Maoyan: China's Box Office Revenue Surpassed RMB20 Billion in 2020 to Become World's Largest Movie Market Amid Pandemic

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Jan 04, 2021, 05:19 ET

BEIJING, Jan. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 RMB20.417 billion (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 RMB20.417 billion (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 RMB4.23 billion 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 RMB18.061 billion. 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.

Box office revenue peak seasons: summer (July 20 – August 31), National Day holiday (October 1 – 8) and year end (November 27 – December 31), contributed 57.8% of total box office revenue in 2020.

Breakdown of box office revenue by peak seasons in 2020
	Box office revenue (RMB)	Percentage of 2020 total box office revenue
Summer (July 20 – August 31)	3.616 billion	17.8%
National Day holiday (October 1 – 8)	3.967 billion	19.5%
Year End (November 27 – December 31)	4.16 billion	20.5%

Historical war dramas, including "The Eight Hundred" and "The Sacrifice," made a significant contribution to the movie market recovery in 2020. The two titles combined grossed RMB4.23 billion at the box office, accounting for one-fifth of the total revenue this year.

Movies with an average rating of over nine on Maoyan's platform accounted for 59.5% of the total box office revenue in 2020, down from 65.3% in 2019, indicating that ratings were not the key driver of box office success in 2020. Feel-good genres like historical war dramas, comedy and romance were the most popular genres in 2020.

Breakdown of box office by Maoyan rating 2017-2019 (scored out of 10)
	Under 8	8-8.5	8.5-9	Above 9
2017	18.8%	16.3%	27.8%	37.2%
2018	10.0%	19.6%	22.9%	47.5%
2019	7.0%	5.1%	22.6%	65.3%
2020	8.7%	19.7%	12.2%	59.5%

Cinemas reduced non-prime time screenings to control operational costs

A total of 10,700 cinemas, about 94.8% of all cinemas nationwide, held 56.57 million screenings in 2020. Since reopening in July, cinemas increased the portion of screenings in the prime time slot of 18:00 - 21:00 to 26.6%, up from 24.3% in the same period last year. Accordingly, the box office revenue generated from prime time screenings since the July reopening accounted for 39.3% of the total revenue, up from 37.6% in the same period last year.

Percentage of screenings
in prime time

Percentage of box revenue
generated in prime time

2019

(July 20 – December 31)

24.3%

37.6%

2020

(July 20 – December 31)

26.6%

39.3%

Foreign films only accounted for 16.3% of China's total box office revenue in 2020

83.7% of China's total box office revenue in 2020 was generated by domestic movies, with only 16.3% generated by foreign movies, down from 35.9% in 2019. Foreign movies made a larger contribution to the early stage movie market recovery and reopening in July, but domestic films have since dominated.

Breakdown of box office revenue 2018-2020
	Domestic movies	Foreign movies
2018	61.9%	38.0%
2019	64.1%	35.9%
2020	83.7%	16.3%

	Total box office revenue of foreign movies (RMB)
July	131 million
August	664 million
September	853 million
October	89.92 million
November	497 million
December	621 million

More young moviegoers return to movie theaters

The average age of movie attendees was 28.80, a slight decline compared with 29.18 in 2019. The population of viewers between the ages of 19 and 24 accounted for 31.9% of all moviegoers in China in 2020, up from 23.4% in 2019. Younger moviegoers showed a greater willingness to return to cinemas after reopening.

Average audience age 2017-2020
	Average age
2017	28.25
2018	28.73
2019	29.18
2020	28.80

Breakdown of audience by age 2018-2020
	Under 18	19-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	40 and over
2018	2.3%	24.8%	33.0%	24.0%	9.0%	6.9%
2019	1.7%	23.4%	30.5%	27.6%	9.6%	7.3%
2020	4.2%	31.9%	23.8%	18.0%	11.0%	11.1%

After cinemas reopened in July, women made up a slightly larger percentage of the moviegoing audience, 51.7%, compared to 51.5% from January 1 to January 23, the period prior to wide scale cinema closures. Compared to 2019, when women made up 52.3% of the moviegoing audience, the general decrease in 2020 indicates that the gender ratio of audiences has become more even.

