The 2026 Spring Festival film season in China has been revolutionized by artificial intelligence, with profound implications for investors and industry players. AI technology became a standard tool across all eight Spring Festival releases, driving box office revenues to over 36 billion yuan. Films like Pegasus 3 leveraged AI for high-end special effects, achieving significant cost savings and efficiency gains, while others used AI for marketing and animation rendering. Despite the AI boom, films with weak content underperformed, highlighting that technology alone cannot guarantee success without compelling narratives. The competition underscores strategic moves by tech giants like Alibaba and ByteDance into the B2B film market, offering AI solutions that are reshaping production pipelines and investment opportunities. Regulatory and ethical challenges, including copyright issues with AI-generated content, are emerging as critical considerations for future industry growth.
AI Wars in China’s Spring Festival Film Season: Box Office Records and Industry Transformation
