According to entFilmbase’s China film box office statistics, the mainland box office gross in the 19th week of 2013(May 6-May 12, 2013) was ￥470 million(about $76 million), down 49% compared to the previous week and up 57% y-o-y. Moviegoers this week totaled 12.86 million.
Hollywood tentpole Iron Man 3 reattained the box office crown with $32.7 million, whose aggregate gross had surpassed ￥600 million($97.2 million). Followed was So Young, the Chinese actress Vicki Zhao’s semi-autobiographical directorial debut. Oblivion landed in the third place with $9.24 million during three days in release, which is not bad as Tom Cruise’s coming to China had generated great buzz before the opening of the film. DreamWorks’ animation The Croods added another $8.6 million for a new total of $45 million. After the complicated abrupt suspension on April 11, Django Unchained, the much-anticipated Quentin Tarantino thriller, came back to the mainland film market and grossed $0.6 million on its opening day. This week, the box office top 4 contributed 97% of the ticket sales total.
Robert Downey Jr. came to China to help promote Iron Man 3 not long ago, and now China had become the largest market for the film’s ticket sales overseas. It seemed that the release date chaos had not made a dent to the passion of Chinese fans. Judging from its strong performance, Iron Man 3 might be the fastest to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
An interesting phenomenon that worth noting is that foreign stars are now heading to China more frequently when compared to the past. Aside from Tom Cruise’s Great Wall visit, Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) landed in this eastern country where a huge crowd of supporters exists.
The Croods, the happy animated family comedy produced by DreamWorks, set the release date on Mother’s Day, when the world is filled with warm, touching family atmosphere. With good word of mouth, the animation flick soon climbed up on the mainland box office chart. As of last Sunday, its accumulative gross reached $45 million. The success of The Croods triggered a public discussion about the childish orientation of domestic animation industry.
Due to some “technical issues”, Django Unchained had been pushed to May 12 to open. It is called “Dead season” because of three reasons. Firstly, it is really difficult for any film to earn much right after the Labour Day holiday, a major consumption period in China. Secondly, it is unwise to compete head on with so many blockbusters including Iron Man 3, So Young, The Croods and Oblivion. Thirdly, some potential moviegoers had already watched the pirated copy online, wait, it is a complete version with no cuts. Last but not least, all the marketing expense may end up in vain as a consequence of the abrupt delay. Django took up 10% share of the total screenings number on its first day. Anyway, what will happen still remains uncertain.
Upcoming films next week:
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
About EntGroup
EntGroup Consulting is the leading research and consulting company focusing on China’s entertainment industry. A member of ComInsight Information Alliance Group, EntGroup focuses on providing data and information, conducting market research, industry research, consulting, and organizing media conferences. We serve a wide range of clients in areas of film, TV, new media, entertainment marketing and animation.
EntGroup also operates an online portal for the entertainment industry— http://english.entgroup.cn
About entbase
entbase is a database focusing on the entertainment industry. Created and managed by China's leading entertainment industry research institute, EntGroup, it provides statistics and analysis on film and TV industries, as well as insight on market trends and consumer behaviors. It is an essential tool for entertainment investors, financiers, film production companies, distributors and advertisers. entbase integrates Box Office data and analysis, moviegoer surveys, advertising insight, buzz tracking and industry research reports.
For more information, please visit: http://english.entgroup.com.cn/enbase.html or contact
Leon (President) Tel: 86-10-85899985-813 E-mail: leon@entgroup.cn;
Amy (Vice President) Tel: 86-10-85899985-847 E-mail: amy@entgroup.cn
