“The Christmas holiday is an important golden period for the cinema industry, and such a drastic drop reflects that the consumer market of the Hong Kong film industry has remained in the doldrums,” the industry groups said.

“The business of the film and cinema industries has been tough, and their operation has been very difficult, which is a worrying situation.”

Films on show included Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which topped the holiday chart with revenue of about HK$6.6 million, followed by Wonka at HK$3.47 million, and Disney’s Wish at HK$3.26 million.

Coming in the next three places were director Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, local production Time Still Turns the Pages and the Hong Kong-mainland Chinese collaboration Bursting Point.

Motion picture association chairman Crucindo Hung Cho-sing described the fall in takings as “the bleakest year of the cinema industry”, pointing to residents heading elsewhere for major holidays as a possible cause.

Immigration figures showed Hong Kong recorded more than 1.32 million outbound trips from December 24 to 26, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Theatres Association chairman Timothy Yuen Yin-man said an unattractive movie line-up could be one of the reasons for the slump in takings.

“The first Aquaman movie was a box office success, but the second one’s performance was mediocre in both Hong Kong and around the world,” he said. “Superheroes movies have begun to lose their lustre in recent years.

“The other two films at the top of the list are both Christmas movies which may not be able to boost the box office.”

How a government initiative has shaped the new Hong Kong cinema

Christmas box office takings in 2022 reached HK$32.8 million, with James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Hong Kong production The Narrow Road being the top three movies.

Yuen also noted that while Time Still Turns the Pages had won two accolades at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards and In Broad Daylight was well-received by Hong Kong audiences, both local productions had been out for a while and had fallen in popularity over the holiday.

13:24

‘Daughter of Hong Kong’: the life and times of Cantopop icon Anita Mui

‘Daughter of Hong Kong’: the life and times of Cantopop icon Anita Mui

A surge in travel for Hong Kong’s first Christmas holiday without pandemic restrictions, a poor spending atmosphere and a declining nighttime economy could also have contributed to the drop in takings, he said.

Yuen said he was hopeful for Lunar New Year, but noted the limited selection of films could affect the overall box office performance.

Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers spokesman Tenky Tin Kai-man said the industry needed to study the situation to figure out the exact cause of the box office slump.

“We are now collecting different data to see whether it was because the economy has been poor, or consumers went travelling, or the movie line-up was not that attractive,” he said.

How early Patrick Tam and Ann Hui films show Hong Kong New Wave’s diversity

The veteran actor and producer said the industry also needed to consider takings over the New Year break as local crime thriller The Goldfinger, featuring superstars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah, had just been released on Saturday.

The film reportedly took in about HK$3.4 million on its first day of screening.

The sector should look at the audience’s long-term film-watching habits rather than focusing on a single period, as the situation in recent years had been “alarming”, especially under three years of stringent coronavirus curbs, he added.

But Tin acknowledged the overall box office takings for 2023 were “unsatisfactory”.

“It is most worrying that people’s habits in watching movies have changed after the pandemic,” he said.

“Is it because people have got used to watching movies on streaming platforms instead of at the cinemas? We have to think clearly and plan how to attract audiences, especially the younger ones.”

It started with Iron Man and has not stopped since. What next for the MCU?

Associate professor Charles Cheung Chi-wai, of Baptist University’s department of humanities and creative writing, said the slump could be “an individual situation” and agreed the line-up could be a major cause.

“It might be because DC movies are in fact in their decline,” he said, referring to the American comic book publisher behind the Aquaman movies.

“It is in addition to the decline of superhero movies along with the growth of Disney’s streaming platform and other paid platforms.”

Cheung said the Christmas line-up could also have lacked talking points and their promotion campaigns had failed to get people’s attention.

“For example, for Aquaman, its promotion seems to be weak,” he added. “I cannot really see its presence on social media. It does not have some talking points that make me think I need to watch it.”

Cheung said the industry should wait until the New Year holiday to make a judgment and expected The Goldfinger to be a box-office success. “The Christmas period is an early alarm,” he said.