Today, the consumer experience offered by a movie ticket goes far beyond the 120 minutes on the screen. What else can moviegoers do while watching a film? Let's see what they have to say.
Citizen Jiang Tianyun: After drawing related blind boxes, I will buy some other cosmetics, and I may even buy some related second-hand items.
Citizen Zhou Yue: Things like blind boxes, cups, and headbands and gloves that my baby likes, a whole range of anime merchandise, I'll probably buy them all.
Citizen Li Ning: After visiting Nanjing and watching "Nanjing Photo Studio", I especially want to visit the memorial hall to seriously remember this history and to visit the city.
We found that nearly 70% of consumers are willing to spend 2-3 hours before and after watching a movie to go shopping, eat, and buy merchandise, and over 40% of viewers are willing to spend a weekend or even longer to visit the filming locations.
"Film+" drives the rapid expansion of domestic IPs into wider audiences.
During the interviews, we paid particular attention to the prominent role of IP-based consumption. We learned that the IP-based development of films is key to the "film+" model, not only driving consumption across the entire value chain but also accelerating the internationalization of Chinese culture.
In the production workshop of a toy company in Zhejiang, fully automated production lines are running at full capacity, producing the latest domestic film and television IP merchandise. In 2025, many of the company's domestic IP merchandise items were frequently in short supply due to insufficient inventory. To address this, the company not only planned ahead but also added two new production bases and more than 20 production lines.
How popular are domestic film and television IPs? A source told reporters that the number of domestic IPs collaborated with in 2025 increased by over 60% compared to the previous year. It is estimated that approximately 50 high-quality domestic IPs contributed nearly 40% to the company's revenue growth.
Moreover, the booming domestic film market has given the company's employees a great deal of confidence in their future development.
In addition to its great success in the domestic market, Chinese film and television IP derivatives are also very popular overseas, especially in Southeast Asia, which has brought new opportunities for companies to expand into overseas markets.
The person in charge told reporters that in the future, they will continue to leverage their own advantages, strengthen cooperation with domestic IPs, and use the powerful driving force of the film market to launch more derivative products that suit all age groups, so that Chinese culture can reach the world in a lighter and more relatable way.
"Film+" drives continued popularity of cultural and tourism destinations.
The "movie+" model has not only propelled the rapid expansion of domestically produced IP products into wider audiences, but interviews revealed that many viewers are willing to spend several days or even a week traveling to locations featured in films. By 2025, the impact of movies on tourism will be significant, with more and more viewers choosing to visit filming locations and experience the cinematic world beyond the silver screen.
According to data from China Mobile's Wutong Big Data Center, in 2025, the number of tourists visiting film and cultural tourism cities increased by more than 6% year-on-year, with particularly significant increases during holidays. In Shenzhen, Qingdao, Xiamen, Jinhua, Yibin and other places, the number of tourists during key holidays increased by an average of 12% compared with the same period in 2024, with the highest increase reaching 30.6%.
With the official launch of the "Travel with Movies" campaign in 2025, various movie-related experiences have become increasingly vibrant and diverse. At the costume shooting base in Hengdian World Studios, there is a nearly one-hour movie shooting experience. The venue can accommodate hundreds of people at the same time, and visitors can experience various jobs both on and off screen.
After filming is complete, you can get your own movie, and the "remuneration" you receive can be exchanged for various film and television derivatives and cultural and creative products.
The person in charge told reporters that with the launch of the "Travel with Movies" event in 2025, in order to give tourists a better experience, the original theater performances in the park have been changed to street shows, and more film and television elements have been incorporated, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in film and television scenes and participate in interactions anytime and anywhere, making each interaction full of randomness and novelty.
Furthermore, to further enrich the experience and expand the market, the scenic area has expanded its original single nighttime attraction to five, extending the "travel with movies" experience from daytime to nighttime. By replicating movie scenes with lighting effects and combining them with exclusive nighttime projects, there are over 20 interactive film points within 50 meters, creating a magical experience of seeing a movie every five steps and an interactive activity every ten steps.
Why is the influence of film IPs becoming increasingly significant?
From the surge in derivative product consumption driving companies to expand production overseas, to film and television bases igniting the cultural tourism market with immersive experiences and nighttime tourism models, film IPs have built a complete ecosystem spanning consumption, production, and cultural tourism. So why are film IPs developing so rapidly and gaining such significant influence?
Experts told reporters that the rapid development of film IP is actually a result of the upgrading of audience demands and the rapid iteration of industry development. As residents' cultural consumption capacity continues to improve, their demand for movies has surpassed the 120-minute screen experience; audiences want to obtain long-term, diverse emotional resonance and extended scene experiences.
This choice outside of movies has transcended the simple act of watching films, becoming an important new path for promoting cultural integration and dissemination.
From an industry perspective, the development of film IPs is also a key path for the film industry to break through a single profit model. In the past, the film industry's revenue mainly relied on box office revenue, while the full-chain development of IPs has opened up diversified cultural dissemination and profit models.
By leveraging influential IPs, a virtuous cycle can be effectively formed where "movies drive sales of derivative products, and derivative products, in turn, boost the popularity of the IP."
Data shows that the total domestic box office revenue last year was 51.832 billion yuan, while the output value of related industrial chains exceeded 800 billion yuan.
(CCTV reporters Wang Shiyu, Yang Ziqing, Yang Guang, Zhou Xin, Dongyang Station)
