INTERNATIONAL

From the Editor’s Desk
In Focus
Shattering Records in 2015
2015 will be a year to remember, as the motion picture
industry established so many new records. Despite Netflix,
Amazon and other competing entities, global box office
revenues hit a record $38 billion. This record reinforces that
going to the movies is a favored pastime that is enjoyed around
the world by people from a wide array of cultures, all seeking
the magical experience of the silver screen.
Ticket sales hit these extraordinary levels because five films
topped the $1 billion mark globally for the first time in one year.
Four of those films are among the highest-grossing of all time—
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Furious 7 and Avengers:
Age of Ultron—followed by the animated smash Minions.
These pictures are responsible for the North American
box office rebounding from an off year in 2014, with ticket
sales climbing 6.3% domestically and revenues reaching
$11 billion. Universal and Disney led the pack with record
worldwide grosses. Universal finished the year with $6.89
billion, with $1.67 billion of that coming from Jurassic World.
Disney followed with $5.85 billion, including $1.33 billion from
Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Universal set new records in 2015 with $4.4 billion internationally
and $2.45 billion domestic. Disney had a powerhouse
record of five films grossing over $500 million globally.
Star Wars is another story, as it set records for top
domestic weekend and top global opening weekend; fastest
film to reach $1 billion globally (12 days); biggest second
weekend of all time, and a slew of other records.
Star Wars has already slipped into third place on the alltime
worldwide box-office chart and the speculation is that it
will overtake Avatar. It hit two plateaus quicker than Avatar, as
it passed $1 billion in worldwide grosses in 12 days, compared
to 19 days for James Cameron’s film. The elusive $1 billion
mark in North America is now possible and also a spot in the
$2 billion global club seems certain.
The movie’s enticement to fans and positive word of
mouth are two of the reasons Star Wars might break the global
record. Two other factors that could catapult it to that level
are the enormous growth of the international market and
the number of IMAX screens showing the film. Now that Star
Wars has been released in China (since Jan. 9), it has another
launch available to reach the record.
These milestones were achieved in large part due to the
burgeoning Chinese box office, which grew an astounding 48.7
percent and reached a record $6.78 billion. The expansion
marks the highest rate of growth since 2011; just five years
ago, the total annual box office in China was $1.51 billion.
The only question here is when China will surpass
North America at the box office—experts predict that will
happen by the end of 2017. Disappointing and frustrating to
Hollywood is that 61.6 percent of the year’s total revenues
were from Chinese films. Hollywood titles fell 7.1 percent to
38.4 percent of the Chinese box-office gross this year. The
reasons for this disparity are obvious:
Blackout periods when foreign films are not permitted
to play;
China allowing only 34 foreign films into its cinemas
each year on revenue-sharing terms;
Premiering blockbusters on weekdays rather than
weekends;
Scheduling Hollywood tentpoles head-to-head.
Here’s hoping less stringent policies are explored in 2016.
More News from China
Along with those record box-office figures, more big news
has emerged from China in recent weeks.
As expected, China’s Dalian Wanda Group finalized its
purchase of Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion. Wanda
already owns AMC Entertainment, the second-largest movie
theatre chain in the U.S., and the Wanda Cinema Line, the
number-one Chinese theatre chain, and this new pact is
further evidence of the company’s ambition to be a global
entertainment powerhouse.
The deal is a good one for Wanda, since Legendary’s
specialty has been the production of epic-sized action movies
that Chinese audiences truly appreciate. Legendary has been
part of the success of Pacific Run, Godzilla, Inception and Jurassic
World. Legendary founder and CEO Thomas Tull will continue
to oversee the company’s day-to-day operations.
Meanwhile, Monster Hunt, the Chinese movie which last
year established an all-time box-office record in China, is
getting a North American release on Jan. 22. The film will be
released in all major North American markets.
Film Rise acquired the rights from Hong Kong-based Edko
Films, which was lead producer on the film and international
sales representative. The release will be both in the original
Chinese version with English subtitles and also a new Englishdubbed
version. The film is a hybrid of live action and CGI,
written and directed by Raman Hui, one of the key creators of
the Shrek franchise.
FEBRUARY 2016
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