With a week to go before the Spring Festival holiday, box office pre-sales for the holiday movie season in China began on Monday, taking in more than 50 million yuan (about 7.21 million U.S. dollars) on the day.

The Spring Festival holiday, running for nine days from Feb. 15 this year, is one of the key movie seasons in the world's second-largest film market. It accounted for nearly one-fifth of China's annual box office revenues in both 2024 and 2025, with last year's season generating a record 9.5 billion yuan (about 1.37 billion U.S. dollars) in eight days. In each of the past three years, the season's top title went on to become the year's overall box-office champion. That concentration of commercial power makes the Spring Festival slate a closely watched predictor of broader trends in China's movie market.

The movie lineup combines familiar franchises, a high-stakes spy thriller, and family-friendly fare, reflecting an industry leaning on proven intellectual property while cautiously testing new thematic territory amid competition from streaming platforms, short-form video and AI-driven entertainment.

Leading the early buzz ahead of its Spring Festival opening is "Pegasus 3," the third installment in director Han Han's racing-comedy franchise starring Shen Teng, one of China's most bankable comedic actors. On the Maoyan online ticketing platform, "Pegasus 3" currently ranks first in "want-to-see" interest selections by Spring Festival moviegoers this year.

"Scare Out," a contemporary espionage thriller directed by Zhang Yimou, has also drawn strong early attention. Developed with guidance from the Ministry of State Security, it centers on a leak of classified military aviation data and follows a counterintelligence team as it navigates shifting loyalties and hidden betrayals.

Another high-profile entry, "Blades of the Guardians," adapted from a cult-favorite comic, is directed by legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and features a multigenerational lineup of martial arts stars. It is a rare, large-scale ‘wuxia’ production at a time when the genre, which features legends of ancient Chinese warriors, has become less common in Chinese cinema.

On the animation front, "Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector”, the 12th entry in the franchise, is the sole animated feature being released this season. With cumulative box-office earnings exceeding 8 billion yuan (1.13 billion U.S. dollars), the series has become a family-friendly holiday staple.

The holiday slate has also been most recently joined by "Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe," a sequel starring Jackie Chan, and "Per Aspera Ad Astra," a fantasy adventure aimed at younger viewers.