High stakes

The Spring Festival holiday, set to run from Jan 28 to Feb 4 in 2025, remains China's most lucrative moviegoing window. The 2024 festival set the bar high, generating a record 8 billion yuan in box-office revenue, with four of its releases ranking among the year's top five earners.

Yet, the stakes are even higher for 2025 as the industry looks to rebound from a challenging 2024. Partly due to disappointing summer and October holiday seasons, China's year-to-date box office revenue experienced a 21 percent year-on-year decline, according to box-office tracker Maoyan.

Chen Jin, an analyst at film data platform Beacon, has underscored the significance of this period. "Since 2021, box-office revenue during this holiday has consistently exceeded 6 billion yuan annually, with 2024 surpassing 8 billion yuan. We're optimistic that the upcoming lineup will maintain this momentum," he says.

The 2025 Spring Festival lineup also promises variety and star power.