Hollywood: China to become world’s top film market as box office makes $7.9bn
China is set to become the largest cinema market judging by recent ticket sales, Hollywood has announced.
Cinema ticket sales in China overtook the US and Canada this year.
Globally, box office sales for cinemas reached a record high of $40.6bn in 2017, despite a reduction in sales across US-Canada.
This is according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which also stated that ticket sales globally have risen by 5% since 2016.
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What, then, brought the global figures up with a decline in such huge market? This was largely down to China, which was part of a 7% increase in overseas box office takings.
Across the world, China accounted for $7.9bn worth of ticket sales for 2017, in comparison with US-Canada which totalled just $11.1bn, marking a 2% reduction since last year despite the average ticket price having increased by 4%, which suggests actual ticket sale numbers were even lower.
Meanwhile, in February China broke the world monthly record for box office sales, with takings totalling $1.57bn.
This record had previously been held by America, which it gained in July 2011, the month which marked the release of the final Harry Potter and Transformers films, making it somewhat of an anomaly.
For China in February, a key blockbuster was Operation Red Sea, directed by Dante Lam who is from Hong Kong, which was released to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the 19th Communist Party National Congress. Perhaps, then, Hollywood needs to produce more Chinese patriotic films to continue to boost global ticket sales. In addition, February marked China’s Spring Festival, which will also have contributed to the record month.
MPAA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin stated: “With more stories and more storytelling mediums than ever, our industry continues to adapt to an ever changing world… the global entertainment market is expanding on multiple fronts, constantly innovating to deliver an unparalleled experience to audiences worldwide.”
