In the past two years, the Chinese film market has been facing a chill. On April 30, the topic labeled “Multiple Films Withdrawn from the May Day Schedule” trended on Weibo. Previously, during the Chinese New Year period this year, the box office for the “Spring Festival Schedule” plummeted by 39.5% compared to last year; the total box office for the Qingming Festival Schedule was only 305 million yuan, significantly lower than the 2025 box office of 378 million yuan and far below the 2024 figure of 834 million yuan.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media, the film “Three Hearts and Two Minds,” originally scheduled to premiere on May 1, announced its withdrawal on the afternoon of April 30. The early screening box office was only between 780,000 to 950,000 yuan, with less than 2% of screenings on the first day. The film’s statement cited the need to “reselect a screening period” but did not provide specific reasons for the decision.
On April 22, the film “In the Forest,” also originally set to premiere on May 1, announced its withdrawal and rescheduled its release to May 23. The film stars Yu Han and Gao Yuanyuan.
On April 18, “Pig Hero: Ocean Diary” announced the cancellation of its premiere scheduled for April 30. Following this, new films such as “Prosecutors’ Storm,” “Hello, Brother,” “I Wish You Safety,” “Meeting You,” “Hello, Beijing,” and “Mini World: Awakening” also announced their withdrawal from the May Day schedule and chose to release at a later date.
Last year, the comedy film “Priceless,” which had announced it would be entering the May Day schedule, modified its official announcement on March 26, changing its release date to “Awaiting in 2026.” The film stars Ma Li and Fan Chengcheng.
The withdrawals of the films “Three Hearts and Two Minds,” “In the Forest,” and “Priceless” have attracted widespread attention.
Netizens commented, “Just before the May Day schedule, there was a sudden wave of film withdrawals, with three movies pulling out one after another. Some withdrew just one day before the premiere, while others postponed and relied on early screenings to slowly build word of mouth. The main reason is that there is an oversaturation of new films this May Day, with intense competition in comedy and suspense genres, big-budget films occupying a significant share of screenings and presales, while mid-to-small scale films struggle with presales and early screening box office performance. Along with the weak market conditions, film production companies are forced to withdraw to avoid being cannon fodder.”
“The withdrawals of ‘Three Hearts and Two Minds,’ ‘In the Forest,’ and ‘Priceless’ from the May Day schedule have frozen the presale on Maoyan.”
“The film industry is experiencing a wave of withdrawals during the 2026 May Day schedule (April 30 to May 5), with several domestic films adjusting their release dates last minute. The core reasons behind this phenomenon are crowded schedules, weak presales, internal competition, leading the industry into a collective anxiety of ‘fearing becoming cannon fodder.'”
An entertainment content creator from “Sina Music Enthusiasts Community” stated, “The retreat of ‘Three Hearts and Two Minds,’ ‘In the Forest,’ and ‘Priceless’ is a symbiosis of market rationality and industry dilemma. When ‘schedule dependency’ meets ‘hollow content,’ withdrawal becomes the best solution for film companies to prevent losses, yet it also accelerates the vicious cycle of the market. The Chinese film industry urgently needs to break free from the ‘schedule-oriented’ mindset and rebuild audience trust with quality content and differentiated distribution – after all, what truly keeps audiences coming back to the theaters is never just the release date, but the reasons worth stepping into the cinema for.”