In a landmark achievement for the film industry, the Chinese mainland's box office revenue for the 2025 Lunar New Year, including advance ticket sales, has officially crossed the 10-billion-yuan (nearly $1.4 billion) mark.
Cumulative box office earnings in the Chinese mainland have surpassed those of North America, placing the region at the top of the global box office rankings.
As of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, the box office for the Spring Festival period reached a new historical record of 8 billion yuan (over $1.1 billion), according to data from the National Film Administration.
Leading this success is the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2, which has already outperformed last year's Spring Festival champion, Yolo, shattered over ten national box office records, and is now poised to become the all-time highest-grossing film in the Chinese mainland's cinema history.
In 2019, Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child (Ne Zha 1) stunned the movie industry with 5 billion yuan (around $690 million) in earnings. Now, Ne Zha 2 returns with a more compelling storyline and breathtaking visuals, sparking widespread discussion.
Not long ago, Chinese studios were seen as Hollywood's \"back office,\" handling minor visual effects for U.S. films. As the Chinese mainland's film industry grew, many productions outsourced the work to foreign studios.
But that's changing. The Chinese mainland's computer-generated imagery (CGI) industry is stepping forward, helping tell stories rooted in Chinese culture.
Reference(s):
2025 Chinese New Year box office soars to 10B yuan, tops global charts
cgtn.com
