Recent Hollywood blockbusters such as "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" failed to impress at the Chinese box office. (Photo : Getty Images)
The head of Asia's biggest theater chain said on Monday that China's box office will continue to grow despite sluggish sales last year.
John Zeng, president and board director at Wanda Cinemas, told a crowd of theater owners and studio executives that the Chinese box office forecast shows an increase between 15 percent and 20 percent annually due to new theater construction and a growing audience of young cinemagoers.
"The Chinese market is still strong," Zeng said through a translator at CinemaCon, the annual industry trade show in Las Vegas. He did, however, note that in order for the market to be better it must have the right content.
China's cinema sector grew just under 4 percent, a steep drop after years of growth averaging at 35 percent annually. Zeng attributed this to foreign movies making their way to China are not as compelling and that tastes of Chinese viewers differ from those in the United States.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Finding Dory" were the biggest hits in the U.S. last year, but their box office returns in China paled in comparison, according to a report from Variety. In contrast, "Warcraft," one of China's top grossing films with $220.8 million, bombed at American theaters with just $47.4 million.
Zeng said that animated movies were not as popular in China as they are abroad, and noted that Chinese viewers lean more towards special-effects-heavy action films
Hollywood studios have long been worried that younger generations aren't as interested in going to movie theaters due to the rise of streaming services and big-budget television shows. But the situation is different in China, where younger consumers are driving ticket sales, Variety reported.
Zeng said that 71 percent of Chinese movie tickets were purchased by moviegoers aged 18-39, while in the U.S. the demographic represents only 47 percent of moviegoers.
Zeng's remarks were paired with a presentation by Andrew Cripps, president of 20th Century Fox International. Cripps said that the U.S. box office is surging on a wave of hits, including Fox's recent blockbuster "Logan," but warned of the increasing costs of making and marketing movies to increased competition in attracting attention from consumers.
"Audiences are faced with a proliferation of choices . . . and cinema is just one choice out of many," said Cripps.
