Chinese films account for eight of the top ten films so far this year, as cinema box office in mainland China this week reached an all-time high. The 2018 total of RMB60.7 billion — $8.67 billion at current conversion rates – was overtaken on Friday, Dec. 13, according to data from online ticketing agency Maoyan.
With nearly two weeks to go until the end of the year, and a clutch of big titles to be released into the busy Christmas season, the full year aggregate could show several percentage points of growth. Maoyan chose not to issue a forecast, noting that some 2019 releases remain fluid even at this late stage .
That seemed an unlikely outcome throughout the first half of the year, when the local industry was dogged by an overhang of uncertainty caused by the Fan Bingbing tax scandal. That caused a sharp slowdown in production from mid-2018, and financial difficulties for studios large and small.
The crucial Chinese New Year period delivered a record total, and a breakthrough for Chinese sci-fi, with “The Wandering Earth” taking RMB4.66 billion ($665 million). But the total was not in proportion to the rate of cinema construction, and the season included several disappointments.
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Summer was rescued by the unexpected performance of Chinese animated film “Ne Zha” which achieved RMB4.97 billion ($710 million).
And the early autumn period, which included a clutch of patriotic movies with releases intended to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, turned into blockbuster season. Winners were “My People, My Country” and “The Captain” (previously known as “The Chinese Pilot”). It also threw up the unlikely breakthrough of oft-delayed “Better Days.”
Among the foreign titles, the only two to figure in the year’s current top ten are “Avengers: Endgame” and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.”
Maoyan notes that this year has seen a marked polarization of the Chinese box office. “Ne Zha” and “Wandering Earth” together account for nearly one sixth of the annual total, all films combined. “China needs more high-quality movies to drive the steady growth of the box office,” it said in an announcement. It highlighted “Song of Youth,” “The Legend of Hei” and “White Snake” as examples of low and mid-budget successes.