoing coronavirus control measures in various cities.

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Sales for the three-day holiday that started on Friday totalled 178 million yuan (US$26.7 million) by noon on Sunday, according to figures from ticketing platform Maoyan. This was the lowest in 10 years and compares with 251 million in 2013, when the country’s total number of movie screens was about 80 per cent less than the current number of 82,248.
The weak performance follows a similar 10-year low in box office sales for the three-day Ching Ming holiday this April, and occurred even though 80 per cent of cinemas were in operation over the long weekend, according to analytics firm Dengta, which is owned by the Post’s owner Alibaba Group Holding.

Maoyan did not disclose box office takings for the Dragon Boat Holiday in 2020, when Covid-19 first spread across China and cinemas were closed for 175 days.

“The main reason for this plunge [in takings] is Covid-19, which has affected cinema opening times and the scheduling of new films,” said Han Siqi, a film and TV critic, adding that it would only be fair to attribute any downturn to other factors when the situation returns to normal.

Yu Sikun, an analyst at research firm LeadLeo, agreed that the lacklustre results for the long weekend were partly due to Covid-19 affected scheduling decisions, with bigger film releases saved for the summer.

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