‘Detective Chinatown 3’ breaks China box office record amid COVID-19

“Detective Chinatown 3,” the latest installment in a long-running Chinese film series, has set a world record for a single-market opening weekend as millions of Chinese moviegoers were prevented from traveling during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The film raked in $397 million, The New York Times reported, topping the previous single-market record, 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which made $357 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend.

The Lunar New Year holiday typically involves the largest mass migration in the world as citizens return to their ancestral homes. However, under national travel restrictions, the seven-day holiday saw massive box-office traffic instead, according to the newspaper.

The majority of Chinese theaters reopened in July, although during the holiday most were restricted to 75 percent capacity or as little as 50 percent in cities such as Beijing. Theaters also increased ticket prices over the holiday to make up for concessions, which they were barred from selling as a safety precaution.

The international theater industry has been devastated by the pandemic as most locations have closed. The film industry, meanwhile, has largely pivoted to directly streaming its releases, including Warner Bros., which announced its entire 2021 slate will be simultaneously streamed to HBO Max.

However, the holiday box-office receipts indicate people are eager to return to theaters as a social space in addition to an entertainment venue, according to Jane Shao, president of the Chinese theater chain Lumière Pavilions.

“Some have argued that, during the pandemic, people have become accustomed to watching online entertainment at home,” Shao told the Times. “But I think this is proof that movie theaters are an effective venue for social gatherings.”

“It was a devastating year for our industry, but people have been thrilled to come back to the theaters,” she added.

 “Celebrating Lunar New Year in China has traditionally meant setting off firecrackers, eating dumplings and watching the Spring Festival Gala,” Yin Hong, a film professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the newspaper. “Now, more and more, going to the movies with family is being incorporated into that tradition.”