China’s Lunar New Year box office took $830m (RMB5.75bn) across the nine-day holiday period (February 15-23), marking a 39.5% drop year-on-year.
Releases at the local box office were led by Han Han’s car racing comedy Pegasus 3, which became the first in the franchise to top the festive session. However, without a phenomenal blockbuster like last year’s Ne Zha 2, total admissions were down 35.8% to 120 million.
Maoyan Research Institute reported that total cinema screenings reached 4.35 million, the highest in recent years. From the first seven days of Chinese New Year (February 17-23), the average daily screenings were more than 550,000, up 15% on 2025, offering audiences more scheduling options.
Average ticket prices also fell to the lowest level in recent years – particularly in third- and fourth-tier cities, which dropped more than 6% year-on-year – effectively lowering the barrier to filmgoing for the wider public.
Nevertheless, both nationwide box office and total admissions saw major drops. A separate report compiled by ticketing platform Beacon indicated that this year’s Chinese New Year box office was even lower than 2018’s $840m (RMB5.77bn).
Last year, Chinese animated feature Ne Zha 2 crossed $940m (RMB6.48bn) at the local box office to become the country’s biggest ever film after only nine days, making it a hard act to follow.
Top titles
This year, Pegasus 3 topped the chart with $420m (RMB2.9bn), contributing 50.9% of the total box office across the nine-day holiday. Maoyan Research Institute data further showed that its opening day box office reached $93.35m (RMB641m) – a record high for the franchise – while IMAX accounted for more than 90% of its box office on its first two days as audiences praised its visual effects.
The franchise’s first two instalments – also directed by Han and starring top grossing actor Shen Teng – also opened during Chinese New Year in 2019 and 2024 respectively. The third instalment is the first to take the Chinese New Year box office crown, which won by a wide margin, with the rest of the new releases trailing far behind.
A further five titles opened on February 17, the first day of Chinese New Year, and each of their takings failed to exceed RMB1bn for the same period. Zhang Yimou’s national security thriller Scare Out, starring Jackson Yee, Zhu Yilong and Song Jia, came second with $126m (RMB867m).
Yuen Woo Ping’s period martial arts epic Blades Of The Guardians: Wind Rises In The Desert, adapted from a local comic book series and starring Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse and Jet Li, ranked third with $117.3m (RMB806m). Notably, the film staged a reverse drop as it climbed to the second place by the fourth day after opening in fourth due to strong word of mouth.
Rounding off were family-friendly animated film Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, the 12th instalment of the long-standing franchise synonymous with Chinese New Year, with takings of $103.8m (RMB713m); Derek Hui’s comedy Panda Plan 2: The Magic Tribe, starring Jackie Chan ($28.1m/RMB193m); and Han Yan’s sci-fi action adventure Per Aspera Ad Astra ($11.6m/RMB80m).
Hong Kong hostess bar comedy Night King joined the fray when it opened on February 20 and took $10.5m (RMB72m) for the same period. Directed by Jack Ng with Dayo Wong and Sammi Cheng in the lead, the film is ruling the Hong Kong box office, with a cumulative of $6.4m (HK$50m) as of February 23.
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