Han Haoyue/Text According to data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 17:00 Beijing time on July 23, the total box office (including pre-sales) of Chinese films during the summer season of 2026 (June 1 to August 31) has exceeded 5 billion yuan.

Half of this year's summer season has passed, and it is highly uncertain whether the entire season can match the 11.966 billion yuan of the 2025 summer season; Compared to the 20.616 billion yuan box office of the 2023 summer season, this year's summer season has not yet completed a quarter. Some media commented that the summer movie season no longer exists

When it comes to the summer season, people will think of the summer viewing frenzy sparked by the 2019 film "Ne Zha: The Birth of the Demon Child" with a budget of 5.035 billion yuan; The benign competition among five excellent works in 2023, including "Desperate", "The Disappearance of Her", "The Investiture of the Gods Part 1: The Song of the Morning", "In the Eight Star Cage", and "30000 Miles in Chang'an", has created the "highest grossing summer box office in history"; In 2024, 'Catch the Doll' grossed 3.254 billion yuan at the box office; In 2025, 'Nanjing Photography Studio' achieved a box office of 2.89 billion yuan. Looking back at the past few years, the summer season as a whole has indeed left a lively and prosperous impression on people.

But under prosperity, there are already hidden worries. In fact, since the significant decline in box office revenue during the summer season of 2024 and 2025, public opinion has expressed concerns about the prospects of the season. Faced with the downturn, the industry failed to effectively respond, ultimately leading to a pessimistic view in 2026 that the summer season is over.

The sluggish atmosphere that pervades the summer season this year can be attributed to: firstly, the reputation of "Kung Fu Women's Football" is polarized, and the box office growth in the second half is weak, making it difficult to achieve the predicted total box office of 3 billion yuan; Secondly, there is a lack of works with equivalent box office appeal in the schedule, making it difficult to mobilize the market and increase popularity together; Thirdly, the stock prices of the film and television theater industry sector have significantly declined, leading to strong market concerns.

The argument of "no summer archives" is not emotional roast, but a rational judgment based on the combination of works performance, market feedback, audience feelings and other factors. The summer season, which is at its peak of development, is thriving, and its upward trend, combined with the optimistic attitude of society and the market at all levels, makes people believe that a lively movie season can hold more expectations for people inside and outside the movie. Similarly, the rapid decline in performance during this period was not only due to some problems with the works themselves, but also exacerbated by changes in audience viewing attitudes, consumption habits, and other aspects, leading to a cooling market. From this perspective, 'the summer season is gone' does not only refer to the decline of this traditional season, but also to the rise and fall of the traditional season as a mirror, conveying the audience's overall feelings towards the film.

The problem with the work itself is the primary reason for the absence of summer slots. Lack of awareness in planning and releasing works has made it difficult for this summer's blockbuster season.

The "Kung Fu Women's Football" has a flexible release schedule, and after 7 days of release, an optimized version with improved special effects has been replaced, which is a last-minute appearance and insufficient preparation; The release of "Eight Immortals!" has been elevated and hailed as a dark horse, but promotion methods such as "reputation reversal" have partially obscured the interpretation of the story, making it unable to ignite a large-scale viewing frenzy like "Nezha" did back then, and its box office ceiling has been limited; The "Love Letter to Grandma", which has been released for over two months, is still shining brightly in the summer season, indicating that the vast majority of the hundreds of scheduled films in this year's summer season have become supporting films. The summer season heavily relies on blockbusters and works with strong originality and high topicality. Using this standard to measure this year's summer season, it will be difficult to pass.

The decline in stock prices in the film and television sector reflects the confusion in the film market; And 'confusion' is also the keyword for this summer season. In a state of confusion, "marketing" has once again become an important means of creating a festive atmosphere - "We all owe Stephen Chow a movie ticket" has even become the most effective marketing strategy for this summer. And the audience has seen this script twice before: the first time was when "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was released in 2013, and the second time was when "The Mermaid" was released in 2016.

When this so-called 'zero cost marketing' replaces the quality of the work itself as a scheduling topic, it is not surprising that a schedule is labeled as' non-existent '. The most severe criticism of the film industry is that the summer season is no longer available, and practitioners should take this warning seriously.

(The author is a cultural critic)

(Author's Commentary)