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Spirit of fire

2025

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China

Spirit of fire

international

debut film

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The total box office of the People's Republic of China in 2023 was $7,7 billion. This is the highest figure in recent years, but it is still 14,5% less than in 2019: the industry was severely crippled by the pandemic. At the same time, the Chinese choose their own product: in the same 2023, all films from the top 10 in box office receipts will be Chinese-made. National cinema collected almost 84% of the total box office. It is noteworthy that among the imported box office record holders in the top 3 there is only one “American” - “Fast and Furious 10” ($138 million), the other two are Japanese anime. 

QUOTAS AND LIMITS

These results are partly due to China's protectionist film policies and strict quotas on foreign films. For example, there is a limit of 34 titles for American paintings. At the same time, a number of Hollywood films do not reach the market, others may be subject to edits to comply with Chinese law. But the reason for the success of Chinese films is that, firstly, they are aimed specifically at the domestic market and the Chinese consumer, and secondly, the marketing tools of the domestic market are fully used by producers and include, for example, social networks, outdoor advertising and others advertising channels that may not be available to external market players.

NEW YEAR'S BATTLE

As in Russia, the bulk of the box office comes from films released during the New Year holidays. They are in China every year on different dates, for example, in 2024 they lasted from February 10 to 18, although many enterprises give their workers an extra week off. Therefore, going on vacation means collecting the maximum possible cash. Last year, the annual top in the PRC was headed by the New Year's blockbuster "Flowing Red River" by the classic of Chinese cinema Zhang Yimou - in just eight days of release the film earned almost $500 million. The film's total grosses for the year were $634 million in the Asia-Pacific region alone, that is, in its main market. Rentals in other regions brought the film less than $0,5 million. 

The second New Year's hit was the fantastic blockbuster "The Wandering Earth 2", a disaster film by Frant Gvo. Its grosses also exceeded $600 million. Both of these films are among the top ten box office record holders in 2023 in the world. The box office of “Earth” outside China is about $9 million.

In 2024, the New Year's box office week brought the Chinese industry $1,1 billion. The most successful was the sports dramedy “You Only Live Once” by Jia Ling. During the holidays, she collected $402 million. The release continues, now the box office is approaching $500 million, making the film the biggest box office hit of the year to date. Suffice it to say that in the rest of the world, Dune 2 has grossed the most this year so far, but it has around $400 million, of which in the US it collected less than $200 million in three weeks of release. And “You Only Live Once” is twice as long in just eight days. In China, Dune 2, by the way, was released on March 8 and earned $20 million in its first weekend.

In second place at the box office of New Year's releases is the sports film "Pegasus 2", with $356 million. Third and fourth place goes to Zhang Yimou's comedy "Article 20" (207 million for the New Year holidays, to date - $335 million) and the cartoon "Neighbor Bears: Through Time and Space" (209 million for the holidays and 270 million to date moment). It is worth saying that Dune 2 was released after the Chinese New Year, so all four films actually topped the global box office only due to box office receipts in the domestic market. 

AUTHOR DIVERSITY

Among the most successful Chinese directors of recent decades, several authors can be distinguished. This is, firstly, Zhang Yimou. In 1988, he won the Berlin Film Festival with his “Red Kaoliang” and in subsequent years became a symbol of Chinese cinema for the whole world. Among his main works of those years are “Ju Dou”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “Qiu Ju Goes to Court”, “Live”, “Not One Less”. But in the 2023st century, he moved from realistic auteur cinema to another weight category and began working in the blockbuster format, albeit with exceptions. His films “Hero”, “House of Flying Daggers”, “Flowers of War”, “The Great Wall”, “Shadow” and others have high budgets, entertainment, often fantasy elements and, of course, huge box office receipts. As mentioned above, in 2024 and XNUMX, it was his films that were at the top of the box office during the New Year holidays.

Chen Kaige has a similar career. Also festival awards at the most prestigious shows in the 1990s, in particular a victory at Cannes, and then super successful blockbusters, including the biggest box office hit in the history of Chinese box office, “Battle on the Lake.” In 2021, as the box office struggled to recover from the effects of the pandemic, the film grossed nearly $1 billion in its home country. The sequel next year earned one and a half times less, and it is unlikely that Chen Kaige's record will soon be broken.

In “Battle on the Lake,” the main role was played by Jackie Wu, the most successful Chinese actor; he appears in the credits of every first blockbuster that claims records. But as a director, Jackie Wu is exceptionally lucky. Thus, the second place in box office receipts in the entire history of the PRC goes to his directorial work “War of the Wolves 2.” 

The already mentioned director and actress Jia Ling is also a name that should not be underestimated. “You Only Live Once” became the most successful film of the New Year holidays this year, but the director’s debut work “Hi, Mom” earned even more in 2021 – almost $850 million. Jia Ling stars in both films and is now 41 years old and at the peak of her form and popularity. At the same time, Jia Ling herself will give Christian Bale a head start: to prepare for “You Only Live Once,” she gained 20 kg - and then lost as much as 50 kg by intensively training in boxing. 

Another important film maker is Frant Gwo, who, after a couple of successful domestic stories, received the main chance of his life and immediately took advantage of it. As a result, the sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth earned $700 million, the sequel earned $600 million, and a third film is due out in 2027. There is no doubt that it will also become a box office hit. 

AUTHORITIES

All of the above applies to the industry, although in China there are directors whom film fans outside the country know much better than the producers of blockbusters. For example, Jia Zhangke is considered the most authoritative author today, although the box office of his films is tens, if not hundreds of times lower than those of national blockbusters. You can also name Low Ye, Wang Bing, Hou Xiaoxian - Chinese arthouse is one of the most successful and recognized in the world, and this is only mainland China, we are not even talking about Hong Kong.

A LITTLE RUSSIA

Russian cinema at the Chinese box office is so far content with relatively modest results. According to Comscore data provided by Roskino, over the entire last year our films collected there (by the beginning of December) 124 thousand dollars, almost the entire amount of which came from the box office of the 2019 cartoon “The Big Journey”. The thriller “Deadly Illusions” and the cartoon “Wolves and Sheep: Crazy Transformation” were also shown, but in both cases, judging by the box office, only one session each.