Compiled By: Malami Haruna Dogondaji
23 OCTOBER, 2026
China has released what is being described as its first fully AI-generated feature film, Sanxingdui: Future Past. The science-fiction thriller opened in cinemas on Friday, 23 October 2026, after a wide rollout of more than 10,000 screenings.
But the early signs are not encouraging. Advance ticket sales were low, one AFP reporter counted only four people at an early Beijing screening, and several viewers said the film was not yet good enough to justify paying for a cinema ticket.
The release is a major moment for China’s fast-growing AI industry. It shows that Chinese studios can now put an entirely AI-made feature on the big screen. The harder question is whether audiences will pay cinema prices to watch it.
What is Sanxingdui: Future Past?
Sanxingdui: Future Past is a sci-fi thriller produced and distributed by Bona Film Group. Its story explores humanity in a future shaped by artificial intelligence.
The film’s actors, voices and backgrounds were all generated using AI. Nearly 100 people worked on the project for more than two years, and the reported production cost was more than 10 million yuan — about $1.5 million.
Bona Film Group chief executive Jiang Defu said the company knew it was entering unfamiliar territory.
“We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit and the first to be tested by the audience,” he told Chinese film-industry outlet Yuli.
“I think that is not easy at all.”
The numbers behind the slow start
The film opened with more than 10,000 screenings scheduled for Friday, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan. Yet presale revenue stood at only 80,000 yuan, or about $11,980, by Friday morning.
Maoyan forecast total opening takings of below 150,000 yuan. With tickets priced between 20 and 90 yuan, AFP estimated that only a few thousand tickets had been sold at most.
That is a small return against a reported budget of more than 10 million yuan. It also suggests that the film’s wide release did not translate into strong public demand.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Film | Sanxingdui: Future Past, a sci-fi thriller. |
| Opening date | Friday, 23 October 2026. |
| Producer/distributor | Bona Film Group. |
| Chief executive | Jiang Defu. |
| AI use | Actors, voices and backdrops were AI-generated. |
| Release scale | More than 10,000 screenings scheduled for opening day. |
| Production team | Nearly 100 people worked on the film for more than two years. |
| Reported cost | More than 10 million yuan, about $1.5 million. afp |
| Presale revenue | 80,000 yuan, about $11,980, as of Friday morning. |
| Forecast opening takings | Below 150,000 yuan, according to Maoyan. |
| Ticket prices | 20–90 yuan. |
| Early attendance | AFP counted four audience members at one central Beijing screening. |
Curiosity is not converting into ticket sales
The film’s biggest challenge appears to be simple: people are curious about AI, but not yet convinced it can deliver a full cinema experience.
AFP attended one of the first Friday screenings in central Beijing and counted just four people in the audience. The low turnout mirrored the weak pre-sale figures and the cautious response online.
Lilian Gong, a 35-year-old moviegoer in central Beijing, said she went to an early screening because she wanted to see how AI would look on the big screen. But she was not impressed.
“In terms of quality, compared with human production, it still falls short,” she said.
She added that AI films may eventually become commercially viable, but not yet.
“In the future, just like films, maybe decades later, it would get to a level when people are all willing to pay to watch,” Gong said. “But for the moment, I think there would be very few who would.”
Another preview attendee, Iris Yang, said she would not have paid for a ticket after seeing the film.
“If AI generation can match the theatrical experience of ‘Avatar’, I think I would be willing to pay for it,” she said.
AI is popular online — but cinema is different
The film’s slow start does not mean Chinese audiences reject AI-made entertainment. The opposite may be true on short-video platforms.
AFP reports that AI-generated short dramas drew more than 200 billion views on Douyin in September alone. That shows how quickly AI video has become part of everyday digital entertainment in China.
But a cinema release is a different test. Short videos are often free, fast and consumed on phones. A cinema film asks viewers to leave home, buy a ticket and expect high-quality visuals, sound, acting and storytelling.
Independent AI director Zhang Jun said the AI label alone will not sell tickets.
“The audience won’t automatically pay for the tickets just because it’s an AI-generated film,” he said.
That view was echoed by one Weibo user cited by AFP.
“If it’s free to watch on streaming platforms, it could become legendary. But paying to watch? People are not going to accept it at this stage.”
A test for China’s AI ambitions
The release comes at a time when China’s technology sector is promoting AI aggressively. Sanxingdui: Future Past is therefore more than one film: it is a public test of whether AI-generated content can move from viral short videos into paid theatrical entertainment.
The result so far suggests that technical achievement alone is not enough. A film can be fully AI-generated and still struggle if audiences do not feel the story, characters or visuals are worth the price of admission.
The debate is also global. Hollywood workers have raised concerns about AI threatening jobs in the film industry. In the United States, an AI-generated sci-fi feature called Gods Don’t Give Gifts is scheduled for release on 4 December, while virtual actor Tilly Norwood is set to appear in the upcoming film Misaligned.
What happens next?
Sanxingdui: Future Past has made history as China’s first fully AI-generated theatrical feature. But its opening figures suggest that the technology is still ahead of audience expectations.
The key issue is no longer whether AI can make a feature-length film. It clearly can. The question is whether AI filmmaking can create the emotional and visual experience that makes people willing to sit in a cinema, pay for a ticket and recommend the film to others.
For now, China’s first AI cinema experiment has opened the door. Audiences, however, appear to be waiting to see whether what comes through it is truly worth watching.
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