Robert Cain

Thank you, Firedeep!

Thanks, you're right, I completely forgot that Jackie debuted over a year ago. I'm wondering if any movies have had delays of over 1 year but still did well at China's box office.

Salman Khan's Bollywood hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan will release in China on March 2nd, 2 years and 8 months after its worldwide debut. Are there any other films that had such a long gap between their original opening and their China premiere? Any others that had gaps of more than 1 year?

Dangal had a 101x OD multiplier in Taiwan earlier this year. That's the biggest OD multiple I've ever seen. Is anyone aware of a bigger one?

Thanks Olive. I love Sichuan food, I've just never had it in Sichuan. Looking forward to seeing your home province.

Likewise, my friend! I'll be back in China next week, but not in Beijing, alas. I've always wanted to see the pandas, so I'm heading to Chengdu.

Hi guys, Rob Cain here, author of the Forbes article. I'm an old friend of Firedeep, and used to read this forum every day. I love all the contributions you guys make, but since Firedeep's been less of a presence here I check in only occasionally. Thanks for all your passion and your intelligent insights!

Has anyone heard about possible Chinese elements/involvement in the upcoming Avatar films? I know they've signed on with New Zealand, but I'm guessing they may still incorporate Chinese money/expertise/locations/story lines. China will be the biggest non-US market by far for these films, so it seems likely the producers would want to make them as appealing as possible to Chinese audiences.

No change in TF4's North American release-- it is still set for 6.27.

I've just spoken with one of TF4's producers. Apparently the film's China release has now been moved up to June 25th, and the Shanghai premiere will be a week earlier than that.

The Chinese distributor--CFG or Huaxia, or both--pays for distribution and marketing, though they tend to spend very little, 5-6 million RMB or so in many cases. The Hollywood studios have increasingly stepped in with their own marketing and advertising spends to augment the Chinese distributors' spending. These numbers can be substantial-- Paramount is said to be spending over $15 million in cash on TF4's advertising, and there will be tens of millions more in co-op advertising and 'soft dollar' promotion of the film.

I'm seeking info on marketing costs and VOD and TV revenue for recent theatrical releases in China. I can swap the info that I have. Please message me if you have data. Specifically, for either Chinese or foreign films released in China in the past 18 months, I'd like to get: 1. Marketing costs -- Prints, advertising, promotional tie-in value, etc. 2. VOD revenue 3. TV license fee revenue Thank you!

Archerdude, why do you say DMG bungled Looper? The producer is a friend of mine and he told me he was very happy with the China grosses. It earned 1/3 as much in China as it did in North America, which was a solid performance for 2012.

Yes, that's the place, the China Millenium Monument. I'll be there for 5 days. Sorry about the Facebook link, I obviously wasn't thinking clearly.

Will anyone else be attending the Beijing Int'l Film Festival next week? If so please let me know. I'll be there April 15-20 with several of my movie projects, as company number A1056. I've set up a Facebook page for foreigners who will attend, which you can find here.

China's cartoon movie market is about to get animated. http://chinafilmbiz....ming-toon-boom/

Animated features are doing big business in China this year. http://chinafilmbiz.com/2014/03/30/chinas-looming-toon-boom/

Does anyone have any background info on La Peikang and the Chinese characters for his name? He seems an odd choice for the job of CFG Chairman and rather unexpected.

In addition to the other reasons cited for China's 2013 box office slowdown, I can offer another theory. I believe the general audience is growing tired of mediocre local films. The perceived value of a 50 or 80 RMB movie ticket crumbles when all you get for your money is a poorly conceived, unstructured, unintelligible story with unsympathetic characters, weak direction, and feeble production value. I expect the general Chinese audience has soured on the idea of shelling out their money for what they know is going to be a crappy movie. And let's face it, almost every local movie is crappy. Even the best ones are barely watchable. I imagine the trend in each market is this: a city that has never had a modern multiplex finally gets one. People rush to the theater for the novel experience of sitting in a brand new, state-of-the-art auditorium to see the movies. They go to Hollywood movies, local movies, whatever's playing, it doesn't matter. But after the fourth, fifth, sixth time they feel ripped off by the movie they've seen, they become much more selective. Maybe some of them stop going entirely and return to watching movies on little screens at home. Why throw your money away? China has a long way to go before it consistently produces films that deserve people's hard-earned money. I'm hopeful that the new leadership regime at China Film Group will lead the way toward better and higher quality filmmaking in the PRC.

If China's annual box office growth slows to 25 percent (from the 35+ percent average of the past decade) it will surpass North America in 2018. If its growth slows to 20 percent it will surpass North America in 2020.

Tuesday's numbers: Title Tues Gross Cumulative Police Story ¥63 million ¥64.8 million Personal Tailor 45 million 396 million Firestorm 5.5 million 280 million No Man's Land 1 million 252 million Total ¥117 million

Great info, Firedeep! Did you see these numbers published somewhere? Or are they your best guesses?

Could go either way. There is a huge fanbase for DM2's 'Minions' characters in China. Little kids know who they are and will want to see the movie. On the other hand, there will be a more than 6 month delay between DM2's global release back in July and the PRC release, so chances are many of those same kids will have already seen the movie via pirated means.

, because otherwise it wouldn't be released. But another part of it is that Andy seems to be looking out for his nice-guy image by , which would've been a more interesting take on the cop-on-the-edge scenario. Too many missed opportunities. Really the only reason to see this is to watch a good chunk of Central get blown to shit with semi-convincing special effects. Nice review, Bob. I wouldn't mind seeing a good chunk of Central getting blown to shit.

So far December 2013 is looking weak compared to last year. Unless Firestorm and Personal Tailor do huge business, this year's box office could be surprisingly flat.