Over-the-top platforms are increasingly being accepted by the younger generation. This study examines the different modes of watching films that have emerged due to the proliferation of over-the-top platforms, smartphones, and 5G technologies during the pandemic period in China. Using survey data, we examine the perception and behavior of 592 respondents. The top five factors in increasing over-the-top platforms to watch movies include easy access, various genres, no time to visit a cinema, pandemic, and new films. Findings also show that users tend to use smartphones to access over-the-top platforms. Bilibili, Tencent Video, and iQIYI are China's most popular over-the-top platforms among viewers. Increasing cinema ticket prices, pandemics, lack of quality content, and film stories are significant challenges for the cinema industry in the near future. These results suggest that the film industry should maintain the quality of the movies, especially those released on the cinema screen. These findings also designate significant substitution between the over-the-top platform and cinema and recommend that competition authorities widen market definitions. The cinema environment and IMAX/3D appear to have little incentive to degrade over-the-top platforms, despite over-the-top's films contributing to declining box office revenue.

The pandemic has dramatically changed the current film-viewing landscape from cinema to streaming services. Video streaming platforms (VSPs) are hailed as the future of the Chinese Film & Entertainment industry. The COVID protocols, such as biometric surveillance and quarantine-driven isolation after a coronavirus scare, forced the cinema-goers to stay safe at home and enjoy the films, web series, and shows on mini-screen. In the time of streaming services, the cinema theatre is grappling with doing business. This study explores post-pandemic prospects, explaining why movie-lovers access and prefer to video streaming services and how these digital platforms are replacing big screens. The study reveals that most respondents use the VSPs on their smartphones and laptops to watch films. These platforms suspicion the cinema-goers to visit the cinema to watch the films even though they do not think that the future is only on video streaming platforms. Easy to access, various genres, cheaper, and user-friendly factors make VSPs popular among the audience. Keywords: China; Mainstream cinema; Pandemic; Viewership; Mini screen

This article analyzes the Chinese post-Covid-19 cinema and compares it with the developments in North American Cinema. Coronavirus disease has significant detrimental effects on the worldwide film industry, and the annual box office of major film industries has seen a severe decline. This study presents the systematic review of the comparison of Chinese and North American Cinema during the year 2020. In this study, researchers have opted for the deductive approach on secondary source data with the keywords “Post Covid-19 Cinema”, “Chinese Film Culture Industry”, “Hollywood”, “Box Office”, and “Film Academy” on google search and consider all the significant sources in this systematic review. The Findings of the study reveal that China has already overtaken North America as the global most extensive box office crown for the first time, showing that in the post-COVID-19 era, the Chinese film industry is indeed among the first to get back on its feet.