“Made in Shanghai” Goes National: Shenzhen Edition of Sleep No More to Debut in 2027
SHANGHAI, May 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Shanghai edition of Sleep No More, a benchmark immersive theater production rooted in Jing’an for a decade, announced its final curtain call at the end of August 2026. This production has driven and witnessed the ten-year journey of the immersive industry, from its inception in Shanghai to leading a nationwide boom. Alongside the conclusion of the Shanghai edition of Sleep No More, Shanghai Media Group (SMG) will simultaneously launch “content iteration” and “national expansion”: promoting the Asian premiere of the immersive Phantom of the Opera in Shanghai, continuing the city’s performing arts development with another major international IP; and targeting the debut of the Shenzhen edition of Sleep No More in 2027, transforming the unique charm of “Made in Shanghai” into a cultural industry driver that can be exported nationwide.
Image: Finale poster of the Shanghai edition of the immersive theater production Sleep No More
In 2016, the immersive theater production Sleep No More took root in Shanghai’s Jing’an district, opening a new chapter for China’s immersive industry from scratch. It became a landmark project for SMG Live in shaping Shanghai as a global hub for premieres and first-run performances, integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions. After a decade of localized deep cultivation and operation, the production will conclude its run on August 30, 2026, following its 2,670th performance in Shanghai. Final performances from June to August will open for booking soon.
This groundbreaking work, co-produced by SMG Live and the British theater pioneer Punchdrunk, served as the inaugural masterpiece of the national immersive industry. With its revolutionary audience experience, exquisite stage design, and high-caliber artistic performances, it achieved phenomenal box office success and critical acclaim. Over the decade, the project has hosted over 750,000 visitors from around the world, maintaining an average occupancy rate of over 85%. It has pioneered innovative cultural consumption scenarios, with a ticket stub economy multiplier effect of 1:6.8, driving regional industrial value exceeding 10 billion yuan, and consistently serving as a cultural icon for the city.
Following the conclusion of the Shanghai edition of Sleep No More, another major new IP, the immersive Phantom of the Opera, will arrive in Shanghai for its Asian premiere, building on the momentum of the benchmark and creating a new landscape for immersive performing arts in Shanghai. At the “See You in Shanghai” press conference on May 19, SMG Live announced the official launch of the Phantom China Plan 2.0. In partnership with LW Entertainment (formerly The Really Useful Group), the plan focuses on the diverse ecosystem of Phantom, bringing it to Chinese audiences in novel and exciting ways, including the creation of an ambitious immersive theater production. Over a decade of deep cultivation, SMG Live has never ceased exploring the diverse immersive industry, gradually building a complete ecosystem encompassing classic resident productions (e.g., immersive theater Sleep No More, immersive cinema experience Secret Cinema, immersive music show Arcane), original art festival brand incubation “Super Immersive Lab,” and a new resident performance brand “See You in Shanghai.” This represents a leap from importing overseas content to local original creation, and from a single production to full industry chain operations.
The conclusion of the Shanghai edition also marks the beginning of a new chapter in the iteration of the Sleep No More IP. During the recent Shenzhen Cultural Industries Fair, SMG Live officially signed agreements with Shenzhen Runwen Cultural Development Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Media Group Gude Media Co., Ltd., announcing the debut of the Shenzhen edition of Sleep No More at Shenzhen Bay Mixc in 2027. Co-created by the original Chinese and British teams, it will incorporate local culture for a fresh creative presentation, offering a differentiated immersive experience. This will be the second city version of Sleep No More in China and the only version from 2027 onward. The launch of the Shenzhen edition also signifies that “Made in Shanghai” is expanding beyond Shanghai to the rest of the country.
This is not the first time Sleep No More has ventured beyond Shanghai. Previously, derivative IP exhibitions and performances have toured cities including Shenzhen, Qingdao, and Changsha. The launch of the Shenzhen edition marks a formal step forward for SMG Live in the nationwide scaling of the immersive industry. Building on a decade of mature operational experience, the group will collaborate with leading enterprises such as BTG Group and China Resources Group to launch multiple world-class immersive IP performance projects, continuously empowering urban cultural development across the country with high-quality Shanghai cultural, commercial, tourism, and sports IPs.
Image: Signing ceremony for the Shenzhen edition of the immersive theater production Sleep No More
From setting the benchmark with Sleep No More as a resident production to strategically deploying the immersive Phantom of the Opera IP; from deep local cultivation to national expansion, SMG Live has consistently focused on building city resident performance brands, rooted in Shanghai and radiating nationwide, exploring diversified integrated development paths for culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions. In the future, it will further expand the boundaries of immersive IPs, export high-quality “Made in Shanghai” performance content, help build Shanghai into an international capital of performing arts, and polish the unique Chinese coordinate of global performing arts.