China’s B.O. gross swept past $2 billion for the first
time in 2011, according to the head of the country’s
film bureau, a 29% hike on the previous year.
The record figure marks another muscular
performance by the Chinese biz, which has grown
by more than 25% every year since 2003.
Tong Gang, head of the film bureau at the State
Administration of Radio, Film and TV was quoted
by the official Xinhua news agency saying that B.O.
receipts were 13 billion yuan ($2.07 billion) in 2011.
James Cameron’s “Avatar” made $210 million in
China, and success like that has prompted
renewed urgency in Hollywood to break into the
market, despite Beijing’s quota system of 20
foreign films Imported annually on a revenue-
sharing basis, and the fact that the cut of the
revenue it gets back is lower than elsewhere at
around 15%. Censorship is also a significant
barrier to entry for many U.S. shingles.
The booming biz is driven by massive expansion
in the number of cinemas, as the growing middle
classes add filmgoing to their lifestyle options.
Last year more than eight new cinema screens
were added every day in China. By the end of the
year than number of screens in cities nationwide
had exceeded 9,200, up 33%, while the number of
cinemas increased 29% to 2,800.
of the 803 cinemas that opened last year, 90%
were equipped with digital projectors.
Tong side 791 local films were released in 2011,
earning $1.11 billion at the box office, about
53.6% of total ticket sales.
The figure for local movies was given a big boost
late in the year by the success of Zhang Yimou ’s
“The Flowers of War,” starring Christian Bale.
The Flowers of War“ opened on Dec. 16 and took
$78 million by the end of the year.
“Domestic production of blockbusters has become
more mature, with remarkable improvements in
quality,” Tong said.
Tong stressed how low-and-medium budget
domestic pics were carving out a greater market
share, adding that 20 domestic films made over
100 million yuan ($16 million).
Although the report stressed the success of the
domestic market, it was a big year again for
overseas pics.
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” took a hefty
$170 million, making it the biggest-earning movie
in China last year, followed by “Kung Fu Panda 2,”
witch took $95 million, according to Entgroup,
which compiles B.O. data in China.
Around 50 foreign movies unspooled in China last
year, 20 under the quota system and the remainder
on a flat-fee basis.
Among the big local performers was the $1.6
million-budget romantic comedy “Love is not
Blind,” which took $43 million. Tong described it as
a “box office miracle.”
“The rise of small-and medium-budget films is
challenging the dominance of blockbusters in
CHINE film market,” he said. “A group of young
filmmakers has stood out as a strong power and is
contributing to the industry.”
China still has a large rural population and the
government organized more than eight million film
screenings in rural areas.
Tong said that this year there would be renewed
focus on releasing better and more timely B.O.
information, although he did not give any details.
He said the film bureau will “sternly penalize”
theaters that manipulate B.O. revenue for their own
interests, and anyone committing major
transgressions or fiddling B.O. data could lose
their licence.
The film bureau will also issue ticket pricing
guidelines for cinemas in 2012, setting a maximum
price and encouraging cinemas to increase half-
price deals.
The most recent data on ticket prices is for 2010,
when the average cost of a ticket was $5.30, a
hefty 2% of the average city-dweller’s monthly
income.
TOP 25 FILMS BY ADMISSIONS IN CHINA
(🇺🇸) 25,511,905人
2.カンフー・パンダ２ (🇺🇸) 16,104,737人
3.パイレーツ・オブ・カリビアン／生命の泉 (🇺🇸)
12,220,789人
4.赤い星の生まれ／建党偉業 (🇨🇳) 11,634,000人
7,879,688人
10.世界戦略 ロサンゼルス決戦 (🇺🇸) 7,062,500人
11.スマーフ (🇺🇸) 6,637,105人
13.猿の惑星：創世記 (ジェネシス)
(🇺🇸) 5,907,419人
15.Eternal Moment(🇨🇳) 5,532,286人
16.My Own Swordsman (🇨🇳) 5,444,444人
5,114,545人
19.All’s Well, Ends Well 2011 (🇭🇰🇨🇳) 4,850,882人
21.Mural (🇨🇳🇭🇰) 4,525,455人
22.Moon Castle : The Space Adventure (🇨🇳)
4,489,032人
(🇨🇳) 4,230,303人
4,145,000人
SOURCE：VARIETY