Strong Domestic Film Share, but Overall Box Office Declines

Dragon Media News Desk

China’s National Day holiday film market showed a strong presence for domestic productions even as overall box-office revenue fell. Domestic films accounted for 78.7 percent of total revenue during the holiday, but overall takings were limited to 1.16 billion yuan. Reuters reported that this was the weakest National Day holiday box-office result since 2014.

Citing analysts, Reuters identified a shortage of compelling big-budget films and holidaymakers choosing travel over cinema as possible reasons for the decline. A high domestic-film share alone may not be enough to expand the overall market; films must also draw audiences into cinemas and give them a reason to spend.

This year’s figures do not, by themselves, show that audiences have lost interest in domestic films. They do show that overall revenue can fall even when local productions command a large share of the market. Whether the downturn is temporary or points to a deeper challenge will become clearer as upcoming holiday releases seek to bring audiences back to cinemas.