China's summer movie season is ending on a strong note as a late surge of domestic hits lifted total box office receipts above last year's haul, signaling renewed momentum in the world's second-largest film market and further unleashing new economic potential.
According to data from China's ticketing platform Maoyan, box office earnings for the summer moviegoing season, running from June 1 through August 31, had reached 11.64 billion yuan (about $1.64 billion) by Friday evening, overtaking the 2024 summer total. Analysts project the final figure will top 12 billion yuan once the weekend's screenings are included.
The five top-grossing titles of the summer are "Dead to Rights," a film about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre during World War II; "Nobody," a spinoff of the acclaimed "Yao-Chinese Folktales" animation series; "The Shadow's Edge," a crime action flick starring Jackie Chan; "The Lychee Road," a bittersweet drama set during the Tang Dynasty (618-907); and Universal's "Jurassic World Rebirth."
Lai Li, a Maoyan analyst, told Xinhua that the first half of the summer was fairly flat, yet the landscape shifted in the second half as major domestic film releases began to take hold, driving the summer box office to heat up.
Leading the charge is "Dead to Rights," which has earned over 2.8 billion yuan since its July 25 release, now ranking as the year's third-highest grossing film in China. Drawing on verified historical photographs, the story follows some Nanjing residents hiding in a photo studio who, forced to assist a Japanese military photographer, discover atrocities in his films. They secretly keep the negatives and smuggle them out for exposure.
Coming in second is "Nobody," a hand-drawn animated feature that has grossed nearly 1.4 billion yuan since its release on August 2, setting a new record for 2D animation in China.
For critics, the success of "Nobody" and recent myth-inspired film and gaming hits such as "Black Myth: Wukong" and "Ne Zha 2" signals a broader revival of Chinese mythology in popular culture, where ancient legends are being reimagined to address contemporary issues such as identity, choice and social pressure, allowing them to resonate more deeply with audiences today.
China's booming box office is driving strong sales of movie merchandise and spurring cross-industry growth. Li Zao, chief producer of "Nobody," said the film launched over 800 products, with first-day sales at Shanghai Lianhe Cinema Line exceeding 7 million yuan.
Liu Haibo, professor at Shanghai University's Shanghai Film Academy, noted that beautiful and meaningful movie products foster emotional connection, highlighting how quality films benefit the people.
Cities across China are also tapping into new economic potential by integrating movie-going with other industries, offering audiences discounts at attractions and hotels, as well as opportunities to visit filming locations. Provinces such as Yunnan and Jilin have promoted travel routes based on shooting sites of classic movies. These efforts are turning cinema traffic into tourism flows, achieving both cultural and economic gains.
(With input from agencies)
