From audience to users: China’s new “movie-going” trends shaped by internet

In China, watching a movie used to mean walking into a multiplex with the good company of family or friends, popcorn, and soft drinks.

Time changes. Nowadays in China, the world’s second-biggest cinema market, many movies are being watched, or to be exact, streamed in a wobbling commuting subway; or from a cozy bed on an unwinding weekend evening, be rest assured, popcorn and colas are still there, but friends might be replaced by bullet chats flying across an iPad screen.

According to a new report published by Tencent Research Institue, more than 70% of Tencent Video’s movie views happen on its mobile apps in China. As more and more theatrical releases now available for binging online, China’s highly developed internet is also bringing new ways of interacting with a movie to the country’s internet-addicted audience.

Here are our highlights of the report: