Hong Kong Hong Kong Box Office

[Bluebomb]

Ip Man 3 will begin screening on the Dec. 17 weekend. That means all 3 major Christmas releases will have previews on Star Wars' opening weekend. All of these previews won't affect Star Wars that much but it does mean that it won't be hogging all the screens that weekend.

 

Meanwhile, The Little Prince preview showings have shot up in admissions and are now about 80% full.

 

In other preview news, Anniversary will hold special screenings on the December 24 weekend.

[Bluebomb]

	Thursday			December 10
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	% chg
1	Keeper of Darkness	--	4,298	--
2	In the Heart of the Sea	--	4,242	--
3	Point Break	--	4,208	--
4	Port of Call	--	2,299	--
5	Burnt	--	2,085	--
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	1,625	--
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	1,225	--
8	Initiation Love	--	642	--
9	Legend	--	633	--
10	Before We Go	--	629	--

Less than 100 admissions separates the top 3, but In the Heart of the Sea is perhaps slightly inflated with IMAX and D-BOX showings. That is a strong hold for Keeper of Darkness. Very good for Port of Call. Bad for Burnt and the rest of the new openers this week.
 

	Friday adm.	(so far)			December 11
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	In the Heart of the Sea	--	2,239	--	+8.1%
2	Point Break	--	1,677	--	+90.4%
3	Keeper of Darkness	--	1,157	--	+47.4%
4	Burnt	--	1,114	--	+54.3%
5	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	787	--	+87.4%
6	Port of Call	--	691	--	+71.5%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	410	--	+1.7%
8	Before We Go	--	343	--	+31.9%
9	Freeheld	--	232	--	-6.5%
10	The Crow's Egg	--	201	--	--

Weak for In the Heart of the Sea. Great increase for Point Break. Good for Keeper of Darkness.

[Bluebomb]

		Weekly Gross (Mon-Sun)							Nov 30-Dec 6
LW	TW	Title	Last Week (HKD)	This Week (HKD)	Days in release	% chg	Total (HKD)	This Week (USD)	Total (USD)
2	1	Keeper of Darkness	$5,532,218	$6,084,803	11	+10.0%	$11,617,021	$787,681	$1,503,829
--	2	Point Break	--	$3,452,832	4	--	$3,452,832	$446,971	$446,971
1	3	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	$4,984,901	$3,335,108	18	-33.1%	$23,642,196	$431,731	$3,060,495
--	4	In the Heart of the Sea	--	$2,640,774	4	--	$2,640,774	$341,849	$341,849
--	5	Port of Call	--	$1,552,880	4	--	$1,675,937	$201,021	$216,950
4	6	Victor Frankenstein	$2,272,280	$1,497,864	11	-34.1%	$3,770,144	$193,899	$488,047
3	7	Spectre	$2,428,852	$1,090,529	32	-55.1%	$39,812,479	$141,169	$5,153,747
6	8	She Remembers, He Forgets	$1,248,128	$701,263	32	-43.8%	$10,510,616	$90,778	$1,360,605
7	9	Our Times	$1,201,380	$621,103	53	-48.3%	$43,939,366	$80,402	$5,687,975
--	10	The Vanished Murderer	--	$577,741	4	--	$596,221	$74,788	$77,181

Strong for Keeper of Darkness. It has already surpassed Nick Cheung's first directorial debut, Hungry Ghost Ritual. This should be able to hit 2m before it leaves theaters. Decent opening for Point Break. Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2 did not have a good hold. In the Heart of the Sea disappointed. Port of Call did OK. Disaster for Victor Frankenstein. Spectre fell hard. Either way, it is the biggest Bond film in the franchise and the first to surpass 5m. She Remembers had another good hold. Our Times will make it to 5.7m before ending its run.

Weekend of December 3-6, 2015:

