October 26, 2026 — China's first feature-length film officially approved for theatrical release that was produced using artificial intelligence (AI) has debuted to dismal box office numbers. Despite significantly slashing production costs, the film's early earnings have failed to reach even one-tenth of its budget, prompting widespread assessments of box office failure.

According to reports from Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao and Agence France-Presse (AFP) on the 26th, the sci-fi animated film Sanxingdui: Future Chronicles, which opened across China on the 23rd, accumulated a box office revenue of just 900,000 yuan (approx. $125,000 USD / 180 million won) as of 10:00 AM on the 25th. Considering that the production cost exceeded 10 million yuan (approx. $1.4 million USD / 2 billion won), this is a remarkably low performance. On its opening day, the film was screened about 11,000 times nationwide across China, yet its pre-sale revenue prior to release stood at a mere 140,000 yuan (approx. $19,400 USD / 28 million won). AFP reported that when a reporter visited a screening room in Beijing on the 23rd, there were only four audience members in attendance.

This project is the first AI-produced feature film to receive theatrical distribution approval from China's National Film Administration. Set against the backdrop of the ancient Sanxingdui ruins in Sichuan Province, the story follows future humanity falling into crisis due to excessive dependence on artificial intelligence, only to find clues for a solution in the ancient Shu civilization of over 3,000 years ago.

The production period lasted about two years, with a crew of around 100 people participating to create the 100-minute film. Chinese local media reported that the production utilized the AI video generation platform "Vidu" to create over 1.2 million base images, revising the entire film more than 100 times. While artificial intelligence was employed for character and background generation as well as video processing, humans handled the narrative conception and artistic judgments. Producer Qu Zhixiaojiang stated that if the film had been produced as a live-action feature, it would have cost between 800 million and 900 million yuan (approx. $111 million to $125 million USD / 160 billion to 180 billion won).

Audience members responded that the introduction of AI technology alone is insufficient reason to visit a movie theater. One viewer who attended a free preview screening remarked that they would pay if the film offered a viewing experience akin to Avatar, but stated, "At the current level, I wouldn't buy a ticket." Film director Zhang Jun noted, "Audiences do not open their wallets simply because a movie was made with AI." Liu Haibo, a professor at Shanghai University, pointed to the limited appeal of AI-generated imagery, the absence of famous actors, and a lack of promotion as the primary causes of the sluggish box office performance.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]