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China's Spring Festival Box Office Falls 60% — episode cover art
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春节档电影预售遇冷:票房大幅下降背后的原因

China's Spring Festival Box Office Falls 60%

About this story

China's 2026 Lunar New Year presales fall 60% — no Ne Zha 2, no Zhang Yimou, Jet Li or Jackie Chan to save it. HSK 4 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 16 key vocabulary words such as 习惯、成绩、理想 and walks through 5 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.

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原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

说到今年春节的电影市场,有一个消息让很多人都感到非常吃惊。
我们都知道,春节是中国人最重要的节日。
在春节放假的时候,和家人朋友一起去看电影,已经成了很多人的习惯。
这几年来,春节期间的电影票房一直都很高。
但是,今年的情况好像发生了一些很大的变化。
根据最新的数据,今年春节电影的“预售”成绩不太理想。
什么是预售呢?
简单来说,就是在电影还没有正式上映之前,观众先买票。
这个数据非常重要。
因为它可以告诉我们,大家对这些电影有没有兴趣。
如果预售的票卖得好,说明大家都很想看。
如果卖得不好,说明大家可能不太想去电影院。
现在的数据显示,今年春节档的预售票房只有两亿元人民币左右。
你可能觉得两亿元是一个很大的数字。
但是,如果我们和去年比一比,就会发现问题了。
去年这个时候,预售票房已经达到了六亿元。
也就是说,今年比去年少了整整四亿元。
下降的幅度超过了百分之六十。
这是一个非常严重的下降。
很多做电影生意的人,比如投资人和电影院的经理,现在都很担心。
他们都在问一个问题:为什么大家不买票了?
这里面有很多复杂的原因。
首先,我们要看看去年的情况。
去年之所以成绩那么好,是因为有一部特别厉害的电影。
这部电影叫《哪吒2》。
它是一部动画片,但是它非常非常受欢迎。
不管是大人还是小孩,都喜欢看这部电影。
它打破了很多记录,吸引了无数的观众走进电影院。
光是这一部电影,就赚了四十八亿元。
它占了去年春节总票房的很大一部分。
甚至可以说,去年的好成绩,主要是因为这一部电影。
但是今年呢?
专家们分析说,今年没有像《哪吒2》这么厉害的电影。
虽然今年上映的电影也不少,但是没有一部能像《哪吒2》那样引起轰动。
这就好像你去参加一个聚会。
如果有一个超级大明星在,大家都会想去。
如果大明星不在,去的人可能就少了很多。
一位电影制片人说,要想超过与其年的成绩,必须要有奇迹发生。
那么,今年到底有哪些电影呢?
其实,今年的电影种类还是非常丰富的。
而且全部都是中国自己拍的电影。
