Content matters

Timothy Yuen Yin-man, who chairs the Hong Kong Theatres Association, says the dip in the local cinema market cannot be attributed to just one factor.

In his view, COVID-19 has had a profound effect, revolutionizing people's social habits and disrupting traditional routines that used to include shopping, dining out and trips to the movies. To cope with financial challenges, many cinemas have reduced their evening shows. At the same time, the advent of technology has offered audiences a wide array of entertainment choices — far beyond just short-video and streaming services. Furthermore, many Hong Kong residents now opt for the mainland for leisure and entertainment.

"In the past, movies only had to compete among themselves. Now, they must fight for a piece of the wide array of entertainment options on offer," says Yuen.

However, delving deeper into the data reveals more nuanced perspectives, he points out. In recent years, homegrown film productions, such as The Last Dance, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, and A Guilty Conscience have broken the HK$100 million mark at the box office, outshining foreign movies, including those from Hollywood.

And all these successes unfolded after the pandemic, Yuen highlights.

Globally, while overall box office earnings, including those on the mainland, have been on the decline, the mainland has seen blockbusters like Ne Zha 2 make history as the country's highest-grossing film.

Yuen — a movie industry veteran — said he has observed a growing trend in the past two to three years for moviegoers to watch films multiple times.

He believes these successes show an audience that appreciates the cinema experience and is ready to pay for quality films. "The number of people willing to pay never comes down as long as the movie is captivating," says Yuen. However, he concedes that the number of people frequenting theaters solely for leisure and entertainment has declined.