For the last free Streamlined of the year, we’re looking at the 2024 box office of Asia’s biggest theatrical market, mainland China, and a market where local films just broke the all-time admissions record, Indonesia. In addition, the links round-up below includes all the international sales and streaming news reported in the trades since Busan film festival.
The third and final part of the Streamlined Guide to Indonesia (focusing on distribution, exhibition, festivals and streaming) will be published next week, followed by the Streamlined Guide to imports at the China box office in early January 2025, along with a free edition of Streamlined looking at India’s year-end box office.
Apologies that attending back-to-back markets and festivals over the past few months has delayed the Streamlined Guides’ publishing schedule in the fourth quarter of 2024, something I plan to rectify in 2025. But sheesh could some of these events consider taking place in a time slot other than October and November? The last few months have been intense…
China Box Office Down 21% As Gen Z Shuns Cinemas
As of December 9, China’s annual box office haul stood at $5.75bn, down 21% compared to the same point last year, according to data from Artisan Gateway. It appears that China’s Generation Z audience is not as enthused by the theatrical experience as the Millennials who came before them.
Reasons for their reticence, as cited by local pundits, include audience fatigue from a repetitive line-up (both local and foreign films could be accused of this charge), rising ticket prices and the growing influence of short video and micro-dramas.
In China, 100-episode series, with each highly dramatic episode lasting only 30-120 seconds, are creating huge competition not only for cinemas but even for “long-form” drama on traditional streamers. Small wonder that Gen Z doesn’t have the patience to sit through a two-hour film. The year started strongly with Lunar New Year releases YOLO, Pegasus 2 and Zhang Yimou’s Article 20, but fizzled in the second half during which only three titles (crime thriller A Place Called Silence, family comedy drama Successor and ‘main melody’ title The Volunteers: The Battle Of Life And Death) crossed the $138bn (RMB1bn) mark.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the highest-grossing foreign release of the year so far, ranking ninth with $131.7m (RMB956m), followed by Japanese anime The Boy And The Heron in 10th place with $108.95m (RMB791m) and Alien: Romulus in at 11th with $108.3m (RMB786m). Outside of Hong Kong and Taiwanese productions, the next foreign film does not pop up until Deadpool & Wolverine, currently ranking 21st with $59m (RMB430m).
While China’s box office market has always been concentrated on peak holiday periods – Lunar New Year, May Day holidays, National Day holidays and the year-end period – it currently seems that only the Lunar New Year release window brings any guarantee of success. The on-going year-end window, running from late November to late December, has so far yielded a decent hit in feminist comedy drama Her Story ($80m and counting, PICTURED ABOVE), but nothing spectacular.
Foreign releases during this period have included Moana 2 ($11m), Wicked ($1.5m since Dec 6) and Indian drama Maharaja ($8m), while Paddington In Peru and Sonic The Hedgehog 3 are scheduled for early January.
Expectations are high for Hong Kong drama The Last Dance, which is scheduled for December 14 but had already racked up $4m in pre-sales by December 13. The Emperor Motion Pictures production has broken records in Hong Kong as the highest-grossing local film of all time with $16.8m (HK$130.7m). Directed by newcomer Anselm Chan, it stars Michael Hui and Dayo Wong as an old Taoist priest and a former wedding planner who become partners in a funeral business.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays (Jan 28-Feb 3) has several big productions scheduled for release…
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