Audience breakdown by gender
	Women	Men
January 1 – January 23	51.5%	48.5%
July 20 – December 31	51.7%	48.3%

Maoyan saw a significant rise in the proportion of movie viewing by low and low to medium frequency moviegoers from July 20 to December 31, when compared to pre-COVID levels, indicating that the rebound in movie viewership after cinemas reopened was driven by larger numbers of low frequency viewers. The classification of moviegoing frequency is based on Maoyan's own membership algorithm, which draws information from user activities such as ticket purchases, comments, movie ratings, interactions with other users on the Maoyan platform, etc.

Breakdown of users by moviegoing frequency
	Low frequency users	Low to medium frequency users	Medium frequency users	Medium to high frequency users	High frequency users
January 1 – January 23	16.6%	46.6%	21.3%	5.1%	0.5%
July 20 – December 31	39.0%	47.3%	11.3%	2.2%	0.2%

Lower moviegoing frequency raised new challenges for the market

The average number of movies the Chinese audience watched in 2020 was 1.73, a drop from 2.88 in 2019. The decline was primarily a result of the prolonged cinema closures in 2020 and the reduction in the number of film titles.

The average number of movies watched by moviegoers 2018-2020
	The average number of movies watched
2018	3.06
2019	2.88
2020	1.73

When asked about what methods they used for watching movies in the second half of 2020, about 32% of respondents reported watching movies both online and in theaters. About 42% of people still preferred watching movies in theaters.

Method of watching movies in H2 2020	Percentage of total respondents
Only watching movies online	8%
Watching movies online as the first choice	17%
Watching movies both online and in movie theaters	32%
Going to movie theaters as the first choice	26%
Only watching movies in theater	16%

2020 China movie market timeline:

January 23	Seven movie titles were removed from showing during the 2020 Chinese New Year holiday. Ticketing platforms announced unconditional ticket refunds for those seven movie titles. Movie theaters in China closed nationwide in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
June 30	Total box office revenue in the first half of 2020 was RMB2.242 billion.
July 20	After a 178-day closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China's movie theaters in low-risk areas started systematically reopening, by implementing various safety and control measures that put the safety of moviegoers first, including limits on screening attendance capacity.
August 14	China's movie screening attendance capacity rate was increased from 30% to 50%.
August 21	221 days after the January cinema closures, one-day national box office surpassed RMB100 million for the first time since the closures.
August 25	About 14.19 million moviegoers attended screenings, generating a one-day box office revenue of RMB500 million.
August 31	The 43-day summer season grossed RMB3.616 billion.
September 20	"The Eight Hundred" became the world's top-earning movie in 2020.
September 25	China's movie screening attendance capacity rate was increased to 75%. Over 10,000 movie theaters nationwide had re-opened.
October 1	On the first day of the National Day holiday, national box revenue grossed over RMB700 million in a single day.
October 3	China's total box office revenue in 2020 to date reached RMB10 billion.
October 8	China's box office revenue topped RMB3.967 billion during the Golden Week holiday from October 1 to 8.
October 18	China became the world's largest movie market, overtaking North America in 2020.
November 17	China's total box office revenue in 2020 to date exceeded RMB15 billion.
December 31	China's total box office revenue in 2020 exceeded RMB20 billion.

China's movie industry has achieved a robust recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, Chinese state and local authorities unveiled a series of policies to support the movie industry's recovery and growth. The rapid recovery of the box office reflects strong pent-up consumer demand for in-theater movie watching and instills confidence in movie industry stakeholders. Going forward, Maoyan will continue to support industry partners and help accelerate the recovery of China's movie industry, returning it to sustainable growth.

About Maoyan Entertainment

Maoyan Entertainment (Hong Kong: 1896) is a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China. Since its inception, Maoyan has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider to an innovative one-stop platform for entertainment services. Maoyan has a comprehensive strategy to become a leading platform servicing the entire entertainment industry in China. The upgraded strategy is supported by five key platform pillars: comprehensive entertainment ticketing platform, products platform, data platform, marketing platform, and financing platform.

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Greta Bradford
ICR, Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +86 178-8882-8731

SOURCE Maoyan Entertainment