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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) — China's cumulative box office revenue this year is expected to surpass the 2024 target of 42.5 billion yuan (about 5.98 billion U.S. dollars) as movies flood cinemas nationwide during the National Day holiday.
As China enters its holiday period, cumulative box office revenue in cinemas for 2025 has already reached approximately 42 billion yuan as of Tuesday, just 500 million yuan less than last year's total. With the release of two new films on Tuesday—Chen Kaige's war epic "The Volunteers: Peace at Last" and the comedy "Row to Win"—and the official start of China's eight-day National Day and traditional Zhongqiu (Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival) holidays on October 1, this year's box office is expected to very soon surpass the 2024 total, reaching the coveted milestone nearly three months earlier than last year.
The main driver of growth in the Chinese film market in 2025 was the film "Nezha 2," which was released during the Spring Festival holidays – the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year – and grossed over 15.4 billion yuan domestically, accounting for more than a third of the total revenue of the film industry to date.
Other major films include “Detective Chinatown 1900,” which grossed 3.6 billion yuan, and summer box office leaders “Dead to Rights,” 3 billion yuan, and “Nobody,” 1.6 billion yuan, the latter of which became the highest-grossing 2D animated film in Chinese box office history.
Released in September, "Evil Unbound," a film about the atrocities committed by Japan's infamous Unit 731 during World War II, topped the box office for the month with revenue of 1.5 billion yuan, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year.
Box office revenue in China has been growing rapidly since 2019, when the annual figure reached a record high of over 64 billion yuan. After rising to 54.9 billion yuan in 2023, annual gross receipts declined again in 2024 to 42.5 billion yuan. Industry insiders are cautiously optimistic that total box office receipts could exceed 50 billion yuan by the end of 2025, given the current performance in the last quarter.
FILM MARKET DYNAMICS DURING THE HOLIDAYS
According to ticketing platform Maoyan, by Tuesday afternoon, advance sales and box office receipts from new films scheduled for National Day had totaled over 100 million yuan. The top three spots in the ranking were occupied by the crime thriller "Sound of Silence"; "Volunteers: Peace," the final installment of Chen Kaige's trilogy, which follows the previous two installments that collectively grossed over 2 billion yuan; and "A Writer's Odyssey II," the sequel to the 2021 sci-fi action film that earned 1 billion yuan.
Despite the rich repertoire, the holiday season "still lacks a real hit that would really heat up the market," says Lai Li, an analyst at the Maoyan platform.
"This year, the holidays are a day longer than usual, which could help films gain momentum. Good reviews could still push the repertoire to outstanding results," Lai Li believes.
Expansion based on intellectual property
Analysts also note the growing importance of sequels and franchises in the Chinese film market.
“Sequels, franchises and films based on intellectual property (IP) are becoming mainstream,” said Chen Jin, an analyst at film data platform Beacon.
"The film 'Volunteers' completes a trilogy that has already attracted nearly 50 million viewers. 'A Writer's Odyssey 2' continues the commercially successful series, and the animated film 'Three Kingdoms: Star Heroes' is clearly designed to launch a new franchise," he added.
This trend reflects a push for greater industrialization and maturity in the Chinese film industry, Chen Jin noted, echoing Hollywood's long-standing tradition of relying on IP to drive repeat viewership.
Despite a mixed start to the year—a record-breaking Spring Festival holiday followed by a slow May Day holiday and a stable summer season—the final major box office period of the year, the National Day holiday, could prove crucial not only for increasing box office revenue in the second half of the year, but also for boosting the film industry's overall revenue for 2025.
With the annual figure set to surpass the 2024 total within days, all eyes are now on whether China can break the symbolic 50 billion yuan threshold, further cementing its position as one of the world's most dynamic film markets.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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