Hongkongers’ travel lust trumps love affair with silver screen as Christmas movie box office takings hit 20-year low

Hongkongers have turned away from the silver screen over the Christmas holiday as their travel lust trumped a fading love affair with superhero movies, with film industry leaders noting that seasonal box office takings had fallen to a 20-year low.

Hong Kong Theatres Association and Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association last week said box office takings reached about HK$19.6 million (US$2.5 million) from December 24 to 26.

The figure represented a drop of about 40 per cent from the about HK$32.8 million recorded over the same period last year.

“The Christmas holiday is an important golden period for the cinema industry, and such a drastic drop reflects that the consumer market of the Hong Kong film industry has remained in the doldrums,” the industry groups said.

“The business of the film and cinema industries has been tough, and their operation has been very difficult, which is a worrying situation.”

Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association chairman Crucindo Hung (centre) has described the recent slowdown in takings as “the bleakest year of the cinema industry”. Photo: Edward Wong

Movies playing over the holiday included Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which topped the holiday chart with a revenue of about HK$6.6 million, followed by Wonka at HK$3.47 million, and Disney’s Wish at HK$3.26 million.

Coming in the next three places were director Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, local production Time Still Turns the Pages and the Hong Kong-mainland Chinese collaboration Bursting Point.

Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association chairman Crucindo Hung Cho-sing had described the recent slowdown in takings as “the bleakest year of the cinema industry”, pointing to residents heading elsewhere for major holidays as a possible cause.

Immigration figures showed Hong Kong made more than 1.32 million outbound trips from December 24 to 26, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Theatres Association chairman Timothy Yuen Yin-man said an unattractive movie line-up could be one of the reasons for the slump in takings.

“The first Aquaman movie was a box office success, but the second one’s performance was mediocre in both Hong Kong and around the world,” he said. “Superheroes movies have begun to lose their lustre in recent years.

“The other two films at the top of the list are both Christmas movies which may not be able to boost the box office.”

Christmas box office takings in 2022 reached HK$32.8 million, with James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Hong Kong production The Narrow Road being the top three movies.

Yuen also noted that while Time Still Turns the Pages had won two accolades at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards and In Broad Daylight was well-received by Hong Kong audiences, both local productions had been out for a while and had slumped in popularity over the Christmas holiday.

A surge in travel amid Hong Kong’s first Christmas holiday without pandemic restrictions, a poor spending atmosphere and a declining nighttime economy could also have contributed to the slump in takings, he said.

The industry leader said he was hopeful for the Lunar New Year holiday, but noted the limited selection of movies could affect the overall box office performance.

Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers spokesman Tenky Tin Kai-man said the industry needed to study the situation thoroughly to figure out the exact cause of the box office slump.

“We are now collecting different data to see whether it was because the economy has been poor, or consumers went travelling, or the movie line-up was not that attractive,” he said.

The veteran actor and producer said the industry also needed to consider takings over the New Year break as local crime thriller The Goldfinger, featuring superstars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah, had just released.

The sector should look at the audience’s long-term movie-watching habits rather than focusing on a single period, as the situation in recent years had been “alarming”, especially under three years of stringent coronavirus curbs, he added.

But Tin acknowledged the overall box office takings for 2023 were “unsatisfactory”.

“It is the most worrying that people’s habits in watching movies have changed after the pandemic,” he said.

“Is it because people have gotten used to watching movies on streaming platforms instead of at the cinemas? We have to think clearly and plan how to attract audiences, especially the younger ones.”

Associate professor Charles Cheung Chi-wai, of Baptist University’s department of humanities and creative writing, said the slump could be “an individual situation” and agreed the movie line-up could be a major cause.

“It might be because DC movies are in fact in their decline,” he said, referring to the American comic book publisher behind the Aquaman movies.

“It is in addition to the decline of superhero movies along with the growth of Disney’s streaming platform and other paid platforms.”

Cheung said the Christmas line-up could also have lacked talking points and their promotion campaigns had failed to get people’s attention.

“For example for Aquaman, its promotion seems to be weak,” he added. “I cannot really see its presence in social media. It does not have some talking points that make me think that I need to watch it.”

Cheung said the industry should wait until the New Year holiday to make a judgment and expected The Goldfinger to be a box-office success. “The Christmas period is an early alarm,” he added.