Award-winning Film performs poorly at the box office

The Summer Is Gone, Zhang Dalei's directorial début and best film winner at the 2016 Golden Horse awards, is playing in cinemas across the Chinese mainland.

Unfortunately, like a lot of other arthouse films, it hasn't performed particularly well at the box office.

Director Zhang Dalei plays guitar at an event celebrating the launch of his debut film 'The Summer is Gone'. The film started playing in cinemas across the Chinese mainland on March 24, 2017.[Photo provided to China Plus]

Director Zhang Dalei plays guitar at an event celebrating the launch of his debut film 'The Summer is Gone'. The film started playing in cinemas across the Chinese mainland on March 24, 2017.[Photo provided to China Plus]

On the first day of its screening, the box office earnings were only 718,000 yuan, or around 105,000 US dollars. That number is less than one percent of the total box office earnings from Kong: Skull Island, which hit cinemas on the same day.

"The Summer is Gone" or "August" in Chinese is told through the perspective of a child. Set in the 90s, it details the tremendous changes that affect a family living in a film studio in Hohhot, the capital of Northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Earlier at the film's premiere, Zhang Dalei explained that because "Summer..." is an art film, many cinema chains were not willing to screen the film, since this genre often performs poorly at the box office.

IQiyi Pictures, one of the studios behind the movie, said that a total of 100 screenings for the film have been scheduled.