有各种各样的类型,适合不同的人看。
比如说,有张艺谋导演的新电影。
这是一部关于国家安全的电影,故事很紧张。
还有传统的功夫片,也就是武侠电影。
这里面有很多非常有名的演员。
比如李连杰、成龙,还有谢霆锋。
除此之外,还有关于赛车的喜剧电影。
当然,为了照顾小朋友,还有像《熊出没》这样的动画片。
看起来选择很多,演员阵容也很强大。
但是,问题就出在这里。
虽然这些演员很有名,但是他们能不能吸引现在的年轻人呢?
这是一个很大的问题。
现在的电影市场,主要的观众是年轻人。
也就是我们常说的“95后”或者“00后”。
这些年轻人的口味和以前的观众不一样。
专家指出,传统的功夫片对年轻人的吸引力在下降。
而且,今年春节电影的主要导演和演员,年纪都比较大了。
很多都是四十岁以上,甚至六七十岁的人。
这就在电影和观众之间,产生了一种“代沟”。
年轻人可能觉得这些电影不够新鲜,不够酷。
他们想要看更符合他们生活的电影。
如果电影不能让年轻人感兴趣,票房就很难变高。
除了电影本身的原因,还有一个外部的原因。
那就是今年的假期安排。
今年的春节假期非常长,一共有九天。
这是历史上最长的一个春节假期。
你可能会想,假期长了,大家不是更有时间看电影了吗?
其实情况可能正好相反。
因为假期很长,很多人就不仅仅是回家过年了。
他们会选择去旅游。
去别的城市,或者去风景好的地方玩。
如果大家都去旅游了,花在看电影上的时间和钱就会变少。
旅游是需要花很多钱的。
如果钱都花在了买机票和住酒店上,可能就不舍得买电影票了。
所以,长假期对电影行业来说,既是机会也是挑战。
虽然现在的预售成绩不太好,但是我们也不用太悲观。
我们要看到,中国的电影市场其实正在恢复。
去年的总票房比前年增加了百分之二十二。
总共有五百多亿元人民币。
这是一张不错的成绩单。
虽然还没有完全回到几年前最好的水平,但是在这个过程中。
现在的市场大约恢复到了2019年的八成左右。
为了帮助电影市场,政府也在想办法。
很多地方的政府都推出了好政策。
比如在湖北省,政府就决定给老百姓发福利。
他们计划在今年发几千万元的“电影消费券”。
简单来说,就是政府帮你付一部分电影票的钱。
这样,电影票的价格就变低了。
如果你想看电影,用这个券就会便宜很多。
政府希望通过这种方法,鼓励大家多去电影院。
毕竟,如果票价太贵,很多人就会选择在家里看电视。
如果票价便宜了,大家就愿意出门了。
这对电影院和观众来说,都是一件好事。
总的来说,今年春节的电影市场面临着不小的压力。
一方面是因为去年的成绩太好了,很难超越。
另一方面是因为电影的内容和年轻人的喜好可能不太一样。
再加上大家更想去旅游,分流了一部分观众。
但是,电影市场总是充满了变化。
也许在电影正式上映后,会有一部“黑马”出现。
什么是“黑马”呢?
就是大家本来不看好,但是最后非常成功的电影。
口碑是非常重要的。
如果第一批观众看了觉得好,他们会在网上告诉别人。
这样就会有越来越多的人去买票。
所以,现在的预售数据虽然低,但不是最后的结果。
我们要等到春节真正开始,看看大家的反应。
也许有些电影虽然没有大明星,但是故事讲得特别好。
这样的电影往往能给观众带来惊喜。
对于喜欢电影的人来说,这个春节还是有很多选择的。
无论你是喜欢紧张的故事,还是喜欢轻松的喜剧,都能找到适合自己的。
只要电影的质量好,大家还是会愿意花钱支持的。
这就是市场的规律。
好的产品,总会有人喜欢。
我们也希望今年的春节档,能给我们带来一些不一样的感动和快乐。
English transcript reference

