Last Wednesday saw the Chinese Box Office hit another milestone, leaving grosses for the Chinese New Year of over $1.2 billion. This beats out the same holiday period in 2019, despite the still-enforced COVID-19 capacity restrictions, something that makes the feat remarkable indeed. With such a major player in the global film market well into recovery territory, does that spell the same for the U.S Box Office? BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment lawyer Los Angeles takes a look.
What is behind such a massive Box Office regeneration? Firstly, they were able to field an attractive slate of 7 local titles, including 2 eagerly anticipated income-generating powerhouses. Add to that a significant reduction in typical New Year travel plans, leaving the movies an obvious choice for safe family entertainment. If you’re a skeptic by nature, you can also point to an increase in ticket prices in some areas of the country.
Although New Year celebrations continue, the official span of the holiday was 11-17 February this year. It’s been reported that over 155 million tickets were sold, up from 2019’s 130 million. There’s no surprise that Detective Chinatown 3, the third in a beloved franchise and delayed from it’s projected 2020 release date, saw a huge share of that. We’ve also seen approximately 5500 new cinema screens added to the Chinese market since the end of 2019, which undoubtedly helps.
One thing is for certain. With Chinese Box Office takings for 2021 that already top 50% of the takings for 2020, we’ve seen a clear indication of the start of recovery. This is expected to take off globally as new products roll into cinemas across the world. BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment lawyer Los Angeles is hopeful that this will be the impetus we need to see a U.S domestic recovery hot up as we ease into the New Year, too.
Blake & Wang P.A is an entertainment lawyer Los Angeles offering licensing, contracting and taxation services to various clients in the USA. As being an entertainment lawyer we closely look at the changes taking place in the Entertainment Industry.
