More Chinese went to cinemas this summer, but filmmakers still face challenges

China’s film market showed signs of recovery this summer, but industry insiders said it was still grappling with challenges.

By the end of last month, this year’s domestic box office totalled 39.23 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion), according to the China Film Administration, with over 900 million film-goers.

The summer season generated 11.96 billion yuan in box office revenue, up 2.76 per cent year on year but well down on the 20.62 billion yuan record set in 2023 and the pre-pandemic levels of 16.3 billion yuan in 2017 and 17.4 billion yuan in 2018.

The three-month summer season, which often accounts for nearly half of the Chinese film market’s annual revenue, has a major influence on its trajectory for the entire year.

While cinema construction has expanded rapidly, demand has not kept pace, leaving many big-budget productions struggling to recoup costs, independent film producer and commentator Guan Zhi said.

He said the challenge was not unique to China but reflected a global film industry dilemma, with audience attention increasingly diverted by short videos, computer games, concerts and other forms of entertainment.

In the first half of this year, only 23 films surpassed 100 million yuan at the box office in China, and only three took in more than one billion yuan.

South China Morning Post