Chinese actress Jia Ling, who rose to fame with her crosstalk and skits, achieved success as a director in 2021 with the movie “Hi, Mom”, which garnered both critical acclaim and high box office earnings. In 2024, she once again directed and starred in the film “Hot and Spicy”, which topped the annual director’s box office rankings, making her the first female director in Chinese film history to achieve this milestone.
On January 1, 2025, the Chinese National Film Administration released statistics indicating that the total box office revenue for films in 2024 reached 42.502 billion yuan. According to data from the movie platform “Maoyan Professional Edition”, among the films released last year, only 10 films performed remarkably well at the box office, with Jia Ling’s “Hot and Spicy” leading the pack with a box office revenue of 3.46 billion yuan, clinching the top spot for 2024.
The second spot was secured by directed by Han Han’s “The Fast and the Furious 2” with a total box office revenue of 3.398 billion yuan, followed by “Claw Crane” jointly directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo with a total revenue of 3.327 billion yuan. Zhang Yimou’s “The 20th Rule” ranked fourth with a box office revenue of 2.454 billion yuan.
Jia Ling was the only female director to make the list, and “Hot and Spicy” accounted for 8.1% of the total market share throughout the year, leading to the trending topic “Jia Ling becomes the first female director to top the annual box office.” It is worth noting that Jia Ling lost 100 pounds for the sake of filming “Hot and Spicy”, but the rapid weight loss led to side effects such as loose skin and prominent wrinkles, sparking public discussion. During a recent interview, she admitted for the first time that she had gained weight back and commented, “After losing weight, my popularity with the audience also decreased.”
According to “Maoyan”, a total of 493 domestic films were released in Chinese cinemas in 2024, but only 67 films grossed over 100 million yuan at the box office, with the vast majority of domestic films performing poorly. The bottom ten in box office earnings were, in order, “Dragon Escort” (85 yuan), “I’m a Starry Dream Builder as an Art Student” (90 yuan), “Once We Saluted 708090” (100 yuan), “Next Stop, Love” (121 yuan), “Journey of Youth” (159 yuan), “Dodo is a Dog” (459 yuan), “Iron Gate” (531 yuan), “Wedding Dream” (1045 yuan), “The Night Bookstore” (1151 yuan), and “A Billion Plan” (1345 yuan).
According to a report by “First Financial”, producer Chen Caiyun previously stated in an interview that in the current economically constrained environment in China, movies are not a primary necessity, and cultural consumption naturally takes a back seat.