AI-made Sanxingdui: Past Events of the Future takes an estimated RMB1.23m ($184,000) in four days

BEIJING – Sanxingdui: Past Events of the Future, a Bona Film Group feature whose images were made with artificial intelligence, took about RMB1.23m ($184,000) in its first four days in Chinese cinemas, according to Maoyan Pro data. By Monday evening the film had played 8,331 screenings at an occupancy rate of 0.2%, an average of 0.3 viewers a show.

Key facts

• Released 23 October 2026; RMB1.229m ($184,000) by the evening of 26 October, per Maoyan Pro data cited by STAR Market Daily
• 8,331 screenings, 2.3% of all shows, 0.2% occupancy
• Producer Quji Xiaojiang has put the production cost above RMB10m ($1.5m)
• Bona’s Shenzhen-listed shares (001330) fell by the 10% daily limit on 26 October, closing at RMB5.54
• 100-minute science-fiction animation, written and directed by Yue Ming

The film was sold as a test of whether AI can carry a full-length theatrical release in China, and its first weekend drew almost no audience. Bona said in April that the film had received the Dragon Seal, the National Film Administration’s release permit, and the Cailian Press business daily describes it as the first fully AI-produced feature to get one. It is not the first AI-made film to reach Chinese screens: the animated Tuan Yuan Ling, billed as made entirely with AIGC, opened on 28 February, Newrank noted.

The ticketing platform Beacon (Dengta) had forecast a first day of RMB311,000 and a final total of about RMB2.17m. STAR Market Daily estimates that Bona’s share of that, after cinemas take their cut, would be around RMB800,000, less than a tenth of the stated budget.

Shares give back the rally

Investors had treated the film as a bet on AI. Bona’s stock hit its daily limit on 28 September, the first trading day after the release date was set, and again on 9 and 12 October. That run lifted its market value from about RMB8.7bn to a peak of RMB10.5bn, STAR Market Daily said. On the evening of 12 October Bona issued a stock exchange notice warning that the film’s box-office returns were uncertain, and the shares fell more than 27% over the next ten trading days, Time Weekly reported. On Monday the stock closed down 10.06%, giving a market value of RMB7.615bn ($1.14bn). Other companies tied to AI animated series, including Ciwen Media, also fell.

Bona’s accounts show how small the business still is. In the first half of 2026 its AI film and series unit reported revenue of RMB1.93m against costs of RMB61,300, a gross margin of 96.83%. That was 0.42% of group revenue of RMB458m. Bona calls the unit an early-stage business.

Two years and no marketing spend

The story ties the Sanxingdui bronzes of ancient Shu to a future AI crisis in which humanity has come to rely too heavily on algorithms. Every character is an original digital creation rather than a copy of a real actor. Bona’s AIGMS production centre spent more than two years on the film, which grew out of a 2024 AI short series.

Jiang Defu, who presented and produced the film, said at a screening in Shanghai on 25 October that Bona had spent nothing on marketing. “This is the only film we didn’t pay to promote,” he said, according to Newrank. Reaction has been mixed. Time Weekly found that most user reviews on Maoyan were positive about the images, with complaints centred on the plot and stiff performances. One early viewer told STAR Market Daily the film still felt obviously AI-made and the story was fragmented.

The weekend has not stopped the next projects. Bona has a second AI feature, Ji Hua Wai: Guang Han Xing Dong, approved and in production, and Huayi Brothers has announced an AI feature of its own, whose Chinese title translates as “Euler’s Identity”. Time Weekly said Bona had not answered its questions about whether it would change course. Bona’s conventional slate is doing better: its war drama Si Du passed RMB300m after 124 days on release, according to Maoyan Pro.

Elsewhere, Chinese cities have been competing to recruit AI video companies, and VFX artists working on Apple Studios productions recently won a first IATSE contract with AI protections. In the wider Chinese market, Resident Evil held No. 1 for a third weekend as overall takings fell.

Sources

• STAR Market Daily (Cailian Press) via Sina Finance, 27 October 2026
• Sohu (Cailian Press), 27 October 2026
• Newrank, 26 October 2026
• Bona Film Group, 28 April 2026 (Dragon Seal announcement)
• Maoyan Entertainment on Weibo via Sina, 27 October 2026 (Si Du total)
• Time Weekly, 26 October 2026
• Daily Economic News (via 21jingji), 26 October 2026