Posters displayed at a cinema in Shanghai, China, August 13, 2023. /CFP
China's film market roars back this summer, smashing records set before the pandemic and surprising global filmmakers with its domestic creations.
The summer box office in China surpassed 17.8 billion yuan (about $2.44 billion) as of Friday morning, exceeding the revenue for the same period in 2019, according to data from the China Film Administration.
It hit a new record high two weeks before China's summer movie season closes at the end of August. Meanwhile, movie viewers have also witnessed a boom, with viewers exceeding 435 million.
So far, the top five of this year's summer box office are all domestic movies, which accounted for about two-thirds of the total revenue. Among them, "Lost in the Stars" was first on the list, with a revenue of over 3.5 billion yuan. The top-grosser is a suspense crime film about a woman mysteriously disappearing while on an overseas trip with her husband.
Industry insiders attributed the boom to the high quality and topical subjects of this year's summer movies, showcasing China's great potential for movie creation as the cinema market continues to recover and improve.
Moviegoers at a cinema in Shanghai, China, July 15, 2023. /CFP
Hollywood films contributed little to the summer box office record, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, American entertainment news website Variety said most of the Hollywood titles underperformed in China this year despite being imported with almost pre-pandemic frequency and released almost weekly throughout the season.
China's film market will rally in 2023 and take the lead in the world by 2025, according to a report released by global auditing and consultancy firm PwC in July. In 2027, the country's movie box office revenue could hit $13.2 billion, accounting for 27 percent of the global market, said the report titled Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027.
Secrets hidden in closing credits
By analyzing the closing credits of the 100 highest-grossing blockbusters in the past decade, the top 10 films at China's box office each year from 2014 to 2023, China Media Group found that the film industry now includes over 300 types of work and that more than 20 new jobs had been created during the past 10 years. More than 70 percent of the new positions are related to the progress of digital technology, including motion capture, virtual production and 3D printing.
For instance, the "concept designer" position has appeared since 2014, and most of the people who held this position were foreigners. However, the credits of blockbusters released in the past three years show that locals are now holding the post.
Jin Xiaodi during an interview with China Media Group, August 2023. /CMG
Jin Xiaodi, the concept designer for the historical fantasy "Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms," said concept designers focus on the imagination and aesthetics of films.
"By working with the departments of art and special effects, we need to create innovative, fantastical designs and visuals that go beyond everyday life experience," said Jin, who studied traditional Chinese murals, paintings and ancient armor collections before he started designing.
"Kingdom of Storms" is the first installment of a trilogy based on the household Chinese fantasy novel "Investiture of the Gods," which features mythology stories taking place between ancient China's Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) and Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC).
"From the expansion of genres to the improvement of technology and creation, domestic films are on a fast track," said Jin, adding that domestic films also present the depth and richness of Chinese aesthetics in addition to Chinese stories.