40 Days, $1.5 billion box office: What's next for Chinese films?

Forty days.

More than 100 million yuan (about $14.8 million) a day.

And China's summer box office is still climbing.

As of August 21, China's total box office for 2026, including pre-sales, has surpassed 26.6 billion yuan (about $3.9 billion), according to Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing platform.

The summer box office has topped 10.9 billion yuan, with daily earnings exceeding 100 million yuan for 40 straight days.

Behind the summer box office boom More interestingly, China's domestic films account for four of the five top-grossing movies in the country this summer.

Chinese filmmakers are also telling a wider range of stories, across more genres.

Comedy Kung Fu Soccer leads the summer box office with more than 2.3 billion yuan, followed by the animated fantasy All Wishes Come True! with nearly 1.6 billion yuan.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day , the only foreign film in the top five, ranks third with about 1.4 billion yuan.

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East , a war drama about ordinary people caught up in conflict, and Dear You , a family drama, round out the top five.

Both have also drawn strong attention and received high praise from audiences.

And it is not just about genres.

Chinese filmmakers are also finding different ways to tell stories.

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East is a good example.