(Original title: Lunar New Year movie box office breaks through 1.1 billion movie viewing demand picks up and film and television stocks welcome recovery opportunities)
According to data from Maoyan Professional Edition, as of December 24, the total box office for the 2022 Lunar New Year (November 25-December 31) has reached 1.14 billion yuan.
Western Securities pointed out that after entering the Lunar New Year, movie viewing consumption showed signs of recovery. With the adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures in key cities across the country, the operating rate of theaters across the country has also recovered rapidly. As the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival stalls approach, the supply of high-quality content increases, and the movie box office may accelerate its recovery.
The data shows that in the week of December 18, the average number of operating theaters across the country for several weeks recorded 9,725, compared with 6,862 in the same period last week, a month-on-month increase of 41.7%. As of December 17, the average daily box office during the week reached 63.113 million yuan, a month-on-month increase of 275.6%.
Tianfeng Securities also released research stating that on December 7, the Beijing Film Bureau issued the document “Notice on Further Optimizing the Nucleic Acid Testing and Inspection of Movie Screening Places and Other Related Work”, and entering the movie screening place does not need to check the negative nucleic acid test certificate. In the context of continuous optimization of prevention and control measures, Christmas New Year’s Eve has multiple schedules superimposed, and with the blessing of many imported and domestic blockbusters, the film sector may usher in a good opportunity for recovery.
According to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, as of December 24, the number of theaters operating nationwide reached 9,757, which has shown a significant recovery from the end of November and has returned to a relatively high level during the year.
It is worth noting that on the first day of the release of “Avatar 2” on December 16, the operating rate of theaters nationwide rose to 83.20%. According to statistics, this is also the first time that the operating rate of theaters across the country has returned to the 80% mark after more than two months since the National Day holiday this year.
During this period, imported films such as “Avatar 2” contributed greatly to the Lunar New Year box office. As of December 24, the box office of “Avatar 2” reached 690 million, accounting for about 60.52% of the total box office of the Lunar New Year file in the same period.
According to research from Huaxin Securities, 2022 will be the year of recovery for the film market in the post-epidemic era, and imported films will also be released smoothly. Looking forward to 2023, the normalization of low-base superimposed content will be normalized, and year-on-year growth is expected. Imported films are expected to drive the national film market in 2023 with two wheels.
Recently, the Hong Kong stock market’s film and television entertainment sector has also seen a sustained and substantial rise, which confirms the market’s change in investment logic for film and television stocks. Straw Bear Entertainment (02125.HK), Alibaba Pictures (01060.HK), and Orange Sky Golden Harvest (01132.HK) have seen cumulative increases of 57.58%, 41.59%, and 38.27% in the past 20 days, respectively.
CICC said in its latest research report that with the recent optimization of national epidemic prevention and control policies and benchmarking overseas, the domestic film industry will further realize post-epidemic recovery under the restoration of channels and content. It is estimated that the domestic box office may reach 54.7 billion yuan under a neutral scenario in 2023, a recovery rate of about 85% compared with 2019.