Speaking of this year's Spring Festival movie market, there is news that has made many people feel very surprised.

We all know that the Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people.

During the Spring Festival holiday, going to watch movies with family and friends has already become a habit for many people.

In recent years, movie box office earnings during the Spring Festival have always been very high.

However, the situation this year seems to have undergone some major changes.

According to the latest data, the "pre-sale" results for this year's Spring Festival movies are not very ideal.

What are pre-sales?

Simply put, it is when the audience buys tickets before the movie is officially released.

This data is very important.

Because it can tell us whether everyone is interested in these movies.

If pre-sale tickets sell well, it shows that everyone really wants to watch.

If they don't sell well, it shows that everyone might not really want to go to the cinema.

Current data shows that the pre-sale box office for this year's Spring Festival season is only around 200 million RMB.

You might think that 200 million is a very large number.

However, if we compare it with last year, we will discover the problem.

At this time last year, pre-sale box office had already reached 600 million yuan.

That is to say, this year is a full 400 million yuan less than last year.

The magnitude of the decline exceeds sixty percent.

This is a very serious decline.

Many people in the movie business, such as investors and cinema managers, are very worried right now.

They are all asking one question: Why isn't everyone buying tickets anymore?

There are many complex reasons involved here.

First, we need to look at last year's situation.

The reason the results were so good last year was because there was a particularly amazing movie.

This movie is called "Ne Zha 2".

It is an animated film, but it was very, very popular.

Whether adults or children, everyone liked watching this movie.

It broke many records and attracted countless viewers into the cinemas.

This one movie alone earned 4.8 billion yuan.

It accounted for a large portion of last year's total Spring Festival box office.

One could even say that last year's good results were mainly due to this one movie.

But what about this year?

Experts analyze that this year there is no movie as amazing as "Ne Zha 2".

Although there are quite a few movies being released this year, none can cause a sensation like "Ne Zha 2".

This is just like going to a party.

If there is a super superstar there, everyone will want to go.

If the superstar isn't there, the number of people going might be much fewer.

A movie producer said that to surpass last year's results, a miracle must happen.

So, what movies are there this year exactly?

Actually, the variety of movies this year is still very rich.

And they are all movies made by China itself.

There are all kinds of genres, suitable for different people to watch.

For example, there is a new movie directed by Zhang Yimou.

This is a movie about national security, and the story is very tense.

There are also traditional Kung Fu movies, which are martial arts movies.

There are many very famous actors in them.

Such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Nicholas Tse.

Besides that, there are also comedy movies about car racing.

Of course, to cater to children, there are also animated films like "Boonie Bears".

It looks like there are many choices and the lineup of actors is very strong.

However, the problem lies right here.

Although these actors are famous, can they attract today's young people?

This is a big question.

In the current movie market, the main audience is young people.

That is what we often call the "post-95s" or "post-00s".

The tastes of these young people are different from audiences in the past.

Experts point out that the appeal of traditional Kung Fu movies to young people is declining.

Moreover, the main directors and actors of this year's Spring Festival movies are relatively old.

Many are over forty, or even sixty or seventy years old.

This creates a kind of "generation gap" between the movies and the audience.

Young people might feel these movies aren't fresh enough or cool enough.

They want to watch movies that are more relevant to their lives.

If movies cannot interest young people, it is difficult for the box office to go high.

Besides reasons related to the movies themselves, there is also an external reason.

That is this year's holiday schedule.

This year's Spring Festival holiday is very long, totaling nine days.

This is the longest Spring Festival holiday in history.

You might think, with a longer holiday, wouldn't everyone have more time to watch movies?

Actually, the situation might be exactly the opposite.

Because the holiday is long, many people are not just going home for the New Year.

They will choose to go traveling.

To go to other cities, or go to places with good scenery to have fun.

If everyone goes traveling, the time and money spent on watching movies will decrease.

Traveling requires spending a lot of money.

If the money is all spent on buying plane tickets and staying in hotels, they might not be willing to buy movie tickets.

Therefore, for the film industry, a long holiday is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Although the current pre-sale results are not very good, we don't need to be too pessimistic.

We must see that China's movie market is actually recovering.

Last year's total box office increased by 22 percent compared to the year before.

It totaled more than 50 billion RMB.

This is a pretty good report card.

Although it hasn't completely returned to the best level of a few years ago, it is in the process.

The current market has recovered to about 80 percent of 2019 levels.

To help the movie market, the government is also thinking of solutions.

Governments in many places have launched good policies.

For example, in Hubei Province, the government decided to distribute benefits to the common people.

They plan to issue tens of millions of yuan in "movie consumption vouchers" this year.

Simply put, the government helps you pay for part of the movie ticket.

This way, the price of movie tickets becomes lower.

If you want to watch a movie, using this voucher will make it much cheaper.

The government hopes to encourage everyone to go to the cinema more often through this method.

After all, if the ticket price is too expensive, many people will choose to watch TV at home.

If the ticket price is cheaper, everyone will be willing to go out.

