The latest data shows that as of press time, the total box office for the 2024 "Qixi Festival" has exceeded 300 million yuan.

The reporter visited some cinemas in Shenzhen on the day of "Chinese Valentine's Day" and found that there were many elements of "Chinese Valentine's Day" and the cinemas generally seized the opportunity to attract customers.

This year's "Chinese Valentine's Day" box office has exceeded 300 million yuan

The "Qixi Festival" movie season officially begins on August 10th.

According to data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 19:30 on August 10, the total box office of the 2024 "Chinese Valentine's Day" period has exceeded 300 million yuan, with the movies "White Snake: Floating Life", "Catching Dolls", "Retrograde Life", "Negatives Make Positive", and "Decryption" ranking in the top five at the box office.

Among them, the animated film "White Snake: Floating Life" and the movie "Negatives Make Positive" starring Zhu Yilong and Qiu Tian both premiered on the day of "Chinese Valentine's Day".

The movie "Reverse Life" starring Xu Zheng and Xin Zhilei was released on the second day, and the cumulative box office exceeded 100 million yuan in two days.

The key release date of the movie "Catching Dolls" has been extended. As of press time, the film's cumulative total box office has exceeded 2.9 billion yuan.

Data from Lighthouse Professional Edition also shows that the box office on "Chinese Valentine's Day" in the past three years since 2022 has exceeded 300 million yuan.

Since the beginning of summer this year, the box office has seen a significant increase compared to before the summer.

As of 19:30 on August 10, the total box office (including pre-sales) for the 2024 summer season (June-August) has exceeded 9 billion yuan, among which "Catch the Dolls", "Silent Killer" and "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud" are temporarily ranked in the top three of the summer box office list.

The reporter visited some cinemas in Shenzhen on the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day and found that there were many elements of the Chinese Valentine's Day. Cinemas generally seized the opportunity of the Chinese Valentine's Day to attract customers, and many couples watched movies together.

A movie theater and movie posters in Shenzhen on the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day. Photo by Hu Huaxiong

A movie theater and movie posters in Shenzhen on the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day. Photo by Hu Huaxiong

Listed film and television companies are confident about the summer season

In the first half of 2024, the total box office of movies decreased year-on-year, and the total number of moviegoers also decreased year-on-year, which put pressure on the performance of some listed film and television companies. For example, Wanda Film’s 2024 semi-annual performance forecast shows that the company expects the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first half of 2024 to be 100 million to 130 million yuan, a decrease of 69.25% to 76.35% over the same period last year. Wanda Film said that in the first half of 2024, due to the insufficient supply of top films in the second quarter and the sluggish box office performance of the market, the overall recovery of the Chinese film market was less than expected. From April to June 2024, the national box office was 7.42 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 28.7%, only 58.5% of the same period in 2019; the number of moviegoers was 180 million, a year-on-year decrease of 31.2%, only 55.8% of the same period in 2019. Except for some popular periods, the box office was relatively cold on non-holidays. During the reporting period, the company's domestic cinemas achieved box office revenue of 3.13 billion yuan (excluding service fees), a year-on-year decrease of 14.5%, and the number of moviegoers was 0.75 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.3%.

The semi-annual performance forecast for 2024 disclosed by Jinyi Film and Television shows that the company expects the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the first half of 2024 to be a loss of 52.5 million to 75 million yuan, a year-on-year change from profit to loss. The company made a profit of 24.002 million yuan in the same period last year.

However, related companies generally have high hopes for the summer season. For example, Wanda Film previously stated in its semi-annual performance forecast that although the film market in the second quarter was relatively flat, with the arrival of the summer season, the market still has confidence in the continued recovery of the industry in the second half of the year. Wanda Film said at the time that in the second half of 2024, the company's film reserves were also relatively rich. The production and distribution films "Catching Dolls" and "White Snake: Floating Life" have been scheduled for July 16 and August 10, and the participating film "Silent Killing" is currently in theaters. "Under the Alien" and "Decryption" will be released on July 26 and August 3. "The Accidental Detective 3", "A Cloud Like You", "Lie Lie Lie Lie Lie Lie Lie Lie" and other films are also expected to be released this year, and the company's content performance is also expected to be further improved.