Hong Kong’s beleaguered cinema market had some good news in the first half of 2026, with overall box office revenues increasing by 25% thanks to a strong line-up of local and Hollywood releases.
Total box office for the six months from January 1 to June 30, 2026, reached $84.7M (HK$664M), according to figures from Hong Kong Box Office, compared to $67.7M (HK$531M) in the same period last year.
Edko Films’ comedy drama Night King topped the box office over the six month period with $15M (HK$118M) from its Lunar New Year release. Dayo Wong and Sammi Cheng head the cast of the film, directed by Jack Ng, about a fading nightclub’s fight against a hostile takeover.
Crime thriller prequel Cold War 1994, also produced by Edko Films, was the second highest grossing local film with $4.8M (HK$38M) since it opened on May 1. Directed by Longman Leung, the film revolves around power struggles among the elites in the run-up to the Hong Kong Handover and features major local stars including Chow Yun-fat, Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Louis Koo.
Other local hits in the first six months included Philip Yung’s comedy The Snowball On A Sunny Day, Herman Yau’s crime thriller We’re Nothing At All and Patrick Leung’s drama Ciao UFO about four housing estate kids who bond over a UFO sighting.
Avatar: Fire And Ash was the highest-grossing foreign movie during the first six months, taking $5M (HK$40M), followed by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with $4.7M (HK$37M), Toy Story 5, Hoppers and The Devil Wears Prada 2.
“The summer film season has just begun with many family-friendly offerings; the latter half of the year will also boast many high-quality domestic and international movies,” said Hong Kong’s Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA), which operates Hong Kong Box Office. “It is hoped that the summer season and the second half of the year will sustain the strong momentum seen in the first half.”
MPIA chairman Crucindo Hung noted that box office receipts for local films had increased by 40% year-on-year. In total, 142 films were released during the six month period, of which 17 were local productions.
He also said that Chinese film Dear You has grossed $1.5M (HK$12M) in Hong Kong, a decent result for a mainland production in a market where local and Hollywood films tend to perform more strongly. The relatively low-budget Teochew-language film is the second highest grossing film of the year in mainland China with an astounding $285M (RMB1.94BN).
Hong Kong box office slumped by 16% in the first six months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, while the year as a whole was down by 15% year-on-year to $154M (HK$1.21bn).