(Yicai) Aug. 1 -- China’s cinema ticket sales and presales during the summer season that began on June 1 have exceeded CNY12.7 billion (USD1.8 billion) as of July 30, surpassing CNY10 billion for the first time since 2019, according to ticketing tracker Beacon.

This year’s box office takings in China differ from the past few years when the movie market had merely one or two films dominating the scene, with multiple projects now having excellent ticket sales.

Chinese mystery drama Lost in the Stars gave a good start to the summer season after its debut on June 22, being the highest-grossing movie so far having racked up CNY3.5 billion (USD489.5 million). Chinese drama Never Say Never ranked second with CNY2 billion, followed by the animated history epic Chang An with over CNY1.5 billion.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, an epic fantasy movie based on the popular 16th-century novel Fengshen Yanyi, surpassed CNY1.1 billion at the summer box office, while the animated comedy movie Oh My School! exceeded CNY300 million (USD41.9 million).

Regarding Hollywood movies, adventure comedy Barbie has taken CNY189 million in Chinese cinemas so far, while action tent-pole Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One grossed CNY330 million. 

The summer box office reveals that word-of-mouth reputation has become important to moviegoers in China after the pandemic, with ticket sales for the first weekend of some new films not usually decisive for their success. Chang An and Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms hit their single-day high for box office takings on the weekend of their second week in cinemas.

Moviegoers in China can soon watch even more summer blockbusters, including Meg 2: The Trench, starring Jason Statham and Wu Jing, the Malaysian film Barbarian Invasion, which won acclaim during the Shanghai International Film Festival, and Flowers From the Ashes, directed by famous Chinese director Chen Kaige.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a biographical psychodrama telling the story of US scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb, will also hit screens at the end of the summer.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev