Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as China's first fully AI-generated feature film, opened nationwide on October 23, 2026, with more than 10,000 screenings scheduled for its opening day. The 100-minute sci-fi thriller was created using entirely AI-generated digital characters and contains no live actors.
Despite the wide theatrical footprint, presale revenue proved modest. By the evening before release, the film had accumulated approximately $9,700 in advance ticket sales, according to Maoyan, a major Chinese ticketing platform. Box-office forecasts suggested total takings would remain under approximately $15,000.
The film cleared China's formal "dragon mark" licensing requirement from the National Film Administration, a necessary step for wide theatrical distribution in the country. Its first two days of release (October 23 to October 24) generated just over $75,000 in box-office revenue.
Production Scale and Technology
The project was led by Bona Film Group and took more than two years to complete with a team of nearly 100 people. Production costs exceeded $1.5 million. Shengshu Technology provided technical support through its Vidu AI video model.
The disparity between distribution availability and actual audience interest underscores a key challenge for AI-generated content: while the technology can produce full-length films, market demand remains uncertain. The modest box-office performance suggests that broad theatrical access does not automatically translate to viewer engagement.
