Will Chinese films really dethrone Hollywood? Spider-Man: No Way Home may have earned over US$1 billion worldwide, but China became the biggest box office in 2021

Jan 8 , 2022

Chinese film The Battle at Lake Changjin was the highest-grossing film of 2021 ... until Spider-Man: No Way Home came long. Photos: Bona Film Group Limited, Sony Pictures

Chinese authorities shut out Marvel movies like Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – and have a five-year plan to keep the box office crown

War flick The Battle at Lake Changjin and dramedy Hi, Mom were the highest-grossing movies of 2021, making US$800 million in Asia alone ... but then along came Spidey

Hollywood and cinemas in the US were given a boost of confidence recently when Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed more than US$1 billion worldwide, becoming the first movie of the coronavirus pandemic to do so. More than US$600 million of that has come from the US.

But No Way Home is an anomaly.

Tom Holland in Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home. Photo: Sony Pictures via AP

Only two other films, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, have cracked US$200 million in the US last year. The data firm Comscore estimated that the 2021 box office ended with at least US$4.5 billion – double last year’s total, but down from 2019’s US$11.4 billion.

The real winner of the film business in 2021 was China, which surpassed the US as the world’s biggest box office, thanks largely to local films that have made heaps of money.

Two films made more than US$800 million just from the region’s box office alone: the war film The Battle at Lake Changjin and the dramedy Hi, Mom. They were highest-grossing films in the world in 2021 until No Way Home came along.

Jia Ling in a still from Hi, Mom. Photo: Handout

Looking at Hollywood’s other releases last year, and the state of US cinemas, the US theatrical industry still has a long way to recovery. But the Chinese market rebounded much quicker, and the country’s government intends to keep its box-office crown. The China Film Administration recently laid out a five-year film plan to do so. It involves more government oversight over the country’s film business.

We spoke with experts about China’s theatrical market and the future of Hollywood and China’s relationship. Here are the biggest takeaways:

Will Chinese films really dethrone Hollywood? Spider-Man: No Way Home may have earned over US$1 billion worldwide, but China became the biggest box office in 2021

China’s success could have continued consequences for Hollywood