China Focus: Festive frenzy drives China's New Year holiday box office to record high

by Xinhua writer Zhang Yunlong

BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's box office kicked off 2024 with a record-high revenue of approximately 1.53 billion yuan (around 216 million U.S. dollars) during the three-day New Year's Day holiday that ended on Monday.

This amount breaks the previous record of 1.3 billion yuan set during the same holiday in 2021, signaling a restorative growth trend in Chinese film consumption.

Analysts attribute the record earnings to the heightened consumer fervor surrounding the "festive spirit" of the New Year celebrations.

FESTIVE EXPERIENCE

Leading the box office charts for the 2024 New Year's Day holiday was the romantic fantasy "Shining for One Thing," which generated 608 million yuan, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total.

Capturing audience anticipation right from the start of advance ticket bookings, it became the highest daily earner on Dec. 31, 2023 in each of the 31 provincial-level regions, excluding Beijing.

Liu Peng, director of the Maoyan Research Institute, noted that the New Year's Day holiday has always been synonymous with a strong sense of "festive spirit," often accompanied by the release of highly-anticipated films.

"Shining for One Thing," according to Liu, "perfectly tapped into the desires of young couples seeking a 'festive experience' during the New Year celebrations."

The film's soaring revenue propelled China's box office on Dec. 31, 2023 to reach 733 million yuan, marking a remarkable 36 percent increase from the previous record of 537 million yuan for that day.

Echoing Liu's views, Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, said that the film satisfied the consumer demand for a "festive experience" during the New Year celebrations, "particularly among female audiences."

HIT COMEDY

Differing from the film preferences of young couples, many parents leaned towards comedies and animated films.

Chen Yan, a mother of two residing in Beijing's Xicheng District, embarked on her own New Year's Day "festive experience." She made special plans with her best friend, bringing together their respective children and forming a group of two adults and five kids to share in the joy of watching the comedic film, "Johnny Keep Walking!"

"Comedies suitable for families to enjoy together have increasingly become an essential part of film consumption in China," said Chen Xuguang, director of Peking University's Institute of Film, Television and Theatre, explaining how the diverse range of film genres in China caters to varied cultural consumption demands of audiences.

With a total earning of 234 million yuan, "Johnny Keep Walking!" claimed the second spot in the New Year's Day holiday box office charts.

Gaining popularity through word of mouth, the comedy film is poised to become a hit, with both Beacon and Maoyan, film data platforms, revising their total box office projections to over 1 billion and over 1.1 billion yuan, respectively.

While moviegoing has become a natural part of Chinese holiday cultural consumption, the record-breaking box office earnings during the New Year's Day holiday not only underscore the revitalizing growth trend in Chinese film consumption but also elevate anticipation among moviegoers for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, usually a lucrative period for the film industry.

The 2024 Spring Festival holiday will run from Feb. 10 to 17, and industry experts believe that in the coming weeks, more highly-anticipated films will unveil their release dates, further enriching the festive season lineup.