China’s New Year Bonanza Awaits

Box office grosses for local films could hit highs over the holiday

As moviegoing in North America and Europe is getting battered amid omicron, China’s theatrical film sector is revving up to set a slew of box office records. The country’s weeklong Chinese New Year holiday period, always a bonanza for local studios and exhibitors, kicks off Feb. 1, and analysts believe a bumper crop of high-profile potential blockbusters — eight local titles are scheduled for simultaneous release this year — could lift the market to unprecedented heights. This year’s Chinese New Year season could reach a highwater mark of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion (RMB 8 billion to RMB 8.5 billion),” says Rance Pow, president of cinema industry consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Leading the charge is The Battle at Lake Changjin 2: Water Gate Bridge, the second installment in a nationalistic war saga that last year became China’s top-grossing movie with $901.5 million. Other top contenders this year include the drama Nice View, director Wen Muye’s follow-up to his 2018 hit Dying to Survive ($451 million); and the comedy Only Fools Rush In, from blogger turned fan-favorite director Han Han

(his previous release, Pegasus, earned $256 million in 2019); local filmmaking legend Zhang Yimou’s Korean War biopic, Sharpshooter; and the comedy caper Too Cool to Kill, from relative newcomer Xing Wenxiong. Unfortunately for Hollywood, Beijing blocks all foreign film releases during the family holiday (sorry, Spider-Man: No Way Home or Moonfall). It’s a practice U.S. trade negotiators have lamented with little effect for more than a decade as all gains go only to the local Chinese industry.