The New Year's Holiday saw a significant boost in box office revenue across China, as films screened during the three-day weekend collectively grossed 1.53 billion yuan ($214 million), establishing a new record, according to Maoyan, China's leading ticketing and analytics platform.

A composite image featuring posters of six films screened during the New Year's Holiday. [Image provided to China.org.cn]

A total of 12 films were released during the New Year's Holiday film season, along with a re-release of a 2021 film and other movies that had been in theaters since early December 2023. Total admissions reached 36.61 million, with 1.41 million screenings, a new record for the number of screenings in the history of the Chinese New Year's Holiday film season. Notably, on Dec. 31, 2023, the single-day box office totaled a staggering 733 million yuan, breaking the record for single-day earnings in the Chinese film market during the New Year's Holiday season. This also marked the first time in 336 days, since Jan. 28, 2023, that the nationwide single-day box office exceeded the 700 million yuan mark.

The youth-themed romance film "Shining for One Thing" emerged as a champion and phenomenon, raking in 608 million yuan. Inspired by a hit online series, it drew many fans to theaters, becoming one of the best pre-selling movies of all time. The film's marketing team went all out, not only hyping the sense of ritual for the young audience to celebrate the new year in the cinema but also spraying artificial snow inside various cinemas to mimic an iconic scene from the online series. This unique theatrical experience sparked widespread controversy and was met with confusion by average moviegoers.

However, the real dark horse could be the workplace satirical comedy "Johnny Keep Walking!" The film rose to prominence after "Shining for One Thing" lost momentum, largely due to the New Year's Day marketing hype. The film soared to the top spot on New Year's Day and has since grossed 315 million yuan since its debut on Dec. 29. Gaining traction and highly positive reviews, it boasts a high score of 8.1/10 on Douban, a leading review aggregation site. Its continued success beyond the film season seems likely, as it resonates with Chinese white-collar workers, offering both joy and relief through its sharp satire of workplace dynamics and pressures.

Two crime films, both starring superstar Andy Lau, performed steadily. In the drug-fighting thriller "I Did It My Way," Lau took on the role of a complex villain, a rare departure from the positive roles he is known for, and the film has already grossed 223 million yuan. "The Goldfinger," a financial crime noir, saw Lau reuniting with co-star Tony Leung, their first collaboration since the 2002 classic "Infernal Affairs." The film had brought in 220 million yuan as of Monday.

Feng Xiaogang, the filmmaker who trailblazed the initiation of China's New Year's Holiday film season decades ago, also returned with the third installment of the "If You Are the One" romantic franchise, starring comedian Ge You and actress Shu Qi. Despite exploring themes of love, emotion, and artificial intelligence, the film has struggled, earning just 54.74 million yuan and sliding quickly down the box office rankings.

Artificial snow wasn't the only wild scene inside China's cinemas. The hit concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" arrived on Dec. 31, attracting fans who sang, danced, and jumped in front of the big screens. With screams and glow sticks in hand, they created an atmosphere akin to a live Taylor Swift concert. The film grossed nearly 50 million yuan in two days but quickly lost momentum as fan gatherings diminished.

Young kids were treated to the animated feature "Shuke and Beita: Pentagon-shaped Flying Saucer" during the holiday, adapted from China's "King of Fairy Tales," Zheng Yuanjie's classic novel. This family entertainment film has grossed 33.74 million yuan so far.

The lively landscape of the Chinese film market during the New Year's Holiday was a fantastic start for the film industry in 2024. Additionally, the China Film Administration summarized the outstanding performances of the previous year: China's film market demonstrated a strong recovery in 2023, with total box office earnings exceeding 54.91 billion yuan. This marks the fourth-highest annual box office total in Chinese film history and the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the year, nearly 1.3 billion tickets were sold, with domestic productions generating over 46 billion yuan in box office revenue, accounting for 83.77% of the national total.

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