China's summer box office surges as screen hits fuel consumer spending

China's 2026 summer movie season is heating up, with box office receipts and audience turnout hitting record highs.

As of Thursday, China's total 2026 box office revenue (including presales) had surpassed 26.5 billion yuan (about $3.9 billion), with more than 670 million admissions and over 96 million screenings, according to an online ticketing platform. The summer stretch alone has already drawn over 290 million moviegoers, while the number of screenings has exceeded 34.5 million, both all-time seasonal records.

While cinemas are drawing record crowds, the film boom is also spilling economic benefits into tourism, retail, dining and other consumer spending.

Homegrown hits light up summer screens

This summer movie season, leading the chart are sports comedy film Kung Fu Soccer, animated film All Wishes Come True and Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

A diverse lineup of homegrown productions has been a major driver of the summer box office, with Chinese filmmakers bringing a wide range of stories, genres and creative approaches to the big screen.

Among them, All Wishes Come True, which grossed 1.6 billion yuan (around $238.1 million) , draws inspiration from the traditional Chinese legend and creates a mythical realm modeled on China's distinctive blue-green landscape painting style, showcasing the aesthetics of traditional Chinese art.

Also making waves this summer, Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, a genre-defying work that has captured audience hearts, currently holds the fourth spot at the box office, surpassing 1.2 billion yuan (around $178.6 million) in revenue after 10 days in theaters. Set entirely in a war-torn Middle Eastern city, the film follows Xu Fu, a Chinese cook who travels abroad in search of a better life. As bombs fall and chaos gradually draws him into the conflict, he uses food to bring a touch of warmth and humanity to life amid the devastation of war.

Cinemas evolve beyond the screen

While the film market flourishes, transformative changes are taking place beyond the screen.

As part of a nationwide initiative to boost the film economy, cinemas across China are exploring new business models, bringing dining, board games, virtual reality experiences, pop-up exhibitions and even live performance stages under the roof. The trend is turning cinemas into urban public cultural spaces, social hubs for young people and leisure destinations for the wider public.

A cinema in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, for example, has embraced a "film plus dining" model. It has five dining theaters serving more than 50 dishes, along with themed set meals inspired by popular films, including Spider-Man and Kung Fu Soccer.

For All Wishes Come True, the film's ethereal landscapes were partly inspired by the scenic wonders of Mount Qingcheng in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a sacred Taoist site renowned for its misty peaks and ancient temples. 

Seizing on the film's popularity, local authorities launched a series of themed cultural-tourism routes that guide visitors through locations featured or referenced in the movie. To sweeten the deal, the government issued 48 million yuan (about $7.1 million) in consumer vouchers, while dozens of participating scenic spots, hotels and retailers now offer exclusive discounts to ticket holders who present their movie stubs. 

The result has been a marked surge in visitor numbers, with many younger travelers explicitly citing the film as their motivation for making the trip.

Hands-on encounters with film technology

Cutting-edge technologies are also opening up new ways for audiences to experience China's film industry, turning moviegoers from passive viewers into active participants and giving the public a closer look at the potential of digital technology in filmmaking.

At this week's CMG Film Culture Carnival in Tianjin, visitors can take part in film-related exchanges and interactive activities while enjoying immersive viewing experiences.

Among the highlights was a fully operational virtual production stage, where live-action performers interacted with digitally rendered backgrounds in real time – the same technology used in big-budget sci-fi and fantasy productions. Hands-on activities also included operating professional-grade camera stabilizers, experimenting with 3D audio mixing consoles and taking part in motion-capture sessions that projected participants' movements onto animated characters on screen.

By bringing audiences closer to both the finished films and the technologies behind them, such events highlight how the convergence of technology and cinema is creating new possibilities for the film industry and new ways for audiences to engage with the world of movies.