China's May Day box office edges up as 'Vanishing Point' tops holiday charts

China's box office during the five-day May Day holiday, a key moviegoing period, rose slightly year on year, supported by stronger admissions and a late surge in ticket sales driven by positive word-of-mouth.

Total ticket sales from May 1 to 5 reached 758 million yuan (about $110 million), according to data from the China Film Administration, edging past 747 million yuan for the same period last year. Admissions totaled 20.84 million, up from 18.91 million a year earlier.

Despite a slow start -- with opening-day revenue at 164 million yuan -- the market strengthened over the holiday period, with two consecutive days of overall gains fueled by leading titles, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.

Crime thriller "Vanishing Point" led the box office with 264 million yuan, accounting for more than one-third of total revenue. The film depicts the disappearance of a young boy in a residential compound and gradually reveals a series of interconnected crimes within the building. It held the top position from its second day of release and maintained its lead throughout the rest of the holiday period. Both Maoyan and the Beacon film data platforms now project the film will gross more than 500 million yuan.

In second place was Hong Kong-set action film "Cold War 1994," a prequel to the long-running "Cold War" police thriller franchise, which earned 201 million yuan.

It was followed by 20th Century Studios' "The Devil Wears Prada 2," Chen Sicheng-directed comedy "Being Towards Death," and tear-jerker family drama "Dear You." The three films rounded out the top five.

A notable breakout came from "Dear You," a low-budget regional film set in South China's Chaoshan (Teochew) region, which drew more than 80 percent of its revenue from South China's Guangdong province.

The film centers on a series of letters tracing a grandmother's decades-long wait for her husband, and a grandson's search that uncovers a long-hidden truth involving a Thai woman of Teochew descent who had been sending money in the husband's name after his death.

It earned a rating of 9.0 out of 10 on Douban, a major review platform -- the highest among all new releases during the holiday -- underscoring its broad audience appeal. The film has grossed about 44 million yuan, with Maoyan and Beacon currently projecting a final total of around 150 million yuan.

Maoyan analyst Lai Li said the overall performance of the movie market during the holiday "exceeded earlier expectations," noting that improved word-of-mouth and post-opening momentum helped offset weak presales.

"Both admissions and total box office rose compared with the same holiday last year, reflecting market resilience and boosting market confidence to some extent," Lai said.

Analyst Chen Jin of Beacon noted that average ticket prices during the holiday fell by 8 percent from the same period last year, an adjustment reflecting an industry trend of trading per-ticket margins for higher attendance.

China's annual box office has hovered between 40 billion yuan and 50 billion yuan in the past three years, well below the pre-pandemic peak of over 64 billion yuan in 2019, while short-form video and other forms of entertainment continue to erode theatrical viewing habits.

The May Day holiday last year generated a total box office revenue of 747 million yuan, a sharp drop from 1.5 billion yuan in 2024.