THE pandemic has had little impact on China’s film industry, with 47.3 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion) in box office receipts in 2021.

According to data from the China Film Administration, eight of the country’s top-grossing films were produced in China last year, accounting for more than 84 percent of the country’s total annual box office revenues.

Last year, a total of 740 films were produced. Also, the number of movie screens increased to 82,248 in 2021, an increase of 6,667 from the previous year. Chinese viewers paid 1.167 billion visits to cinema theaters. There was a remarkable increase in the number of cinemagoers in small cities.

The three top earners were all domestic productions – the epic war film “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” the comedy “Hi, Mom,” and the suspense film “Detective Chinatown 3.” “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, outperformed the 2017 film “Wolf Warrior 2” and set a Chinese box office record with more than 5.77 billion yuan in collections. “Hi, Mom,” a hilarious and heart-warming film directed by Jia Ling, raked in more than 5.4 billion yuan. Chen Sicheng’s “Detective Chinatown 3” grossed around 4.5 billion yuan.

Foreign productions accounted for only 20 percent of the Chinese box office charts. The best-performing foreign films were “Fast and Furious 9” and “Godzilla vs Kong,” which ranked fifth and eighth with 1.39 billion yuan and 1.23 billion yuan, respectively.

The James Bond film “No Time to Die,” Daniel Craig’s last film in the role of a British spy, managed only about 415 million yuan. Despite the popularity of Frank Herbert’s best-selling novel, the sci-fi film “Dune” did not make an impression on the Chinese audience, mustering only 254 million yuan.

Last year, many patriotic-themed Chinese films impressed both audiences and critics. About one quarter of China’s box office receipts in 2021 were from these films. They were successful in arousing patriotism among the populace as well as concerns about the development of Chinese society.

The anthology film “My Country, My Parents” is made up of four short stories about Chinese families’ efforts and devotion to the country over the course of four decades in different parts of the country.

The anti-epidemic-themed “Chinese Doctors” is inspired by the real-life experiences of medical professionals who have been involved in the fight against the pandemic since its inception. The film, along with “The Battle of Lake Changjin,” is a part of the “China’s Victory Trilogy” produced by Bona Film Group.

Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” was also hailed for its vivid portrayal of special agents who completed a secret mission during the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

(SD-Agencies)