According to enFilmbase’s China film boxoffice statistics, the mainland boxoffice gross in the 29th week of 2012 (July 16-22) was $40.91 million, a 23% decrease from the previous week. Moviegoers this week totaled 7.64 million, a 21% slump when compared to the previous week numbers.
Martial arts flick “The Four” kicked out “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” to sit in the top spot with a surprisingly $11.13 million in its second week of release for a two-week total of $24.16 million. “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” ended its fourth week of release to number two of the boxoffice chart, adding $9.13 million for a total of $109.15 million. Those figures put “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” officially to become the highest grossing domestic movie at all time, taking the boxoffice record from “Let the Bullet Fly” (2010), which grossed a total of $101.37 million in mainland China. Contemporary drama “Caught in the Web” maintained its third place this past week with $6.54 million boxoffice receipts. This past week, domestic films continued to reign supreme over the boxoffice market, accounting for 84% of the weekly gross, which was slightly fewer than the number of last week.
Although there is no official "protectionist" policy during the summer, most film industry insiders have noted that during July, the number of foreign films is usually restricted in order to give domestic produced titles offering a chance at capturing part of China's lucrative boxoffice. But the outcome made this past week was not satisfied as expected. Either admissions or weekly total boxoffice revenue slightly declined the past week when compared to the previous week numbers. Boxoffice screenings of this past week were taking over most by homegrown titles. “The Four” directed by renoened director Gordon Chan and starring a stellar cast including Deng Chao, Liu Yifei and Antony Wong, raked in $11.13 million this past week, finishing its seceond week of release in the top spot of boxoffice chart. The martial arts flick garnered $24.16 million over eleven days in release, which number has already recovered the producing- cost. Based on the surprising score the flick has made, the second episode of Gordon Chan's film "The Four" has kicked off its shooting schedule recently in Hengdian, Zhejiang Province. Accorting to Mtime.com, “The Four" will be filmed as a trilogy. The third episode will start shooting right after they finish the second movie.
The smash hit “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” surpassed “Let the Bullet Fly” (released in 2010, total grossed $101.37 million in mainland market) to reign supreme domestic films at all time boxoffice chart. The producer of the action fantasy “Painted Skin: The Resurrection”, veteran Pang Hong contributed a lot to the eye-popping result. Pang Hong is one of producers in mainland China who is familiar with market rules and capable to locate every detail through the whole film in right way. A lack of interesting foreign films at the time slot may also account for the success of “Painted Skin: The Resurrection”. However, boxoffice success doesn't always mean critical success. “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” is criticized by many viewers over its illogical plot and implausible characters. According to industry insider, the three-quel of the “Painted Skin” franchise is decided to be produced. In next entry, they shall strive to gain both high public praise and commercial success at boxoffice receipts.
"Bunshinsaba", the horror film directed by Korean director Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Mei Ting, has hauled in $5.09 million at the boxoffice as of last weekend. “McDull•Pork of Music” added $2.54 million for a total of $6.16 million in its second week of release. Newly released drama “Beijing Blue” just took in $0.68 million over three days in release. The unique feature of this film is the actors - they are not professional but celebrities on Weibo (A Twitter-like micro blog service).
According to enFilmbase statistics, “The Four” reigned over the mainland boxoffice screenings, enjoying 22% of the market share in terms of total number of screenings, followed by "Painted Skin：The Resurrection” and “Caught in the Web”, which took over 15% and 12% respectively. Newly released thriller “Bunshinsaba” took an additional 11% of the weekly screenings. Hollywood animation feature film “Madagascar 3” took 2% in its seventh week of release, with the highest average admissions per screen among all the films released this past week.
The latest entry of 20th Century Fox produced “Ice Age” franchise- “Ice Age: Continental Drift” is opening the same weekend in mainland China along with other three newcomers, including Universal’s “The Lorax”. The conflicting release dates are likely to cause a fierce battle for Chinese viewers. Adapted from the Dr. Seuss tale, the animated film "The Lorax" will be shown in 3D and IMAX/3D formats in mainland China, while “Ice Age: Continental Drift” is set to be screened on 3D and 3D/DMAX formats here (DMAX is China's own version of Imax technology, which brand is launched to break the monopoly set by Canada-based IMAX Corporation, as this foreign company expanded its business in China rapidly recent years.) Next week the following films are set to hit mainland theaters.
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