China’s box office sees slump during typically profitable summer

Global Business

Summertime, particularly July and August, is usually prime season for China’s domestic movie industry. But despite more movies released this year, local box offices are reporting declining sales.

CCTV’s Mi Jiayi reports from Shanghai.

China’s box office started well this year, with a record numbers in February when ticket sales reached 6.9 billion yuan ($1.04 billion), a 79 percent increase from January. However, the pace of growth has started to slow over the past few months.

July, usually a top month for movie audiences, saw only 4.5 billion yuan ($679 million) at the box office, an 18 percent drop from last year, despite a 50 percent increase in new movies released in the first half of the year.

Time Antaeus Cinema Group Vice Manager Wu Hehu said the increase in films actually led to each one having a smaller audience. More diverse distribution channels, particularly online video, have also diluted audiences, he added.

Last year, the domestic box office reached 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion), and some were hoping that this year it would hit 60 billion yuan ($9 billion). Some experts say that the industry will be lucky if it can maintain last year’s sales.


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