China’s box office takes world-record US$1.66 billion in February as Lunar New Year hits like The Wandering Earth pack cinemas
- Chinese theatres generated 11.1 billion yuan in ticket sales, with space-exploration film The Wandering Earth proving the biggest draw
China’s box office receipts soared to a world-record 11.1 billion yuan (US$1.66 billion) in February as film fans flocked to cinemas to catch The Wandering Earth and other blockbusters during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The sales figure, provided by Maoyan Entertainment, China’s biggest movie ticketing app, is the highest ever recorded in a single month anywhere, and beats the previous record of 10.1 billion yuan set by China in the same month a year earlier.
It was well over three times the total revenue of North American theatres in February, which was US$478.5 million (3.2 billion yuan) according to Box Office Mojo.
The ticket revenue was generated by 12 films during the month, with by far the biggest boost coming from the holiday period from February 4 to 10. Traditionally a time for friends and family to come together, the Lunar New Year has become something of a golden period for film releases in China.
The total box office during the festivities, contributed by eight movies, reached 5.8 billion yuan, inching up slightly from 5.74 billion yuan in 2018, according to data from Maoyan.
By far the biggest draw was the Chinese space-exploration film, The Wandering Earth, a surprise box-office hit, which has raked in 4.45 billion yuan since its Lunar New Year debut.
“The success of the film signals that Chinese audiences have become more discerning, which has elevated the Chinese movie market to a more diversified and mature stage,” said Wu Chaoze, an analyst with China Securities who expects to see healthy growth of the market.
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Starring popular comedian Huang Bo and Glee actor Matthew Morrison, Crazy Alien ranked the second most popular film in February, taking 2.18 billion yuan. That was followed by Pegasus, directed and written by the famous Chinese author and racer Han Han, which earned 1.68 billion yuan.
China is already the second largest movie market in the world after the US, with box office proceeds reaching 60.98 billion yuan in 2018, up 9 per cent from the previous year.
China’s box office takings in January came to 3.37 billion yuan. By comparison, North American cinemas took US$385.6 million in January (2.6 billion yuan), according to Box Office Mojo.
