Chinese return big-time to movie theaters
BEIJING » The thrills and chills of the big screen are back big-time in the world’s largest film market.
With the coronavirus well under control in China and cinemas running at half capacity, moviegoers are smashing China’s box office records, with domestic productions far outpacing their Hollywood
competitors.
February marked China’s all-time biggest month for movie ticket sales, which have so far totaled 11.2 billion yuan ($1.7 billion). China overtook the U.S. as the world’s biggest market for movie ticket sales last year as the American box office took a massive hit from the closure of cinemas because of the pandemic.
Chinese theaters were
able to reopen by midyear and have seen steady audience growth since then. Local movies have also benefited from periodic unofficial “blackout” periods, when only domestic productions are allowed to be screened. A dearth of major Hollywood blockbusters over recent months appears
to have also boosted the market for Chinese films.
“People were encouraged to stay in Beijing for the Lunar New Year, and so watching movies in the cinema became the top choice of entertainment,” said Chu Donglei, marketing manager at Poly Cinema’s Tiananmen branch in central Beijing.
Mask wearing is mandatory and moviegoers must register with a cellphone app so they can be traced
in the event of an outbreak. Only every other seat is allowed to be occupied, making it even harder to obtain tickets for the most popular films.
According to the China Movie Data Information Network, 95% of ticket sales came from the seven top-grossing films timed for release around the Lunar New Year festival, which began this year on Feb. 12.
“Hi, Mom,” a time-traveling comedy written and directed
by and starring Jia Ling, was the top earner with 4.36 billion yuan, followed by action comedy “Detective Chinatown 3,” with 4.13 billion yuan.
Wang Xiaoyu, 32, who works in the film industry, was only able to procure a ticket for “Hi, Mom” on Thursday and called the viewing experience “deeply moving.”
Recent box office figures show the “great resiliency and powerful foundation
of China’s film industry,” said Fu Yalong, deputy general manager of the Solution Center at ENDATA, an analysis firm focusing on the entertainment industry.
“During the Lunar New Year, there were films with a variety of genres and topics and the audiences were satisfied,” Fu said. “Even with the impact of the pandemic and the increase in ticket prices, we were still able to score such achievements.”