China film market faces weak Mid-Autumn Festival box office

The Chinese film market is experiencing a significant downturn during the Mid-Autumn Festival period. Despite the release of over 20 new domestic and international films, pre-sales have been described as extremely poor, with total pre-sales for the period totaling less than 30 million yuan.

Industry analysts note a trend of low-budget, small-scale domestic productions, which some suggest reflects a lack of capital among production companies. This has led to a cycle where low marketing budgets and diminished film quality result in low audience interest. While several domestic titles such as ‘Lao Jianghu’ and ‘Detective’s Traces’ have been released, many films have struggled to gain traction, with some even being withdrawn due to insufficient pre-sales.

In contrast, the re-release of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (Enhanced Edition) has dominated the market, accounting for between 60% and 77% of the total pre-sales for the festival period. Data indicates that audience viewing frequency has dropped by 23% compared to the same period last year, as consumers become more selective due to high ticket prices and a perceived lack of quality in new releases.