The total box office revenue (including pre-sales) during the 2026 May Day holiday season in Mainland China exceeded 700 million yuan, but the average ticket price was only 36.3 yuan, the lowest in four years.
According to statistics from the China National Film Administration, the average movie ticket price nationwide on the first day of the May Day holiday in 2026 was 36.3 yuan, a decrease of 3.8 yuan, 4.2 yuan, and 3.2 yuan compared to 2023 (40.1 yuan), 2024 (40.5 yuan), and 2025 (39.5 yuan), respectively, marking the lowest in nearly four years during the same period.
Reports from IT Home and other sources indicate that in order to boost the movie market, over 20 provinces and cities including Beijing, Hebei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Jilin have introduced moviegoing subsidies totaling over 350 million yuan.
For example, Zhejiang issued 36.8 million yuan in consumer vouchers (reducing ticket prices to as low as 10 yuan after discounts), Beijing offered a 10 yuan discount per ticket, and Hunan implemented measures such as “spend 30 yuan and get 15 yuan off,” thereby lowering the average ticket price.
During the May Day holiday season, director Chen Sicheng revealed the severe challenges facing cinema operations at the promotional roadshow of his new film “10 Teams of the Brave.” He stated that the national daily box office receipts have been hovering around 12 million yuan, while the “survival line” for Chinese cinemas is at 15 million yuan. Calculated across approximately 13,000 cinemas nationwide, the average daily income per cinema is only 923 yuan, insufficient to cover even rent and utilities.
Chen Sicheng also warned that if there is insufficient innovation in content, the market may experience another contraction after the subsidy tide recedes.
Despite the release of over ten new films during the 2026 May Day holiday, less than 5% of screens were allocated to medium and small films, with single-digit average daily audiences in the back rows of cinemas. Fearing a clustering of new releases leading to internal competition, several films suddenly withdrew from the lineup just before the May Day holiday. “Ambivalence,” originally scheduled for release on May 1st, announced its withdrawal on the afternoon of April 30th. Similarly, “Forest in the Woods,” initially set to premiere on May 1st, was also pulled from the schedule on April 22nd, rescheduled to May 23rd.
Prior to these changes, films such as “Prosecutor Chronicles,” “Hello, Bro,” “Safe Journey,” “Meeting You,” “Hello, Beijing,” and “Mini World: Awakening” also withdrew from the May Day holiday schedule, opting to reschedule their releases for a later date.