People watch a movie at the Capital Cinema (Xidan branch) in Beijing, capital of China, July 24, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

The latest flare-up of the highly transmissible coronavirus Delta variant outbreak in eastern China hurt the box office in July, triggering worries about waves of bankruptcy in the film sector.

In July, domestic cinemas experienced a 44-percent slump in box office from the same period in 2019 with ticket sales of just 3.23 billion yuan ($499 million), despite abundant films released during the summer, the Securities Daily reported on Monday.

Of the 48 films released last month, 25 made less than 500,000 yuan at the box office, accounting for 52 percent. Only six releases made more than 100 million yuan, the report said.

According to Chinese ticket platform Dengta, the total number of tickets sold in July hit 151 million, down 7 percent from 2019. The decline in the number of tickets was in sharp contrast to the number of screenings, which was 109 percent higher than that in 2019, and the average ticket price, which was 1.4 percent higher than in 2019.

The resurgence of Delta variant in China, combined with a lack of high-quality domestic films, resulted in a slump at the box office this summer, Zhejiang Province-based film director Xiang Kai told the Global Times on Monday.

"The recent virus resurgence halted many people's plan to go to the cinemas, especially if there are no good films," Xiang said.

Cinemas contacted by the Global Times said the arrangements for screenings and operations were not fundamentally affected by the latest outbreaks.

"Because of the outbreaks and extreme weather conditions in recent days, many guests wanted refunds," a manager at a cinema in Shanghai said on condition of anonymity.

She said that the cinema had upgraded its epidemic prevention measures. This included bans on eating and drinking in the screening hall, and requiring people to wear masks at all times.

"Box office revenues this month are unlikely to be higher than the same month last year," she said. "It depends a lot on how the outbreaks develop.'

It is expected that the situation will persist at least until next year's Spring Festival which is at least six months away, Xiang said.

"Cinemas and film and TV companies have suffered greatly, especially smaller ones. If this continues, it is expected that 10 percent of the theaters may go bankrupt," he said.