ChinaChina's first all-AI feature film cost about $1.4 million to make. Presales: about $11,000

China's first feature film with AI-generated actors, voices and backgrounds opened to a cold reception.

According to Newsworks on Oct 23, presales for the sci-fi thriller "Sanxingdui: Future and Past" reached just 80,000 yuan by that morning, with the total box office expected under 150,000 yuan. Producer Bona Film Group said nearly 100 people spent over two years on it, at a cost of more than 10 million yuan.

"We were the first to try, the first to get a theatrical release permit," Bona CEO Zhang Defu said. Independent AI director Zhang Jun told AFP audiences won't buy tickets just because it's an AI film. AI micro-dramas on Douyin drew more than 200 billion views in September alone.