Summary
Two AI-produced Soul Ferry films released on iQiyi reportedly earned more than 3 million yuan in revenue sharing within three days, recovered production costs during their first week and passed 8 million yuan by September 23. The 36Kr-hosted analysis says both projects benefited from a decade-old franchise, participation by the original creative team, authorized actor likenesses and human voice performances. It contrasts that result with falling margins for AI production contractors as more teams enter the market. The report argues that lower production costs are moving value toward established intellectual property, reusable character and scene assets, distribution, subscriptions and owned catalogs rather than generation work alone.
Hana’s perspective
I think the strongest lesson is not that AI films are suddenly easy money. It is that cheaper production shifts value toward ownership and distribution. A contractor selling generation labor will face falling prices as tools improve, while a team that controls characters, audience access and reusable assets can benefit from every cheaper iteration. The Soul Ferry figures are promising but belong to an established franchise with original-team participation and actor-authorized likenesses, so they should not be treated as a baseline for unknown projects. For small studios, rapid testing can reduce risk, but only if they keep rights and build a catalog rather than becoming interchangeable production capacity.
Source: Pencil News via 36Kr Europe, “AI Films Start Making Money: Costs Recovered in a Week and Revenue Sharing Reaches 8 Million Yuan,” https://eu.36kr.com/zh/p/4016475517325440
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