China\u2019s latest box-office numbers may be an indication of what consumers \u2014 who have snapped shut their wallets during a new era of weaker Chinese economic growth \u2014 are willing to spend on.<\/p>\n
Summer box-office receipts across the country have hit an all-time seasonal high of 17.8 billion yuan ($2.4 billion), according to the China Film Administration \u2014 with a week to go in the three-month period spanning from June 1 to Aug. 31.<\/p>\n
\n
Before the coronavirus pandemic began in the country, China\u2019s film industry was on a steady upward course, finally outpacing the U.S. in 2019 as the world\u2019s largest film market by revenue. It was a seismic moment for Hollywood, which had dominated global sales for decades.<\/p>\n
But China lost its fledgling crown in 2022, when the country went into draconian lockdowns, quashing even tiny virus outbreaks with citywide stay-at-home orders and requiring tedious health certificates to enter public places. Cinemas were closed or capacity-limited.<\/p>\n
But if this summer\u2019s ticket sales are any indicator, the country may be well on its way to overtaking the U.S. again.<\/p>\n
What makes all this surprising to both film and financial observers is that China is experiencing an unexpectedly weak economic rebound since its economy reopened last year. One of the most worrisome of the many struggling areas of its economy is consumer spending.<\/p>\n
Citizens, concerned about a crumbling housing market and uncertainty in the broader economy, have been hoarding cash in the event of unexpected turmoil. Retail sales \u2014 a gauge of consumer spending \u2014 which is reported monthly by the government, has come in below economists\u2019 forecasts nearly every month this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe economy is bad, property is bad, COVID came out of nowhere,\u201d retiree Fu Lixing, 64, a resident of central Jiangxi province, told MarketWatch. \u201cWe need to be prepared,\u201d he said of his family\u2019s decision to rein in discretionary spending.<\/p>\n
The record-breaking cinema summer is notable beyond the fact that most other consumer spending is down.<\/p>\n
A major factor of note is that Hollywood hits \u2014 long favorites of Chinese filmgoers \u2014 are being vastly overshadowed by domestic blockbusters.<\/p>\n
The mystery thriller \u201cLost in the Stars,\u201d filmed in what Chinese critics have called a \u201cHitchcock\u201d style, is currently the third-highest-grossing film of the year and the summer leader.<\/p>\n
Despite the film\u2019s success \u2014 it is on pace to make 4 million yuan ($550 million) this summer \u2014 it holds a relatively poor rating on Douban, China\u2019s most popular movie-review website.<\/p>\n
But the biggest explosion on the silver screen this summer has been \u201cNo More Bets,\u201d which has made 3 million yuan ($412 million) in a mere two weeks. Chinese critics have said the success of the film \u2014 also poorly reviewed \u2014 is due largely to the leading role of Zhang Yixing, the only Chinese member of South Korean boy-band sensation Exo.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s topic, cybercrime, has also been a draw for many young Chinese, who find the fast-paced tech theme appealing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like online crime,\u201d said Li Zheng, an unemployed 28-year-old Beijing resident who told MarketWatch that he paid for his ticket with Alipay\u2019s credit-lending function. \u201cI mean,\u201d he clarified, \u201cI like watching<\/em> online crime in movies.\u201d<\/p>\nAnother notable trend among this season\u2019s film successes is that they have not been spectacles or superhero blockbusters. Even more remarkable, they have dominated Hollywood flicks that have reaped millions at home in the States.<\/p>\n
\u201cMission Impossible: Dead Reckoning,\u201d starring Tom Cruise, and \u201cBarbie,\u201d which has grossed $1.3 billion worldwide in its one month in theaters, are ranked 12th and 18th in China for the year, respectively.<\/p>\n
Possible explanations for the record movie summer could include a different breaking of records in China. Temperatures in China shattered records throughout the summer and drove people indoors. In June, Beijing witnessed its second-hottest reading ever, at 106\u00ba Fahrenheit (41.1\u00ba Celsius), while a town in the country\u2019s west, Sanbao, recorded China\u2019s all-time hottest temperature ever \u2014 126\u00ba Fahrenheit (52.2\u00ba Celsius).<\/p>\n
According to multiple people interviewed for this story, hitting the cinema is one of the few activities that Chinese eager to get out of their apartments after COVID lockdowns can comfortably engage in. Alex Hu, an undergraduate student in Shanghai, said he regularly strolls the city\u2019s enormous malls \u2014 which all house movie theaters \u2014 for their air conditioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen two movies this summer just getting out of the heat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tanner Brown covers China for MarketWatch and Barron\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\nMore dispatches from Tanner Brown:<\/strong><\/p>\nChina\u2019s youth job market is a nightmare. It\u2019s changing the face of the country.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s property woes offer a window into the demise of the country\u2019s boom times<\/p>\n
China is not only asserting itself geopolitically but openly questioning the U.S.\u2019s central role on the world stage<\/p>\n
American views of China have plummeted in recent years. Here\u2019s what the Chinese think of the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China\u2019s latest box-office numbers may be an indication of what consumers \u2014 who have snapped shut their wallets during a new era of weaker Chinese economic growth \u2014 are willing to spend on. Summer box-office receipts across the country have hit an all-time seasonal high of 17.8 billion yuan ($2.4 billion), according to the China […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-51918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\n
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