Top 10 Chinese-Language Films of the First Half of 2026 (Based on Chinese Internet Data)

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In the first half of 2026, the Chinese film market delivered impressive results. As of May 23, the annual box office had surpassed 15 billion yuan, with 356 million tickets sold.

The Spring Festival blockbuster Pegasus 3 led the pack with over 4.4 billion yuan. The May Day dark horse Dear You achieved a remarkable reversal, earning over 1.1 billion yuan with a staggering Douban score of 9.2 — becoming a phenomenon of the year.

Here are the Top 10 Chinese-Language Films of the first half of 2026, ranked by a combination of box office performance, Douban scores, and cultural impact.

No. 1: Pegasus 3 (飛馳人生3)

  • Director: Han Han
  • Cast: Shen Teng, Yin Zheng, Huang Jingyu, Zhang Benyu, Wei Xiang, Sha Yi, Adam Fan
  • Genre: Drama / Sports / Action
  • Douban Score: 7.6
  • Box Office: 4.42 billion yuan

Verdict: The box office champion of the first half of 2026. Han Han and Shen Teng's winning combination strikes again.

Pegasus 3 continues the high-octane racing spirit of its predecessors, dominating the Spring Festival holiday. After his triumph at Bayanbulak, Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) is invited to compete as head coach in a new international event, the "Muchen 100 Rally." The racing sequences have been fully upgraded, moving to even more treacherous international rally stages.

With a Douban score of 7.6 leading the Spring Festival lineup and 4.42 billion yuan in ticket sales, the film sits firmly at the top of the annual chart.

No. 2: Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert (鏢人：風起大漠)

  • Director: Yuen Woo-ping
  • Cast: Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, Jet Li, Yu Shi, Chen Lijun
  • Genre: Action / Wuxia
  • Douban Score: 7.5
  • Box Office: 1.45 billion yuan

Verdict: The most anticipated wuxia epic of 2026. Wu Jing and Jet Li join forces on screen for the first time.

Based on Xu Xianzhe's popular manhua of the same name, Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert follows a 鏢師 (bodyguard) during the turbulent end of the Sui dynasty, caught between the imperial court and the jianghu underworld. Yuen Woo-ping's fight choreography is top-tier. The long-awaited showdown between Wu Jing and Jet Li has been called a "dream come true" for wuxia fans.

With a Douban score of 7.5, the film has earned praise as "the best domestic wuxia film since Brotherhood of Blades."

No. 3: Scare Out (驚蟄無聲)

  • Director: Zhang Yimou
  • Cast: Lei Jiayin, Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Zhou Dongyu
  • Genre: Crime / Thriller / Suspense
  • Douban Score: 6.3
  • Box Office: 1.37 billion yuan

Verdict: Zhang Yimou's first modern suspense film. An all-star lineup that commands attention.

Set around the time of Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), Scare Out follows a series of bizarre murders in a small southern city. As a police detective investigates, he uncovers a twenty-year-old secret. Zhang Yimou brings his signature visual aesthetic to the suspense genre for the first time.

While its Douban score of 6.3 is the lowest among the Spring Festival top tier, the film still crossed 1.37 billion yuan at the box office.

No. 4: Dear You (給阿嬤的情書)

  • Director: Lan Hongchun
  • Cast: Li Sitong, Wang Yantong, Wu Shaoqing, Zheng Runqi, Wang Xiaohui
  • Genre: Drama / Family
  • Language: Mandarin / Teochew dialect
  • Douban Score: 9.2
  • Box Office: Over 1.1 billion yuan

Verdict: The biggest dark horse of 2026. A Teochew dialect film that moved audiences nationwide with its sheer sincerity.

A young man named Xiaowei, burdened by debt, travels to Thailand secretly, searching for a rumored billionaire grandfather. What he brings back shocks the entire family: the grandfather has long been dead, and the person who had been exchanging letters with Grandma all those years was a stranger. As Xiaowei investigates, a hidden half-century-old love story emerges.

Shot partially in the Teochew dialect and featuring mostly non-professional actors, Dear You is a testament to the power of authenticity.

With a Douban score of 9.2 — the highest for any domestic film in 2026 — Dear You has been reviewed over 700,000 times. Its reversal at the box office is remarkable: opening with just 1.6% of screenings, the film climbed week after week on word-of-mouth alone, becoming the first domestic film after Spring Festival to cross 1 billion yuan.

No. 5: Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector (熊出沒·年年有熊)

  • Director: Lin Huida
  • Genre: Animation / Comedy / Family
  • Douban Score: 7.2
  • Box Office: 1.07 billion yuan

Verdict: The "anchor" of the Spring Festival season. The 12th film in the Boonie Bears franchise delivers once again.

Year after year, the Boonie Bears series reliably earns over 1 billion yuan during Spring Festival. This 12th installment, Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, sends bald-headed logger Qiangqiang and the bear brothers on another adventure — still the top choice for family audiences.

With 1.07 billion yuan in ticket sales, the film proves that as long as an IP is strong and quality remains consistent, animated films have enormous potential in the Chinese market.

No. 6: Vanishing Point (消失的人)

  • Director: Liu Haoliang
  • Cast: Zheng Kai, Liu Haocun, Zhang Songwen
  • Genre: Suspense / Crime / Mystery
  • Douban Score: 7.7
  • Box Office: Approximately 444 million yuan

Verdict: The highest-rated May Day holiday release in seven years.

