Mission to redeem

Chen previously told media the film would instead be released during summer vacation or next Spring Festival.

He points out the sector is influential thanks to popular films rather than profits in China and suggests the China Film Association helps filmmakers with promising ideas or projects to get bank loans.

Last year, China produced over 1,000 features, grossing 64.3 billion yuan at the box office. The top 10 films earned nearly 28.6 billion yuan, or 44 percent of total receipts.

Some small and mid-sized film companies had struggled for a long time before the outbreak.

About 3,000 film and television companies went under last year, according to Qcc, a government-recognized enterprise credit rating system.