AS a cold wave sweeps through Beijing, lowering the temperatures to below minus 10 degrees Celsius, the enthusiasm for year-end movie going remains undeterred. Despite the chill, at the Capital Cinema in the bustling Xidan commercial district, prime-time tickets for popular year-end holiday releases are selling like hotcakes.

According to the box office tracker Maoyan, China’s 2023 box office total has exceeded 53 billion yuan (US$7.47 billion) as of Tuesday. This impressive surge, rising from around 30 billion yuan last year to over 50 billion yuan this year, has shattered annual records since 2020, marking a significant recovery of the Chinese film industry.

Notably, all of the top 10 earners this year are domestic films. According to Maoyan, such a dominating presence of domestic films in the top 10 annual box office rankings has only occurred once before, in 2020, since it began to track Chinese box office figures. Analysts attribute this trend to the Chinese film industry’s overall advancement, indicating that domestic films are increasingly aligning with audience aesthetic preferences.

The 2023 box office revenue is projected to reach 55 billion yuan. While this falls short of the record highs of over 60 billion yuan in 2019 and 2018, it rivals the levels seen in 2017, potentially securing the fourth or third highest annual box office in Chinese film history.

Liu Peng, director of the Maoyan Research Institute, says, “This indicates an overall positive trend of recovery in the film market, with both the film supply and audience demand gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels.”

Reflecting on the year, the Spring Festival box office generated 6.7 billion yuan, making it the second-highest box office for the holiday ever, surpassed only by 2021. The summer box office was particularly noteworthy, raking in 20.6 billion yuan, marking the first time China’s summer box office has surpassed the 20-billion-yuan mark. The October National Day box office reached 2.7 billion yuan. Although it was notably lower than the approximately 4 billion yuan for the same holiday in the three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, it still surpassed the 1.5 billion yuan collected in 2022.

The diversity of films in terms of type and theme signifies an evolving landscape. Movies like “Full River Red” and “The Wandering Earth II” resonated with patriotic sentiments among the people, while realistic genre films such as “No More Bets,” “Lost in the Stars,” “Never Say Never,” and “Under the Light” garnered attention for their relatability to everyday life. “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms” was acclaimed as an epic mythological masterpiece, and “Chang An” presents a historical narrative intertwined with fiction from a unique perspective. Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, says, “Overall, Chinese films have remained true to a realist path, maintaining traditional narrative patterns and engaging in a constructive dialogue with present-day mainstream audiences. The upgraded industrialization levels have led to the overall improvement of Chinese movies.” This has in turn led to an increasing number of Chinese audiences who have returned to theaters.

As of 2023, Chinese domestic films have notably dominated the top echelons of the box office, accounting for approximately 83% of the year’s total revenue, a trend reported by the film data platform Beacon. This year’s top 10 box office hits all hail from local productions, while the highest-ranking foreign film, “Fast X,” secured the 12th position with a box office revenue of 980 million yuan.

Industry analysts have observed a noticeable shift in audience preferences towards domestic films, signaling a waning appeal of Hollywood productions among Chinese moviegoers.

According to industry insiders such as Rao, Hollywood’s allure for Chinese audiences relies heavily on Marvel blockbusters and well-established film franchises. However, Rao notes that despite their visually stunning appeal, Chinese audiences have gradually wearied of these offerings. He also points to the inherent challenge faced by American films in effectively resonating with Chinese audiences, since their narratives are distanced from local realities.

Liu points out that Hollywood has historically been renowned for its prowess in industrialized production and visual effects. Nonetheless, in recent years, Chinese cinema has seen a surge in homegrown blockbusters that boast equally impressive visual effects. This burgeoning trend, according to Liu, has inevitably led to a decline in the allure of Hollywood films. Liu adds that in the current landscape, where diverse domestic cinematic choices abound, the preference for local films becomes a natural incline for audiences, particularly if a Hollywood film fails to generate substantial word-of-mouth buzz.(Xinhua)