Box office drops for first time in 5 years

China's box office saw a quarterly decline for the first time in more than five years, though industry watchers said it was indicative of a changing market and that growth will likely resume for the rest of the year.

Second-quarter revenue fell by 4.6 percent, with ticket sales totaling $1.51 billion, down from $1.58 billion in the same period last year, according to figures from EntGroup Inc. Official figures from the government will be released next week.

The decline follows one of the biggest first quarters at the box office in China, with movies released during the Lunar New Year that raked in nearly $1 billion - Stephen Chow's The Mermaid, the animated Monkey King 2 and From Vegas to Macao 3.