Moviegoers line up to watch fantasy film The Yinyang Master on Wednesday in Shanghai. Photo: IC

China's presale box office for the upcoming 5-day May Day holidays surpassed 100 million yuan ($15.45 million) by 5 pm on Wednesday, latest data showed, signifying a robust rebound after the COVID-19 impact. In addition, Chinese major film firms had positive net profit in the first quarter. 

The final box office of this year's May Day holidays may reach 1.8 billion yuan, Chinese ticket platform Dengta told Global Times on Thursday. China International Capital Corp (CICC), a leading investment bank, estimated that 1.7 billion yuan box office will be achieved during this year's May Day holidays. More than 10 screen-ready films will make the holiday "the most crowded" May Day film season ever.

Chinese film firms have gradually emerged from the impact of the pandemic. Wanda Cinemas and China Film Group Corp both declared positive net profit in the first quarter on Wednesday, with 524 million yuan and 144 million yuan respectively.  

A prospect survey released by Maoyan and 1905.com showed that the box office records of May Day holiday film seasons from 2015 to 2019 witnessed an increasing trend. The survey also suggested that growth in domestic film market during this year's holiday will extend further because this year's holiday is extended from the previous three days to five days.

Shi Wenxue, a cultural and film critic, told the Global Times that the robust growth of China's film companies reflects a rising consumption demand from consumers as life begins to return to normal. Shi also forecasts a 1.5 billion to 2 billion yuan box office during this May Day holidays based on the gains during this year's Qingming Festival in April, which was about 300 million yuan per day. 

A total of 12 domestic films among 13 films will be debuted during the upcoming holidays. Foreign films seem to be losing their domination in the Chinese film market. As most cinemas are closed in the US due to the virus impact, the US box office from April 16 to 22 ended up with about $22.58 million compared with $130.48 million in the same period in 2019, according to film statistics site Box Office Mojo.

However, three re-released imported screen busters - Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers all received positive audience feedback and box office ratings in the Chinese market before the May Day holidays. And the last one of trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is scheduled to be re-shown on May 21.