Maoyan: Domestic Movies Took 64% of China's Box Office Revenues in 2019

BEIJING, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, released its 2019 China Film Market Report. The report showed that as China's total box office increased by 5.4% to reach a record high of RMB64.266 billion (US$9.2 billion) in 2019, domestic movies took 64.1% of the market.

With the box office in North America declining by 4.8% last year, according to data from Box Office Mojo, China further narrowed the gap in box office revenues with the North American market.

2019 China film market highlights:

• The total box office in China reached a record high of RMB64.266 billion (US$9.2 billion) in 2019, up 5.4% over 2018.
• Of the total box office in 2019, 64.1% was generated by domestic movies and 35.9% came from imported movies.
• The total number of movie tickets sold last year reached 1.727 billion in China, a slight increase of 0.5% over the previous year.
• Six movies grossed more than RMB2 billion in box office in 2019, accounting for 36.9% of total revenue.
• The average age for movie attendees reached 29 in 2019, and the population with age 25 to 34 accounted for more than half of all moviegoers in China.

Record year for China's box office

China' box office hit a record high of RMB64.266 billion (US $9.2 billion) in 2019, up 5.4% year-over-year. The box office in North America declined by 4.8% in 2019, according to data from Box Office Mojo. The gap in box office between China and North America further narrowed in 2019.

Of 551 films released in China last year, 77.7% were domestic movies and 22.3% were imported. In term of box office revenues, domestic movies accounted for 64.1% and 35.9% for imported movies.

Total movie tickets sold in 2019 increased slightly to 1.727 billion. Nearly 50% of tickets were sold during the four movie seasons (Spring Festival, summer, the National Day holiday, and the New Year holiday).

Tier-4 cities became a key contributor to the total box office growth in China, and took a larger share of the market in 2019.

Content is key for box office success

Blockbuster movies were taking an increasing share in the box office. Six movies grossed more than RMB2 billion in box office in 2019, accounting for 36.9% of the total revenue.

Movies with rating above 9 on Maoyan platform accounted for 65.3% of the total box office revenues in 2019. Among top 20 grossing movies in 2019, domestic movies were rated higher than imported titles.

Among the top 10 movies in 2019, eight were Chinese films and only two were imported, including "Avengers: Endgame" (No.3, RMB4.25 billion) and "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" (No.10, RMB1.43 billion). "Avengers: Endgame" is the only imported movie that ranked among the top 10 highest-grossing movies in China of all time.

In 2019, 14 new installments of Hollywood franchises were released in China. Only six performed better than their predecessors at the box office. 

For imported buyout films in 2019, the top three highest-grossing movies were "Spirited Away" (Japan, RMB488 million), "Green Book" (US, RMB478 million), "Capernaum" (Lebanon/French/US, RMB 374 million). Six imported Japanese animation movies brought in more than RMB100 million in China last year.

Over half of moviegoers between ages 25 to 34

The average age of movie attendees reached 29 in 2019. The population with age 25 to 34 accounted for more than half of all moviegoers in China.

The average number of movies the Chinese audience saw in 2019 was 2.88, down from 3.06 in 2018. Nearly half of moviegoers saw movies only once in 2019.

More than 84% of all movie tickets were sold online in 2019 in China, keeping stable from the level in 2018.

The cinema screens in China increased by 9,708 to reach 69,787 in 2019.

About Maoyan Entertainment

Maoyan Entertainment (Hong Kong: 1896) is a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China. Since its inception, Maoyan has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider to an innovative one-stop platform for entertainment services. Maoyan has a comprehensive strategy to become a leading platform servicing the entire entertainment industry in China. The upgraded strategy is supported by five key platform pillars: online ticketing platform, products and services platform, data platform, marketing platform, and funding platform.

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Jeff Pei
ICR Inc.
Email: Jianfeng.Pei@icrinc.com 
Tel: +86 (10) 6583 7514