China's movie box office growth slows, replacing the United States as the world's largest film market, and its pace is blocked

Although China's money and movie fans are reshaping Hollywood, box office growth in China's films is slowing, hindering its efforts to replace the United States as the world's largest film market.

Original title: Will China replace the United States as the world's largest film market? Not so fast

Although China's money and movie fans are reshaping Hollywood, box office growth in China's movies is slowing, hindering its efforts to replace the United States as the world's largest film market.

As the economy slows, China's box office growth declined in the first six months of this year. Part of the reason is that this year there are few crazy discounts that were common last year. Online platforms have launched large discount movie tickets in order to compete for a place, boosting box office revenue last year to surge by 50% compared with the previous year. But this year's boom has cooled down as some big players have gained relatively stable market shares.

Lou Xiaoqing, who runs eight movie theaters in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, said discounts have made people accustomed to the idea that movie tickets should not cost more than 10 yuan. But this summer, few movie tickets sell for less than $7. This has stopped some potential moviegoers."Now that the discounts are gone, some people simply don't come." Lou said that the price war has overdrawn the China film market.

According to official statistics this month, China's cinema revenue rose 20% year-on-year in the first half of this year to nearly 24.6 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion). But this was the lowest increase in five years and was also lower than the approximately US$5.56 billion in the United States over the same period. Although the monthly box office sales of China theaters set a record during the Spring Festival in February, surpassing the North American market, China's film market has still slowed down.

Part of the competition for audiences has turned to the content of the film. There is no doubt that China is firmly on the path of leading global box office competition. But reaching that milestone may depend on the quality and marketing of the film itself.

As the discount boom ends, another factor that appears to be slowing the momentum of the China film market is that fast-building theaters are approaching saturation. A survey released last month showed that cinemas have covered most densely populated areas across China. Box office revenue from new theaters this year is expected to account for 20% of total box office revenue for the year, down from 33% in 2013.

Most of the new cinemas are subsidized by the government and are built in underdeveloped areas. Families in these areas are spending less on entertainment as they are hit by the economic slowdown. Lou said,"It is often possible to see parents who only buy tickets for their children in order to save money, while they themselves wait outside the theater."

Editor: Nancy