According to enbase’s China film boxoffice statistics, mainland boxoffice gross in the 17th week (April 23-29, 2012) reached $49.52million, down 29% from previous week. Moviegoers this week totaled 8.11million, slumping 26% when compared to last week’s numbers.
"Titanic” 3D continued to sweep the competition at mainland boxoffice, maintaining the top spot for a third week in a row. Its weekly haul of $18.16million was enough for the blockbuster to ward off the expected challenge from the Peter Berg-directed alien invasion action flick "Battleship”, which generated $13.65million during its second week in release. On local films side, “Guns N' Roses” led the boxoffice with $10.47million over the pic’s first seven days in release. This week, mainland boxoffice was dominated by a string of Hollywood blockbusters, which accounted for 71% of the weekly total gross.
Instead of a regular two-day weekend, mainland peeps were afforded just day of rest over the weekend (due to a mandatory workday for International Labor Day). That translated to a considerable loss at the weekly boxoffice. Mainland boxoffice gross during this 17th week was down 29% from the previous week. The number of film patrons also slumped 26% when compared with last week’s number. “Titanic 3D” maintained the top spot for the third straight week, crossing the $135million mark after 20 days in release,though it did experience a drop of 58% when compared to its previous week’s cume. The score “Titanic 3D” made in mainland, accounted for more than half of the film’s total international revenue from many other parts of the world (International gross of the blockbuster is currently estimated at around $255million).
Although there were mixed reviews about the story-line from audiences, the eye-popping special effects and grand battle scenes in “Battleship” guaranteed the sci-fi action flick a cool $13.65million this week, followed closely behind “Titanic 3D”. Along with the top two blockbusters and other Hollywood films, such as “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”and “Ninja”, imported Hollywood titles accounted for 71% of the weekly total gross, after taking 97% of last week. As a result, a public debate about survival in a market occupied by imported films has begun.
On the domestic side, three highly anticipated local films, “Guns N’Roses”, "An Inaccurate Memoir”and “Design of Death” simultaneously hit cinemas this week. It’s good to see that these three titles paid a lot of attention to marketing prior to release even if boxoffice receipts were not as high as the studios would like. Director NingHao’s lasted film “Guns N’s Roses” debuted at third place with $10.47million through seven days in release. NingHao is one of country’s most acclaimed directors, beloved for his hilarious, fast-paced black comedies. After the big boxoffice success of “Crazy Stone (2006)” (which totaled gross RMB 25.34million) and “Silver Medalist (2009)” (with a total gross of RMB 110million), many have been awaiting the third installment of the Crazy trilogy, but the director himself said in a interview that he hopes to work on something more serious this time. The other two local films “An Inaccurate Memoir” and “Design of Death” took in $2.37million over seven days and $0.92milion through two days respectively.
According to enbase statistics, “Battleship” dominated mainland boxoffice screenings this week, enjoying 24% of the market share in terms of total number of screenings, followed by “Titanic 3D” which took 21% of the weekly screenings. But when it comes to either the audience attendance per screening average or an average ticket price, the board game succumbed to the tale of star-crossed lovers. Local films “Guns N' Roses”and “An Inaccurated Memoir” received 20% and 10% of the weekly screenings respectively, at the cost of “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” which lost screens as a result.
Next week (Apr. 30-May 22, 2012), the films below will be released in Mainland China. Fans of the comic book – and Marvel movies in general – should be thrilled for “The Avengers”, as all the super heroes join together to fight bad guys on big screen. "Inseparable" will hit theaters on April 4. It's a black comedy directed by Dayyan Eng,has a star-studded cast including Kevin Spacey, Daniel Wu, Gong Beibi and Yan Ni.
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