The most successful movies of all time in China 2024
As of November 28, 2024, The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) was the highest-grossing movie of all time in China. The three-hour Chinese blockbuster was also the most expensive film ever made to date in the country. Avengers: Endgame (2019) was the only foreign film in the top ten ranking. The Marvel superhero film generated a total box office revenue of over 4.25 billion yuan in China. In recent years, the country has invested a great deal of its resources in film making and distribution.
China’s homemade blockbusters
China remains a significant share in global's cinema market. Similar to other leading cinema markets in the world, China’s film industry primarily produces feature films. Sci-fi movies were considered the most undersupplied genre among Chinese audience. The Wandering Earth received much critical acclaim as one of China’s most stunning sci-fi productions, grossing about 4.7 billion yuan in box office revenue. Critics lauded it as China’s answer to Hollywood productions such as Interstellar and Gravity.
Foreign film market in China
Foreign films often face a strict censorship by the Chinese authorities. Hollywood productions, like Avatar, Deadpool, The Da Vinci Code, were banned because of sensitive topics or conveying ideologies contradictory to traditional Chinese values. Although more overseas filmmakers are trying to avoid content considered unfavorable by the Chinese government, the market share of imported movies in terms of movie screenings has remained below 30 percent since 2015. In terms of box office revenues, foreign enterprises made up less than 17 percent of the total revenue since 2020. In 2023, none of the Hollywood movies could earn over one billion yuan in box office revenue in the Chinese market.
