In a triumphant resurgence, the Chinese box office witnessed an annual surge, amassing an impressive $7.73 billion in theatrical revenues throughout 2023. Reports from the China Film Administration revealed that this figure marked an astounding 83% escalation from the preceding year.
While this upswing denotes a robust revival, it remains 14.5% below the pre-COVID era in 2019 when revenues peaked at RMB64.3 billion. Despite the substantial growth, 2023 stood as the fourth-highest box office performance on record, as stated by the government body.
Comparisons with 2022 prove less relevant due to the pandemic’s severe impact during that time, causing eight months of intermittent closures and capacity limitations for cinemas in China. Conversely, in 2020 and 2021, when the globe grappled with COVID restrictions, China stood as the world’s primary movie market, operating with relative normalcy.
Local ticketing firm Maoyan reported a surge in admissions, reaching a four-year peak at 1.3 billion, nearly equivalent to one cinema visit per individual in the expansive nation.
Although the market reopened to foreign titles, Chinese-produced films continued their dominance, seizing an 84% share of the total box office, while imports accounted for the remaining 16%. This distribution remained relatively unchanged from the more constrained 2022 figures.
Among imported films, “Fast X” emerged as the top-grossing title, raking in RMB985 million ($139 million). Notably, two Japanese animated films, “Suzume” ($114 million) and “The First Slam Dunk” ($93 million), also made a mark in this category.
“Full River Red” and “The Wandering Earth 2,” locally released during the Chinese New Year, secured top positions on the annual chart, surpassing the significant RMB4 billion ($560 million) milestone.
Maoyan attributed the industry’s recovery in 2023 to expanded cinema operations in smaller towns, increased parent-child moviegoing trends, and shifting demographics, particularly the augmented female audience aged 25 and above.
However, concerns loom over the cinema exhibition sector’s sustainability. Despite an increase in the number of operational screens to 86,300 by the year-end in 2023 compared to 2019’s 69,800 screens, the per-screen average revenues have substantially declined from RMB921,000 ($129,000) annually to RMB63,600 ($89,000).
Reflecting on the market dynamics, Maoyan highlighted the audience’s preference for diversified content across genres like history, sci-fi, and fantasy. It noted distinctive viewing habits among different demographics, with male audiences gravitating toward imported animations and female audiences showing interest in parent-child animations and women-centric films.
Moreover, the agency emphasized the market’s increased seasonality and event-driven performance, citing the heightened demand for family-oriented films during holidays. The summer season notably contributed nearly 40% of the year’s box office, with the Spring Festival holidays ranking second at 12.3%.
