Box office less than 100 million, loss over 300 million, the worst movie of 2026 is born

As of now, the most successful film of the year is definitely Shen Teng’s “Flying Past Life 3.”

“Flying Past Life 3” has a total box office of 3.992 billion RMB in mainland China, about to surpass 4 billion RMB. The film’s producers can earn over 1.4 billion RMB from it. The film’s production cost is estimated to be between 420 million and 500 million RMB, meaning it has already made nearly 1 billion RMB in profit, which is almost equivalent to the total box office of the fourth-place film of the year, “Boonie Bears: The Big Show.”

On the other hand, it’s a pity that the Chinese martial arts blockbuster “The Dagger,” starring stars like Wu Jing, Jet Li, Tony Leung, and Nicholas Tse, has received very good reviews. Over 300,000 people online have given it a high score of 7.5, with many viewers calling it the best martial arts film of the new century.

However, despite the praise, “The Dagger” has not achieved a huge box office success, currently just surpassing 1.2 billion RMB. While this seems like a good result, the film’s massive production cost of 700 million RMB has resulted in a loss of over 200 million RMB for the studio.

Nevertheless, a loss of over 200 million RMB does not make “The Dagger” the most disastrous film of the year. That title goes to director Han Yan’s “Dreams of the Galaxy,” which has lost over 300 million RMB.

Cost 400 million RMB, box office less than 100 million RMB, “Dreams of the Galaxy” lost over 300 million RMB.

“Dreams of the Galaxy” is a sci-fi film directed by Han Yan, starring Wang Hedi and Song Qian. The film is highly imaginative, blending various styles—time travel, animation, and more—reminiscent of Hollywood’s “Doctor Strange” and Spielberg’s “Ready Player One.”

Because of this, “Dreams of the Galaxy” is dubbed a “sci-fi blockbuster for young people,” and it has received decent reviews, with a score of 6.9, much higher than Zhang Yimou’s “The Silent Thunder.”

However, despite the good reviews, “Dreams of the Galaxy” has not gained widespread audience support. After nearly 20 days in theaters, it has not reached 100 million RMB in box office revenue. The studio has only earned about 32 million RMB from it, making it the worst among six films released during the Spring Festival.

Since “Dreams of the Galaxy” is a sci-fi film with many special effects scenes, its production costs are high—about 400 million RMB. As a result, it is still in a state of massive loss, with losses exceeding 300 million RMB, far higher than “The Dagger” starring Wu Jing and others.

Therefore, “Dreams of the Galaxy” has become the most disastrous film of the year. Even if it ends with a final box office around 100 million RMB, the loss will not be less than 300 million RMB.