The total box office of the People's Republic of China in 2023 amounted to $7.7 billion. This is the highest figure in recent years, yet still 14.5% below 2019 levels: the industry was severely hit by the pandemic. Meanwhile, Chinese audiences clearly prefer domestic content: in 2023, all ten top-grossing films were Chinese productions. National cinema accounted for nearly 84% of total box office. Notably, among imported box office leaders, only one "American" film made the top 3 — Fast X ($138 million) — while the other two were Japanese anime.
QUOTAS AND LIMITS
These results are partly due to China's protectionist film policy and strict quotas on foreign films. For example, American films are limited to 34 titles. Some Hollywood films are barred from the market entirely, while others may be subject to edits to comply with Chinese law. But the success of Chinese films also stems from the fact that they are, first, aimed specifically at the domestic market and Chinese consumers, and second, domestic market marketing tools are fully utilized by producers and include, for example, social media, outdoor advertising, and other channels that may be inaccessible to external market players.
THE NEW YEAR BATTLE
As in Russia, the bulk of the box office comes from films released during the New Year holidays. In China these fall on different dates each year — for example, in 2024 they ran from February 10 to 18, though many companies give their employees an additional week off. So releasing a film during the holiday period means maximizing potential box office. Last year, the annual top spot in the PRC went to the New Year blockbuster Full River Red by Chinese cinema legend Zhang Yimou — in just eight days of release the film grossed nearly $500 million. The film's total earnings for the year came to $634 million in the Asia-Pacific region alone, its primary market. Distribution in other regions brought the film less than $0.5 million.
The second New Year hit was the science fiction blockbuster The Wandering Earth 2, a disaster film by Frant Gwo. Its gross also exceeded $600 million. Both films ranked among the top ten highest-grossing films worldwide in 2023. The Wandering Earth 2's earnings outside the PRC came to around $9 million.
In 2024, the New Year release window brought the Chinese industry $1.1 billion. The most successful film was the sports dramedy YOLO by Jia Ling. Over the holiday period it grossed $402 million. The run continued, with earnings approaching $500 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the year to date. Suffice it to say that elsewhere in the world, Dune: Part Two had grossed the most that year — around $400 million, of which less than $200 million came from the United States over three weeks of release. YOLO earned twice that in just eight days. Dune: Part Two, incidentally, opened in China on March 8 and grossed $20 million in its opening weekend.
Second place among New Year releases goes to the sports film Pegasus 2, with $356 million. Third and fourth places belong to Zhang Yimou's comedy Article 20 ($207 million over the New Year holidays, $335 million to date) and the animated film Boonie Bears: Time Twist ($209 million over the holidays and $270 million to date). It is worth noting that Dune: Part Two opened after the Chinese New Year, meaning all four films effectively topped the global box office on the strength of their domestic earnings alone.
AUTEUR DIVERSITY
Among the most successful Chinese directors of recent decades, several auteurs stand out. First among them is Zhang Yimou. In 1988 his Red Sorghum won at the Berlin International Film Festival, and in subsequent years he became the world's symbol of Chinese cinema. His major works from that period include Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, To Live, and Not One Less. In the 21st century, however, he moved from realistic auteur cinema into a different league and began working in the blockbuster format, albeit with exceptions. His films Hero, House of Flying Daggers, The Flowers of War, The Great Wall, Shadow, and others feature high budgets, spectacle, often fantastical elements, and of course enormous box office returns. As already noted, in both 2023 and 2024, his films topped the New Year holiday box office.
Chen Kaige has followed a similar career path. Festival awards at the most prestigious events in the 1990s — including a Palme d'Or at Cannes — followed by hugely successful blockbusters, including The Battle at Lake Changjin, the highest-grossing film in the entire history of Chinese cinema. In 2021, as distribution was trying to recover from the pandemic, the film grossed nearly $1 billion at home. The sequel the following year earned one and a half times less, and it is unlikely that Chen Kaige's record will be broken any time soon.
The lead role in The Battle at Lake Changjin was played by Wu Jing — the most successful Chinese actor, who appears in the credits of virtually every blockbuster with record-breaking ambitions. But Wu Jing has also proven exceptionally successful as a director. His directorial work Wolf Warrior 2 holds second place in all-time PRC box office history.
The already-mentioned director and actress Jia Ling is also a name not to be underestimated. YOLO became the most successful New Year release this year, but her directorial debut Hi, Mom in 2021 earned even more — nearly $850 million. Jia Ling stars in both films; she is currently 41 years old and at the peak of her form and popularity. Jia Ling could also give Christian Bale a run for his money: to prepare for YOLO she gained 20 kg — and then lost a full 50 kg through intensive boxing training.
Another important filmmaker is Frant Gwo, who after a couple of successful slice-of-life stories received the biggest opportunity of his career and seized it immediately. The result was the science fiction blockbuster The Wandering Earth, which grossed $700 million; its sequel earned $600 million, and a third film is due in 2027. No one doubts it will also be a box office hit.
THE AUTHORITIES
Everything said above concerns the industry, though China also has directors whom cinephiles outside the country know far better than the blockbuster filmmakers. For example, the most critically acclaimed auteur today is considered to be Jia Zhangke, even though his films' box office is tens, if not hundreds of times lower than that of national blockbusters. Also worth mentioning are Lou Ye, Wang Bing, and Hou Hsiao-hsien — Chinese art cinema is among the most successful and recognized in the world, and this refers only to mainland China, with Hong Kong not even entering the discussion here.
A WORD ON RUSSIA
Russian cinema in Chinese distribution remains relatively modest for now. According to Comscore data provided by Roskino, over the entirety of last year our films grossed a combined $124,000 there (as of early December), with nearly the entire sum accounted for by the 2019 animated film The Ark. Also screened were the thriller Fatal Illusions and the animated film Sheep & Wolves: Pig Deal, but in both cases, judging by the box office, it appears each had just a single screening.