China’s Film Industry Arrives at AFM on a Domestic High

Chinese filmmaker Wen Muye keeps taking what look on paper like challenging subjects and turning them into box office gold.

It began with his 2018 debut, Dying to Survive, about a man (Xu Zheng) who makes a fortune smuggling cancer drugs into China. The film took in more than $450 million, and Wen was hailed as an exciting new voice in Chinese cinema. He blended so much humanity and humor into the story that, by the time the credits rolled, the film had become the tale of a man who went looking for cash but found his soul.

When news of Wen’s latest venture broke, Chinese media initially struggled with what they’d heard of Once Upon a Time in the Middle East: the fact that it would be set in the war-torn Middle East, inside a Chinese restaurant, and would star one of the country’s most beloved comedians in Shen Teng (Pegasus) led to some head scratching.

But, again, Wen has worked his magic. Once Upon a Time in the Middle East became a $360 million-odd hit at home, thanks in no small part to the filmmaker’s talent for mixing genres, with warm humor to be found along with moments of dramatic devastation, and what might well be a career-defining turn from Shen. Again, as with Wen’s first feature, it’s the tale of an everyman turned hero.

The director points to three key ingredients when he was writing the script and working on the ways in which he would present the movie to the world: Wen says he was looking to combine “entertainment value” with “social relevance” and “soulfulness.” To do that, he presents an assortment of relatable characters, drawn together through circumstance and held together by their shared humanity.

“Even if the audience does not usually think about big questions, after watching it, would they be willing to think about things like war and peace, hope and human relationships?” begins Wen. “These three levels go deeper and deeper. It is already not easy to achieve entertainment value. [But] if one can also enter social relevance and finally leave a longer spiritual memory, that is of course the state I hope for.”

Wen’s film has become one of the biggest success stories in the world’s second-largest film market, and it’s now the country’s official submission in the international Oscar category. Once Upon a Time in the Middle East is also down for one of four market screenings being hosted at AFM by the China Film Pavilion, an initiative staged under the guidance of China Film Administration, hosted by the China Film Co-production Corporation (CFCC) and back at the market for the fourth year in a row.

Those screenings reflect the recent move toward a more varied output from the Chinese film industry. Alongside the star vehicle that is Once Upon a Time in the Middle East comes the Lan Hongchun-directed box office smash Dear You ($300 million) — a gentle but sweeping family drama — as well as the animated hit Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, the 12th release in the blockbuster franchise that has taken in more than $1 billion in China alone. Rounding out the CFCC’s AFM slate is the documentary Daughter of the River, drawn from the memoirs of acclaimed author Hong Ying and tracing the lives of generations of women living in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

This year’s China Film Pavilion has showcased 70 film companies and institutions, among them the China Film Group Corporation, CMC Pictures, Lianray Pictures, China Film Archive, China Film Foundation and the Shanghai International Film Festival. As well as market screenings (held at MC Century City), the on-site AFM facility has been promoting more than 200 titles, among them the much-anticipated sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth 3 — a franchise that has so far collected roughly $1.3 billion — the Jiang Xuanyi-helmed actioner Brotherhood of Blades 3 and the animated fantasy hit All Wishes Come True!

Other initiatives this year include a mixer on Nov. 11 at which leading Chinese industry figures will discuss the state of their domestic scene while showcasing more films. There will also be a main-market, CFCC-hosted seminar titled “Beyond Co-Production: New Models for Financing, Creating, and Distributing Global Screen IP” that focuses on four issues: “how to combine financing, talent and production resources from different countries; how to incorporate global distribution and audience considerations from the project planning stage; how AI can reduce production costs while preserving creators’ unique styles; and how to carry out cross-cultural redevelopment of classic films and established IP.”

The session is moderated by Rance Pow, founder and CEO at Artisan Gateway — the Los Angeles-based consulting firm that offers analysis of the Chinese film industry — and features as panelists Apelles Entertainment founder Belle Avery; executive vp and head of corporate banking at East West Bank Bennett Pozil; founder and CEO at Leeding Media David Lee; senior global entertainment executive at U.S. China Co-Productions Randy Greenberg; and William Feng, who’s head of Greater China and vp at the Motion Picture Association Asia Pacific.

The aim, according to the CFCC, is to explore “new avenues for global cooperation” and to “facilitate international film transactions, solidify Sino-foreign cinematic partnerships and boost cultural appreciation within the global industry.”

The Chinese industry arrives for AFM boosted by a run of successful local hits in 2026 and some positive box office news. By the end of October, revenue had topped $4.7 billion, with more than 800 million admissions and roughly 122 million screenings, according to state-run media reports. Year-on-year, China is still down around 29 percent — with the caveat that 2025 was bumped by the freakish success of the animated hit Ne Zha 2, which took in a staggering $2.2 billion. But what seems to be driving optimism is the fact that 2026’s overall box office is mostly being driven by domestic releases.

By October’s end, eight of the country’s top 10 films for the year were local, led by the action-comedy Pegasus 3 ($656 million) and followed by Once Upon a Time in the Middle East.

Wen’s own explanation for his film’s success is more straightforward. He puts it down to the fact that, on so many levels, the characters and the conversations they have are so relatable.

“I have always been interested in the state of ordinary people in specific environments, because ordinary people are not making big choices every day,” says Wen. “Most of the time, they are dealing with very concrete things like eating, work, family, money and relationships. But when circumstances truly push them into a certain position, they may also do things they could not normally do. For me, this change is not about first writing a hero and then adding an ordinary person’s life to him. It is about starting from an ordinary person and seeing how far he can go under the pressure of reality.”