China’s film industry shoots for post-Covid recovery
After spending six years and HK$450mn (US$58mn) on science fiction epic Warriors of Future, Hong Kong film star and avowed Star Wars fan Louis Koo hoped it would capture the imaginations of China’s millions of cinemagoers.To get more news about
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But the film, about the battle to save a post-apocalyptic Earth from an invasive alien plant, grossed a lukewarm Rmb679mn ($100mn) on the mainland, failing to crack the box office top 10 last year.
“The pandemic has changed [the film industry] a lot, including how we evaluate when is the best time to release a film in which market and how it will potentially perform,” Koo, who produced and starred in the film, said. “We are of course hoping for a quick recovery.”
The question for producers such as Koo, both domestically and in Hollywood, is whether the end of Covid restrictions will encourage one of the world’s biggest film audiences to return to the cinema. Declining financing, censorship and changing tastes could all scupper the industry’s hopes of a strong recovery after three years of lockdowns shut theatres across the country.
Chinese box office receipts tumbled more than a third from Rmb47bn in 2021 to Rmb30bn in 2022, according to ticketing platform Maoyan, relinquishing the crown to the US for the first time since surpassing it in 2020. For 2023, China’s box office has surpassed Rmb5bn as of Wednesday, outpacing North America’s $486mn, according to data from Maoyan and Amazon’s Box Office Mojo.
China’s film industry shoots for post-Covid recovery
