[ad_1]
China recently overtook the United States to become the world’s largest film market for the first time through ticket sales. China posted box office receipts of US $ 1.99 billion from January through October, surpassing US sales by $ 1.94 billion.
This gap is expected to widen further by the end of the year, as most of Hollywood’s blockbuster releases, such as Marvel’s Black Widow and the James Bond film No time to die, have been postponed until next year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While China was supposed to take the top spot in global ticket sales, the pandemic has accelerated its rise. Due to China’s effective control of the epidemic nationwide, most of its theaters are currently operating at 75% capacity, compared to 25-50% in the United States. Even in Thailand, where cinemas have opened almost all of their screens, average attendance is still only 25-30% of normal attendance.
The pandemic has undeniably changed the global film industry. The Chinese and US film markets face similar challenges to maintain their position as they have to compete with other forms of entertainment, such as streaming services, for which demand has skyrocketed during the lockdowns. This trend is expected to continue given the recent disruption in film releases.
In China, two local films – Enter the big dragon and Lost in Russia – which was originally scheduled to open during the Spring Festival break last February, amid the Covid lockdown, was created online instead. The release of two films on a streaming platform rather than in theaters caused widespread consternation among executives in China’s film industry, who feared it would definitely change the way people watch big releases.
Chinese officials have responded to these concerns by announcing a plan to strictly manage the requirements for the “cinema window” – a period during which films must be shown in theaters before they can be shown elsewhere.
Likewise in the United States, Warner Bros. made the controversial decision to start releasing its new films such as Wonder Woman 1984 on the HBO Max streaming service and in theaters simultaneously next year. The films will be available on HBO Max for only 30 days, after which they will leave the platform and continue playing in theaters. The move immediately sent movie chain stocks into a free fall.
It remains to be seen whether or not China will be able to maintain its lead at the global box office beyond this year. However, we can be sure that as the race intensifies, we can expect the competition between the big screen and streaming services to reach a new level.
Suwatchai Songwanich is Executive Vice President of Bangkok Bank. For more columns in this series, please visit www.bangkokbank.com
Source link
