The revenue from box office for the Labor Day holiday (May 1-5) in China has decreased by about half compared to a year ago. The limited overseas movie imports and the lack of successful films, combined with the recent preference of Chinese consumers for short videos, have contributed to this trend. Amid discussions of restructuring the Chinese film industry, there are calls to immediately reduce the number of theaters.
On the 8th, China’s Interface News reported, citing the movie information platform Dengta, that the box office revenue for the Labor Day holiday amounted to 750 million yuan (approximately 150 billion won), a drop of 51% from last year’s Labor Day holiday. Last month’s box office revenue also saw a decrease of about 50% year-on-year, totaling 1.197 billion yuan, with the box office during the Qingming Festival holiday (April 4-6) failing to reach even half of the previous year's revenue. Interface News noted, "The film industry has become a forgotten option for public entertainment consumption."
A major reason why Chinese people are not watching movies is the lack of successful films. Excluding the animated film "Ninja 2," which was released earlier this year and reached 5th place in global box office, most films are being ignored by audiences. In fact, during this Labor Day holiday period, over 10 films were released, but none surpassed 200 million yuan (approximately 39 billion won) in box office revenue. This is the first time in three years. The movie information platform Maoyan Research Institute reported that the number of audience members willing to see new films during the Labor Day holiday decreased by 48.6% compared to last year. The excitement for films has vanished.
The Chinese government's negative stance on overseas movie imports also contributes to the phenomenon of a shortage of successful films. Since the implementation of the 'Korean Wave Restriction' (限韓令) due to the THAAD incident in 2017, only the Korean film "Oh! Moon Hee" (2021) has been released in the Chinese mainland. With the recent escalation of the U.S.-China trade war, there is also the possibility that the volume of American film imports will decrease in the future. Last year, a total of 42 American films were released in China. It is becoming necessary to fill most of the film market with self-produced content.
The need to invest a long time to watch films is also a reason why Chinese audiences are turning away from theaters. In China, short dramas exceeded a market size of 50.5 billion yuan (approximately 9.8 trillion won) and an audience of 600 million (2024 China Short Drama Industry Research Report) last year, reflecting significant growth. In contrast, recent films often exceed two hours in runtime. Interface News stated, "Considering the length of the movie, the time it takes to go to and from the theater, and the time spent before and after the screening, it is common for audiences to spend 3 hours watching a movie," adding that "this only complicates the stagnant film market and leads to a vicious cycle."
Amid increasing discussions on restructuring the film industry, there are calls to reduce the number of theaters immediately. Jia Zhangke, a Chinese film director, noted, "In 2023, 506 films were screened across 86,000 screens in the Chinese mainland, whereas 1,232 films were shown on 3,600 screens in Japan." This indicates that there are many vacant theaters. A film critic, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked, "The film industry needs to go through a process of consolidation and reduction of excess fat," adding, "The excessively large screening spaces are causing production companies to incur high promotion and distribution costs."