The box office drop in those areas was as much as 34 percent, while areas to the south that were clear only saw a drop of 13 percent.
China’s box office totals over the New Year’s Weekend dropped 23% compared with the same period last year.
The belief is that many, especially families with children, were deciding to skip the cinema and stay indoors in order to avoid the smog.
While China’s box office has been in slight decline since last spring, The Hollywood Reporter says that many are attributing the recent significant drop to the fact that large sections of Northern China, like the capital city of Beijing, are dealing with some absolutely atrocious levels of air pollution.