Photo: Courtesy of Douban

With more than 80 films set to debut from June 1 to August 31, the Chinese mainland's summer movie season has kicked off and is now entering the "run-up phase," Xiao Sujun, a film industry expert, told the Global Times.

Sun noted that the one big feature of this season's productions is "diversity." Main productions among the 80 films include domestic movies like Moments We Shared, Walk the Line, Successor, Under One Person and Upstream. 

Those films range from comedies, crime dramas and fantasy films featuring blockbuster directors such as Xu Zheng and Wuershan as well as all-time popular comedic stars like Shen Teng and Ma Li. 

Shi Wenxue, a veteran film critic, told the Global Times that Successor, co-starring Ma and Shen, is "likely to become the box-office winner" of the summer. So far, on Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan, more than 70,000 moviegoers have shown an interest in the film. 

Successor depicts the simple yet heartwarming story of a poor family through humor. Shi told the Global Times that these types of films can "provide emotional value while reflecting on social topics" and are highly valued by Chinese moviegoers nowadays. 

Other than Chinese films, foreign pictures such as Hollywood movies are also pouring into the Chinese summer movie season. 

Major franchise films, The Garfield Movie, Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, will compete with Chinese films during the season. 

Inside Out 2, since its release on June 21, has grossed about 87 million yuan ($12 million) in the mainland market, showing a mediocre response compared to the enthusiastic $722 million earned in the global market. 

Similarly, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which debuted on Saturday, has also received mediocre interest in the mainland market.

"Hollywood productions, especially action films like Bad Boys: Ride or Die, were winning Chinese moviegoers due to stellar actors and cool visual effects, but nowadays, these two factors are not prioritized by Chinese audiences anymore," Sun told the Global Times. 

Not only encountering a waterloo in the Chinese market, Hollywood productions seem to be also facing challenges in their own market. 

According to media reports, Will Smith, the main actor of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, recently commented on the changed landscape of Hollywood in an interview, noting that today's environment is incomparable to the past, as explosive scenes and a few great clips in a trailer won't bring in audiences anymore. 

While noting that today's Hollywood movies have failed to adapt to the Chinese market, thereby resulting in a dearth of compelling narratives, Shi told the Global Times that the "political correctness in Hollywood films increasingly fails to resonate with the common values in China."

In 2023, the mainland summer movie season earned a record-breaking box office of 20 billion yuan. This impressive figure was mainly contributed to by local films like Lost in The Stars and the animated film Chang An. Lost in The Stars reflects women's predicaments in love, while Chang An was inspired by Chinese history.

"Chinese audiences increasingly want to see their own movies. Hollywood's attempt to sell sci-fi films here can't compete with The Wandering Earth. People are just not interested in that anymore," Shi concluded. 

While noting Chinese audiences' preferences have shifted to domestic productions, Shi told the Global Times that it is "unlikely" that the 2024 summer box office will reach 2023's record.

He said that the 2024 season lacks a "blockbuster" like 2023's No More Bets, which earned more than 3.5 billion yuan at the box office to become the highest-earning crime film in the Chinese mainland.