00:00 People have been flocking to cinemas in China over the New Year.
00:04 Box-offs cheaped more than $200 million over the three-day holiday,
00:09 a record high topping off a year of post-COVID recovery.
00:13 Total ticket sales for 2023 were nearly $8 billion,
00:17 the fourth biggest year ever,
00:19 and domestic productions accounted for over 80% of the takings.
00:23 And domestic titles dominated the top 10 most popular films.
00:28 The comedy "Full River Red" was the biggest movie of 2023,
00:33 and that was followed by sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth II"
00:37 and crime drama "No More Bits".
00:39 While crime suspense drama "Lost in the Stars"
00:42 and the fantasy epic "Creation of the Gods I - Kingdom of Storms"
00:46 came in fourth and fifth.
00:48 I've been speaking to Lin Ling, presenter of The Vibe on CGCN.
00:52 Well, certainly in 2023, China's film market has shown remarkable resilience and growth.
01:00 And coming out of the pandemic,
01:02 people are eager to go back to the cinema and catch a good movie.
01:06 So this movie watching thing has become a lifestyle for them.
01:10 But the driving factor behind this robust growth
01:14 is closely associated with the strong showing of the Chinese production.
01:19 So if we take a look at the top 10 grossing films,
01:22 they were all produced by the Chinese market.
01:25 And we can see a good number of young filmmakers,
01:30 actors, new actors coming onto the scene and screenwriters.
01:34 And their works are really showing this strong potential and high promises.
01:40 For instance, like director Shen Ao's summer box office champion "No More Bits",
01:45 it delved into issues of cyber fraud.
01:48 And then you have the animated film "Chang'an",
01:52 which struck a chord with the young and old
01:55 through renditions of Tang Dynasty poems,
01:57 which are familiar to most Chinese.
01:59 And then you also have "Born to Fly",
02:02 which is a dramatic depictions of these Chinese elite pilots testing out new fighter jets.
02:08 So these compelling stories by the young Chinese filmmakers
02:12 have really proven themselves with high quality and compelling storytelling
02:18 and popularity with the Chinese audience.
02:21 So China is one of the largest markets for Hollywood's blockbusters yet.
02:26 Last year, the top 10 box office movies were all Chinese domestic films.
02:30 So is the taste of Chinese moviegoers changing
02:33 or will we see more cooperation between China and other countries?
02:38 Right, we're certainly seeing a shift in preference
02:42 because all the top 10 grossing films last year were all domestically produced.
02:46 Because Chinese audience, they're looking for more relatable contents now
02:52 that are Chinese culture-based and then that resonate with their emotions.
02:57 And so like, it's not saying that Hollywood movies
03:01 are no longer appealing to the Chinese audience
03:03 because for instance, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer"
03:05 still did pretty successfully in the Chinese market last year.
03:10 But they're really looking for original content
03:14 and then creative way of storytelling.
03:16 And this has, I mean, the Chinese filmmakers have proven to be successful
03:21 in this realm in the last year, in 2023.
03:24 And what can we expect in 2024?
03:29 Well, we'll certainly see more, I guess, like with the new year,
03:35 we kicked off the new year with a really strong start in the box office.
03:40 I believe the Chinese box office has 4 to 250 million US dollar
03:46 in the first three day of the New Year holiday period.
03:49 So I believe we'll continue with our strong growth and innovation.
03:55 And people are really looking forward to the 2024 Spring Festival lineup.
04:00 And we'll certainly see more international collaborations
04:04 between Chinese filmmakers and international filmmakers
04:08 because last year we hosted quite a bit of like cinematic exchanges,
04:12 for instance, the inaugural Golden Panda Awards.
04:15 And then we hosted Chinese film festivals in Nigeria, Kenya,
04:20 South Africa, and in Russia.
04:22 So yeah, it'll be quite an exciting year for the Chinese film industry in 2024.
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