The summer movie season of 2024 has officially concluded. According to the Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of August 31st at 9 PM, the total box office for the 2024 summer season reached 11.64 billion yuan, with the film "Grab the Doll" emerging as the box office champion with earnings of 3.25 billion yuan. It follows "Silent Kill," "Alien: Death Ship," "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud," "Deadpool and Wolverine," "Despicable Me 4," "White Snake: The Floating Life," "Reverse Life," "Inside Out 2," and "Decoding" in the top ten of the box office rankings.

Total box office for the summer season of 2024 reached 11.64 billion yuan

This year's summer season attracted 285 million viewers to theaters, with over 38 million screenings, marking a 10% increase from last year and setting a historical high for the same period in previous summers. The average ticket price remained stable at 41.0 yuan, roughly the same as last year.

Box office rankings for the 2024 summer season

Compared to last year's box office of 20.6 billion yuan, this year's summer season saw a significant decline, with earnings substantially lower than several summers prior to the pandemic. The changing landscape of the film market and shifting audience preferences have sparked industry reflection.

Diverse Genres, Comedies Thriving

The summer season is always an important part of the film market and a significant contributor to annual box office totals. This year's summer season offered a rich variety of viewing options, featuring traditional genres like comedy, animation, and action, as well as notable innovations in style and theme.

According to Lighthouse Professional Edition data, 139 films were released during this summer season, matching the number of films that were ultimately released last summer, including 50 dramas, 26 animations, 10 documentaries, and more than five films in genres such as comedy, action, crime, and romance. Analyst Chen Jin noted in his analysis of the summer season that the variety of genres better satisfied the needs of different audience groups.

This year's summer box office displayed a pronounced polarization, with only "Grab the Doll" and "Silent Kill" surpassing the 1 billion yuan mark, and only 11 films earning over 300 million yuan.

Poster for "Grab the Doll"

Among the released films, the comedy category led by "Grab the Doll" proved to be the most successful. Directed by Yan Fei and Peng Da-Mo, this is their third collaboration following "Charlotte's Annoyance" and "The Richest in Xihong City." The beloved duo Shen Teng and Ma Li returned, achieving an impressive 3.25 billion yuan from its release, making it a standout performer since its debut.

"Grab the Doll" breaks multiple box office records

Combined with the strong performances of comedy-influenced films like "Despicable Me 4," "Safe Exit from the 21st Century," and "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You," the comedies grossed nearly 5 billion yuan, significantly higher than the 2.7 billion yuan achieved by comedies in the 2023 summer season and marking the highest box office for comedy genres since the 2018 summer season. Chen Jin further pointed out that the popularity of these types of films continues to reflect the outstanding performance of comedies such as "Hot and Spicy," "Racing Life 2," and "The Twentieth Date." Currently, the 2024 box office has surpassed 32.8 billion yuan, with domestic live-action comedies claiming the top four spots.

In other genres, films like "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud," "Stop and Go," "Reverse Life," and "Grandma's Grandson" explore everyday realities, portraying both the beauty and harshness of ordinary life. National-style animations such as "Falling from Dust," "White Snake: The Floating Life," and "Umbrella Girl" draw inspiration from China's rich traditional culture, delicately illustrating various forms of Eastern aesthetic. Films like "Departure," "Never-Fading Electric Waves," and "Decoding" carry forward the legacy of the revolutionary spirit and deepen national sentiment, prompting audiences to remember history and cherish the present. Films such as "Under the Otherworld," "Safe Exit from the 21st Century," "Negative Equals Positive," and "Welcome to My Side" push the boundaries of genre expression with their imaginative premises. Acclaimed directors' artistic works, like "Hedgehog," "Stop and Go," and "Dog Squad," have moved from mainstream festivals to theaters, exhibiting the creators' humanitarian concerns and social reflections, achieving good results in the art film sphere.

Heroes Aren't Defined by Box Office Success

This year's summer season generated numerous discussions.

Technologically, with the advent of the AI era, the role of AI in film content creation, virtual shooting, and visual effects is beginning to take shape. In "The Legend," a 27-year-old AI Donnie Yen stars in a digital representation to continue the "myth." "Under the Otherworld" captivates audiences with its unique Eastern fantasy realm. The film constructs a mysterious world of metaphysical beings and adopts AI-assisted animation technology for the first time, presenting a distinctive visual experience of "live-action animation" on the big screen.

Poster for "Under the Otherworld"

"Silent Kill" earned 1.35 billion yuan, once again affirming that the suspense-crime genre remains a safe "comfort zone." Meanwhile, Chen Sicheng chose to step outside his comfort zone to create "Decoding," further exploring the possibilities of industrialization through aspects of film language, genre narrative, visual style, and production standards. "Safe Exit from the 21st Century" captivated many viewers with its unique narrative logic and time-space transitions, as well as its visual composition and color application... Viewing high-intensity films like "Deadpool" and the horror-filled "Alien" further enriched the experience in theaters.

