China's first AI-generated feature film opens to thin ticket sales
Bona Film Group's "Sanxingdui: Future Past," with AI-generated actors, voices and sets, opened on 23 Oct. Presales were tiny and the box-office forecast is well below its reported cost.
“Sanxingdui: Future Past,” a sci-fi feature from Bona Film Group, opened in Chinese cinemas on 23 Oct. Its actors, their voices and its backdrops were all made with AI. The Standard, carrying Reuters reporting, says nearly 100 people spent more than two years on it, at a cost of over 10 million yuan (about $1.5 million).
Sales were thin. Ticketing platform Maoyan counted 80,000 yuan in presales by opening morning, even with more than 10,000 screenings booked, and forecast total takings under 150,000 yuan. Bona CEO Jiang Defu said being the first to face an audience was “not easy at all.” One viewer at a free preview told the outlet she would not have paid for a ticket at that quality.
Reports disagree on which tools were used. TechNode says Bona organised the shots in its own Boka cloud platform, and other outlets credit different generators.
For creators, the takeaway is that a two-year studio project can now be made with AI end to end, but audiences won’t pay for it just because AI made it. Pick a tool for the shots you need now, not for feature-length promises.
Source: The Standard (Reuters), 23 Oct 2026