Time-travel action adventure Back To The Past raised the spirits of the quiet Hong Kong box office on New Year’s Eve, smashing several new records, but the annual local box office shrunk 16% year-on-year.
Set in both the ancient past and modern day, the film is a follow-up to the 2001 popular TV drama series A Step Into The Past. The original star cast, comprising Louis Koo (who is also the chief producer), Raymond Lam, Jessica Hsuan, Sonija Kwok and Joyce Tang, return to reprise their roles.
Directors are Ng Yuen Fai from 2022 breakout sci-fi hit Warriors Of Future and Jack Lai. Koo’s Hong Kong-based One Cool Film Production and China’s Huace Pictures are among the major backers.
The film took $1.4m (HK$10.9m) on its opening day (December 31), overtaking 2024’s The Last Dance to achieve the biggest opening day for a Hong Kong and Chinese-language film. It was also the second biggest opening day overall, behind 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($2.68m/HK$20.88m).
Based on the opening day and previews alone, the film shot to seventh place at the annual box office chart for Hong Kong films. It beat 2023’s A Guilty Conscience to record the biggest first week box office for a Hong Kong and Chinese-language film, taking $5.5m (HK$42.8m) from December 31 – January 5.
A lackluster 2025
However, the overall Hong Kong box office dipped 15.79% year-on-year to $145.1m (HK$1.13bn). This continued the recent downward trend as the overall takings in 2024 ($172.7m/HK$1.34bn) were the lowest in 13 years.
The box office for local films was lackluster compared to the previous year. While 2024 saw local films surpass the market share of Hollywood blockbusters and overseas titles for the first time since 2004, no Hong Kong title made the overall top 10 chart in 2025.
The overall champion was Japanese animation Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle ($12.54m/HK$97.6m), followed by F1: The Movie ($8.86m/HK$68.96m) and further animation titles, Zootopia 2 ($8.32m/HK$64.75m) from the US and Ne Zha 2 ($7.55m/HK$58.77m) from mainland China.
The biggest local title was Tommy Ng Kai Chung’s 2D animated feature Another World, which was also the highest-grossing Hong Kong animation of all time. It was the first Hong Kong animation in more than two decades to have been selected for Annecy and went on to win the best animation prize at the Golden Horse Awards in November.
Its takings of $1.94m (HK$15.12m) are far below the top 2024 Hong Kong title The Last Dance ($18.28m/HK$142.26m), however.
Only seven Hong Kong titles crossed the HK$10m ($1.28m) milestone in 2025, including Adam Wong’s The Way We Talk ($1.74m/HK$13.51m), Nick Cheung’s Peg O’ My Heart ($1.63m/HK$12.7m), Albert Mak’s Hit N Fun ($1.61m/HK$12.56m), Juno Mak’s Sons Of The Neon Night ($1.46m/HK$11.4m), Andy Lo’s My Best Bet ($1.43m/HK$11.14m) and Back To The Past ($1.42m/HK$11.09m).
The Hong Kong Box Office, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) and the Hong Kong Theatres Association, compiled further data that combined Hong Kong and Macau. The combined box office was $155.17m (HK$1.21bn), compared to $145.34m (HK$1.31bn) for Hong Kong only. Macau is a small enclave, just a short ferry ride from Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s theatrical business has been struggling to stay afloat. Some 10 cinemas were reportedly closed down last year, including the exit of the historic Golden Harvest chain. Mainland Chinese cinema operator Bestar Film has since entered the market as a new player to take over three of Golden Harvest’s outlets.
There are 53 theatres in operation in Hong Kong with 271 screens and 39,388 seats as of December 2025, according to the Hong Kong Theatres Association.
