Chinese consumers have shown that they are keen to hit the cinema during Chinese New Year as ticket pre-sales for the period have boomed.
According to Alibaba’s film research app Dengta, the box office had generated over 100 million RMB ($15.48 million) by the end of the second day of ticket pre-sales (January 30). As of 16:00 on February 1, sales had almost doubled to reach 194 million RMB ($30.04 million).
Among the films that are available to book over the Chinese New Year period, Detective Chinatown 3《唐人街探案3》 produced by Wanda Films was the most popular with 141 million RMB worth of tickets sold. Tickets for Hi, Mom《你好，李焕英》, Assassin in Red《刺杀小说家》, and The Yin Yang Master 《侍神令》were also in demand.
Despite initially being hit hard by the impact of COVID-19, China’s film industry made a steady recovery in the second half of 2020 to become the world’s largest box office, trumping the US for the first time. Chinese New Year is an especially important time for China’s film business as going to the cinema is a popular entertainment form during the holiday. Huayi Brothers, who produced the top-grossing film of 2020 The Eight Hundred, are hoping to again bring in high viewing figures with their film The Yin Yang Master. They announced that they are planning to successively release a number of film and television works this year to boost business after the setbacks of 2020.
However, the film industry is far from rid of COVID-19, there are still a number of measures in place to help prevent and control the virus. Cinema-goers must show their health QR code, have their temperature checked and wear masks. In addition, tickets are only sold online and cinemas are regularly disinfected.
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