According to the statistics released by the Chinese National Film Bureau, during the 9-day Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in 2026 (February 15 to 23), the national box office revenue was 5.752 billion yuan (RMB), a decrease of 3.762 billion yuan compared to the previous year, representing a 39.54% year-on-year decline. The number of moviegoers was 120 million, a decrease of 67 million from the previous year, down by 35.83%. Both figures have fallen below the levels of 2018.
The impact of the Lunar New Year movie box office led to a collective crash in the A-share film and television sector on the first trading day of the Year of the Horse (February 24). Companies such as Enlight Media, Bona Film Group, Wanda Film, Hengdian Studio, Shanghai Film, and China Film saw their stocks hit the limit. Happy Blue Sea, Golden Harvest Entertainment, Maoyan Entertainment, and DMA Entertainment all experienced significant declines.
Six films were simultaneously released during the Chinese New Year golden period this year, including “Lost in Russia 3” starring Shen Teng, Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Silent Awakening”, the martial arts film “Biao Ren: Wind Blows in the Desert” starring Wu Jing, Jet Li, and Shawn Yue, the action film “Panda Project: Tribe Adventure”, the animated film “Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink”, and the sci-fi film “Dreaming in the Galaxy” starring Wang Hedong and Song Qian.
“Lost in Russia 3” topped the box office with 2.927 billion yuan, contributing over half of the total box office revenue. There were no other films with a box office of over 1 billion yuan. The second and third places were the spy thriller “Silent Awakening” with an investment of 570 million yuan and the martial arts film “Biao Ren: Wind Blows in the Desert” with an investment of 700 million yuan, both of which performed below expectations.
Data shows that major mainstream companies were involved in the production of the Chinese New Year films, with many companies participating in more than one production.
For example, “China Film” was involved in 5 out of the 6 films, being the lead producer of “Dreaming in the Galaxy”, the third largest producer of “Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink”, the fourth largest producer of “Silent Awakening”, the sixth largest producer of “Lost in Russia 3”, and the eighth largest producer of “Biao Ren: Wind Blows in the Desert”.
DMA Entertainment and Wanda Film were involved in 4 of the films each. DMA Entertainment was the lead producer and distributor of “Silent Awakening”, the second largest producer of “Biao Ren”, the third largest producer of “Lost in Russia 3”, and the ninth largest producer of “Boonie Bears”; Wanda Film was the fourth largest producer of “Lost in Russia 3”, the fifth largest producer of “Silent Awakening”, the fifth largest producer of “Boonie Bears”, and the ninth largest producer of “Biao Ren”.
Hengdian Studio and Enlight Media participated in 3 films each. Hengdian Studio was the second largest producer of “Dreaming in the Galaxy”, the second largest producer of “Boonie Bears”, and the eighth largest producer of “Lost in Russia 3”; Enlight Media was the fifth largest producer of “Panda Project 2”, the ninth largest producer of “Silent Awakening”, and the fourteenth largest producer of “Lost in Russia 3”. Bona Film Group participated in “Lost in Russia 3” as the fifth largest producer.
Although the total number of screenings during the Lunar New Year film period set a new record due to the shorter average film length, the overall output of this year’s films fell below the level of the 2018 Lunar New Year film period (with a 7-day box office revenue of 5.771 billion yuan and 145 million moviegoers), with an overall attendance rate of only 22.2%, compared to 43.3% in 2025, almost halving.
Some analysts suggest that the reason for the bleak box office performance could be due to movie ticket prices. The average ticket price during this year’s Lunar New Year film period was 47.8 yuan, the lowest in nearly six years. With 120 million moviegoers this year compared to 187 million in 2025, representing a 35.83% year-on-year decline, the lower attendance compounded the challenges, leading to a nearly 40% decrease in box office revenue compared to the previous year.
On February 24, according to a report by mainland media outlet “First Financial”, the mainland film and television stocks plummeted at the opening, with many stocks hitting the limit, including the top film companies. Although in 2025, the official promotion of “Nezha 2” by the Communist Party of China inflated the box office to a record high of 9.514 billion yuan in Chinese film history, the industry had generally anticipated a decrease in overall box office this year, but the extent of the drop was surprising.
It is worth noting that despite ranking second in box office revenue, “Silent Awakening” received the lowest rating of 6.3 on “Douban” among the mainland Chinese New Year films. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the star-studded cast includes Jackson Yee, Zhu Yilong, Song Jia, Lei Jiayin, Yang Mi, Zhang Yi, Liu Shishi, and Liu Yaowen, with the theme song “Choice” sung by Zhou Shen.
Industry insiders believe that the significant drop in the film’s reputation is mainly due to improper scheduling and marketing tactics, as well as a lackluster and boring plot. Prior to this, several cinemas had exposed that the production team of “Silent Awakening” used improper methods in scheduling competition, even pressuring theaters with threats of supply cutoff, leading to a joint boycott by theaters and audiences, and even harsh criticism for their unattractive behavior.
During a post-screening interaction event earlier, Zhang Yimou, accompanied by actors such as Jackson Yee, revealed, “We have received support from the national security department since the script stage. Although filming such a theme is challenging, we hope to deliver a great story with patriotic sentiments to everyone.” However, many viewers provided feedback saying, “Silent Awakening” is simply an hour-long patriotic propaganda film. Some netizens commented, “Too many unnecessary scenes, improper pacing, a poor plot, a generic commercial film purely relying on the actors’ appearances. With such a stellar lineup, they managed to create a propaganda film that even the Propaganda Department would find hard to bear!”