Cinema in China

2023: Top 10 highest-grossing films in China again have no Hollywood films

In the top 10 highest-grossing films in China at the end of 2023, there were no Hollywood films again. The same situation was in 2020, but it was associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The most popular films among the Chinese in 2023 became known at the end of January 2024.

According to Vedomosti, citing data from the largest Chinese ticket website Maoyan, the two largest Hollywood projects of 2023, Oppenheimer and Barbie, could not enter the top 30 box office hits in China. Instead, the top 10 was occupied exclusively by domestic films.

There were no Hollywood films in the top 10 highest-grossing films again

The leader was the action-packed comedy "Full Red River" from director Zhang Yimou, followed by the science fiction prequel "Wandering Earth - 2" and the crime drama "There Are No More Bets." After going through strict censorship, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" failed to compete with Chinese films. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer raised about $55 million, while Barbie stopped at $25 million.

According to estimates by the State Film Administration of the PRC, the total box office in the country in 2023 reached 54.91 billion yuan ($7.75 billion), which is the highest figure since 2019. The most successful foreign film was Fast and Furious 10, taking 12th place at the box office with 980 million yuan ($136 million). The New York Times emphasizes that this franchise remains the "only bright spot" of American cinema in the hearts of Chinese viewers - Fast and Furious 9 also hit the top 5 at the box office in 2021.

Experts interviewed by the publication believe that Chinese viewers simply ceased to be interested in Hollywood paintings. For 12 years, representatives of the local film industry have learned to shoot quite good films that attract the attention of viewers.^[1]

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