Ranked second in history, the box office of the May Day holiday movies exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, and the movie starring Yang Mi announced its cancellation.

During the May Day holiday this year, the box office performance remained impressive, continuing the strong momentum since the beginning of the year.

According to the data from the Lighthouse Professional Edition, the box office of mainland Chinese films during the 2024 May Day holiday (May 1st to 5th) exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, and as of 10 pm on May 6th, the box office had reached 1.595 billion yuan. Among them, the domestic action film "Peacekeeping Riot Team" ranked first with a box office of 4.18 billion yuan, followed by the domestic comedy film "Money Spent on the Last Road" with 4.12 billion yuan, and the Hong Kong-style crime film "Siege of Kowloon Walled City" ranked third with a box office of 2.75 billion yuan.

Looking at the first-day box office of the May Day holiday, the box office reached 4.12 billion yuan, with the film "Peacekeeping Riot Team" taking the top spot on the first day with a box office of 1.36 billion yuan, accounting for 27% of the screenings. Next was "Money Spent on the Last Road" with a first-day box office of 86.4997 million yuan.

The data from the Lighthouse Professional Edition shows that since the beginning of the year, the total box office of films in national cinemas has reached 20.261 billion yuan, with a total of 460 million tickets sold and over 50 million screenings.

As of May 6th, the top ten films in the mainland Chinese box office in 2024 are "Hot and Spicy" (3.46 billion yuan), "Pegasus Life 2" (3.398 billion yuan), "The 20th Rule" (2.455 billion yuan), "Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink" (1.997 billion yuan), "The Annual Meeting Must Go On!" (1.061 billion yuan), "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: The Rise of the Empire" (947 million yuan), "What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live" (786 million yuan), "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" (666 million yuan), "Peacekeeping Riot Team" (4.18 billion yuan), and "The Golden Finger" (4.18 billion yuan).

A research report from Galaxy Securities stated that the trend of recovery in the film industry this year remains unchanged, and there is still room for continued recovery and growth in the overall film market.

Hu Jianli, the Secretary-General of the China Film Critics Association, told Time Weekly reporters that the box office performance during this year's May Day holiday is second only to the 16.73 billion yuan in the same period in 2021, making it the second highest in history. Although the response to the top films was average, it is worth noting that the films released during this year's May Day holiday are diverse in genre and have performed well, supporting the overall box office for this year's May Day holiday.

He further stated that the box office performance since the beginning of the year has shown a good trend of recovery, and the types of films released during major holiday periods this year have become more diverse, especially during the May Day holiday, which includes action films, comedies, and romantic films, satisfying the viewing needs of different audiences and benefiting the overall development of the Chinese film industry.

Box office concentrated in the top five films

Unlike the comedy films dominating the Spring Festival holiday, the films during the May Day holiday are more diverse in genre. Looking at the types of films in the top ten box office rankings, the Spring Festival holiday had seven comedy films, with the top five films all being comedies.

This year's May Day holiday, however, saw a more balanced distribution of comedy, action, and romance films, with two comedies and two action films among the top five, and one romance film. In addition to the action films "Peacekeeping Riot Team" and "Siege of Kowloon Walled City," and the comedy "Money Spent on the Last Road," there are also the comedy "Spying on the House: Code White" and the romance film "Howl's Moving Castle."

In terms of box office distribution, the top five films accounted for the vast majority of the total box office, with all five films earning over 100 million yuan. In addition to the top three films with a total box office of over 1 billion yuan, the box office for the last two films, "Spying on the House: Code White" and "Howl's Moving Castle," were 200 million yuan and 106 million yuan, respectively.

Compared to the top five films with box office earnings of over 100 million yuan, the box office for the last five films shows a significant gap. The sixth-ranked film "Nothing Can't Be Solved with Hotpot" had a box office of only 40.4122 million yuan, followed by "Traveling Across the Moon," "Boonie Bears: Interstellar Mission," and "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: The Rise of the Empire," with box office earnings of around 30 million yuan, and the tenth-ranked "Kung Fu Panda 4" with a box office of only 12.4246 million yuan.

It is worth noting that "Nothing Can't Be Solved with Hotpot" announced its withdrawal from the screening on May 5th. The film's production company stated in the announcement, "After careful assessment of the current situation, to meet the needs of more audiences, our 'Hotpot' will be withdrawn from the screening on May 6th (cinemas that have already started screenings can continue), and we will meet with everyone again at a later date."

Directed by Ding Sheng, the film stars Yang Mi, Yu Qian, Tian Yu, Yu Ailei, and Li Jiuxiao, and tells the story of four strangers who accidentally get involved in a murder case while dividing the spoils in the backstage storage room of a theater. The film was released nationwide on May 1st.

During the Spring Festival holiday this year, the films "Let's Rock the Sun Together" and "Mr. Red Carpet" were withdrawn from the screening due to lower-than-expected box office performance. However, after being re-released, only "Let's Rock the Sun Together" achieved a box office of over 200 million yuan, while "Mr. Red Carpet" still fell short of expectations, with a box office of only 94.0737 billion yuan.

Increase in the number of imported films

In addition to the outstanding performance of domestic films, there were at least six imported films during this year's May Day holiday, with four of them entering the top ten box office rankings, including "Spying on the House: Code White," "Howl's Moving Castle," "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: The Rise of the Empire," and "Kung Fu Panda 4." In the top ten box office rankings for the same period last year, there were no imported films.

The data from the Lighthouse Professional Edition shows that since the beginning of 2024, the number of imported films has exceeded 18, with "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: The Rise of the Empire" and "What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live" currently ranking as the top two imported films, with box office earnings of 9.47 billion yuan and 7.86 billion yuan, respectively.

According to the ratings, "Spy Pies: Code White" and "Howl's Moving Castle" are at the top, both receiving a score of 9.6 from Taopiaopiao. "Spy Pies: Code White" broke the record for the highest box office for an animated film during the May Day holiday in Chinese film history, as well as the single-day box office record for an animated film during the May Day holiday in Chinese film history. "Howl's Moving Castle" also broke the record for the highest box office for a fantasy film during the May Day holiday in Chinese film history.

"Spy Pies: Code White" combines elements of espionage, superpowers, and family warmth, creating a unique and outstanding performance. The film was released on April 30th, and the first-day box office reached 35.248 million yuan. "Howl's Moving Castle" is adapted from the children's novel "Howl's Moving Castle" by British author Diana Wynne Jones. It was also released on April 30th, with a first-day box office of 17.929 million yuan.

Hu Jianli stated that since last year, China's imported films have been basically synchronized with the world, and excellent films from other countries can enter China at the same time. However, from the box office perspective, domestic films have been more popular in recent years, and people are gradually losing interest in imported films. But when encountering high-quality films, the box office performance will still be significant, such as Hayao Miyazaki's "How Do You Live?", which has reached a box office of 786 million yuan so far.

He further stated that it is precisely because the overall performance of imported films last year was poor, leading to the overall box office in China not surpassing the total box office in 2019. A healthy film market must be dominated by domestic films, supplemented by imported films, with each accounting for a certain proportion. The box office share of imported films was relatively small last year, and it is hoped that the box office performance of imported films this year will drive the accelerated development of the entire film market.