China’s Lunar New Year box office hits 6-year low as releases fall flat
China’s holiday box office fell nearly 40 per cent year on year as studios failed to find a breakout hit to match last year’s Ne Zha 2
China’s Lunar New Year box office slid to its weakest level since 2020, weighed down by the absence of major breakout films, despite the country leading global single-market takings so far this year.
Cinemas generated 5.75 billion yuan (US$831 million) over the nine-day holiday that ended on Monday, according to box-office tracker Dengta Data – a drop of nearly 40 per cent from last year’s record 9.51 billion yuan haul.
The result marked the lowest Lunar New Year takings since 2020, when Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns caused the holiday box office to plunge to 18.4 million yuan. This year’s performance also failed to reach 2018 levels, when holiday takings stood at 5.77 billion yuan.
Cinema attendance during the holiday fell 45.5 per cent from a year earlier, while average ticket prices slipped 5.9 per cent, according to Dengta Data.
The Lunar New Year has become a crucial period for China’s film industry in recent years, with studios often scheduling big-budget releases to coincide with the holiday, when hundreds of millions of workers enjoy a rare weeklong break. Last year, sales during the holiday made up nearly one-fifth of China’s total annual box office.
The motor racing-themed comedy Pegasus 3 led the pack during this year’s holiday, grossing nearly 2.93 billion yuan – 50.9 per cent of the total box office.
National security thriller Scare Out, directed by star filmmaker Zhang Yimou, and the martial arts film Blades of the Guardians ranked second and third, respectively, accounting for 15.1 per cent and 14 per cent of total takings.
“Although the number of Lunar New Year releases in 2026 hit nearly a five-year high, the season lacked a true breakout capable of sparking nationwide discussion,” Zheshang Securities said in a research note on Monday.