China Box Office Thread | Deadpool & Wolverine- July 26

[Olive]

Also ticket price dropped.

[Bob Violence]

Why did China box-office growth slow down this year?

 

30%+++ was expected, no?

 

firedeep is way better qualified to answer this, but my hunches:

 

-Overall economic growth slowed more than expected

-Grosses for imports were basically flat

-It seems like a lot of high-profile local films underperformed relative to expectations. In the summer you had Tiny Times, Man of Tai Chi and Mr. Go, which were expected to take up the slack from Hollywood films and all fell short to one degree or another (expectations for TT were so high that 485m was considered a disappointment). I'm not sure what expectations were for Badges of Fury, so I'm not sure if it was considered a disappointment or not—it certainly was WOM-wise, but that doesn't necessarily reflect on the box office.

 

Then in the autumn Young Detective Dee barely crawled past the 600m mark, while a lot of early projections had it closer to 700m. And now Personal Tailor (which was once thought to have a good shot at breaking the Lost in Thailand record) and Police Story 2013 might end up making about as much combined as LiT did alone—and last December also had CZ12, which ended up at 880m. Plus LiT opened earlier in December than either PT or PS2013, so I'm guessing a greater proportion of its gross was counted towards 2012.

 

Of course movies like So Young and Journey to the West performed more or less as expected (though JTTW fell maddeningly short of the LiT record) and every year brings a few surprises, like Finding Mr. Right. But then that sort of thing should already be taken into account when people make growth projections. Still, a 27% increase with 54% increase for domestic films is an achievement.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Bob Violence

[A Marvel Fanboy]

2013 started very well and went strong all the way up to end of May ... then suddenly the market got cold and never really heated up even by now.

 

There were no Hollywood mega hits in 2013 so the main driving power had to fall on Chinese local films.

 

LoT and CZ12 in Dec 2012, combined with JTTW in Feb 2013, really warmed up the market and the enthusiasm of movie goers. The breaking out of Finding Mr. Right, So Young and American Dream in China benifited a lot from the enthusiasm created earlier. And these movies are not bad either, quality-wise.

 

Then it came the disastrous Switch and Badges of Fury in June. The horrible WOM freezed all the goodwill. Tiny Times did no good either.

 

In the first five months, you had breakouts (beating general expectations) like: Bring Happiness Home, The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel, Say Yes, A Wedding Invitation, Croods, FMR, SY, ADIC ... The peak was when IM3 and SY fought it out on each other resulting the biggest week ever on May holiday.

 

While post June, there was no real breakouts. Most movies, big or small, fell short of expectations on different degrees; some even directly flopped.

 

It got worse and worse till the year was over. Dec 2013, down 17% from Dec 2012, was the biggest letdown to some point. For the first time in past 12 year, December was NOT the biggest month of the year, in 2013. Dec 2013 was also the first one that decreased from its predecessor in past 5 years.

 

Mostly the second half year is bigger than the first half. Not the case in 2010 (Avatar) and 2013.

 

2013 gross by month:

Jan --- 1.64B --- goodwill of LoT

Feb --- 2.13B --- JTTW

Mar --- 1.4B --- traditional weak period

Apr --- 1.82B --- FMR + SY

May --- 2.06 --- SY + IM3 + ADIC

Jun --- 1.79B --- Instigator of depression

 

Jul --- 1.8B --- wasted summer

Aug --- 2.26B --- summer + PR

Sep --- 1.27B --- no big release + traditional weak period

Oct --- 1.59B --- Oct holiday was decent but the rest ...

Nov --- 1.55B --- weaker than expected, Thor 2 and CF underperformed.

Dec --- 2.13B --- filled by major local underperfomers

 

Recently, both Up in the Wind and As the light Goes Out flopped.

 

2014 looks to be a tough time for theaters. Better prepare for the worst: yearly gross just stays flat, no obvious increases, as both Chinese and foreign releases seem relatively weak.

 

Even though I dont think we should be worried about the long time development of CBO. It sure cant keep one third rate as the number goes bigger.

 

2010 --- 10.1B

2011 --- 13.1B

2012 --- 17.0B

2013 --- 21.7B

 

2014 --- 24.0B --- would not be surprised if the rate slows down to 10%

2015 --- 30.0B+ --- powered by blockbusters

2016 --- powered by blockbusters

Edited January 6, 2014 by firedeep

[alee7915]

China is doing good!

