China Reports Record Box Office Highs This Summer
By Movieguide® Contributor
China is reporting a record box office high for this summer, with little help from Hollywood.
Ticketing agency Maoyan Entertainment reported that “the previous record of RMB 17.8 billion, set in 2018, was beaten on Thursday evening — some two weeks before the end of the current season,” per Variety.
Some are pointing to the lack of the “summer season blackout period” as the reason why box office profits were larger.
Typically, the Chinese government mandates “Chinese film support months,” where theaters only play locally-produced movies. This policy has meant Chinese theaters might miss out on releasing Hollywood blockbusters.
This year, Hollywood movies were sent to China “with almost pre-pandemic frequency and received releases on an almost weekly basis throughout the June to mid-August period,” according to Variety.
However, it’s been reported that imported movies underperformed this year.
Channel News Asia wrote that BARBIE made just “246 million yuan after almost a month on screen,” while MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — DEAD RECKONING PART ONE made “about 350 million yuan in more than a month of screening.”
Instead, Chinese movies have been dominating the box office this summer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, NO MORE BETS, a Chinese crime thriller, took the top spot at the box office last weekend with $101.1 million and “has earned an eye-popping $247.5 million already.”
American movies like MEG 2: THE TRENCH and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM didn’t fare as well.
MEG 2 made just $16.7 million in its second weekend of release, while TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES has yet to make even a million, The Hollywood Reporter added. Maoyan projects a total take of $1.5 million for the animated movie.
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