China's summer movie season is gaining momentum as a diverse lineup of domestic and imported films draws moviegoers across the country, with the total box office revenue surpassing 10.1 billion yuan (some 1.49 billion U.S. dollars) as of Monday morning.
Domestic productions have taken the lead, with sports comedy film "Kung Fu Soccer," animated fantasy-comedy "All Wishes Come True" and anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" ranking among the top-grossing titles.
Their strong performance reflects growing audience demand for quality domestic films, while imported releases such as "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and "The Odyssey" are adding further variety to the market.
This year's summer lineup covers a broad range of genres, including comedy, animation, sci-fi, war, suspense and action, offering audiences more choices and helping attract viewers from different age groups and with different interests.
"Since the beginning of August, a variety of domestic and international blockbusters have been released, and he moviegoer traffic has nearly doubled compared with July. The sales of film-related merchandise, themed derivative items, and even popcorn as a film-watching snack, have also increased significantly," said Bai Hang, a duty manager at a cinema in eastern Beijing's Chaoyang District.
According to film data platform Lighthouse as of Sunday, the summer box office had risen 3.2 percent year on year, while the number of moviegoer visits reached 274 million, up 5.7 percent from the previous year's corresponding period.
Chen Tao, vice dean of the School of Liberal Arts at the Renmin University of China, said that high-quality domestic productions have played a particularly important role this summer, with strong word of mouth helping turn quality content into audience demand.
This year's summer movie season runs through August 31.
China's summer box office gains momentum with diverse films