 

UK and Irish box office takings have experienced their biggest fall in takings for over 20 years!

 

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/biggest_fall_in_box_office_takings_in_20_years

[fmpro]

Only answer IMO is economic crisis combined with weak movies..When money is tight youuuu reaaaaly only go to movies who bring their A+ game...I agree with firedeep.. This market could go flat next year but should see big increases again in 2-3 years when the big wheels in the worlds economi are spinning again combined with huge blockbusters

[alee7915]

CHINA: Jackie Chan's 'Police Story 2013' Keeps the Top Spot 

30/12/2013-05/01/2014

[Alex Bennett]

Hell yeah!  Mojo is updating international boxoffice again       

[alee7915]

Hell yeah!  Mojo is updating international boxoffice again       

 

I think...  this is because Mojo has read your complaint on here...

[Alex Bennett]

I think...  this is because Mojo has read your complaint on here...

Well It really was me who wrote a complaint letter to mojo about the absence of weekly chinese boxoffice and then they started updating.

[alee7915]

Well It really was me who wrote a complaint letter to mojo about the absence of weekly chinese boxoffice and then they started updating.

 

I know...  and you did say you also introduced this website to mojo.    

[Alex Bennett]

I know...  and you did say you also introduced this website to mojo.    

not website,  someone

[vc2002]

Second half of 2013 lacks of mega-hits, but nevermind, cause when TF4 hits, China will release its full power and everyone will cheering again how massive the market is going to be.

[A Marvel Fanboy]

Second half of 2013 lacks of mega-hits, but nevermind, cause when TF4 hits, China will release its full power and everyone will cheering again how massive the market is going to be.

The thing is, the first half year of 2014 is really looking troublesome. It seems it will be absolutely no match to that of 2013. Part of the reason why I think 2014 yearly probably wont increase much from 2013.

 

We will see how SARFT react when they see the 2014 half year numbers.

 

 

2013 gross by month:

Jan --- 1.64B --- goodwill of LoT

Feb --- 2.13B 

Mar --- 1.4B

Apr --- 1.82B 

May --- 2.06 

Jun --- 1.79B

 

Jul --- 1.8B

Aug --- 2.26B

Sep --- 1.27B 

Oct --- 1.59B 

Nov --- 1.55B 

Dec --- 2.13B

Jan is locked to decrease big and probably be (one of) the lowest grossing month of 2014 with no big hit. Gross from first 8 days (1.1~1.8) was only 425M including one holiday (110m).

 

There is a saying that how big the Chinese box office market will be in the future, mostly depends on how audience receive Chinese movies, (literally little to do with how big Hollywood movies will be), as the market share of foreign films has to be kept no more than 50% theoretically.

 

Traditionally Sarft are willing to protest certain Chinese films (upstream industry, hence the countless foreign blackout slots) much more than Chinese theaters (downstream, which rely on box office from foreign releases as well). Will there be any act from Sarft when they see theaters continue to struggle ? Hmm ...

Edited January 9, 2014 by firedeep

[Robert Cain]

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.

[A Marvel Fanboy]

Undoubtably that most Chinese local films are crapy, quality-wise. Major reason audience keep going to them is simply because they are local ... more connected if done right. So long way to go.

 

The upcoming chairman of CFGC is La Peikang, who has been in charge of co-production branch at China Film. It is speculated that China-foreign co-producing films will get more attentions during his term. 

[Alex Bennett]

China sucks.

[fmpro]

They do

[vc2002]

China sucks.

 Kinda awkward from a Chinese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or maybe not awkward at all.

[Leyla]

China sucks.

lol how CJohn of you  

[A Marvel Fanboy]

I do think GWTB could be the first movie to cross the 2B yuan ($328m) mark. 1.5B is locked imo. think even poorly received Personal Tailor (2D, non-sequel) is doing half of 1.5B. GWTB (mega cast, huge budget $50m, co-production, 3D, IMAX, sequel to the most well received Chinese movie in past decade) on double screens.