A man disappears mysteriously late one night. His wife, colleagues, and friends all tell different stories. The truth is elusive. Zheng Kai delivers his most breakthrough performance to date.

With a Douban score of 7.7 — the highest for any May Day release in nearly seven years — critics have called Vanishing Point "a tightly plotted thriller with solid twists and sustained suspense from beginning to end."

No. 7: Cold War 1994 (寒戰1994)

  • Director: Longman Leung
  • Cast: Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Gordon Lam
  • Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
  • Language: Cantonese
  • Douban Score: 7.2

Verdict: A prequel to the Cold War series. A return to the golden age of Hong Kong crime cinema.

In 1994, a tycoon's kidnapping shakes Hong Kong, threatening its financial standing. OCID Superintendent Li Wenbin risks everything to navigate conflicting interests and expose the truth. Cold War 1994 follows a young Li Wenbin (the character played by Tony Leung Ka-fai in the original films) as he rises from an ordinary police officer to the core of Hong Kong's police force. Daniel Wu plays the young Lee, while Chang Chen portrays the antagonist.

With a Douban score of 7.2, Hong Kong film fans have called it "the film that finally recaptures the spirit of Infernal Affairs."

No. 8: Per Aspera Ad Astra (星河入夢)

  • Director: Chen Sicheng
  • Cast: Wang Hedi, Song Qian
  • Genre: Sci-Fi / Romance
  • Douban Score: 7.0

Verdict: Chen Sicheng's first venture into sci-fi romance. A unique offering during the Spring Festival season.

The Latin title Per Aspera Ad Astra means "through hardships to the stars." Set in the future, the film follows an astronaut who maintains a quantum-communications relationship with his girlfriend back on Earth during an interstellar mission. The visuals are stunning, and the emotional core is genuinely moving.

With a Douban score of 7.0 — a solid rating for a sci-fi film — younger audiences have praised the chemistry between the leads.

No. 9: Being Towards Death (10間敢死隊)

  • Director: Chen Sicheng
  • Cast: Jiang Long, Qi Xi, Yang Chaoyue, Wang Zichuan, Zhang Chi
  • Genre: Comedy / Drama
  • Douban Score: 6.8
  • Box Office: 436 million yuan

Verdict: Chen Sicheng's first venture into palliative comedy. A "being-toward-death" film that chooses lightness over heaviness.

The English title Being Towards Death directly references Heidegger's philosophy of "being-toward-death" — the idea that only by confronting our mortality can we live authentically. The Chinese title10間敢死隊 is a wordplay: "10間" sounds like "時間" (time), but also refers to Ward No. 10, where terminally ill patients live out their final days. "敢死隊" means "dare-to-die squad."

The film follows Zhang Xiaobing (Jiang Long), a debt-ridden man who survives a suicide attempt and takes a job as a caregiver in a cancer ward to repay his debts. Tasked with providing "psychological intervention" to patients, he joins them in refusing to be defined by life's limits. Racing to fulfill their deepest wishes, they convert an ambulance into a wish-fulfillment tour bus.

Chen Sicheng, known for the Detective Chinatown franchise and thrillers like Lost in the Stars, described this as a "truly heartfelt" film made with "total sincerity."

With a Douban score of 6.8, audiences have praised Jiang Long's breakout performance, calling him "charming" and "completely convincing."

No. 10: The Fire Raven (匿殺)

  • Director: Zhang Mo
  • Cast: Zhang Xiaofei, Fan Wei
  • Genre: Suspense / Crime
  • Douban Score: 6.5
  • Box Office: 346 million yuan

Verdict: Zhang Yimou's daughter Zhang Mo directs this suspense film independently. Zhang Xiaofei's breakout performance.

A woman is stalked and disappears late one night. As police investigate, they uncover a conspiracy far larger than anyone imagined. The Fire Raven weaves a dark tale of hidden identities and deadly secrets.

With 346 million yuan at the box office — an impressive achievement for a non-holiday release — audiences have praised Zhang Xiaofei's performance.

Honorable Mentions

Zootopia 2 — Box Office: 573 million yuan. Disney's animated sequel performed respectably in China but failed to replicate the phenomenon of the original.

Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe (熊貓計劃：部落) — Box Office: 288 million yuan. A new domestic animated IP starring panda "Huhu" who falls off a cliff while battling robbers and awakens to discover he's in a mysterious tribe.

Final Thoughts

Several trends stand out in the first half of 2026:

The rise of dialect cinema — Dear You tells a story of family and nostalgia in the Teochew dialect. No stars. No special effects. Just honesty. It proves that a good story is still the most valuable commodity in cinema.

Spring Festival dominance — Pegasus 3 led the pack, but Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert, Scare Out, and Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector all contributed 1 billion yuan+. The Spring Festival box office reached new heights.

Word-of-mouth decides everything — Dear You climbed from low screen share to the top of the charts on a 9.2 Douban score. Audiences no longer worship big IPs or star power. They trust their friends' recommendations.

The second half of 2026 will see major releases like Creation of the Gods II and The Volunteers III. Let's continue to be fellow travelers of great cinema.

Which first-half 2026 Chinese-language film is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

Tom De · The Movie Prince 🎬

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