Bona Film Group’s 100-minute Sanxingdui: Future Past opened in Chinese cinemas on 23 October as the first AI-workflow feature to receive a public-screening licence from the National Film Administration, Pandaily reported. The licence is required for films shown in Chinese cinemas, The Statesman reported.
Key points
- Bona’s feature opened in Chinese cinemas on 23 October with a public-screening licence.
- Its production involved more than 1.2 million base images and over 100 full-film iterations.
- The two reports give different English titles and runtimes for the film.
- National Business Daily reported low occupancy during the opening days.
Bona’s team produced more than 1.2 million base images
Bona made the film using its in-house Boka Film Cloud Studio platform, Pandaily reported. Across two years of production, the team generated more than 1.2 million base images and completed more than 100 iterations of the full film. Close to 100 people worked across 17 specialist roles, including writing, directing, cinematography, lighting, sound and editing.
Bona says its AIGMS team supplied the ideas, script, shot design and aesthetic decisions, while AI handled generation and execution. The producers say every character is an original digital creation and that the film contains no digital replicas of real actors. That is a substantial human crew for a production built around an AI workflow.
The science-fiction story follows a global crisis in a future where people have ceded decisions to algorithms. Its clues lead to seven ancient symbols from Sanxingdui, a Bronze Age archaeological site in Sichuan province. The site is known for bronze masks more than 3,000 years old.
Two titles and runtimes for Sanxingdui
The Statesman calls the film Sanxingdui: Future Memories and gives its runtime as 90 minutes. It also reports that the production used ByteDance’s Jimeng AI tools. Pandaily’s account gives the title as Sanxingdui: Future Past, a 100-minute runtime and Bona’s Boka platform as a production tool.
Bona established its AI production centre at the end of 2023 and made it a separate, wholly owned subsidiary in July 2025. The theatrical licence puts a feature from that operation into Chinese cinemas. The Statesman reported that the regulator cleared the film in April 2026.
Bona warned investors about box office returns
Bona’s shares rose more than 20 per cent over two trading days before the release, and the company issued a notice on 13 October warning that the film’s box office returns were uncertain, The Statesman reported. The warning preceded the cinema opening.
National Business Daily reported low occupancy during the opening days, according to Pandaily. People working in AI content told the newspaper that long-form AI films still face problems maintaining consistent characters, scenes and detail, as well as physical realism. One said artificial-looking characters could make it harder for viewers to connect with them.
Bona says it has further AI features in development, including the science-fiction animation Unplanned: Operation Guanghan, which has not yet received a screening licence. Huayi Brothers and Huace have also announced AI film and series projects.
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