Poster for "Safe Exit from the 21st Century"

While this summer season has seen its share of acclaimed films, many works have attracted attention due to trending topics, but their actual box office conversion remains quite limited.

Looking back at last year's summer season, "In the Octagonal Cage" focused on impoverished children, "All In" spotlighted the fraud industry, and "Chang'an 3万里" praised the brilliance of the Tang dynasty. If viewers were looking for handsome leads with abs, they had "The Legend of Gods," and even couples wanting to indulge in an argument could see "The Disappeared Her" to satisfy their whims. This year, however, apart from "Grab the Doll" featuring the Shen and Ma duo, there simply weren't many films capable of generating meaningful discussions. This is reflected in the box office numbers. "Grab the Doll" surpassed 3 billion yuan, exceeding the combined earnings of films ranked second to fifth. While we can appreciate the audience base of Shen and Ma, we can't help but feel regret for the lack of compelling topics and box office performance from other films in the market.

From a topical standpoint, "Reverse Life" failed to replicate the dual triumph of box office and acclaim seen with "Dying to Survive." By choosing a subject close to the public, focusing on the delivery rider community, it encountered public relations backlash for the perception of "poor people spending to see rich people acting poor" prior to its release, casting a shadow over the film's inherent quality. Discussions regarding the film shifted to social issues, sparking interest in the courier community but yielding little in terms of commercial or short-term acclaim.

The traditionally pivotal role of Hong Kong films in the summer season underperformed expectations this year. Aside from director Ma Yike's "Rebirth," which grossed over 300 million yuan, films starring Andy Lau, like "Negotiation Expert," and those featuring Nicholas Tse in action roles, such as "Customs Conflict," along with Jackie Chan and Dante Lam's collaboration in "The Legend," did not perform well.

Poster for "Rebirth"

In this summer season, many films struggled to define heroes by box office success, but they also revealed their positive aspects.

Has Cinema Changed? Acknowledging Changes While Recognizing Positives

In comparison to last year's 20.6 billion, the nearly halved box office totals for the summer season have triggered collective anxiety in the industry.

At the ongoing Changchun Film Festival, Mao Yu, deputy director of the Film Bureau of the Publicity Department, highlighted that relative to China's 1.4 billion population, our film enterprises remain small and the film industry is not yet sufficiently mature. Enterprises with complete industry chains, detailed professional divisions, sound distribution networks, strong financial backing, risk resilience, and significant cultural influence are still on their growth paths. The film industry relies heavily on box office income, and diverse films with medium to low production costs struggle to find their audiences. Most cinemas are accustomed to waiting for the pot to boil and have yet to figure out how to break out of the theater model; they are still observing how to implement pinpoint distribution strategies.

It is undeniable that with changes in the times and a rapid surge in online entertainment lifestyles, the methods for attracting audiences to films need continuous innovation. Mao Yu stated, “Today's competition in cinema isn't just among film companies; it's about encouraging one another to unite against diverse entertainment forms like short videos, online games, live streaming, vertical screen dramas, and virtual reality tourism experiences. It's about how to ensure that while people enjoy tourism and nightlife, they still remember the beauty of cinema.”

However, suggesting that young people are entirely abandoning cinemas is not entirely accurate.

Poster for "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud"

Lighthouse Professional Edition has analyzed this year's summer season audience demographics. Analyst Chen Jin noted that the proportion of viewers aged 24 and under has stabilized and is showing signs of recovery, with young audiences making up 22.2%, a noticeable increase from last year's 21.1%. This halts the years-long downward trend, with the drama "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud," popular among young audiences, currently ranking third at the summer box office, with over 50.3% of its viewers under 24, making it the film with the highest proportion of young viewers among those that have surpassed 100 million yuan in box office to date in 2024. Additionally, the proportion of viewers aged 40 and over continues to rise, with the family viewing demand evidently higher as this age group makes up 17.2%, surpassing last year's 15.9% and continuing a multi-year growth trend. Moreover, this summer season also saw a notable presence of female audiences, who accounted for nearly 60%, maintaining the trend of increased female audience representation in popular seasons such as Spring Festival and summer. Films currently in the top three for the summer season—"Grab the Doll," "Silent Kill," and "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud"—all have over 61% female viewership. Additionally, it's worth noting that the proportion of middle-frequency viewers (2-6 viewings per year) has become more pronounced this summer compared to last year.

This summer season also saw a notable performance from anime films. Domestic animations like "Falling from Dust," "White Snake: The Floating Life," and "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Guardians" stood alongside North American animations such as "Despicable Me 4," "Inside Out 2," and "Garfield Family," and Japanese animations like "Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram," "Haikyuu!! The Trash Field Battle," and "Your Name." Together, they formed a robust lineup of animated films, attracting both young audiences and families to enjoy some summer fun at theaters.