China yet once again experienced progression in the entertainment sector retaining its position as the biggest film industry. This resulted in outstripping USA’s box office by 7 billion USD. The industry faced global disruption due to the pandemic, contrastingly, cinemas in China resumed since July 2020. Prior to the pandemic, China was very close to the USA when comparing the BOX Office sales resulting in a 9 billion US dollar business. In terms of film-making China comes second, with Bollywood leading the world in Film productions. A higher standard of living within the Chinese Society resulted in an entertainment demand, suggesting that China will win even bigger market shares and continue to excel in box office revenues post Covid-19.
There are 12,000 multi-screen cinemas across China with almost 50 companies managing the cinema chain in the region. China Film Southern, Dadi Digital, and China Digifilm are the leading organizations of theatres, in addition, with regard to Box Office sales Wanda Cinema Line placed first. In 2015 the industry started to experience an upward trend, a momentum that kept growing firmly especially prior to the pandemic. Comparable to the U.S, China’s cost to watch a film is cheaper, hence, indicating that the second-largest economy has additional potential.
Studios in Hollywood are keen to win market shares in China, nevertheless, foreign productions still face challenges when tapping the Dragon’s Kingdom. There are a number of technical barriers for foreign productions to come to terms with, regardless, western productions are still possible and film-makers with the right approach to the Chinese market can still make it. Recently, Chinese movies such as ‘The Eight Hundred’ and ‘My People, My Homeland’ made a hit grasping approximately 3 billion yuan each in Box Office Sales. Contrastingly, in 2021 the action Film ‘F9, The Fast Saga’ was the leading western Film in China, winning a market share of 1.4-billion-yuan Box office revenues.
On September 20, 2021, Universal Studios Beijing launched their Universal Theme Park being part of the Universal Beijing Resort. Owned by Beijing International Resort Co., Ltd., the venture is divided between Universal Parks & Resorts (a part of NBC Universal), and Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd. The project represents Universal Studio’s fifth Branded Theme Park in the world and the Third in Asia. It primarily features various attractions predominantly owned by Universal such as movies, TV-Shows, animation, and music incorporating other companies to the likes of Warner Bros and others.
Harry Potter, Transformers Metrobase, Kung Fu Panda, and Jurassic Park Isla Nublar are some of the most famous rides at the Theme Park. The overall venture features the possibility of cooperating with Chinese Companies whilst an opportunity to keep alive western film productions in the Middle Kingdom. The entertainment sector remains one of the pillars of the Chinese economy and indicators are all pointing to growth, creating new opportunities and challenges in logistics supporting this industry.
FreightZone Malta Logistics handles Film Logistics link: https://freightzonemalta.com/film-logistics/ and can provide backup through its network of Logistics agents in the Film Industry including China.
