Jan 31, 2025
China’s Spring Festival film season — often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year box-office window — is the country’s highest-stakes theatrical period. It typically runs from Lunar New Year’s Eve through the national holiday week, when hundreds of millions of travelers return home and cinemas compete for family and blockbuster audiences. Distributors schedule major domestic titles for this slot; opening-day and holiday-week grosses are watched as industry barometers. Knotrope reports English-language coverage of line-ups, daily and cumulative box-office figures, and how specific films perform against rivals in the same window.
Key facts
- The window aligns with Lunar New Year and China’s Spring Festival public holiday, not the Gregorian January 1 New Year alone.
- It is one of the world’s densest concentrated theatrical periods by admissions and revenue.
- Line-ups are usually dominated by Chinese-language features, with occasional Hollywood holdovers.
- Pre-sales, opening-day grosses and full-holiday totals are standard industry checkpoints.
- Coverage on Knotrope focuses on China-market results and domestic film industry context.
FAQ
What is the Spring Festival film season?
It is the theatrical release and box-office window around Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year), when major Chinese films open for the holiday audience.
Why does the Spring Festival box office matter?
Holiday demand is unusually high, so a film’s Spring Festival run can define its annual commercial profile and signal studio and genre trends for the year.
Where can I read English coverage of the season?
Knotrope aggregates English reporting on China film and TV, including Spring Festival line-ups, grosses and related industry stories linked below.
Related coverage
Breaking 3.7 billion! The total box office of the 2025 Spring Festival movies hit a new high
Jan 31, 2025
Director Wuershan: I hope the audience can see everyone who created the world of "Fengshen"
Jan 30, 2025
In 2025, the total number of moviegoers will exceed 100 million, with a total box office of 4.546 billion
Jan 30, 2025
Exclusive Interview | Liu Wenzhang, Producer of Nezha: The Starting Point is High, There is No Upper Limit
Jan 30, 2025
Picture reading | Which program do you like best in the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Snake?
Jan 29, 2025
736 million! The pre-sale box office of the 2025 Spring Festival has exceeded last year's final results
Jan 28, 2025
Watch the Spring Festival Gala tonight | Henan TV’s “Wansi Daji”, Shanxi TV’s “Dahe Changge”
Jan 27, 2025