On 7 April 7, the China Film Co., a state run media conglomerate which operates cinemas and produces movies, announced some of its operating data from the first quarter of 2023, including box office.

From January to March of this year, the company distributed 99 domestic Chinese films taking in RMB ¥11.493 billion (USD $1.67 billion) at the box office, an increase of 39.11% over 2022 a year-on-year increase of 39.11%. China Film Co. titles accounted for for 88.78% of the total box office for all domestic films during the quarter compared to 68.09% in the same period in 2022. The company also released 28 imported films, earning RMB ¥1.004 billion (USD $146 million), an increase of 154% over last year.

Nine of the company’s movies accounted for 61% of the country’s RMB ¥11.897 billion (USD $1.73.8 billion) including “The Wandering Earth II” which has grossed RMB ¥4.026 billion (USD $585.4 million) so far. The film broke 32 records on its first day of release, entering the top ten highest earning films in the country’s history.

After the Chinese New Year in January and February saw the market grow significantly over previous year’s averages, March has been slower in the Middle Kingdom. To date the territory has a cumulative box office of USD 2.3 billion, which according to Gower Street Analytics is down just 8% from the three previous years’ average.