APAC box office slides 14% YOY as revenue declines in all tracked markets

Asia-Pacific's film earnings decreased 14% year over year between January and March, with all monitored markets in the region recording a fall in their respective gross box office collections, according to OpusData numbers compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The region's total cumulative gross box office revenue stood at about $2.60 billion in the first quarter, with China contributing the biggest share at $2.22 billion.

Locally produced comedy-drama film "YOLO," distributed internationally by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., continued to be the biggest earner in China with $478.9 million.

"Pegasus 2," another domestic comedy-drama, distributed by China Film Co. Ltd. and others, scooped up a slot among the top three films in China with $469 million in ticket sales. "Pegasus 2" is a sequel to "Pegasus," which was released in 2019.

China's box office also listed a new entry among its top films, with "Article 20," a legal drama, grossing $338.8 million since its February release.

South Korea was next to China in terms of film earnings, booking $227.5 million through March, down 55.8% year over year.

Local horror film "Exhuma," distributed by Showbox Corp., dominated the South Korean charts with $78.3 million in revenue. Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.-distributed musical fantasy "Wonka" came next with $25.6 million. CoMix Wave Films Inc. produced "Kimi no na wa," a Japanese animated romantic fantasy flick from 2016, re-released across South Korean theaters, garnered $23.8 million year to date.

– Find out what movies Chinese moviegoers favored the most in January and February. – See how much "Civil War" earned at the box office during week 16.

Australia, with $130.7 million in cinema revenue for the period under review, saw 196 film releases, the biggest in the region. Moviegoers queued up for "Dune: Part Two," a sequel to "Dune" released in 2021, both distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. "Dune: Part Two" has earned $19.5 million in Australia year-to-date, while "Dune" earned $11.1 million and was the second most-watched film.

Meanwhile, Japan trailed all the tracked markets with gross box office revenue of $18.7 million. Academy Award-winner "Poor Things," distributed by Searchlight Pictures, led in ticket sales in Japan with $3.4 million.

There were 139 film releases in Asia-Pacific in March, an 8.6% decrease over the 152 film releases in March 2023.

Drama remained the most favored genre in Asia-Pacific year-to-date, contributing $965.6 million. This was followed by comedy with $830.1 million.