China’s 2021 box office numbers reach US$3 billion in a few months, significantly more than the US made for all of 2020
- The success is welcome news for a Chinese cinema industry that barely survived the coronavirus pandemic
- However, the industry has a long way to go before it reaches the US$9.1 billion it made in 2019
The US$3 billion number is well passed the US total for 2020 of US$2.1 billion. So far this year, the US has made just US$355 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.
Bloomberg reported in March that, as the US begins to reopen its economy as more people receive vaccinations for Covid-19, the US box office could make between US$4.5 billion and US$6 billion, which, adjusted for inflation, would be the industry’s lowest numbers since 1982.
China’s success at the box office this year is driven in part by the fact that it is home to the two most popular movies in the world – Hi, Mom, a family dramedy, and Detective Chinatown 3, a family adventure movie.
Globally, Hi, Mom has made over US$820 million this year while Detective Chinatown 3 earned more than US$686 million. The only international movie not from China the top-5, coming in at fourth, was the Hollywood monster movie Godzilla vs. Kong, which has made over US$177 million in China, more than double the US$81 million it has made in its home country of America.
Hi, Mom also looks set to achieve a separate milestone: surpassing 2017’s Wonder Woman as the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman.