(Yicai Global) Jan. 7 -- The quality of Chinese films must improve, according to insiders, after box office takings plunged 22 percent over the New Year's holiday and claims as to some films' receipts met with skepticism.

Ticket sales totaled CNY990 million (USD144 million) from Dec. 30 to Jan. 1, compared with CNY1.3 billion last year, data from box office tracker Maoyan show.

The New Year's offerings had stirred great expectations. Three out of the nine movies released were backed by numerous listed film and television companies and were judged to be competitive before they were shown.

During the holidays, revenue of the film Long Day's Journey Into Night roller-coastered, dropping more than 90 percent from CNY260 million on its debut to just CNY11 million the next day. It set a record for a sales plunge on day two.

It turned out that only Kill Mobile, an adaption of Italian film Perfetti Sconosciuti (Perfect Strangers), had both a good billing and revenue. As of midnight on Jan. 1, it had pulled in CNY365 million to rank No. 1.

Such a lackluster start to the year has furthered heightened concerns, bringing into question whether receipts this year can approximate last year's.

Slowing Growth

China made some 902 feature films last year that netted a record CNY61 billion, up over 9 percent, according to figures the China Film Administration released on Dec. 31. It was the first time takings exceeded CNY60 billion, placing the country's annual box office receipts on a par with North America's based on current exchange rates.

But growth dipped below 10 percent for the first time since 2016, prompting speculation that China's movie business may stagnate like its North American counterpart. 

Revenue growth in 2018 was followed by an increase in highly praised movies, while the sector was still under pressure and had to improve quality to develop further, said Chen Shaofeng, deputy director of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Beijing's prestigious Peking University.

Most of the poorly performing movies in the New Year album fell short of audience expectations or were victims of hyper-hype, according to Wang Wenhua, executive director of China Insights Consultancy.

The New Year portfolio may serve as a guide to the entire year's performance. But judgments are premature at this juncture since it is not the peak sales season for Chinese movies, Wang noted. A number of hits may propel overall earnings to more than CNY15 billion, he believes.

Editor: Ben Armour