China's Qingming holiday box office hits record high

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China's box office revenue during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that concluded on Saturday reached a record 841.64 million yuan (about 118.63 million U.S. dollars), with Hayao Miyazaki's acclaimed animated fantasy emerging as the top-grossing film.

This figure surpassed the previous highest earning of 822 million yuan recorded in 2021, according to film data platform Beacon.

Miyazaki's Oscar-winning film, "The Boy and the Heron," led the holiday revenue chart with a revenue of 390.25 million yuan, accounting for 46.4 percent of the total earnings.

The Studio Ghibli film, centering on a boy grappling with his mother's death, hit Chinese theaters on Wednesday, a day before Qingming. Miyazaki's anime masterpiece "Spirited Away" was a smash hit in China, grossing 488 million yuan in 2019.

"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" and the animated film "Kung Fu Panda 4" secured the second and third spots with earnings of approximately 237 million yuan and 48.3 million yuan, respectively.

They were followed by domestic crime thrillers "Dwelling by the West Lake" and "The Victims."

Among the plethora of films gracing Chinese cinema screens during the holiday period, eight were newly released, spanning genres from animation and suspense to crime and comedy.

Industry insiders attribute the record success of the Qingming Festival box office to the diverse array of offerings, both in terms of quantity and variety of genres, available to audiences.

The top two box office performers demonstrated clear complementarity in their audience demographics. "The Boy and the Heron" attracted a significant female audience share of 62.9 percent, while "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" drew a male audience share of 60.1 percent, according to audience demographic data collected on the first day of the Qingming Festival holiday by Beacon.

Other films also found strong resonance with specific audience segments. "Dwelling by the West Lake" appealed notably to female viewers, "Kung Fu Panda 4" enjoyed popularity among family audiences, and the domestic romance film "Viva La Vida" attracted student viewers.

According to Chen Jin, an analyst with Beacon, the demographic profiles suggest that this year's Qingming Festival films have adeptly catered to the diverse viewing preferences of audiences.

Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, underscored the significance of films embracing rich and diverse themes, noting that establishing an emotional connection with audiences is a crucial factor for a film's success.

The Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that falls on the 15th day after the Spring Equinox. While it is a time to enjoy the greenery of springtime and to visit the graves of ancestors, the holiday has also become a busy period for cultural and tourism activities in China, including visits to the cinema.