Gross theatrical box office in China grew by Just
3% in 2016, reaching RMB45.3 billion in local
currency terms. That compared with RMB43.9
billion in 2015.
In U.S. dollar terms the data points to a 3.5% drop
in the value of the Chinese market from $6.76
billion (using end of 2015 exchange rates) to $6.52
billion (using end of 2016 rates.)
Those numbers are a far cry from the 49% surge
enjoyed in 2015 and requires a sharp revision to
forecast of when China’s numberswill overtake
North America. The 2017 target figure, so widely
used at the beginning of the year, now seems not
only widely optimistic , but also to have
misunderstood the dynamicsof the market.
Full year data from tracking and consultancy firm
Ent Group − likely to be corroborated in the next
couple of days by official statistics − show that
ticket sales increased by close to 9% over the year.
They reached 1.37 billion in 2016, for an average
of one ticket per head of population, compares
with 1.26 billionin 2015.
Data from the State Administration mf Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television published
on Monday, gave figures of RMB45.7 billion for
2016 and said that growth was 3.7%.
The market share for Chinese firm was 58.3%
(down from 61.6% in 2015), while that of imported
titles was 38.1%. Chinese films earned RMB26.7
billion in 2016, compared with RMB27.1 billion in
2015. Imported films grossed a combined RMB19
billion, up from RMB16.9 billion in 2015.
SAPPRFT said that Chinese firm production
reached 944 titles in 2016. Their grosses outside
China totaled $550 million (RMB3.83 billion) in
2016, an increase of 38 %.
Some 1,612 cinema complexes were opened in
2016. That lifted the nationwide screen count to
41,179. That was up from 31,627 at the end of
2015, and points to in increase of 9,552 screens in
2016. SAPPRFT says that the 2016 figure gives
China the largest number of screens in any country
in the world. However, data from the Motion
Picture Association for 2015 showed North
America (U.S. and Canada) with 43,661.
The average ticket price slipped from RMB34.8 in
2015 to RMB32.9 in 2016, according to the Ent
Group data. That reflects the dilution of ticket
prices as the theatrical circuit has expanded into
less affluent towns and cities, often described
as being in Tier 3 and Tier 4.
The Ent Group data shows that seven months in
2016 delivered lower scores than the same month
in 2015. The last four months of the year were all
down.
Far and away the year’s top film was Stephen
Chow’s “The Mermaid” which grossed RMB3.39
billion and was watched by more than 92 million
people in theatrers. Second place went to Disney’s
“Zootopia” with a gross of RMB1.53billion. “The
Great Wall” which is still on release, was just shy of
the symbolic RMB1 billion mark at Dec. 31 and
ranked tenth for the year.
The top ten includes three films that were made as
Hong Kong-China co-productions, two that were
U.S.-China co-productions two that were wholly
Chinese and three that were U.S. imports.
TOP FILMS BY ADMISSIONS IN CHINA
1.人魚姫 (🇨🇳) 91,256,633人
2.ズートピア (🇺🇸) 44,717,628人
3.ウォークラフト (🇺🇸) 38,727,671人
4.オペレーション・メコン (🇨🇳🇭🇰) 38,085,381人
5.シビル・ウォー／キャプテン・アメリカ (🇺🇸) 33,851,834人
6.西遊記 孫悟空 ｖｓ 白骨夫人
(🇭🇰🇨🇳) 32,318,716人
7.From Vegas to Macau Ⅲ (🇭🇰🇨🇳) 30,700,308人
8.ジャングル・ブック (🇺🇸🇬🇧) 28,502,152人
9.タイム・レイダーズ (🇨🇳) 27,860,776人
10.カンフー・パンダ３ (🇺🇸🇨🇳) 27,534,871人
11.君のいる世界から僕は歩き出す
(🇨🇳) 25,514,898人
12.グレート・ウォール (🇨🇳🇺🇸) 26,169,488人
13.スキップ・トレース (🇨🇳🇭🇰) 25,070,981人
14.Ｘ－ＭＥＮ：アポカリプス (🇺🇸) 22,870,857人
15.本がつなげる恋物語 (🇨🇳) 22,689,139人
16.スター・ウォーズ／フォースの覚醒
(🇺🇸) 21,306,691人
17.ドクター・ストレンジ (🇺🇸) 20,840,909人
18.唐人街探偵 ＴＨＥ ＢＥＧＩＮＮＩＮＧ
(🇨🇳) 20,638,320人
19.イップ・マン３ 継承 (🇨🇳🇭🇰) 20,201,980人
20.ダブル・サスペクト 疑惑の潜入捜査官
(🇨🇳🇭🇰) 19,776,327人
SOURCE：VARIETY, COMSCORE