According to the China Movie Data Information Network, China Box Office passed the 60 billion RMB (approximately $8.6 billion) mark on December 6.
Compared with 2018, China met the box office target of 60 billion RMB 24 days faster. In 2018, the Chinese general box office for the entire 12-month period stood at 60.98 billion yuan ($8.67 billion).
According to the data from Ent Group, in total 80 films crossed the 100 million RMB mark in 2019, and 41 of them are local productions. Among them, 15 films crossed the one billion mark in 2019, and 10 of them are local films. The 5 top-grossing films of the year are: Ne Zha, The Wandering Earth, Avengers: Endgame, My People My Country, and "The Captain".
The global phenomenon from Marvel
National Day holiday blockbusters My People, My Country and The Captain were in the fourth and fifth place on the list, earning 2.98 million yuan ($42 million) and 2.86 million yuan ($41 million) respectively.
According to Ent group, films based on true stories are increasingly favored by Chinese audiences. My People, My Country, though dedicated to the National Day celebrations, focuses on the life of the ordinary people, their happiness and their sorrows, over the past 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
According to a report by PwC, experts predict that by 2020, China will be the world's largest cinema market, with box office revenue expected to jump from $9.9 billion in 2018 to $15.5 billion by 2023.
In the first quarter of 2018, for the first time in history, China surpassed the U.S. in box office revenue. Meanwhile, as compared to the record in 2018, U.S. box office is expected to decline this year.
For this reason, Hollywood is increasingly keeping the Chinese market in mind during its productions. According to PwC, more than a third of China's highest grossing films over the last two years were made in the U.S. The trend has created a surge in collaborations between Hollywood and China in recent years.
