Hollywood movie box office growth in mainland China is only 1.7%. Is it because audiences have become picky?

China's imported films are up 34% at the box office this year, while Hollywood films are up only 1.7%. Hollywood is also putting pressure on Beijing to increase the number of Hollywood films to 50 a year and to increase its share to nearly 40%.

Hong Kong media said that Hollywood films no longer seem to be popular due to the slowdown in the growth of China's box office revenue. China's imported films are up 34% at the box office this year, while Hollywood films are up only 1.7%.

quoting statistics from Beijing-based research firm Yien Consulting on July 18, the box office of imported films has increased 34 percent this year, to about $2.3 billion. But Hollywood is in a difficult situation in China. Statistics show that in the first half of this year, 24 Hollywood films were released in Chinese cinemas, grossing $1.76 billion at the box office, an annual increase of only 1.7 per cent.

reported that some analysts believe that there are four reasons:

1. China's overall economic growth has slowed, and the overall box office revenue has also slowed down, with an annual growth rate of 2% in the first half of this year, which is far lower than before.

II. Films from other countries are occupying a bigger market in China. Among them, the Indian Bollywood drama "Wrestling, Dad!" It achieved a box office record of more than 1 billion yuan in the mainland.

III. Chinese moviegoers are becoming more and more picky and demanding more and more for film quality. The quality of Hollywood blockbusters is declining, and audiences are tired of genres that appeal to special effects.

4. Online cinema service is hitting the cinema line. According to Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm, more than 80 million people in China now pay to watch online movies, a year-on-year increase of 32%.

reported that some analysts predict that Hollywood films may re-emerge in the Chinese market in the second half of the year.

last week, Universal Pictures" stole Daddy 3 "grossed $66 million (450 million yuan) at the box office in its first weekend.

reported that Hollywood is also putting pressure on Beijing to relax restrictions on imported films, to increase the annual production of Hollywood films to 50, and to increase the share to nearly 40%. Some studios are also suspected of underreporting the box office in China and are auditing box office receipts from Chinese films.

reported that under the film trade agreement reached in 2012, China allows 34 foreign films to be released in China each year, and Hollywood studios earn 25% of the box office revenue of these films.

however, it is pointed out that negotiations between China and the United States on revising the terms of the film may be delayed until next year. It remains to be seen whether Hollywood films can pull out of the doldrums.

Edit: mary