The mixed box office headline
China’s film delegation arrived at AFM with a domestic run that needs context. By the end of October, the country’s 2026 box office had crossed $4.7 billion, with more than 800 million admissions and roughly 122 million screenings, according to state-run media.
That is around 29 percent behind the same period in 2025. The gap is real, but the comparison is distorted by Ne Zha 2, which pulled in $2.2 billion on its own last year. Once that outlier is set aside, the more useful signal is this: eight of China’s top 10 films in 2026 are local productions.
Wen Muye’s everyman model keeps working
Leading that domestic wave is Pegasus 3 at $656 million, followed by Wen Muye’s Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, which has made about $360 million at home and is China’s submission for the international Oscar category. Wen’s first feature, Dying to Survive, passed $450 million in 2018.
Wen describes his creative mix as combining “entertainment value” with “social relevance” and “soulfulness”. The director says the point is not to write a hero first and then add an ordinary life, but to begin with an ordinary person and see how far they are pushed: “It is about starting from an ordinary person and seeing how far he can go under the pressure of reality.”
What the China Film Pavilion is selling
The China Film Pavilion is back at AFM for a fourth year, hosting four market screenings and promoting more than 200 titles. Alongside Wen’s film, the slate includes the family drama Dear You ($300 million), the animated Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, the 12th entry in a franchise that has taken in over $1 billion in China, and the documentary Daughter of the River.
The wider catalog carries The Wandering Earth 3, part of a franchise with roughly $1.3 billion in box office so far, plus Brotherhood of Blades 3 and All Wishes Come True!. Around 70 film companies and institutions are represented.
Why this matters for buyers and planners
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the 29 percent drop is less important than the composition of the top 10. A market where local titles carry the year changes release dates, marketing spend and co-production terms. Chinese hits should be treated as lead titles in an Asian content plan, not fillers around Hollywood imports.
- Local share: 8 of the top 10 China films this year are domestic.
- Market scale: $4.7 billion box office by October, with 800 million admissions.
- Anchor releases: Pegasus 3 at $656 million; Once Upon a Time in the Middle East at $360 million.
The CFCC’s AFM seminar, “Beyond Co-Production”, also points to where dealmaking is moving: combining financing, talent and production resources across markets, planning distribution from the script stage, using AI to lower costs, and redeveloping existing IP across cultures.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
