(Yicai Global) Aug. 17 -- China’s cinemas are having a lackluster summer amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases in the country.

Box office takings slumped 44 percent to CNY3.2 billion (USD494 million) in July from a year earlier, according to figures from Dengta, an Alibaba-backed movie information platform.

Forty-eight films were released last month, including screenings of old movies. Coronavirus-themed Chinese Doctors, historical flick 1921 and animated feature White Snake 2 took the top three spots, taking CNY1.2 billion (USD185 million), CNY417 million and CNY344 million, respectively, and accounting for 62 percent of cinema revenues in July.

Compared with these popular movies, lesser-known low-budget films performed poorly last month, with 25 making less than CNY500,000 (USD77,150) each, per Dengta data.

As students are on holiday, July has always been seen as a peak period for the Chinese film market. Wolf Warrior 2 and Ne Zha were released in July in 2017 and 2019, respectively, bringing in more than CNY5 billion each.

China’s cinemas reopened on July 20 last year. In the intervening 12 months, the country’s box office takings reached CNY47.7 billion, or 74 percent of 2019’s total, according to Dengta data. But since last month, sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks have emerged in many areas of the country, causing some movie theaters to close again, while some films scheduled for a summer release have been postponed.

The China Film Administration issued new regulations earlier this month, requiring cinemas in medium- and high-risk areas to close temporarily, and for audiences in low-risk areas to be no higher than 75 percent of capacity.

As of Aug. 7, China has temporarily closed 3,088 cinemas, removing nearly 20 percent of the country's potential box office revenue, according to Top Data.

Editor: Tom Litting