Spring Festival movie guide 2026

Posters for six major Spring Festival films. [Images provided to China.org.cn]

Editor's Note: With the Spring Festival movie season approaching, China.org.cn previews the highly anticipated films set to entertain Chinese audiences during the nine-day holiday — the longest Chinese New Year break ever — as moviegoing has become a modern festive tradition and family pastime.

The films featured are scheduled to debut on Feb. 17, the first day of the Chinese New Year. While this year's lineup is strong, it may struggle to repeat last year's moviegoing frenzy when "Ne Zha 2" took over the holiday period and beyond, becoming the highest-grossing animated film and the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide.

Three of the seven films will also be presented in IMAX, designed to maximize theatrical impact. With growing demand for premium experiences, high-format cinema box office hit a record high in 2025. IMAX movie theaters, through their uniquely immersive experience, amplified the visual and audio appeal of films and became a must-visit family destination during the holiday, with this momentum expected to continue in 2026.

In addition, five films have already announced plans to release outside of China with companies like CMC Pictures to handle overseas distribution, targeting overseas Chinese communities and foreign audiences interested in Chinese culture, and making watching Chinese blockbusters a shared tradition during the Spring Festival worldwide.

'Pegasus 3'

A poster for "Pegasus 3." [Photo courtesy of IMAX China]

"Pegasus 3" is the latest installment in Han Han's blockbuster car racing comedy franchise. In the second film, the final Bayanbulak Rally came to a dramatic close. Now, the third chapter launches an entirely new story arc with no prior viewing required — welcoming both longtime fans and first-time viewers into a higher-stakes, higher-altitude and more fiercely competitive arena: the Muchen 100 Rally, billed as the "toughest intercontinental race." Zhang Chi, the reigning "King of Bayanbulak," returns to the track, aiming not only to win the race but also to achieve something beyond the competition itself. The film features Asia's top rally teams clashing across extreme terrain, with cliffside drifts, side-by-side racing and barrel-roll crashes. Han's fourth IMAX collaboration brings back Shen Teng, Yin Zheng and Huang Jingyu, joined by new cast members including Sha Yi and Duan Yihong. The previous film was a standout during the 2024 Spring Festival season, grossing nearly 3.4 billion yuan ($492.67 million). This third installment raises the bar in both scale and spectacle, centering on the "world's highest-altitude rally." IMAX's large-format screens and immersive sound systems amplify the speed and intensity of every frame, set to deliver a front-row racing experience. Combining high-octane thrills with heartfelt resonance, "Pegasus 3" invites audiences to share in a roaring, dream-chasing journey filled with laughter and emotion. The film will open in China on Feb. 17, and is currently leading the pre-sale box office. Foreign release plans have been announced for Feb. 26 in Australia and New Zealand, and Feb. 27 in North America, the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.