This is a list of the highest-grossing films in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...
. Most of the data below is provided by EntGroup's China Box Office (CBO) website, with the gross in
yuan.
Highest-grossing films by box office revenue
Top 50 all-time highest-grossing films
:'' Films that are currently in cinema''
Top 20 domestic films
:'' Films that are currently in cinema''
Top 20 foreign films
:'' Films that are currently in cinema''
Highest-grossing films by box office admissions
Timeline of highest-grossing films
Up until the 1980s, the Chinese box office was typically reported in terms of
box office admissions (ticket sales), rather than
gross revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
. The film with the highest ticket sales in China is ''
Legend of the White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series.
The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden ...
'' (1980) with an estimated admissions,
followed by with ticket sales.
The foreign film with the highest ticket sales in China was the 1976
Japanese film
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
''
Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare
, known as ''Manhunt'', ''Hot Pursuit'' or ''Dangerous Chase'' in some translations, is a 1976 Japanese crime thriller film directed by Junya Satō. It is based on the novel of the same name by Juko Nishimura, and stars Ken Takakura in the lead ...
'' (''Manhunt''), which had its Chinese release in 1978 and sold more than tickets in China,
followed by the Indian
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...
film ''
Caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
'' (1971) which had its Chinese release in 1979 and sold about tickets in China.
Hollywood film releases were relatively rare in China up until ''
First Blood
''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's ment ...
'' (1982), which had its Chinese release in 1985,
and went on to sell tickets, the highest for a Hollywood film in China up until 2018.
released in 1992 and became China's highest-grossing film with .
China began releasing box office gross revenue results for foreign non-
Chinese films in November 1994, upon the release of ''
The Fugitive'' (1993).
In 1995, the
Hong Kong action film
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kon ...
''
Rumble in the Bronx'', directed by
Stanley Tong
Stanley Tong () is a Hong Kong film director, producer, stunt choreographer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Early life
Stanley Tong was born on April 7, 1960 in Hong Kong, and he completed his education in Hong Kong and Canada.
Fi ...
and starring
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
, became the all-time highest-grossing foreign film in China,
where it grossed ;
it is not considered a domestic film as it was produced in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
(then a
British Dependent Territory). It was above the year's highest domestic Chinese film,
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...
's ''
In the Heat of the Sun
''In the Heat of the Sun'' is a 1994 Chinese film directed and written by Jiang Wen. The film is based loosely on author Wang Shuo's novel '' Wild Beast''. Jiang Wen, known as one of China’s best actors and seen in numerous films such as ''Red ...
'' with ¥50 million.
Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan surpassed their own record with the Hong Kong action film ''
Police Story 4: First Strike'' (1996), which grossed in China.
In 1998, ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...
'' (directed by
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...
) became the all-time highest grossing film to be released in China, with a then-unprecedented ¥360 million. In 2002, ''
Hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
'' became the second highest-grossing domestic film, with . China's first domestic film to breach ¥360 million was released in 2009, ''
The Founding of a Republic
''The Founding of a Republic'' is a Chinese historical drama produced in 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and was made to portray the final years of the Chinese Communist Revolution that followed the end of the ...
''.
In 2015, ''
Monster Hunt
''Monster Hunt'' () is a 2015 mainland Chinese-Hong Kong 3D fantasy action comedy adventure film directed by Raman Hui (in his feature directorial debut). The film was released in China on 16 July 2015 in 3D and IMAX 3D. Upon release, it became ...
'' became the first domestic film in 17 years to become the overall highest-grossing film in China, earning ¥2.44 billion.
Highest-grossing films by year
Since the 1990s, the most represented filmmaker in the chart has been American film director
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use ...
with four films to his credit, occupying the top spot in 2001, 2007, 2011, and 2014. Among domestic filmmakers,
Feng Xiaogang
Feng Xiaogang (; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and politician. He is well known in China as a highly successful commercial filmmaker whose comedy films do consistently well at the box of ...
(1999, 2003, 2008) and
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for '' Shaolin Soccer'' and '' Kung Fu Hustle''.
Early life and education
Stephen Chow was born in Hong K ...
(2004, 2013, 2016) are the most represented with three films each.
'' Films that are currently in cinema (as of'' ''April 2022)''
Box office milestones
Highest-grossing openings
A list of the highest-grossing openings for films in China. Since many films do not open on Fridays in China, the 'opening' is taken to be the gross between the first day of release and the first Sunday following the movie's release.
Opening records
These are the films that, when first released, set the opening record in China. Since many films do not open on Fridays in China, the 'opening' is taken to be the gross between the first day of release and the first Sunday following the movie's release.
Opening days
See also
*
List of highest-grossing films in Hong Kong
The following is a list of the highest-grossing films in Hong Kong. It only accounts for the films' theatrical box-office earning and not their ancillary revenues (i.e. home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewin ...
*
List of highest-grossing Indian films in overseas markets
Indian films have been released in overseas markets since the latter half of the 1940s. Some of these have had significant commercial success and been nominated for awards.
Although the first Indian film to have worldwide released was from 1952 ...
Notes
References
{{Film box office
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
Highest-grossing films
Highest-grossing films in China