# Sanxingdui Reportedly Took About 1.2 Million Yuan by Monday, Eight Times the Forecast, and Still Averaged Two Viewers a Screening - Published: 29 October 2026 - Updated: 29 October 2026 - Author: RenderBob team - Category: News - Canonical: https://renderbob.ai/blog/sanxingdui-first-weekend-box-office-two-viewers-per-screening Newer reports put the first days of China's first all-AI feature well above the forecast we cited on 24 October, and still very small against its reported cost. Newer reports put the first days of China's first all-AI feature well above the forecast we cited on 24 October, and still very small against its reported cost. The totals come from secondary reports of ticketing data. ## What the reports say Magica reported on 26 October that Sanxingdui: Future Past had taken an estimated RMB 1.21 million through Monday 26 October, after opening on 23 October. A report it cites, drawing on the Maoyan ticketing service, gave RMB 1.192 million by Monday lunchtime, which is a snapshot of an unfinished day. Magica names no source for its own total. It also says Monday had 8,469 scheduled screenings, and that weekend attendance averaged two viewers per screening, with Maoyan showing two on both 24 and 25 October. In US dollars, Futurism and the A.V. Club, citing Cartoon Brew, report about $181,000 with a per-screen average under $20, and give a budget of about $1.5 million. At the exchange rate implied by the opening-day reports, 1.21 million yuan comes to about $181,000, so the two sets of figures fit. Neither report states the period the dollar figure covers. One outlet, Phonandroid, gave a total of 150,000 yuan, but its figures are inconsistent and look like the earlier presale forecast, so we do not use them. ## How it compares with the forecast Our 24 October piece reported presales of 80,000 yuan and a Maoyan forecast of a total below 150,000 yuan. On the later figures, the first four days ran roughly eight times that forecast. Against Bona's reported production cost of more than 10 million yuan, 1.21 million is about 12 percent. The film is still a commercial miss on those numbers. Box office is also not the whole picture: we have no figures for streaming, licensing or festivals. ## The criticism A 26 October analysis from the WeChat account Crazy Tech Lab, republished on 36Kr, praised the full pipeline from production through censorship to cinema release and some images, such as the Bronze Sacred Tree. It listed flaws it ties to current model limits: - Story gaps. Journeys are cut down to a few shots, and one character reaches Egypt after a few scenes. - Continuity. Characters keep the same clothes and hairstyles through an avalanche and a snowy hike. - Emotion. Tears appear without a build-up and expressions often do not match. The author also argues that with free AI video online, a ticket of 19.9 to 39.9 yuan is hard to justify on the AI label alone. Digital Trends, on 27 October, makes a similar argument: technology can help make a film but cannot guarantee anyone wants to see it. These are commentary, and none of the pieces we read gives audience or critic ratings. ## What to take from it - Continuity is a production cost. Costume, emotion and geography errors came up in criticism of a two-year project. - Check numbers with the period and source. One film produced a forecast, a presale figure, a yuan total and a dollar total within a week. - A film has to work for its audience at its ticket price. The AI label does not do that work. ## What to watch Final box-office totals, ratings, any streaming release and whether Bona publishes its own figures. ## RenderBob 3 and this story RenderBob 3 lets a team spend generation where the story needs it. The model is a per-clip choice, local or cloud, and each generated clip sits on its own lane, so a continuity fix like a changed costume or a missing emotional build-up touches one shot rather than the whole film.