China's first fully AI-made feature film opens to weak presales

Why it matters: AI video tools have spread quickly in China, and short AI-made dramas draw huge audiences on platforms like Douyin. A theatrical release is a harder test, because cinemagoers pay for tickets and compare the result with conventional films. The reception may shape how far studios push AI into feature production.

Sanxingdui: Future Past opened in Chinese cinemas on Friday, with more than 10,000 screenings scheduled that day, according to the ticketing platform Maoyan. The sci-fi thriller is billed as the country's first fully AI-generated feature film.

Advance sales were modest. Presale revenue stood at 80,000 yuan (about $11,300) on Friday morning, and Maoyan forecast total takings below 150,000 yuan (about $21,100). Tickets cost 20 to 90 yuan (about $2.80 to $12.70).

Bona Film Group, the production company, said nearly 100 people worked for more than two years on the film, which cost over 10 million yuan (about $1.4 million). All the actors, their voices and the backdrops are AI-generated.

Bona chief executive Jiang Defu told the film outlet Yuli that the reception was lukewarm but that the film was pushing boundaries. "We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit, and the first to be tested by the audience," Jiang said.

Iris Yang, who saw a free preview on Thursday, said the quality would not persuade her to buy a ticket. "If AI generation can match the theatrical experience of Avatar, I think I would be willing to pay for it," Yang said. Independent AI director Zhang Jun told AFP that audiences would not pay simply because a film is AI-made.