China’s mainland box office took RMB2.047bn ($308m) in October 2026, down 21.6% from RMB2.612bn ($393m) in October 2025, according to the official monthly report published on 2 November by the China Film Data Information Network (zgdypw), the public face of the National Film Administration’s ticket data. Chen Sicheng’s crime drama Traces of Justice (神探之痕迹) led the month with RMB651.9m ($98.0m).
Key facts
- October 2026: RMB2.047bn ($308m) from 55.88 million admissions and 7.37 million screenings (zgdypw monthly report, 1–31 October)
- October 2025: RMB2.612bn ($393m) from 71.31 million admissions and 7.21 million screenings (zgdypw monthly report for that month)
- Year-on-year: takings −21.6%, admissions −21.6%, screenings +2.2% (our calculation from the two official reports)
- Month leaders: Traces of Justice RMB651.9m; Resident Evil RMB468.8m; Mr. & Mrs. Pardon RMB389.7m
- Dollar figures use the ECB reference rates for 30 October 2026 (RMB6.65 per dollar)
The fall matches the pattern already visible in company filings. China Film Co.’s third-quarter report put January–September national takings at RMB29.68bn, about 29% below the same months of 2025, as we noted in our Shanghai Film results. Adding October’s official RMB2.047bn brings the year to about RMB31.73bn through 31 October. Caixin, citing the special film-funds office, called October the weakest in a decade and put the month at RMB2.046bn on that tracker; the official monthly report rounds to RMB2.047bn.
The month’s chart
Golden Week at the start of October usually does the heavy lifting for the month. This year the holiday titles stayed on top for the whole of October, and little else arrived behind them.
| Rank | Film | October | Admissions | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Traces of Justice | RMB651.9m ($98.0m) | 18.3m | RMB652m |
| 2 | Resident Evil | RMB468.8m ($70.5m) | 11.7m | RMB469m |
| 3 | Mr. & Mrs. Pardon | RMB389.7m ($58.6m) | 11.2m | RMB390m |
| 4 | Once Upon a Time in the Middle East | RMB85.9m ($12.9m) | 2.7m | RMB2.39bn |
| 5 | Rebirth 2 | RMB70.5m ($10.6m) | 1.9m | RMB70.5m |
| 6 | All Wishes Come True! | RMB68.3m ($10.3m) | 1.9m | RMB2.06bn |
Source: zgdypw monthly report. Cumulatives for the October openers are effectively the month’s take; the two summer holdovers still show billion-renminbi career totals. An Avengers: Endgame premium reissue took RMB47.5m in the month, and Peppa Pig’s Perfect Holiday RMB68.2m.
Traces of Justice, written and directed by Chen Sicheng of the Detective Chinatown series and sold internationally by Far East Films, opened on 1 October and never left the top of the chart. Resident Evil, the Constantin Film and Sony Pictures reboot directed by Zach Cregger, opened on 5 October and held No. 1 for three weekends even as weekly totals thinned. Mr. & Mrs. Pardon (什么意思夫妇), the body-swap comedy from Beijing Joy Fun Pictures, completed a Golden Week trio that together accounted for about 74% of October’s official takings on our calculation.
More seats, fewer tickets
The admissions and screening lines point in opposite directions. Tickets sold fell by 21.6%, in line with takings, while the number of screenings rose 2.2% to 7.37 million. Average ticket price was about RMB36.60 in both Octobers on our calculation from the official totals, so the revenue drop is almost entirely volume. Exhibitors ran more shows into a smaller audience.
Provincial and city rankings in the same report show the familiar concentration: Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang led the provinces; Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen led the cities. Ruyi was the top cinema circuit by takings in the month, ahead of China Film Digital and China Film South; Lianhe, the circuit linked to Shanghai Film, ranked fourth.
What is not in the report
The monthly report does not break out domestic versus import share for October, nor does it give a year-to-date running total on the same page. Those will come from later China Film Co. or National Film Administration releases. Trade trackers (Maoyan, Lighthouse) had already printed figures around RMB2.046bn before the official report; they match it to the nearest RMB10m.
Our reading
October confirms that China’s 2026 problem is not ticket price. The market is booking more shows and collecting the same average price as a year ago, and still losing more than a fifth of its admissions. For sales agents and financiers, the practical number is the year to date: roughly RMB32bn through October against a 2025 full-year total of RMB51.83bn reported by the National Film Administration in January. The next official monthly report, and China Film Co.’s next quarterly filing, will show whether November’s import and local slate narrows the year-on-year gap.
Sources
- China Film Data Information Network (zgdypw), National Film Box Office Monthly Report, October 2026 (published 2 November 2026)
- China Film Data Information Network (zgdypw), National Film Box Office Monthly Report, October 2025 (published 4 November 2025)
- Caixin, October box office report (2 November 2026)
- China Film Co., Ltd., 2026 third-quarter report (via cninfo), for January–September national totals
- European Central Bank, euro reference rates for 30 October 2026
- National Film Administration, 2025 full-year box office (5 January 2026)
- Far East Films, Traces of Justice page