This is a good thing for both cinemas and the audience.

In general, the movie market this Spring Festival is facing considerable pressure.

On one hand, it's because last year's results were too good and are difficult to surpass.

On the other hand, it is because the content of the movies and the preferences of young people might not be quite the same.

Plus, everyone wants to travel more, diverting some of the audience.

However, the movie market is always full of changes.

Perhaps after the movies are officially released, a "dark horse" will appear.

What is a "dark horse"?

It is a movie that everyone didn't think highly of at first, but ended up being very successful.

Word of mouth is very important.

If the first batch of viewers watch it and think it's good, they will tell others online.

This way, more and more people will buy tickets.

So, although current pre-sale data is low, it is not the final result.

We have to wait until the Spring Festival truly begins to see everyone's reaction.

Maybe some movies, although they don't have big stars, tell a particularly good story.

Movies like this can often bring surprises to the audience.

For those who like movies, there are still many choices this Spring Festival.

Whether you like tense stories or relaxing comedies, you can find something suitable for yourself.

As long as the quality of the movie is good, everyone will still be willing to spend money to support it.

This is the law of the market.

Good products will always be liked by someone.

We also hope that this year's Spring Festival season can bring us some different kinds of emotion and happiness.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
xíguànhabit / to be used to

Something you do regularly or the state of being accustomed to something.

chéngjìresult / achievement / grade

Used for school grades or performance results in business/sports.

lǐxiǎngideal

Perfect or satisfying; can also mean 'dream/aspiration'.

yánzhòngserious / grave

Used to describe negative situations, illnesses, or problems.

fēngfùrich / abundant

Describing variety, resources, or experience.

gǔlìto encourage

To give support, confidence, or hope to someone.

guānzhòngaudience

HSK 1-3. audience.

chéngshìcity

HSK 1-3. city.

piàofángbox office

Refers to the total revenue generated by ticket sales for a movie.

yùshòupre-sale

Selling tickets or goods before they are officially available or released.

shàngyìngto screen / to release (a movie)

Specifically used for movies starting to show in theaters.

fúdùrange / scope / extent

Often used with rising or falling statistics to describe the size of the change.

hōngdòngsensation / stir

Causing a great excitement or commotion among the public.

dàigōugeneration gap

Differences of outlook or opinion between people of different generations.

bēiguānpessimistic

Tending to see the worst aspect of things; opposite of 乐观 (lèguān).

xiāofèiquànconsumption voucher / coupon

Vouchers issued (often by government) to stimulate spending.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法
也就是说↗

Meaning 'that is to say' or 'in other words'. It connects a previous statement with a clarification or conclusion.

也就是说,今年比去年少了整整四亿元。

之所以……是因为……↗

A structure meaning 'the reason why... is because...'. It emphasizes the cause of a specific result.

去年之所以成绩那么好,是因为有一部特别厉害的电影。

不管是……还是……,都……↗

Meaning 'no matter if it is A or B, [result] is the same'. It indicates that the condition does not affect the outcome.

不管是大人还是小孩,都喜欢看这部电影。

既是……也是……↗

Meaning 'both... and...'. Used to describe two qualities or roles existing simultaneously.

所以,长假期对电影行业来说,既是机会也是挑战。

只要……就……↗

Meaning 'as long as... then...'. It introduces a sufficient condition for a result.

只要电影的质量好,大家还是会愿意花钱支持的。

Proper nouns

专有名词
春节ChūnjiéSpring Festival / Chinese New Year哪吒2Nézhā ÈrNe Zha 2 (Movie title)张艺谋Zhāng YìmóuZhang Yimou (Director)李连杰Lǐ LiánjiéJet Li成龙Chéng LóngJackie Chan谢霆锋Xiè TíngfēngNicholas Tse熊出没Xióng ChūmòBoonie Bears (Animation franchise)湖北省Húběi ShěngHubei Province人民币RénmínbìRMB (Chinese currency)

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