Hollywood says China will soon be world’s top film market, as ticket sales overtake US-Canada in 2018
With big-budget American films opening bigger in China than at home, and US and Canada cinema takings at a 22-year low amid declining audiences, the Chinese market will soon be No. 1, Motion Picture Association of America says
Even as trade tensions are mounting between the United States and China, the importance of Chinese movie-goers to Hollywood has never been more apparent.
Global cinema box office sales reached a record high of US$40.6 billion in 2017 despite a downturn in audiences in the US and Canada, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said in its latest annual report. Attendance at US and Canadian cinemas fell to a 22-year low.
The growth was largely propelled by China, which accounted for US$7.9 billion in ticket sales in 2017. That fuelled a 7 per cent increase in overseas box office takings for US films. US and Canada ticket sales by comparison totalled US$11.1 billion, down 2 per cent. If not for a 4 per cent increase in the average ticket price to US$8.97, the drop would have been worse.
The Chinese film market is going to be the largest film market in short order. They’re building about 25 screens a day
After briefly stalling in 2016, the needle is going the other direction in China.