lunar new year sends regional box office surging while travel pressures reshape release plans
The Lunar New Year holiday, which began Feb. 17, 2026 (ET), delivered a predictable audience boost for cinemas across East and Southeast Asia, even as heavy holiday travel and operational strain led distributors and exhibitors to tweak schedules and marketing plans. The holiday window remains a vital period for local films and international titles vying for family audiences, and this year’s mix of releases and logistics highlights how evolving consumer habits are reshaping the calendar.
Holiday crowds lift ticket sales; local tentpoles outperform expectations
The Spring Festival orbit continues to be the industry’s strongest seasonal driver, and this Lunar New Year was no exception. Family-oriented comedies and action spectacles anchored by homegrown stars drew steady crowds at multiplexes, with several local tentpoles reporting high weekday occupancy and sustained evening business. Cinemas extended evening and late-night screenings to accommodate returning travelers and multi-generational groups who use the holiday as an opportunity to see major releases together.
Exhibitors leaned into themed promotions, pairing festive concessions with curated film blocks that emphasized nostalgia and family-friendly appeal. That programming strategy proved effective in markets where public gatherings remain a central feature of the holiday, and chains reported stronger-than-usual repeat viewings for films released earlier in the season. Smaller independent titles saw more modest gains, often concentrated in urban centers where specialty cinemas staged holiday-themed retrospectives.
Travel surge and staffing crunch prompt schedule adjustments
Mass travel tied to the holiday placed pressure on distribution and exhibition logistics. Long-distance travel patterns pushed some moviegoers to prioritize daytime and evening sessions on key travel days, creating pockets of high demand that required last-minute schedule changes. Several chains adjusted staffing levels and screening plans to handle concentrated showtimes, and a handful of distributors postponed late-week premieres to avoid clashing with forecasted transportation bottlenecks.
Operational concerns extended to international release strategies. Distributors seeking simultaneous or near-simultaneous openings across multiple territories recalibrated their rollout plans to account for staggered holiday calendars and localized viewing habits. The result was a more segmented release map for some mid-size titles, which opted for targeted runs in high-demand holiday markets rather than broad rollouts that could be diluted by travel-related audience fragmentation.
Streaming and theatrical strategies continue to evolve around the holiday
Streaming platforms and theatrical distributors worked in tandem to maximize holiday engagement. Several platforms timed promotional windows and curated holiday film collections to capture audiences who prefer at-home viewing, while theatrical partners emphasized experiential offerings—event screenings, Q& A sessions with talent, and expanded concession menus—to justify the trip to cinemas. That dual approach underscored a continuing trend: the holiday is a cross-platform battleground where convenience and experience compete for audience attention.
Industry analysts noted that marketing spend during the Lunar New Year increasingly targets family groups and grandparents, recognizing that multi-generational attendance patterns drive higher per-ticket spending. Promotions that blended in-theater exclusives with short-term streaming tie-ins helped some films extend their holiday legs, converting theatrical momentum into sustained attention across platforms in the weeks following the holiday.
As the market moves past this year’s Lunar New Year window, studios and exhibitors will assess which strategies produced the best return: heavy theatrical promotion and extended screening hours, or more balanced hybrid campaigns that lean on streaming to catch audiences unable to travel. The holiday remains one of the industry's most important barometers, and this year’s mix of strong box office demand and logistical strain will shape release calendars and marketing playbooks for the season ahead.
