Drop of Hollywood charm

According to the China Film Administration, imported films accounted for 15.51 percent of the overall box-office takings in China last year, the lowest in a decade.

Additionally, eight of the 10 top-grossing films are made by Chinese studios, with their average score on major review sites like Douban higher than the other two imported films, F9: The Fast Saga and Godzilla vs Kong, according to Beacon and Douban.

Following the failure of Dune－adapted from Frank Herbert's hugely influential sci-fi novel－to enthrall local audiences, Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond in the long-running franchise about the fictional MI6 agent also posted a mediocre performance in Chinese mainland theaters, with its box-office takings much lower than local blockbusters at 415 million yuan.

Aside from The Battle at Lake Changjin, now the country's all-time champion, last year's second and third highest-grossing titles, Hi, Mom stood at 5.4 billion yuan when Detective Chinatown 3 took 4.5 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most recent superhero films－reportedly accounting for one-third of all the box-office takings in North America last year－have not been introduced to the Chinese mainland, marking the first such collective "absence" since Iron Man ushered in a golden age for the franchise in 2008.

Resurgences of the pandemic overseas hindered the production of foreign films, thus resulting in fewer cinematic imports, says Du Simeng, a Beijing-based critic.

Additionally, some Hollywood films chose to release on streaming sites that are not available in China. However, the major reason for the waning of Hollywood charm, she says, is that most movies are sequels, lacking freshness in their appeal to Chinese audiences.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn