As of December 27, the box office revenue for films in mainland China in 2024 amounted to 41.9 billion yuan, a decrease of 13 billion yuan compared to the same period in 2023. Analysts believe that the slowdown in the Chinese economy, coupled with the popularity of short video platforms, has dampened the “lipstick effect” of films as a form of entertainment consumption.
According to a report by “Jiemian News,” China’s annual box office revenue for films first exceeded 50 billion yuan in 2017, reaching 55.9 billion yuan. It maintained an upward trend until 2019. However, the industry faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic for three years, with film revenue only bouncing back to 54.9 billion yuan in 2023.
Data from the “Lighthouse” professional edition shows that as of December 27, China’s film box office revenue for 2024 was 41.9 billion yuan, a decrease of 13 billion compared to the previous year, with a reduction of 300 million moviegoers. Although there was a record-breaking start to the year with the second-highest box office in Chinese New Year history, particularly with Jia Ling’s self-directed and self-acted film “Hi, Mom!” surpassing 2.3 billion yuan at the time, box office numbers for other periods continuously declined.
For instance, the Dragon Boat Festival period only saw 383 million yuan in box office revenue, with moviegoers less than half of those in 2019. The Communist Party-themed film “Zero Limit” starring Wu Jing, with a production cost exceeding one hundred million yuan, only collected 143 yuan on its first day of release during the Qingming Festival, making it the worst-performing new film during the holiday in mainland China.
By the midpoint of 2024, the total box office revenue for the first half of the year in China concluded at 239.02 billion yuan, a decrease of over 20 billion from the previous year. Although the summer box office recorded 11.6 billion yuan with 243 million viewers, in comparison to 20.6 billion yuan and 505 million viewers in the same period last year, both numbers were nearly halved. Despite this, state media outlets like CCTV continued to highlight the “over 10 billion yuan summer box office in 2024” as good news, which briefly trended on social media, though the public remained skeptical. Film blogger “ManYingKeng” bluntly stated, “10 billion is not good news; disregarding the impact of the pandemic for three years, this year’s performance is like regressing back a decade.”
According to multiple reports in mainland China, this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival box office did not exhibit the usual peak of a golden period. On September 18, the Chinese National Film Administration released data indicating that the 2024 mainland China Mid-Autumn Festival box office was 389 million yuan with 9.57 million viewers, of which domestic films accounted for 332 million yuan, representing 85.35%. This official figure fell below half of the record-breaking 803 million yuan box office recorded during the “strongest Mid-Autumn Festival” in 2019. Maoyan’s professional data indicated that although the number of screenings during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival set a new high at 1.356 million, the attendance rate hit unprecedented lows, marking a box office return to ten years ago.
Lighthouse data showed that the box office revenue for the 2024 National Day holiday period was 21 billion yuan, a 23% drop compared to the same period last year. Of particular interest was the film “Safe Passage” starring Gulnazar, one of the “Four Beauties of Xinjiang,” which was released on September 30 and only grossed 17.83 million yuan in four days. On October 3, the official account of the film announced its withdrawal from the National Day holiday period, citing “unprecedented difficulties and challenges during the release period” as the reason.
The “2024 China Film Audience Change Trend Report” jointly issued by the China Film Association and Lighthouse Research Institute revealed that as of October, the average number of movie viewings per person in mainland China in 2024 was 2.20, lower than the 2.58 in 2023. Nearly sixty percent of viewers only visited the cinema once a year.
The Christmas box office for two days (December 24th to 25th) in 2024, including pre-sales, was only 77.24 million yuan. On Christmas Eve, the single-day box office was 38.4674 million yuan, hitting a nearly decade-low. In comparison, the Christmas box office revenue for the same period in 2023 was 255 million yuan, representing a 70% decline this year, approximately a third of the previous year’s performance.
In the latest case, the box office revenue for the 51st week of this year was 37.3 billion yuan, the lowest recorded for the same period since statistics began in 2011, with a 47% decrease compared to last year, especially with a sharp decline in weekend consumer spending.
Statistics from the movie data platform “Maoyan” showed that a total of 493 domestic films were released in mainland China in 2024, with “Hi, Mom!” emerging as the annual champion with over 3.46 billion yuan in revenue. However, only 67 films managed to exceed one billion yuan in revenue, indicating that the vast majority of domestic films performed poorly. The top ten lowest-grossing films were “Super Me” (85 yuan), “Star Dream of I Am a Fine Arts Student” (90 yuan), “Our Shining Days” (100 yuan), “Next Stop, Love” (121 yuan), “Journey of Youth” (159 yuan), “Duoduo is a Dog” (459 yuan), “The Gatekeeper” (531 yuan), “Perfect Match” (1045 yuan), “Midnight Bookstore” (1151 yuan), and “The Billion Plan” (1345 yuan). Particularly, the film “Next Stop, Love,” featuring Huang Shengyi and costing tens of millions to produce, only grossed 121 yuan, a surprising result.
Reports noted that renowned Chinese director Huang Jianxin previously mentioned the failure of the “lipstick effect” in today’s society. The “lipstick effect” refers to a phenomenon where consumers, during a financial crisis, choose to forgo high-end luxury goods and opt for more affordable luxury items. Watching movies is considered a relatively low-cost form of mass entertainment.
According to a report by “First Financial,” producer Chen Caiyun mentioned in a previous interview that in the current economic environment, films are not considered essential needs, with cultural consumption ranking secondary. She compared this to the United States during the Great Depression a century ago when people still enjoyed watching movies even though entertainment activities were scarce. However, nowadays, various forms of entertainment such as gaming, short videos, short dramas, web series, and concerts are all competing for audiences’ attention.
Furthermore, analysts pointed out that the pandemic caused a disruption in the film industry’s financial chain, leading to external investments withdrawing from the sector, a trend that started back in 2018. The industry’s significant debt problems have severely impacted production capacities.
In addition, movie ticket prices have been steadily increasing in recent years, especially during popular seasons where prices have escalated to unreasonable levels. For example, during this year’s Christmas season, a standard 3D movie ticket prices reached seventy to eighty yuan, while IMAX screenings surpassed one hundred yuan. For the average consumer, such prices are increasingly hard to afford. If a family goes to the movies together, the ticket costs alone could amount to hundreds of yuan, not including expenses for popcorn, drinks, and other items. In the current environment of downgraded consumption, consumers naturally hesitate to pay such high ticket prices.