In summer 2026, the high-budget police film *Empty Gun* surprisingly got outperformed by low-cost animated work *Niu Lai*, revealing genre fatigue and content priority in film market.
The police-thriller *Empty Gun*, with a budget of 200 million yuan, premiered during the 2026 summer movie season but grossed only slightly over 20 million yuan on its opening day, falling behind the hand-drawn animated film *The Ox Is Coming*, which was made on a budget of less than 100,000 yuan. This outcome came as a real surprise to most industry professionals in that year’s summer movie market.
Historically, during the summer movie season, big-budget productions with high production values and star-studded casts have typically outperformed low-budget films at the box office by a wide margin. This reversal in box office performance has come as quite a surprise to the entire film industry.
As the lead actor in *Empty Gun*, Zhu Yilong has long been known for his down-to-earth acting style. In the many films he has appeared in over the years, he has consistently maintained a dedicated approach to refining his roles. He poured just as much energy into his performance in *Empty Gun*, so the box office failure is not his fault.
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film’s main problem lies in its content; today’s audiences have grown weary of formulaic Hong Kong police and gangster films.”Empty Gun” runs 160 minutes and features a cast of well-known actors, but its narrative structure still follows the established formula of traditional Hong Kong films. The film has lost much of its original regional character and narrative texture, and it lacks fresh, compelling storytelling that can resonate with audiences.According to statistics released by Maoyan, 68 percent of the film’s audience chose to see it because of the actors’ star power, while less than 30 percent were drawn by the story itself.
From the previously released *Misjudgment* to the latest *Empty Gun*, a series of Hong Kong-style police thrillers have seen a decline in both critical reception and box office performance—a phenomenon that is by no means limited to a single film. For the film market, the core competitive advantage has always been the quality of content.Only by abandoning the short-sighted approach of relying on star-studded casts, taking the time to refine the story, and creating new content that truly meets audiences’ needs can filmmakers earn audience recognition. In recent years, works that genuinely resonate with audiences because of the quality of the story itself have become increasingly rare.
