According to statistics from EBOT EntGroup Box Office Tracker, the mainland box office gross of the 49th week (December 2-8) was about ￥404 million ($66 million), up 11% from last week and a 10% increase y-o-y. Moviegoers this week totaled 11.92 million.
Last week's champ the long-awaited western flick No Man's Land, directed by Ning Hao, finally hit the screen on December 3 and brought in nearly $22 million in six days. Hong Kong crime thriller The White Storm took second place earning $14.75 million for a cume of $27.88 million. Ancient costumed sequel The Four 2 opened to third place with $14.21 million. After three weeks' running, Gravity and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire dropped to fourth and fifth place, grossing $8.02 million and $2.65 million respectively during the past seven days. Welcome to the Punch, the second film of London-born director Eran Creevy, was a bit of an underperformer last week with a meager $0.64 million through its opening three days.
The New Year movie season already began last week when The White Storm took the lead by making $13 million in three days. As the annual quota for imported films has been filled for 2013, the remainder of the year will mainly be a competition among local productions. As can be seen from the chart above, three of the top five films this week are domestic productions: No Man's Land, The White Storm and The Four 2. Their combined gross is approximately $51 million, and accounts for over 77% of this week's mainland box office revenue.
No Man's Land, the highly-anticipated road film, finally debuted in mainland cinemas last Tuesday. It enjoyed 30% of the total screenings and 29 admissions per showing. It is now the first weekly box office winner for director Ning Hao, whose Guns N'Roses scored $10.47 million during its first seven days in release last year. The film stars Xu Zheng and Huang Bo, both of whom also starred in the record-breaking Lost in Thailand. Their partnership has continually proven to be quite bankable in the Chinese marketplace. Xu and Huang also played in Ning Hao's well-known Crazy Stone (2006) and Silver Medalist (2009).
With good word-of-mouth, Benny Chan's action thriller The White Storm continued its solid performance, raking in $14.75 million over the past week and pushing its aggregate gross upto $27.88 million. Produced and distributed by Enlight Pictures, Gordon Chan's The Four 2 opened strongly to third place with a $14.21 million haul. With 31 admissions per showing, the Deng Chao and Crystal Lau starrer post an impressive start through just three days. Its prequel The Four grossed $31.43 million in 2012 and The Four 3 is already set to open next year.
Gravity added another $8.02 million for a cumulative total of $66.98 million in China. Worldwide, Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space thriller has earned over $630 million.
Upcoming films next week:
Last Week: Curtain Raised for New Year Movie Season
Weekend Report: Domestic Films Rules over Weekend
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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.
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About EBOT
EBOT EntGroup Box Office Tracker 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. EBOT 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
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