China’s film market has finally emerged from years of stagnation and contraction, in what has been dubbed the “strongest Spring Festival season in Chinese film history (史上最强春节档 shǐshàng zuì qiáng chūnjié dàng),” according to CCTV News.

The season’s 爆款 (bàokuǎn, viral hit), Ne Zha 2, the follow-up to 2019’s animated feature about the mischief-laden adventures of the eponymous boy-deity and adapted from a 16th-century mythical novel, The Investiture of the Gods (《封神演义》), has now accumulated over 12 billion yuan at the box office and made its way into the top 10 all-time global box office revenue rankings. Not as successful, but still fairing well despite the stiff competition, was the latest installment of the children’s animated film series Boonie Bears, proving that the franchise remains 票房常青树 (piàofáng chángqīngshù, box-office evergreen)—no small feat given it launched in 2012.

Other releases weren’t as lucky, either experiencing 口碑下滑 (kǒubēi xiàhuá, reputation decline), 评价两极分化 (píngjià liǎngjí fēnhuà, polarized reviews), or becoming unexpected box office flops (爆冷 bàolěng). With movies once again dominating the cultural landscape, they inevitably popped up in lunch conversations between colleagues and at weekend get-togethers with friends, breaking the ice with: 这部电影你看了吗？(Zhè bù diànyǐng nǐ kànle ma? Have you seen that movie yet?)

Actors also took center stage in such discourse, especially those who are 流量明星 (liúliàng míngxīng, traffic stars), i.e., celebrities with huge fan bases, influence, and commercial value. Some movies hedge their bets on casting 顶流 (dǐngliú, top traffic stars) as a means to drive ticket presales (预售 yùshòu), inevitably beginning one or two weeks before the film’s release and the first reviews are out.

Movies with favorable presales are likely to receive increased screening time and better time slots at theaters, which must split the box office with the movie producers and distributors—a phenomenon summarized as follows:

To prove their dedication to their idol’s 票房号召力 (piàofáng hàozhàolì, box office appeal), hardcore fans often initiate large-scale campaigns among online fan groups and their peers, dubbed 催氪 (cuīkè, spur others to spend money).

When the film is released, eager fans then repeatedly attend screenings, an act known as 刷票房 (shuā piàofáng, box office manipulation), and which is limited only by a fan’s dedication, as in 二刷 (èrshuā, watching a second time), and a third, 三刷 (sānshuā)… If it’s not enough, fans resort to even more shady tactics, or 骚操作 (sāocāozuò), to boost their idol’s film. For instance, to ensure each screening has an audience so as to prevent cinemas from reducing the number of showtimes, fans may volunteer to 填场 (tiánchǎng, fill seats) by purchasing a few tickets without actually showing up. Ever the considerate ones, mindful fans only purchase tickets for seats at the rows’ edges, leaving middle seats open for actual viewers or the non-initiated, who fans call 路人 (lùrén, “passengers”).

However, this practice can lead to embarrassing results: on ticket-booking apps, the seating chart will display reserved seats surrounding an empty center. Those who actually attend the showing may be disconcerted to find that there are very few audience members in sight, prompting people to quip:

Despite all these efforts, early reviews are still a significant factor in a film’s overall box office performance. Fans of films that receive bad reviews will argue that they were victims of “deliberate criticism (尬黑 gàhēi)” from “haters (黑子们 hēizimen),” and the low scores on Douban, China’s largest movie review platform, were simply the result of “malicious ratings (恶意打分 èyì dǎfēn).” Supporters therefore urge the undecided to ignore their better judgment and go watch the film anyway:

Compared to films whose popularity died down since the Chinese New Year holiday, Ne Zha 2 has continued to 逆跌 (nìdiē, rebuff decline), even now. As the first non-Hollywood film to break into the all-time global top 10 highest-grossing films, it has stirred national pride among netizens, where watching its ranking—marked with the Chinese flag—climb was likened to witnessing a “flag-raising ceremony (升国旗 shēng guóqí).” Ne Zha, meanwhile, who is a mere 3 years old, has been dubbed the “3-year-old film king with a billion-yuan box office (三岁百亿影帝 sān suì bǎiyì yǐngdì).”

Just as Black Myth: Wukong conquered the global gaming market last year, followers of Chinese cinema have been encouraged by Ne Zha’s dazzling performance at home. These milestones increasingly indicate that success is no longer just about the numbers, but about art’s ability to act as a vessel for wider cultural impact. So next time you’re discussing box office stats with friends or online, remember, you too are playing your part in a movie’s myth-making.