Ten years ago, the overall box office returns for Chinese movies were a mere 1.1 billion yuan ($165.4 million). By the end of 2013, domestic movies made a massive 21.7 billion yuan.
However, behind these remarkable numbers, the huge change in the nature of the domestic film market is perhaps more worthy of note.
Movies made by new directors were the dark horses of China's cinema world, while big budget movies took the credit for helping domestic films' surpass Hollywood blockbusters.
Breakthroughs
Last year saw a 27.51 percent increase in box office revenues compared to 2012. Of the 4.7 billion yuan box office receipts, domestic movies contributed nearly 96 percent, for the first time proving that domestic movies could compete with Hollywood blockbusters.
Among the top-10 grossing movies of the year, seven were Chinese-made features, which is unprecedented. The momentum was stronger in the first half of 2013, during which Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Finding Mr. Right, So Young and American Dreams in China grossed over 500 million yuan. Although the momentum slowed in the second half, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon in September and Personal Tailor in December were both extremely popular.
The year was notable for first-time directors whose films made a splash. So Young directed by famed actress Zhao Wei, Lost in Thailand by actor Xu Zheng and Tiny Times by writer Guo Jingming all made hefty box office returns, as well as triggering much debate about their production and stories.
Director Xie Fei, who teaches upcoming directors at the Beijing Film Academy, said he thinks the trend reflects a change in China's audience.
"The average age of movie-goers in China is 21, so that can explain why the critical reception and the box office returns don't match," he told the Beijing Times. In his opinion, the success of Tiny Times, So Young and Finding Mr. Right was a crucial signal that the older generation of directors is gradually being replaced by a new, younger wave.
"Movie-goers used to say that China only has three directors, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaogang. But the audience now are mostly 21, how can movies made by 60-year-olds suit their tastes?" Xie said. "[Finding Mr. Right] has themes and emotions young people can accept."
Masters' moves
But China's veteran directors did not rest on their laurels either.
From The Grandmaster by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai at the beginning of 2013, to The White Storm by Benny Chan and Firestorm by Alan Yuen at the year's end, all received high praise from audiences and critics alike, with The Grandmaster being nominated in two categories at the Academy Awards. Contrary to previous criticisms of joint productions between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong filmmakers, these movies brought Chinese mainland and Hong Kong co-productions to a new level. American Dreams in China and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon seemed like more local productions and movie-goers could not tell they were "Hong Kong" movies, despite being helmed by Hong Kong directors.
While Personal Tailor by veteran director Feng Xiaogang topped the box office having generated 700 million yuan by the year's end, it also caused a war of words among movie-goers, with many regarding it as inferior to Feng's previous works.
Setback
But one obvious characteristic of the movie market last year was the more criticism a movie attracted, the more tickets it sold. Many movies made good returns, but did not receive many plaudits. Among the movies that were critically slammed, Tiny Times ranked No.9 in total box office receipts among all movies with 480 million yuan and Switch made 300 million yuan. The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel and Badges of Fury were all movies that polarized opinion.
Despite the overall increase in returns, over the two peak periods for cinema-going, the October National Day holidays and the New Year period in December, the last quarter saw disappointing returns. This quarter ended with takings of 4.4 billion yuan, a 9.8 percent decrease on total box office returns for 2012, the first time there has been negative growth in the past five years, according to data provided by Entgroup Inc, an entertainment consulting company in Beijing.
Entgroup attributed the drop to the overall poor quality of movies in the fourth quarter, in both the style and quality of production of the movies.
Looking into 2014
Without a doubt, domestic movies were very successful in 2013. With the Chinese Spring Festival over, some domestic movies have already made a box office splash in the first few weeks of 2014.
The Monkey King, which opened on January 31, the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year, took 110 million yuan on the first day of it's release, which increased to 300 million yuan over three days. Also released on January 31, Where Are We Going, Dad? has already made 500 million yuan on February 7. These figures portend a healthy 2014 for domestic movies.
But Hollywood movies are still a big challenge for domestic movies. As to the failure of foreign movies last year, movie critic Be Chenggong is not surprised: "Because last year was merely a 'small year' for Hollywood, next year is truly scary."
Hollywood has a slate of blockbuster sequels for release in 2014, including The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro, X-men: Days of Future Past and Transformers: Age of Extinction, as well as The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, which may well put a dent in the ambitions of Chinese filmmakers.