There is less than a week left before the end of 2023. According to data from the Beacon Professional Edition, as of December 27, the cumulative box office of Chinese movies in 2023 has reached 53.8 billion. It increased by 80% year-on-year, setting the best performance in the pa

There is less than a week left before the end of 2023. According to data from the Beacon Professional Edition, as of December 27, the cumulative box office of Chinese movies in 2023 has reached 53.8 billion. It increased by 80% year-on-year, setting the best performance in the past four years. Compared with 2019, which was at the highest level in history, it has returned to 80% level.

However, compared with the past few years, the Chinese film market is completely different in terms of viewing, promotion, and audience preferences.

[1] Domestic films dominate the top ten of the year for the first time, and American blockbusters are on the decline

Currently, the top ten box office movies of 2023 have been released. According to data from the

Lighthouse Professional Edition, movies such as "Amores", "Traffic Earth 2", and "All or Nothing" rank among the top ten. The total box office of the top ten movies reached 26.6 billion, currently accounting for 49.6% of the total box office for the year (as of December 27, the same below). Among them, a total of 4 movies have a box office of more than 3 billion, an increase of 2 movies from last year.

In the ten years from 2014 to 2023, this year is also the first time that a domestic film has dominated the top ten annual box office. According to Douban, all the top ten movie producers at the box office this year are from mainland China.

At the same time, the overall reputation of the top ten box office movies is also improving. Douban data shows that the average Douban score for the top ten box office movies this year is 7.09, which is at its highest peak in the past four years. At the same time, this year's "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Chang'an 30,000 Miles" both received high scores of 8.3 points on Douban, which are both popular and acclaimed masterpieces. You must know that in the three years from 2020 to 2022, among the 30 top ten box office movies of the year, none of them has a Douban score of more than 8 points.

In sharp contrast to the dominance of domestic films, the box office of American blockbusters has significantly declined this year. According to Beacon Professional Edition data, the best-performing foreign blockbuster this year is "Fast and Furious 10", with a box office of 980 million, ranking 12th in this year's box office list.

Among the many foreign blockbusters, many "superhero" movies have received mediocre response in the mainland this year. For example, "Ant-Man 3", the first movie in the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ultimately only had a domestic box office of 270 million. As the final work of the DC superhero universe, "Aquaman 2" has been in theaters for 7 days, and its box office has just reached 260 million.

[2] Douyin has become a new artifact for film promotion. The number of views of traditional promotional videos has reached an all-time low

Compared with previous years, Douyin has become a new "artifact" for promoting domestic films this year. According to data from

Lighthouse Professional Edition, the cumulative number of Douyin views of the top ten movies at the box office this year reached 115.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 133%, reaching the highest peak in history. At the same time, among the top ten movies at the box office this year, there are 6 movies with cumulative Douyin topics exceeding 10 billion, an increase of 5 movies from 2022.

Among them, the two movies "All or Nothing" and "Fengshen Part 1" have accumulated more than 20 billion TikTok topics. The cumulative Douyin topic views of "Desperate" reached an astonishing 24.4 billion, breaking the record of 22.6 billion cumulative Douyin topic views set by "Hello, Li Huanying" in 2021, setting a new high.

"All or Nothing" also broke the record for total video production of promotional material for a film. According to data from the Lighthouse Professional Edition, it has produced a total of 51 film material video works. Ranked first among the 50 films with the highest annual box office in the past five years.

However, compared with the popularity of Douyin announcements, the playback volume of traditional film material announcement videos is gradually declining. The top ten box office movies in 2022 will have a total video playback volume of 160 million. Among them, the total video views of "Changjin Lake: Shuimen Bridge" reached 66.94 million, reaching the highest peak in the history of a single movie.

Among the top ten movies at the box office this year, the total number of views was 120 million, a year-on-year decrease of 23%, reaching the lowest point in the past five years. Take the movie "All or Nothing" as an example. Although the movie has a large number of promotional materials and videos, its total views are only 12.56 million, which is in sharp contrast to the popularity of Douyin promotions.

[3] Third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities account for nearly 40% of the box office. The number of new cinemas in Tangshan is the same as that in Shanghai.

Compared with 2019, the film consumption potential of the vast number of third-, fourth- and fourth-tier cities is being further released.

Lighthouse Professional Edition data shows that as of December 26, the national movie box office reached 53.8 billion, an increase of 80% year-on-year. Among them, the box office of third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities was 21.2 billion, accounting for 39.3%, while in 2019 this proportion was only 34.5 %. The movie consumption power of many third- and fourth-tier cities cannot be underestimated. For example, the movie box office in Luoyang, Henan this year has exceeded 210 million. It is basically the same as the second-tier city Zhuhai.

Behind the release of the film consumption potential in the sinking market is the further improvement of the film infrastructure in third- and fourth-tier cities. Data from the China Film Data Information Network shows that from January to November this year, a total of 723 theaters were built across the country, of which 385 were located in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities across the country, accounting for 53%.

Hebei leads the country in the number of new movie theaters built in sinking cities. According to data from the China Film Data Information Network, a total of 44 new cinemas were built in Hebei from January to November this year. A total of 39 of them are located in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities, ranking first in the country.

For example, Tangshan City, Hebei Province built 10 new movie theaters in the first eleven months of this year, the same number as Shanghai. Seven new movie theaters were added compared with the same period in 2022, making it the third-tier city with the most new movie theaters in the country from January to November. Baoding City, Hebei Province built 9 new cinemas from January to November this year, one more than Shenzhen.

Written by: Jiupai News reporter Fu Cong

Intern: Zhang Xinlei

Drawing: Song Danrui

[Source: Jiupai News]

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