In contrast, Princess Mononoke has maintained an impressive 8.9 points.

"No matter what, Chinese filmmakers must remain confident and stay true to their original aspirations. Domestic creators need to continuously enhance artistic capabilities, imagination and creativity, while better understanding the evolving preferences of audiences and market trends," says Rao.

Lai says the upcoming two major box-office seasons — Dragon Boat Festival and the summer vacation — have already scheduled multiple highly anticipated offerings, such as Chinese animated film Endless Journey of Love, American film How to Train Your Dragon and domestic costume comedy The Litchi Road.

"Overall, the upcoming film slate for the remainder of the year boasts a robust lineup with diverse genres and themes, including several tentpoles. We anticipate these forthcoming releases will achieve stronger market performance, drawing audiences back to theaters and delivering delightful cinematic surprises," says Lai.