AI entered cinema, but box office results were not as good as expected. China’s first AI movie “Sanxingdui: Days of Future Past” was released a few days ago. The production cost reached millions of yuan, but the box office in the first week of release was only 1.495 million yuan (about US$220,000).
AI has lowered the bar for film and television production and there are persistent rumors of it replacing humans. Director Zhang Yimou believes that film can no longer be an art for the elite; Actor Chen Jianbin said that AI cannot replace the soul of artists. In this technological revolution, there are countless amateurs who are using AI to realize their film and television dreams, and lead the film industry into a new direction.
“Sanxingdui: Days of Future Past” is China’s first all-AI film to obtain a public release permit. The content talks about ancient Shu civilization and science fiction. The film is 100 minutes long. All images are generated by AI, and some sounds are also generated by AI. Nearly a hundred people participated in the production process, and the cost reached millions of yuan. However, the film’s box office during its first week of release was RMB 1.495 million. According to data from Beacon Professional Edition, the film’s estimated total box office is RMB 3.066 million. Some viewers were shocked by the sight of thousands of arrows being fired, while others described watching the film as “feeling like sitting on pins and needles”.
Judging from the financial report of the production company Bona Pictures, the revenue scale of AI film and television drama business is limited. The total revenue in the first half of 2026 is 458 million yuan, of which the revenue of AI film and television drama business accounts for only 0.42%. The financial report also acknowledged that the technological path, business model and market acceptance “still need to be continuously verified.”
👉China’s first AI film “Sanxingdui” screening company: not ready with one click
👉The box office of “Sanxingdui” was 1.15 billion RMB in only 3 days. It is difficult to recycle produce.
Director Zhang Yimou recently said at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival Forum that AI will have a more direct impact on films than live performances such as drama, opera and concerts. He believes AI images could be fake and real in three to five years. “In five or ten years, when AI surpasses us in everything we do, what should we do?”
However, Zhang Yimou did not completely rule out the development of AI. He believes that AI also brings “technological equality” to creation. When the barriers to shooting and production come down, everyone will have the opportunity to become a director or screenwriter in the future and share their stories with the world through images.
The image of actor Chen Jianbin in “The Legend of Zhen Huan” was recreated by a large number of netizens using AI. The realistic clip also made him doubt, “I’ve never acted before.” But after looking at a large number of AI tasks, they found that the tasks can be easily homogenized. He believes that AI cannot replace artists. “If you make a thousand flowers from your imagination, in the end they will all be exactly alike. But in our real life, each of the ten thousand flowers is different.”
