Chinese moviegoers are turning away from light entertainment and toward spectacle and seriousness, according to new research presented at the 7th Hainan Island International Film Festival. A nationwide satisfaction survey by the China Film Art Research Center found that animation, action and historical war epics topped audience satisfaction charts for 2025, while comedies and romances slid out of the leading ranks.
At the forum, center president Sun Xianghui said those three genres recorded the strongest consumer scores in the group’s 2025 tracking, a result that aligns with box office reality: animated tentpoles and patriotic war stories are driving repeat visits, while lighthearted fare struggles to cut through.
Domestic animation now anchors the market. Ne Zha 2 has crossed 15.4 billion yuan, making it the highest-grossing animated film in history and the top-performing film ever released in China, while Nobody has become the country’s biggest local 2D animated title. These hits have spawned a vast consumer ecosystem, from toys to branded food, that outlives theatrical runs.
War epics occupy the same sweet spot. The Nanjing Massacre drama Dead to Rights, backed by China Film Group, sits at the center of this cycle, reflecting a trend toward World War II and Korean War narratives that frame sacrifice and national trauma in large-scale productions. Special touring programs marking the 75th anniversary of Chinese involvement in the Korean War have drawn strong crowds across ten cities, underlining the appeal of this material to older viewers and younger audiences alike.
Foreign animation still breaks through in this climate. Disney’s Zootopia 2 has become the highest-grossing imported animated film in China, reaching 1.95 billion yuan in six days and accounting for about 95% of ticket sales during its opening weekend, even as regulators keep a tight rein on U.S. imports and domestic titles dominate most charts.
The shift in taste comes after a bruising 2024, when China’s box office fell nearly 23% year on year to 42.5 billion yuan and local films saw revenues drop by more than a quarter amid fewer releases and competition from short-form online video. This year’s surge in high-end animation and war spectacles, capped by a December slate that includes new battlefield dramas alongside Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash, has put the industry within reach of a 50-billion-yuan annual target.
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For Chinese film officials and scholars, the survey confirms a strategic direction. Bastillepost quoted Beijing Normal University professor Hu Zhifeng praising 2025’s output as “splendid and diverse,” while Sun has argued in public talks that film should be seen as a special carrier for culture and consumption, not just a ticket business. The new data gives studios and regulators empirical backing for a slate that leans into animated myth, heightened action and war epics, even as smaller comedy and romance projects migrate toward streaming and micro-dramas.
