Maoyan: China's box office revenue surpassed 20 Billion yuan in 2020 to become world's largest movie market amid pandemic

Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, teamed up with China's leading social media platform Weibo to jointly release the 2020 China Film Market Report. The report shows that China's total box office revenue reached 20.417 billion yuan (US$3.129 billion) in 2020, making it the largest movie market in the world for the first time, amid the global industry impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 China movie market highlights:

China's annual total box office reached 20.417 billion yuan (US$3.129 billion) in 2020.

The total number of movie tickets sold in China reached 548 million in 2020.

10,700 movie theaters nationwide, roughly 94.8% of all movie theaters, had re-opened for business by the end of 2020, as the domestic COVID-19 outbreak was brought under control.

By December, the Chinese film market had recovered overall to a level of 90% year-on-year, with the monthly box office tally reaching 92%, compared to the same period in 2019.

Historical war dramas, including "The Eight Hundred" and "The Sacrifice," grossed 4.23 billion yuan in the box office, accounting for one-fifth of the total box office revenue this year.

The average number of movies watched by Chinese audiences in 2020 was 1.73, a decline from 2.88 in 2019.

Annual statistics reflect the impact of nationwide cinema closures for 178 days, which was part of an effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic cinemas began reopening on July 20, 2020.

China's film industry shows remarkable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the global movie industry in 2020. In China, movie theaters were closed nationwide during the Chinese New Year holiday in late January, in an effort to control the virus, and started gradually reopening on July 20. Fueled by the successful containment of the pandemic and pent-up moviegoer demand for the in-theater movie experience, China's box office has shown a remarkable recovery since reopening in July, overtaking North America to become the world's largest movie market in 2020.

The total box office in China was RMB20.417 billion (US$3.129 billion) in 2020, a decrease of 68.2% year-on-year and a decrease of 66.5% compared to 2018. The national box office revenue for 2020 made China the largest movie market in the world for the first year on record.

According to a mid-December preliminary estimate by The Hollywood Reporter, the North American box office is estimated to have reached $2.3 billion in revenue in 2020.

The total box office revenue since cinemas resumed operations on July 20 was 18.061 billion yuan. According to multiple indicators, by December China's film market had broadly recovered by more than 90% year-on-year, with the total box office tally reaching 92% and the total number of movie tickets sold reaching 90%, compared to the same period last year. By December, average screening attendance had reached 95% of its previous-year number, the average ticket price recovered to 103% of its previous-year price, and the number of newly released movies in December remained the same as December 2019.