China’s Sanxingdui AI film reaches 1.25 million yuan on day four

Bona Pictures’ AI feature 三星堆：未来往事 reached cumulative Chinese box-office receipts of 1.2457 million yuan on October 26, its fourth day in theaters. The China Movie Box Office website displayed the figure, including service fees, at 10:45:04 p.m. Beijing time. The film opened in China on October 23.

Filmmakers can assess its theatrical sales. The same table showed 83,800 yuan in receipts for October 26, representing 0.61% of that day’s total box office.

CCTV’s October 24 report cited the film’s disclosure: AI generated all pictures and some audio; characters are original digital creations. CCTV described it as China’s first AI theatrical film with an official release permit.

The science-fiction story connects mysterious markings on Sanxingdui bronzes with ancient Shu civilization and a future AI crisis. Producer Quji Xiaojiang told the Global Times that specialists advised the team on separating archaeological evidence, unresolved scholarly questions and cinematic invention.

CCTV reported two years of production, more than 1.2 million base images and over 100 iterations of the complete film. Producers said preparation, virtual sets and direction of digital character performances took place in a cloud production environment. Generating source images was followed by repeated work assembling and revising a feature-length release.

Film production continues after generation

Executive producer Jiang Defu told the Global Times that the virtual production environment retained 17 professional roles. Review teams examined the film frame by frame and identified revisions. Material that looked acceptable on a phone could require further scrutiny on a cinema screen. The interview put production costs above 10 million yuan.

In an interview published by Dongxi Wenyu on October 25, the producers described conventional postproduction work, including color grading and 5.1-channel sound mixing.

Pricing also involves both a producer’s guideline and the cinema’s retail decision. Quji told Dongxi Wenyu that the company’s recommended ticket price was 20 yuan, while cinemas determined the final selling price. The producers said theaters received a larger revenue share than for ordinary films, without specifying the percentage.

The film had 1.25% of screenings.

Bona’s annual report, published in April, explains that film investments generate box-office allocations and rights revenue, with proceeds divided among participants according to agreements after release. It distinguishes lead investments from minority investments; the latter receive returns based on investment proportions or agreed shares. Gross theatrical receipts including service fees, producer revenue and profit after production costs are therefore separate measures. This film was still in release, with its final performance unsettled.

Bona had disclosed commercial uncertainty before opening. A notice signed by its board on October 12 and published October 13 confirmed the film’s National Film Administration release permit while warning that box-office returns were uncertain. It also reported company-wide first-half revenue of 458 million yuan and a net loss attributable to shareholders of 169 million yuan. Those financial results cover a different period and scope from the new release.

Bona’s April annual summary defines AI film and television operations to include production, investment and distribution, alongside paid subscriptions and solutions for its own AI platform. A separate September 1 notice described AI film and television operations as early-stage. First-half segment revenue was 1.9323 million yuan, or 0.42% of total revenue, with technology, business models and market acceptance still requiring validation. The figures came from unaudited half-year results published in August. The October release’s contribution remains a matter for subsequent disclosures. Bona scheduled its third-quarter report for October 30; that reporting quarter ended in September, before this film opened.