China's first AI film opens to weak ticket sales
China's first fully AI-generated feature film 'Sanxingdui: Future Past' opened on Friday 23 October with more than 10,000 screenings but presale revenue of only 80,000 yuan ($11,980) and forecast total box office below 150,000 yuan, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.
China's first fully AI-generated feature film, the sci-fi thriller "Sanxingdui: Future Past", opened in cinemas on Friday 23 October with more than 10,000 screenings scheduled, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. However, advance ticket sales have lagged, with presale revenue standing at 80,000 yuan ($11,980) as of Friday morning and total box-office takings forecast to remain below 150,000 yuan, only a fraction of the reported production cost, Maoyan said. Ticket prices range from 20 to 90 yuan, bringing the number sold to a few thousand at most.
Jiang Defu, CEO of the production company Bona Film Group, acknowledged the lukewarm reception in a recent interview but said the film was pushing boundaries. "We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit, and the first to be tested by the audience," he told Chinese film industry outlet Yuli. "I think that is not easy at all."
Nearly 100 people took more than two years to make the film, which cost more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million), Bona said, although all the actors, their voices and the backdrops are AI-generated. The film touches on the theme of humanity in a future shaped by AI.
But that was not enough to convince Iris Yang, who attended a free preview screening on Thursday for acquaintances of the production team and industry workers. Yang said she would not have paid for a ticket, given the movie's quality. "If AI generation can match the theatrical experience of 'Avatar', I think I would be willing to pay for it," she said, referring to the US franchise known for the quality of its animation.
AI-generated video has gained popularity in China. On Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, AI-generated short dramas garnered more than 200 billion views in September alone. But "the audience won't automatically pay for the tickets just because it's an AI-generated film", independent AI director Zhang Jun told AFP.
Online, Chinese social media users also seemed unconvinced. "If it's free to watch on streaming platforms, it could become legendary. But paying to watch? People are not going to accept it at this stage," one user on Weibo commented. In Hollywood, the rise of AI has sparked concern among film workers about job losses. An AI-generated sci-fi feature called "Gods Don't Give Gifts" is scheduled for US release on 4 December, and a virtual Hollywood actor called Tilly Norwood, whose interviews have gone viral while fuelling job fears, is set to star in an upcoming movie called "Misaligned".