According to enFilmbase’s China film boxoffice statistics, the mainland boxoffice gross in the 42nd week of 2012 (October15-21) was $32.12 million,down 6% from last week. Moviegoers totaled 5.91 million, for a decrease of 6% when compared to last week’s numbers.
After nearly two weeks in release, Bait, the 3-D shark attack movie grabbed the boxoffice crown with a weekly gross of $10.36 million, for a new total of $18.27 million. Bring in $5.32million, Taken 2 took second place at the weekly boxoffice. Total Recall, a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sci-fi film from 1990, earned $4.93 million within its first two days. This week, imported films accounted for 42% of the boxoffice revenue in Mainland China.
As the week passed, a new wave of foreign mega-budget films opened in Chinese cinemas. The big winner, Bait 3D, pulled in $10.36 million in boxoffice receipts during the past seven days, adding to a solid overall gross of $18.27 million (over RMB 100 million). While utilizing the same special effects team that produced Avatar, this imported film has emerged as a dominant role among the ten films that debuted on the same day. Even the release of Total Recall couldn’t make a dent in Bait’s success.
With stunning 3D visual effects and a bunch of attractive youngsters, the thrilling and adventurous story of Bait appealed to a large crowd of moviegoers. The director Kimble Rendall is quickly becoming a big star for many film companies and has reportedly come to an agreement with a Chinese company to co-produce 3D films.
Fifteen days after its debut during the National Day holiday, Taken 2 had earned a total gross of $16.83 million, or RMB 106 million. Compared to the first Taken’s boxoffice gross of RMB 16 million four years ago, the potential of the mainland marketplace and the number of moviegoers has grown quite a bit.
The Sci-fi remake of Total Recall hauled in $4.93 million after two days in release, with an impressive 28 admissions per screen average. The Hong Kong comedy Love is…Pyjamas added a weekly gross of $1.95 million for a new total of $3.54 million.
It was almost the final stage for films released during the eight-day long holiday. The total boxoffice revenues of Taichi 0, Looper, Double Xposure and The Assassins all passed RMB 100 million, a number taken by some film critics as a big box office milestone.
According to enFilmbase statistics, Bait 3D took up 21% of mainland boxoffice screenings. The runner-up, Taken 2 enjoyed 15% of the market share in terms of total number of screenings. Love is…Pyjamas took in 9% of the weekly screenings. Total Recall and The Expatriate took additional 7% and 6% for each title.
For the 43rd week (Oct. 22-28, 2012), the films below are slated to open in mainland cinemas. A year after its release in North America, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 will hit Chinese theaters on October 23. Taichi II is scheduled for October 25, on a day to compete head on with the Hollywood hit The Bourne Legacy. Produced and distributed by CFGC, the feature film All for Love will be released on October 26.
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