Film Journal January 2018

ASIA
by Thomas Schmid
FJI Far East Bureau
CHINA BOX OFFICE
REACHES NEW RECORD
China’s State Administration
of Press, Publication, Radio,
Film and Television (SAPPRFT)
reported that on Nov. 20, 2017,
the country for the first time
broke the magical box-office
threshold of 50 billion yuan
($7.5 bil.), setting a new record.
The SAPPRFT report said a
total of 1.448 billion tickets had
been sold nationwide up until
that date, corresponding to an
increase of approximately 19
percent year-on-year.
Box-office revenues for
domestic movies reached 26.2
billion yuan, or 52.4 percent of
the total. The remainder of 23.8
billion yuan, or 47.6 percent of
total takings, was pocketed by
foreign films. A total of 78 films
had each earned 100 million
yuan or more, including 39
domestic ones. Among these
local offerings was action thriller
Wolf Warrior 2, which alone
raked in about 5.68 billion yuan
and turned out to be this year’s
fifth-highest-grossing movie
worldwide. Second place went to
the eighth installment of the Fast
and Furious franchise, The Fate of
the Furious, which pocketed 2.67
billion yuan, closely followed at
third place by domestic comedy
Never Say Die, which earned 2.2
billion yuan.
China, which effectively
has become the second-largest
movie market worldwide after
the United States, has seen its
box-office revenues increase
steadily over the past 15 years.
At the turn of the millennium
it accounted for less than one
billion yuan; by 2010 it had
reached 10 billion; in 2013 it
stood at more than 20 billion;
and in 2015 it already exceeded
40 billion yuan.
CineAsia 2018
As the Christmas and New
Year period will see the release
of a slew of high-profile local
and foreign movies—including
domestic action fantasy Legend
of the Demon Cat and the muchawaited
Star Wars: The Last
Jedi—it is expected that this
year’s total box-office earnings
might reach well over 55 billion
yuan by the end of December.
Meanwhile, Miao Xiaotian,
general manager of China Film
Co-Production Corp, was
quoted in a report released
by China’s official news agency
Xinhua with the prediction
that China would overtake the
United States to become the
world’s largest film market in
about three years.
CHINA TO BOAST WORLD’S
MOST SCREENS BY 2020
In a related development, a
SAPPRFT official has said that
Now in our 23nd year, CineAsia continues to be the best
and most effective way to network and do business with theatre owners,
managers, buyers, and operators from all over Asia.
At CineAsia, attendees will get the chance to hear about
the current trends and new state-of-the-art technologies
in the motion picture industry. Nowhere else in Asia can you accomplish
as much in a short period of time to sustain, and help grow,
your business in the year to come. Join your cinema exhibition,
distribution, and motion picture industry colleagues to network;
and see product presentations and screenings of major Hollywood
films soon to be released in Asia. Attendees will also get
the opportunity to visit the Trade Show where you will find the latest
equipment, products, and technologies to help make your theatre
a must-attend destination. CineAsia will take place at the Hong Kong
Convention & Exhibition Centre on December 11-13, 2018.
the country is going to have
over 60,000 cinema screens by
2020, which would make it the
world’s largest film exhibition
market. “By 2020, China will
produce around 800 movies
each year and the annual box
office will reach 70 billion yuan
[$10.6 bil.],” Zhang Hongsen,
deputy director of SAPPRFT,
told attendants at a symposium
in the eastern Chinese city
of Hangzhou on Nov. 26. It’s
also possible that China could
become the world’s new film
production hub, as recent
developments could provide
an incentive for some foreign
studios to choose China as a
production base. Some foreign
films, such as India’s sports
drama Dangal (2016), have taken
in higher box-office takings
in China than in their own
countries, making China an
increasingly attractive market
for foreign film producers,
Zhang told the symposium
participants.
HORROR FLICK TOPS
2017 INDONESIAN B.O.
A horror film co-produced
by Indonesian company Rapi
Films and South Korean
outfit CJ Entertainment has
reportedly turned out to be
Indonesia’s top box-office draw
this year. After its release
on Sept. 28, Pengabdi Setan
(Satan’s Slaves) topped the
country’s box-office ratings
for three consecutive weeks,
attracting more than 4.1 million
moviegoers nationwide, a
statement published by CJ
Entertainment said. This would
make Pengabdi Setan Indonesia’s
most popular film of the year in
terms of audience attendance.
The company also claimed the
movie to be Indonesia’s fourth
highest-grossing film of all time.
Pengabdi Setan is a remake
of a 1982 domestic horror
80 FILMJOURNAL.COM / JANUARY 2018
070-082.indd 80
12/19/17 3:43 PM