Avengers can’t save China’s box office revenues hit by weak Hollywood blockbusters, tighter regulations
- Box office revenues of 64.2 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion) in 2019 were up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, but growth slowed for a second consecutive year
- Revenues from overseas produced films rose just 0.1 per cent last year, while a crackdown on tax evasion led to decreased investment in the film industry
Tighter regulations from the top propaganda organ and a lacklustre performance by foreign films saw China’s box office revenues rise at the slowest rate in over a decade last year, according to official data.
China’s film industry, the world’s fastest growing market, generated box office revenues of 64.2 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion) in 2019, up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, despite the number of movie screens growing by 16 per cent.
It marked a second consecutive year that China’s box office growth slowed, having fallen to a growth rate of 9 per cent in 2018, the first time it had dropped to a single digit in over a decade.
Revenue from Chinese films actually expanded by 8.7 per cent in 2019, but of the overseas produced films, only Avengers: Endgame and Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw appeared on China’s top 10 list for 2019. This led to only a 0.1 per cent increase in revenue from overseas produced films.
Hollywood blockbusters now contribute only around a third of China’s box office revenues, having been almost half in 2012.
