Covid-19 impacted businesses worldwide, and although the situation in Hong Kong has not been as bad as in Europe or America, cinemas were affected by a mandatory shut down and restrictions to the occupancy rate. Due to the 116 days of mandatory closure in 2020, the total box office in Hong Kong saw a steep drop of 72% from HK$1.92 billion in 2019 to HK$530 million in 2020. The total number of films shown in 2020 dropped from 329 to 218, and the number of Hong Kong films released in 2020 was a low 34. Local films recorded a box office take of about HK$114 million. With the postponement of Hollywood blockbusters in 2020, Hong Kong films showed a relative increase in market share from 13% in 2019 to 20% in 2020.
The mandatory shut down of cinemas in Hong Kong cut into the traditional major holidays, including Easter, summer and Christmas. The Lunar New Year provided the only major box office successes of 2020, and the holiday contributed about 20% of the box office for the whole year. Dayo Wong’s Lunar New Year release The Grand Grandmaster became the best grossing Hong Kong film of 2020 with a take of HK$29.6m. But Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was the highest grossing film in Hong Kong last year with a box office take of HK$55.1m. Only three Hong Kong films managed to gross over HK$10m, and only nine films grossed over HK$5m.
With the closing of cinemas in China for the first half of 2020, large budget productions opted for a 2021 release. This gave low-budget films focusing on the local market some opportunities to be recognised by the local audience. The best example was Beyond the Dream, directed by Kiwi Chow, one of the directors of Ten Years, which told about the love between a young man suffering from psychosis and his counsellor. Casting local talents Terrance Lau and Cecilia Choi, the film showed the beauty of Tuen Mun, one of the early satellite communities of Hong Kong, and won the interest of the local audience. Fans even visited Tuen Mun to see where the scenes were shot. While HK$15m may not seem like a very high box office take, it was considered a success during the pandemic.
All film companies had to focus their marketing strategies on what the public wanted to hear. This was reflected in the marketing of Hong Kong films last year. For example, distributor Golden Scene marketed their three Hong Kong films as a trilogy consisting of Ray Yeung’s gay romance Suk Suk, Norris Wong’s marriage-focused film My Prince Edward and Beyond the Dream. All three films ended up in the Top 10 local films of 2020. In addition, Media Asia’s i’m livin’ it, which was director Danny Wong’s debut, highlighted a group of homeless people who call a 24-hour fast food restaurant home. It suited the taste of the general public and took a more-than-expected HK$8.31m.
Last year was also the time for extremely low budget local films to make an appearance in Hong Kong cinemas. A small amount of Hong Kong films last year were only released on one screen for around one to two weeks, with only one showing per day and box office of less than HK$200,000. Most of these films were sub-standard, and the theatre release was more to satisfy the desires of the producers than the public.
Despite Covid-19, animated films managed to perform strongly in the local film market, especially Japanese animations based on comic books. Three Japanese animations grossed over HK$10m, including Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna released in mid-May, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Dinosaur released in early October, and Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train, released before the third shut down of cinemas. Demon Slayer was a surprise hit and the film grossed over HK$32m, which made it the second highest-grossing film in Hong Kong after Tenet. While over 40 Japanese films were released in 2020, non-animations grossed less than HK$3m.
15 Korean films screened in Hong Kong in 2020, with audiences focusing on blockbusters like Ashfall and Peninsula, which both grossed over HK$16m. The Korean horror animation Beauty Water had a moderate box office success of around HK$4.5m.
Affected by a third round of mandatory cinema shutdowns, the 2021 Hong Kong box office did not begin until February 18, one week after Lunar New Year. Less than three weeks after cinemas re-opened, UA Cinema Circuits, with six cinemas and around 15% of the exhibition market share, filed for voluntary liquidation, bringing its 35-year Hong Kong cinema business to an end. But on an optimistic note, Herman Yau’s Shock Wave 2 and Chiu Sin-hang’s boxing film One Second Champion grossed over HK$ 16m. With a relatively steady cinema environment expected in Hong Kong, and the world in 2021, the market should perform at least better than in 2020.
Ryan Law