{"id":2040,"date":"2023-10-16T01:11:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T01:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/business\/chinas-movie-theaters-thrive-as-economic-gloom-descends-hollywood-is-missing-out\/"},"modified":"2023-10-16T01:11:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T01:11:40","slug":"chinas-movie-theaters-thrive-as-economic-gloom-descends-hollywood-is-missing-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2040","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s movie theaters thrive as economic gloom descends. Hollywood is missing out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n Editor\u2019s Note: <\/b>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Meanwhile in China newsletter which explores what you need to know about the country\u2019s rise and how it impacts the world.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n China\u2019s economy may be in the doldrums, but its movie theaters have enjoyed a record-breaking few months as young women flocked to see home-grown films.\n <\/p>\n

\n Box office receipts totaled 23.44 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) between June and September, the highest amount for that period in history, according to data from Dengta and Maoyan, China\u2019s two major box office tracking apps.\n <\/p>\n

\n The boom was mainly thanks to a red hot summer. Ticket sales for the traditional high season between June and August soared to a record 20.6 yuan ($2.8 billion), smashing the previous summer peak of 17.8 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) recorded in 2019.\n <\/p>\n

\n More than 570 million people flocked to cinemas in the past four months, and most of them were women.\n <\/p>\n

\n For the top five movies, 61% of the viewers were women, the highest percentage on record, according to Dengta, which is backed by Alibaba (BABA). About half of the viewers were between 20 and 29 years old.\n <\/p>\n

\n The box office record is a rare bright spot in China\u2019s economy, which has lost momentum after an initial rebound when consumers emerged from three years of draconian Covid-19 curbs. History shows that movies tend to thrive during tough economic times, as they offer escapism for a relatively small price, analysts said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cConsumption is way down [in China] for things like housing or cars,\u201d said Stanley Rosen, a professor of political science and international relations at USC\u2019s US-China Institute.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBut they can afford to go to the movies. And that takes your mind off some of the depression,\u201d he said.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n China\u2019s gross domestic product grew just 0.8% in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months. The all-important property market, where Chinese households store 80% of their wealth, has continued its slump. And people are hoarding cash amid rising uncertainty about the future.\n <\/p>\n

\n Rosen drew an analogy between the situation in China and the United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s, when the Americans also \u201chad no money,\u201d but box office takings were tremendous for films featuring stars like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.\n <\/p>\n

\n While \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cOppenheimer\u201d have dominated the global box office in recent months, the most popular movies in China were all homegrown films: crime thriller \u201cNo More Bets,\u201d romantic mystery \u201cLost in the Stars\u201d and epic fantasy \u201cCreation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Perry Peng, a 23-year-old gallery assistant in Shanghai and a cinephile, says she\u2019s been \u201camazed\u201d by the quality of Chinese films she\u2019s seen over the summer.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not seen such excellent domestic movies for a long time. We are surprised they can be that good,\u201d she said, adding that she\u2019s also enjoyed \u201cOppenheimer\u201d and \u201cBarbie,\u201d which was distributed by Warner Bros, like CNN part of WarnerBros. Discovery.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her favorite this year was \u201cCreation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,\u201d a martial <\/strong>arts <\/strong>fantasy based on 16th century Chinese fiction.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a big fan of American and European movies,\u201d Peng said. \u201cBut I suddenly felt China seemed to have its own Lord of the Rings.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n She says that her generation, born after 2000, has increasingly become the \u201cmain force of consumption.\u201d And there has been a shift in what and how they consume.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe want to live in the moment, not thinking about the future,\u201d Peng said. \u201cSome of us don\u2019t even want to make social security payments. We just want to enjoy life while we can and seize the day.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pency Peng, Perry\u2019s sister who works in the finance industry in Hong Kong, said movies are cheap and allow her to forget about her troubles even if just for a little while.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThings like houses and cars are really too far away for us, or it feels like they are something that\u2019s beyond our control,\u201d she said. \u201cOur lives are already so miserable, why can\u2019t we enjoy things that make us happy?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The sisters live in some of China\u2019s most cosmopolitan cities, but analysts say it is the audiences in smaller cities and towns that have grown the most this year.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe economy is in trouble,\u201d said Xuguang Chen, a professor at the School of Arts at Peking University. \u201cFrom the consumer\u2019s point of view, going to a movie is more suitable for the consumption of low- and middle-income audiences.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The improved quality and range of movies offered this summer have helped, Chen said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNo More Bets,\u201d the biggest summer money maker with 3.52 billion yuan ($480 million) in sales, has an anti-fraud theme that resonated with lower-income audiences, he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n That China\u2019s recent box office boom has been driven by women is surprising given the gender imbalance in the country. The ratio of men to women was 104.7 to 100, according to 2022 statistics.\n <\/p>\n

\n The highest percentage of women viewers \u2014 67% \u2014 was recorded by \u201cLost in the Stars,\u201d which had a feminist message and reflected real-life events.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMen may outnumber women in China, but the latter group\u2019s increasing spending power justifies further investment aimed at serving them,\u201d Kevin Tran, a senior analyst at Morning Consult, wrote in a report last month.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWith Hollywood currently struggling to reclaim the box office dominance in China it previously relied on, studios would benefit from appealing more to the country\u2019s women,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n So far this year, American films accounted for only about 14% of China\u2019s box office, the second largest in the world, according to CNN calculations based on Dengta data. If that trend persists until the end of 2023, it would mark Hollywood\u2019s lowest annual share in more than a decade, excluding the pandemic years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hollywood\u2019s share has gradually fallen in recent years due to tightening censorship, worsening bilateral relations, rising nationalist sentiment fueled by state propaganda as well as competition from locally produced films.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tran said international studios <\/strong>should consider targeting Chinese women more heavily in marketing campaigns for romantic comedies, musicals and other genres they favor.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn the year ahead, some studios may become more bullish on catering to female moviegoers given that fewer women in China are marrying, likely leaving them with more time for leisure activities like moviegoing,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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