Entertainment · Film · 4 hrs ago
China’s First Fully AI-Made Theatrical Film Draws Few Ticket Buyers
Sanxingdui: Future Past opened in Chinese theaters on October 23 as the country’s first fully AI-generated feature film to receive permission for a theatrical release.
The roughly 100-minute science-fiction film imagines a future shaped by AI and a crisis linked to humanity’s dependence on it.
It earned about $181,000, compared with a reported production budget of about $1.5 million.
The film took more than two years to make, with people involved in creating and revising its AI-generated images and scenes.
Its weak ticket sales suggest AI visuals alone may not draw theater audiences, who may expect a more convincing cinematic experience than they get from short videos on their phones.
The result matters as AI-made video grows in China, but popularity online does not necessarily translate into people paying to see a feature in theaters.
Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as China’s first fully AI-generated film to receive a theatrical release permit, drew few ticket buyers after opening on October 23.
IndieWire reported that the film grossed about 1.21 million yuan, or $181,000, against a reported 10 million yuan budget.
The 100-minute film uses AI-generated characters, voices and backgrounds, with human teams working on it for more than two years.
A viewer told AFP that the film’s current visual quality was not worth paying to see in theaters.
The film’s poor box office contrasts with the online popularity of AI-made short videos and the success of the human-made animated film Niu Lai.
- Who
- Sanxingdui: Future Past, produced by Bona Film Group with other Chinese companies.
- What
- China’s first fully AI-generated feature to receive a theatrical release permit drew few ticket buyers.
- When
- It opened on October 23, 2026. IndieWire reported its box-office total after the following weekend.
- Where
- Chinese theaters.
- Why
- A viewer criticized the film’s visual quality, and a professor cited limited audience appeal, the absence of famous actors, and insufficient promotion. The sources do not establish a single cause.
Producers and AI filmmakers
Viewers and critics
Production effort
Producers and AI filmmakers
Producers said the film took more than two years and involved a large team.
Viewers and critics
A viewer said the current visual quality was not worth paying to see in theaters.
Potential of AI
Producers and AI filmmakers
Bona said the film was a first attempt at an AI-made theatrical release, and production has begun on a second AI feature.
Viewers and critics
Critics said AI-generated content’s popularity in short videos does not guarantee interest in a feature film.
Sanxingdui: Future Past opened in Chinese theaters.
Yonhap reported that box-office revenue through the morning was 900,000 yuan.
Yonhap published its report on the film’s poor box-office performance.
IndieWire reported a gross of 1.21 million yuan, about $181,000, for the past weekend.
- Film length
- 100 minutes
- Reported production budget
- 10 million yuan, about $1.5 million
- IndieWire-reported gross
- 1.21 million yuan, about $181,000
- Yonhap-reported gross
- 900,000 yuan through the morning of October 25
- Production period
- More than two years
- Opening date
- October 23, 2026
4 sources
What people are saying
We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit and the first to be tested by the audience
AI로 만든 영화가 '아바타'와 같은 극장 관람 경험을 제공한다면 기꺼이 돈을 내고 보겠다