Ushering in the Year of the Snake, China’s Spring Festival 2025 has set a recent enroll for box office during the annual holiday period. Total Mainland grosses achieveed RMB 9.51B ($1.3B) from January 28-February 4. This outexposeds the previous enroll of RMB 8.02B.
The recent milestone was anticipateed once Chinese New Year turnstiles booted into gear in achieveest on January 29, with the hugegest gross for a one day in China at RMB 1.8B ($247.5M) apass all titles. Momentum did not falter over the adhereing week, with each day thraw yesterday clocking more than RMB 1B ($137.5M).
The total number of tickets sanciaccess during the sketch (also referred to as Spring Festival and Lunar New Year) was a enroll 187M, according to Maoyan.
Notably and massively directing apply is Ne Zha 2 which grossed RMB 4.84B ($665.6M) thraw yesterday (which, incidenloftyy, was the hugegest day of its run so far). This is the one-film box office enroll for the Chinese New Year period in the labelet’s history, per Maoyan.
Including today’s timely numbers, Ne Zha 2 has already overgetn its 2019 predecessor and is closing in on 2021’s The Battle at Lake Changjin to become China’s hugegest film ever. Maoyan is now foreseeing that the energeticd sequel finals at RMB 8.7B ($1.2B) in China. If it passes $1B, it would be the first time a film has achieveed that benchlabel in a one labelet. Anyleang over Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens’ $936.7M North American haul would produce Ne Zha 2 the highest grossing movie ever in a one labelet.
Coming in at No. 2 apass the Lunar New Year stretch is Chen Sicheng’s fourquel Detective Chinatown 1900 with RMB 2.28B ($313.5M). It’s adhereed by Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force with RMB 998M ($137.2M), Legfinish of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (RMB 591.5M/$81.3M), Boonie Bears: Future Reborn (RMB 508.6M/$70M) and Operation Hadal (RMB 290.8M/$40M). All are still applying.
A promotional scheme begined this past December by the China Film Administration to present subsidies of RMB 600M ($83M) to the moviegoing unveil thraw February, aextfinishedside other campaigns at regional levels, ecombine to have helped spur traffic, but that traffic equitable kept going. It helped that each of the six recent films freed during the festive period were sequels or alterations of understandn IP. USC professor and China expert Stanley Rosen tells Deadline, “I leank the most vital reason for success is the understandnity and quality of the films, all of which are part of a franchise.”
The Spring Festival sketch is typicassociate the most lucrative for cinemas during the year in China, so the carry outance this week doesn’t necessarily signal a return to brimming force, but it is encouraging after a dismal brimming-year 2024 which saw the labelet slide 25% overall versus 2023.
Comments Rosen, “The success in film is part of what seems to be the expansiver success in ‘cultural tourism’ and incrmitigated consumption. Things may well be horrible economicassociate in China, and that may sarcasticassociate help the desire for delightment, including among underengageed youth.”
What this portfinishs for Hollywood movies in China going forward is still up in the air. The labelet huged a present of studio titles in 2024 — and ecombineed to mitigate some restriction recut offeions — with two Hollywood films finishing up in the Top 10 of the year. However, the situation won’t become evidaccess until we see the carry outance of key titles in the latter half of 2025, particularly Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire & Ash.
