The Eight Hundred spans 147 minutes, while most recently released popular films-including the old classics Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Inception-lasted more than two hours.

Yu says audiences have become used to reserving tickets online using their names and wearing masks throughout the screenings.

But a "challenge" is that staffers often find viewers bring snacks or drinks into the theaters, which isn't allowed, Yu says.

Song Bingmei, a manager of Nanning Minzu Cinema in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, says her theater has encountered the same situation.

"We set out boxes for customers to deposit drinks and foods. But some are reluctant to follow the guideline, since they don't want to miss a few minutes to go out for a sip of water," says Song.

"As most of the other audience members may be unhappy about those who try to take off their masks or eat during screenings, we've increased in-house patrols," she adds.

With Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller Tenet to come on Sept 4 and a bunch of domestic blockbusters like My People, My Homeland set for the weeklong National Day holiday, traditionally a lucrative box-office season, some industry watchers expect the domestic market will continue gaining momentum.

But some analysts are cautious. Beacon's chief researcher Yi Zongting predicts the pandemic's impact may last a year or two.

"The total number of films being produced or completed is shrinking a lot compared to the same period of last year. China needs more appealing big-budget films to draw audiences back to theaters," says Yi.