In 2015, the surge in moviegoers in China made the Asian giant the second-largest film market in the world. With box office receipts jumping by 50 percent to $6.78 billion, many believe by 2017, China would topple the U.S. and Canada as the biggest movie market.
However, on the fourth quarter of 2016, doubts surface if China would overtake the U.S. next year and become the world’s largest film market. The doubts were caused by a 10 percent drop in ticket sales the past six months compared to the same period in 2015, LA Times reported.
While Chinese businessmen, such as the Dalian Wanda Group, keep on constructing cinemas at a fast pace in anticipation of a larger movie audience base, movie ticket receipts slowed down. Some movie fans say they watch less movies now since the excitement of watching both local and foreign films has died down.
Among the explanation of experts in the drop in moviegoers are the weak film lineup, lack of discounts from online ticket sellers and more government scrutiny of fake box office numbers. Rob Cai, a producer and veteran studio consultant on China, explained the lesser appetite of Chinese to watch movies to the audience getting tired of paying good money for bad films.
Since January up Oct. 23, total box office receipts reached $5.6 billion or 38.26 billion yuan. With barely two months left, there are chances the 2016 goal of $8.9 billion or 60 billion yuan total box office receipts would not be reached, The Beijinger noted.
Beyond the numbers, there are discussions if the 25 percent quota of foreign films has been reached since total number of imported movies is at 38 exhibited since January 2016. The quota was set in 2012 when China inked a five-year agreement with the World Trade Organization. A second round of negotiations is expected to be held in February 2017.