China’s first full-length film made entirely with artificial intelligence, or AI, has sold few cinema tickets. AI uses computer programmes to create things such as images and video. The film, Sanxingdui: Future Past, earned about $180,000 from tickets through Monday. Its budget was $1.5 million.
Bona Film Group made the film. Its main character studies objects from the past and must save a future world under AI’s control. Company manager Jiang Defu accepted that the film was not very popular. But he called it an important first test.
People shared different views online. One viewer strongly disliked the film. Another liked the low cost of AI films and the freedom to tell different stories. Meanwhile, AI already makes most of China’s very short dramas for social media.
More than 120,000 of these short dramas came out in the first three months of 2026. AI made over 95% of them, compared with almost none a year earlier. Making one can now cost as little as $3,000. Film expert Stanley Rosen says people generally accept short films, but many do not trust AI use in major full-length films.