 

Top 10 box office provinces (in RMB / millions) in 2013:

 

1. Guangdong 广东 ---- 2954

2. Jiangsu 江苏 ---- 2000

3. Beijing 北京 ---- 1850

4. Zhejiang 浙江 ---- 1790

5. Shanghai 上海 ---- 1560

6. Sichuan 四川 ---- 1120

7. Hubei 湖北 ---- 1070

8. Liaoning 辽宁 ---- 824

9. Shandong 山东 ---- 741

10. Fujian 福建 ---- 714

 

Top 10 cinema lines (in RMB / millions) in 2013:

 

1. Wanda Cinemas 万达 ---- 3160

2. Shanghai United Circuit 联和 ---- 1860

3. China Film Stellar Theater Chain 中影星美 ---- 1840

4. Dadi Cinema line 大地 ---- 1570

5. China Film South Cinema Circuit 中影南方 ---- 1550

6. JinYiZhuJiang Movie Circuit 珠江 ---- 1540

7. Zhejiang Time Cinema 时代 ---- 900

8. Beijing New Film Association 新影联 ---- 870

9. HG Entertainment 横店 ---- 840

10. China Film Group Digital Cinema Line 中影数字 ---- 740

 

Top 10 theaters (in RMB / millions --- US$/k --- admissions/millions) in 2013:

 

1. Jackie Chan Cinema 17 (Beijing)  北京耀莱五棵松店---- 91.95 ---- 15123 ---- 2.57

2. OSGH Cinemas 12 (Shenzhen) 深圳橙天嘉禾影城万象城点 ---- 73.36 ---- 12065 ---- 1.49

3. Capital Cinema 13 (Beijing) 北京首都电影院华融店 ---- 72.96 ---- 12000 ---- 1.32

4. SFC 11 (Shanghai) 上海永华 ---- 70.27 ---- 11557 ---- 1.47

5. Xinjiekou International Cineplex 9 (Nanjing) (IMAX) 南京新街口影城 ---- 69.28 ---- 11394 ---- 1.45

6. Wanda Cinema 10 (Shanghai) (IMAX) 上海万达影城五角场店 ---- 68.25 ---- 11225 ---- 1.23

7. UME Shuangjing 10 (Beijing) (CGFS) 北京UME双井店 ---- 67.75 ---- 11143 ---- 1.19

8. UME Huaxing 5 (Beijing) (IMAX) 北京UME华星店 ---- 64.59 ---- 10623 ---- 1.04

9. Wanda Cinema 9 (Guangzhou) (IMAX) 广州万达影城白云店 ---- 63.68 ---- 10473 ---- 1.15

10. Jinyi Cinemas Joy City 7 (Beijing) (IMAX) 北京金逸影城朝阳大悦城店 ---- 60.85 ---- 10008 ---- 1.04

 

Top 10 box office cities:

 

1. Beijing

2. Shanghai

3. Shenzhen

4. Guangzhou

5. Chengdu

6. Wuhan

7. Chongqing

8. Hangzhou

9. Nanjing

10. Xi'an

Top 10 box office cities in 2013 (RMB ---- admissions) :

 

1. Beijing 北京 ---- 1 848 927 700 ---- 42 476 800

2. Shanghai 上海 ---- 1 555 625 400 ---- 36 613 800

3. Shenzhen 深圳 ---- 937 271 100 ---- 23 263 600

4. Guangzhou 广州---- 921 316 200 ---- 22 860 200

5. Chengdu 成都 ---- 730 385 500 ---- 21 493 400

6. Wuhan 武汉 ---- 699 063 600 ---- 21 018 300

7. Chongqing 重庆 ---- 675 685 200 ---- 21 035 800

8. Hangzhou 杭州 ---- 589 215 800 ---- 15 071 200

9. Nanjing 南京 ---- 460 973 600 ---- 12 374 700

10. Xi'an 西安 ---- 419 827 800 ---- 12 245 800

 

Sarft report 21.769 billion RMB total box office for 2013. Total films screened: 305.

Local: 12.767B, +54.32%, share 58.65%

Foreign: 9.002B, +2.3%, share 41.35%

Total screens end of 2013: 18195

 

Average attendance per show in 2013 was about 21 (15%), slightly down from 2012. 70% new theaters in 2013 posted deficit in 2013.

Edited January 15, 2014 by firedeep