China’s extended “super golden week” holiday saw cinemas’ box-office revenues slump compared to last year’s National Day break, but nationwide takings since the start of the year have already exceeded the total for all of 2024.
According to box-office tracker Dengta Data, cinemas raked in 1.83 billion yuan (US$257 million) during the eight-day holiday, which ended on Wednesday. That was the second-lowest total since 2017 and down from the 2.1 billion yuan reported for the regular seven-day National Day holiday last year.
The National Day holiday – extended this year because Monday’s Mid-Autumn Festival coincided with the golden week – is traditionally China’s second most lucrative film season, trailing only the weeklong Spring Festival or Lunar New Year period.
Major releases are typically timed for the two long holidays in an effort to capture higher audience turnout and spending. Annual National Day box-office revenue peaked at 5 billion yuan in 2019.
An increase in screenings, lower ticket prices and an extra day off were not enough to entice film-goers to turn out in greater numbers. Total screenings were up 12 per cent year on year to 3.65 million, while the average ticket cost 36.6 yuan – 3.8 yuan less than last year.
