AI summary
Summary of article:
After the release of “Sanxingdui: Days of Future Past”, there was a lull at the box office, with an average of only 2 people coming to the show for two consecutive days. However, Bona Pictures continues to deploy AI cinema movies, which shows that related technologies and business models are still in the exploratory stage.
China’s first theatrical feature film “The Artificial Intelligence” delve deeply into the production of artificial intelligence (AI).SAMSUNG “Dui: Days of Future Past” was released on the 23rd, but its box office performance was disappointing. According to Maoyan Professional Edition data, as of noon on the 26th, the film’s cumulative box office was only 1.192 million yuan (RMB, similar below), and the average number of moviegoers per movie on the 24th and 25th was only 2 people.
The Daily Economic News reported on the 26th that “Sanxingdui: Days of Future Past” is 100 minutes long. On the 26th, 8,469 screenings were scheduled, but the attendance rate was only 0.1%. Audience evaluation about this film is also polarized. Some described the process of watching the film as “hard work”, while others thought the film’s “special effects were great” and “the story concept was great.”
The report mentioned that judging from the financial report of the production company Bona Pictures, the revenue of AI film and television drama business in the first half of 2026 was 1.9323 million yuan, and operating costs were 61,300 yuan. Based on this calculation, the gross profit margin was as high as 96.83%. During the same period, the gross profit margin of the film business was 35.51%, and the gross profit margin of the theater and theater business was negative 3.99%.
However, the revenue scale of AI film and television drama business is quite limited. Bona Pictures’ total revenue in the first half of this year was 458 million yuan, of which the revenue of AI film and television drama business accounted for only 0.42%. The company also acknowledged in its financial report that “the relevant technological path, business model and market acceptance still need to be continuously verified.”
As for the challenges of commercialization of AI cinema films, a person in charge of platform AI said in an interview with the Daily Economic News that at present, AI models in feature films still have shortcomings in terms of stability, physical laws, and picture precision. Especially when the length of the film increases to 100 minutes, whether the characters, scenes and details can always remain consistent will place greater demands on the production team. Some problems still need to be solved by manual and technical methods.
Furthermore, some AI content practitioners believe that AI fictional characters may make the audience think that they are “dummies”. Another practitioner pointed out that AI feature films require professional production capabilities that are different from short dramas and comics, especially in terms of images, shots, descriptions, and story presentation, which puts new requirements on the creative team. He said clearly, “Unless the script is good, you have to ‘attack’. This is a content market, not a production market.”
Although “Sanxingdui: Days of Future Past” lagged behind at the box office after its release, Bona Pictures continued to promote its AI cinema movie project. According to the company’s 2026 semi-annual report, the science fiction animated film “Unplanned: Operation Guanghan” has entered the production stage, and the mythological animated film “Chinese Strangers: Monster Sea” has also completed project approval. In addition, a label owned by Huayi Brothers also announced the AI film “Euler Identity”, and Chinese film and television companies are continuing to expand into the AI film market.
Summary FAQ
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After the film was released on the 23rd, the cumulative box office as of noon on the 26th was only 1.192 million yuan. On the 24th and 25th, there were an average of only 2 people watching each movie. Although 8,469 movies were scheduled on the 26th, the attendance rate was only 0.1%.
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Audience opinion is obviously divided. Some people feel stressed after watching it, while others think that the special effects and story concept are good, which shows that the film has not yet built a unanimous reputation in terms of content acceptance.
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The revenue of Bona’s AI film and television drama business in the first half of the year was only 1.9323 million yuan, but its gross profit margin was up to 96.83%. The company has also launched several AI movie projects; However, the financial report clearly stated that the technological path, business model and market acceptance still need to be continuously verified.
