China Box Office Continues to Balloon Amid Growing Tensions With U.S. | Charts

”Full River Red“ and ”The Wandering Earth 2“ helped push China’s theatrical revenues near $1.5 billion in the first month of 2023

After a down year for the second-biggest moviegoing marketplace, China’s theatrical industry may be back with or without Hollywood’s help. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” earned just $7.5 million after four days in China, but the Middle Kingdom’s two biggest Lunar New Year releases continued to soar. “The Wandering Earth 2,” a prequel to the early-2019 disaster epic, topped $518 million, while Zhang Yimou’s period-piece suspense comedy “Full River Red” sailed past $609 million.

“This is a great reminder of what the Chinese box office looks like when it’s firing on all cylinders — strong results driven by a broad, diverse offering of films across genres from local and Hollywood filmmakers alike,” IMAX China CEO Daniel Manwaring told TheWrap.

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Scott Mendelson

Before joining The Wrap, Scott Mendelson got his industry start in 2008 with a self-piloted film blog titled "Mendelson's Memos." In 2013, he was recruited to write for Forbes.com where he wrote almost exclusively for nearly a decade. In that time he published copious in-depth analytical and editorialized entertainment industry articles specializing in (but not exclusively focused upon) theatrical box office. A well-known industry pundit, Mendelson has appeared on numerous podcasts and been featured as a talking head on NPR, CNN, Fox and BBC.