China's total box office revenue in 2026 has surpassed 26.5 billion yuan (over $3.9 billion), with more than 670 million admissions and over 96 million screenings recorded, according to data from a Chinese ticketing platform.

The summer movie season has generated more than 10.7 billion yuan (about $1.59 billion) in box office revenue in China, including pre-sales.

Among the best performers is the anti-war film Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, which follows a Chinese man working as a chef at a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East when war breaks out in the 2000s. In just 10 days of release, the film has raked in over 1.2 billion yuan.