A poster of The Prosecutor Phpto: Courtesy of The prosecutor offical

The total box office for China's 2025 New Year film season surpassed 2.56 billion yuan ($351 million) as of Sunday, with domestic films Her Story, Big World and The Prosecutor ranking as the top three earners, the China Central Television (CCTV) News. A single-day box office of 230 million yuan was set on Saturday, marking the highest daily box office of December. 

"The concept of the New Year film season as a distinct timeframe has started to take shape, with strong box office performance for two consecutive years," Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told the Global Times.

Sun noted that the New Year season spans a relatively long period, covering New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and leading up to the Spring Festival, which provides a fresh timeframe structure for film creation and production in China.

"Previously, China's film market was dominated by three major periods: the Spring Festival, summer holidays and National Day holiday slots, while other smaller slots offered very limited capacity," he added.

The box office champion of this New Year season, Her Story, is a film that focuses on women.

According to the 2024 China film audience trends report, as of October, women accounted for 58 percent of ticket buyers, viewers aged 25 and above made up 79 percent, and audiences from third and fourth-tier cities represented 41 percent. The report highlights that women and Gen Zers are gradually becoming the main drivers of the market.

For the 2025 film market, Sun believes it will likely perform slightly better than 2024, though it may still fall short of 2023 levels.  

"Production capacity is beginning to recover, and China's film market won't be as constrained as it was in 2024," Sun noted.