日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Home / Business / Industries

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

By RAYMOND ZHOU (China Daily) Updated: 2016-08-01 08:08 Comments

Films of a similar pedigree have seen a vast difference in theri box-office take this summer compared with last year.

The company flick: Edko
Film's latest won't match
the earnings
of its 2015 hit.

Animation: Despite its artistry,
2016' offfering has not
met expectation.

Fan Films: Moviegoers ingnored
bad review to watch star
vehicles in 2015.

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

Monster Hunt (2015)
2.4 billion yuan

Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015)
956 million yuan

Forever Young (2015)
379 million yuan

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

Cold War II (2016) 666 million
yuan (through July 300

Big Fish & Begonia(2016)
555 million yuan

When Larry Met Mary (2016)
185 million yuan

But falling seasonal returns could be blessing in disguise for the industry

This time last year, as many as three Chinese films were crossing, or nearing, the 1 billion yuan ($150 million) mark at the box office. It was like three horses galloping neck-and-neck to the finish line.

This season, not a single competitor is in sight.

According to the official figures of China Box Office, a State-run analysis company, the nation's cinemas opened the all-important summer season with a faint glimmer of hope, which promptly faded against all expectations.

In the 27th week of this year-July 4 to 10-box office receipts rose by 12 percent before falling by 45 percent and 35 percent respectively in the next two weeks. But not every industry insider is singing the blues.

"This could be a blessing in disguise," said La Peikang, chairman of China Film Group, the largest State-owned film business.

"China's film market has scored big in recent years," he said. "All kinds of capital has been pouring in, and some of it carries with it unsavory elements, which have led to some disturbing behavior. I call it a bubble, and the market is squeezing some air out of it."

La quoted the saying, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked," adding that what is left will become a healthier and better market environment.

After years of hesitation, China Film Group is finally scheduled for a public listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It plans to sell 467 million shares and raise 4 billion yuan.

Cold War II, the star-studded Hong Kong crime thriller, has been one of this season's biggest hits.

But grossing 666 million yuan at the box office since opening on July 8, it has no chance of reaching the 1 billion yuan goal, let alone the 2.4 billion yuan milestone of Monster Hunt set by the same film company, Edko Film, last summer.

You could argue that the above two movies come from different genres, but Big Fish and Begonia had Monkey King: Hero Is Back in mind when it debuted on July 8. Both are animated features with visual flair.

Last year, the mischievous monkey almost reached the 1 billion yuan mark, but this year Big Fish and Begonia has made 555 million yuan to date.

"Big Fish has not lived up to my expectations in terms of box-office performance," said Wang Changtian, president of Enlight Pictures, which made the cartoon feature. "But its quality is higher than I expected. Had it been released last year, it would have made the billion-yuan league."

Wang attributed the shortfall to the ending of subsidies, adding, "What's happening this summer is a return to normal and we should readjust our box-office expectations accordingly."

Rock Dog, another animated feature with similar ambitions, fared even worse, earning just 39.5 million yuan.

China Film Group's Tik Tok raked in only 77 million yuan, a figure that could have been three times higher had it been released last year, according to La, the company chairman.

The biggest irony is that this thriller received overwhelmingly positive reviews, but word-of-mouth failed to lift it out of the doldrums, a feat accomplished by last year's Monkey King: Hero Is Back, which had a rags-to-riches rise among strong competition.

La offered this assessment of the market malaise.

Many parts of the country have been plagued by stormy or rainy weather this summer, he said, which had affected audience numbers. As a popular saying among film exhibitors goes, strong winds drive away half of the house and a rainstorm empties it all.

According to La and other industry insiders, a more deep-rooted cause is the disappearance of subsidies.

La said box-office growth had started to slow as early as March. While the film industry had been subsidized for a while, the release of Ip Man 3 pushed it to breaking point. The third installment of the popular kung fu series opened on March 4 and in three days it had taken 470 million yuan, but widespread fraud was suspected.

Box-office takings wilt in the heat of summer

The industry's regulating agency ordered four ticketing service businesses to turn over documents they signed with the film's distributor. The media jumped on the story and reports emerged of online merchants' subsidies or phantom attendances.

In June, during a forum discussion at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning and widely respected Chinese-American director, sprang a surprise. Instead of offering tips on fueling further breakneck growth of China's film industry, he said it should slow down.

La said, "What he meant by slowing down was to change the current focus on short-term profits, to remove the bubble and to raise the spirit of professionalism in our industry."

Last summer, some movies that were widely panned saw comfortable returns.

They included Tiny Times 4.0, which grossed 488 million yuan, and Forever Young, with 379 million yuan. Both were so-called fan films, whose considerable fan base would not object to the movies' low quality.

Like He Jiong, a celebrity who threw his weight behind Forever Young-h(huán)is directorial debut-actor-turned-director Wen Zhang hoped to pull off a similar feat.

However, When Larry Met Mary has grossed only 185 million yuan to date, a dismal result considering Wen's clout and the positive reviews it has received. Some have blamed it on Wen himself, saying his off-screen extramarital affair undermined the credibility of the on-screen love story.

Perhaps to forestall a drastic downturn, film industry regulators have relaxed the limit on imported films for this summer.

However, most imports have delivered performances that are considered decent but not highly successful. Apart from Warcraft and the new X-Men, which have huge built-in audiences in China, other releases in June and July have not been major hits.

Now You See Me 2 has grossed 638 million yuan, Independence Day: Resurgence 503 million yuan, Finding Dory 254 million yuan, and The Legend of Tarzan 238 million yuan in its first 10 days.

While many observers have accepted the downturn as a "correction" that will prevent a giant market bubble forming, it could just be a temporary blip in an ever-evolving industry.

Skiptrace, Jackie Chan's comedy adventure, has made 680 million yuan in its first 10 days. This performance is not eye-catching in any way because it is in line with Chan's proven track record, but the fact that a well-made piece of entertainment can see a solid return is a reminder of what ultimately matters amid the market turbulence.

This is that the film market is determined by how movies are received, not by how they are used as financial tools to play the market.

Most Popular
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 成人午夜亚洲影视在线观看 | 国产精品久久久久久久久久久新郎 | 欧美日韩一二三区 | 国内精品久久久久久2021浪潮 | 国产片在线观看 | 免费成人在线网站 | 九九爱这里只有精品 | 久热久热 | 狠狠狠狠狠狠 | 午夜性啪啪A片免费AAA毛片 | 亚洲免费视频网站 | 久久av一区二区三区 | 欧美亚洲不卡 | 欧美一级α片 | 久久久亚洲欧洲日产国码606 | 午夜不卡一区二区 | 久热香蕉精品视频在线播放 | 天堂最新资源在线 | 天天躁日日躁狠狠躁av麻豆 | 91精品观看91久久久久久国产 | 爱爱无遮挡 | 任我爽在线视频 | 嘿咻免费视频欧美激情 | 精品欧美乱码久久久久久1区2区 | 久久久7777888精品 | 亚洲精品美女久久久 | 日本美女一区二区 | 久久九九国产精品怡红院 | 久草 在线| 国产一二三区精品 | 2019中文字幕视频 | 四虎影在线永久免费四虎地址8848aa | 日韩电影免费在线观看中文字幕 | 国产精品美女 | 亚洲人和日本人jizz | 免费一级毛片不卡不收费 | 国产一区二区精品 | 99久久精品国产片久人 | 国产 欧美 日本 | 欧美 video| 国产免费一区视频 |