1 1 Keeper of Darkness EDKO $490,007 -33.9% 43 - $11,396 $1,564,756 2
2 N Point Break (2015) Intercontinental $480,938 - 55 - $8,744 $480,938 1
3 N In the Heart of the Sea WB $358,236 - 80 - $4,478 $358,236 1
4 2 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 Lark $274,675 -58.9% 46 -18 $5,971 $3,212,734 3
5 N Port of Call (2015) Lark $209,474 - 32 - $6,546 $230,894 1
6 4 Spectre Sony $93,495 -53.4% 36 -23 $2,597 $5,520,364 5
7 3 Victor Frankenstein Fox $93,306 -69.9% 35 -2 $2,666 $518,175 2
8 N The Vanished Murderer Newport $74,546 - 27 - $2,761 $76,930 1
9 7 She Remembers, He Forgets Intercontinental $54,524 -39.3% 17 -7 $3,207 $1,366,973 5
10 6 Our Times (2015) n/a $45,111 -51.7% 22 -11 $2,051 $5,908,029 8
11 N Kaakkaa Muttai Fox $43,509 - 8 - $5,439 $43,510 1
12 5 Return of the Cuckoo Newport $30,662 -70.2% 17 -16 $1,804 $1,566,683 4
13 9 Zinnia Flower EDKO $22,508 -51.8% 7 - $3,215 $129,391 3
14 12 Bridge of Spies Fox $15,819 +2.3% 3 -2 $5,273 $1,321,030 7
15 8 By the Sea EDKO $11,485 -77.1% 8 -1 $1,436 $79,776 2
16 N Ryuzo to Nananin no Kobuntachi n/a $10,501 - 4 - $2,625 $10,502 1
17 13 The Intern WB $7,462 -28.4% 4 - $1,866 $3,928,093 11
18 16 Mountains May Depart EDKO $5,470 -19.9% 2 - $2,735 $66,454 5
19 10 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Intercontinental $4,661 -81.7% 4 -6 $1,165 $1,283,206 6
20 14 Kokoro Ga Sakebitagatterunda (Anthem Of The Heart) n/a $4,607 -55.6% 1 - $4,607 $39,901 3
21 - SMTown: The Stage Deltamac $4,319 - 5 - $864 $20,153 2
22 17 Mr. Holmes EDKO $3,344 -35.2% 2 - $1,672 $355,138 7
23 19 Biri gal Golden Scene $3,098 -28.9% 1 -1 $3,098 $192,679 7
24 11 Eiga: minna! Esupâ da yo! (The Virgin Psychics) Intercontinental $2,302 -85.6% 2 -3 $1,151 $26,114 2
25 18 Learning to Drive Golden Scene $2,186 -55.4% 2 - $1,093 $44,732 4
26 21 Our Little Sister EDKO $1,404 -20.1% 1 - $1,404 $276,138 8
27 20 Suffragette Cable $1,210 -68.0% 2 -1 $605 $71,108 4
28 - Daughter (2015) Cable $648 - 1 - $648 $58,304 3
29 28 Lazy Hazy Crazy n/a $397 -24.8% 1 -1 $397 $179,105 6
30 26 Hotel Transylvania 2 Sony $320 -47.9% 1 -1 $320 $1,239,821 10
31 34 Tiens-toi droite EDKO $294 +26.7% 1 - $294 $2,019 4
32 32 Miss Hokusai n/a $261 -0.8% 1 - $261 $11,062 3
33 29 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Fox $175 -57.6% 1 -1 $175 $23,964 4
34 15 The Green Inferno n/a $129 -98.3% 1 -2 $129 $107,965 4

 

[Bluebomb]

	Friday				December 11
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Point Break	--	5,816	--	+38.2%
2	Keeper of Darkness	--	5,479	--	+27.5%
3	In the Heart of the Sea	--	5,086	--	+19.9%
4	Burnt	--	3,523	--	+69.0%
5	Port of Call	--	3,315	--	+44.2%
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	2,714	--	+67.0%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	1,401	--	+14.4%
8	Before We Go	--	922	--	+46.6%
9	Initiation Love	--	892	--	+38.9%
10	The Crow's Egg	--	822	--	--

A mostly mild Friday. Decent for Point Break. OK for Keeper of Darkness. Sad for In the Heart of the Sea. Date night pushed Bradley Cooper's movie past Port of Call. Good hold for Port of Call. Solid increase for Mockingjay 2.
 

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			December 12
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	In the Heart of the Sea	--	3,207	--	+43.2%
2	Point Break	--	2,561	--	+52.7%
3	Keeper of Darkness	--	1,624	--	+40.4%
4	Port of Call	--	1,438	--	+108.1%
5	Burnt	--	1,377	--	+23.6%
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	952	--	+21.0%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	667	--	+62.7%
8	Before We Go	--	372	--	+8.5%
9	Spectre	--	371	--	--
10	Initiation Love	--	344	--	--

Meh for In the Heart of the Sea. Not bad for Point Break. OK for Keeper of Darkness. Excellent increase by Port of Call. Burnt saw its screens/showtimes reduced on Saturday which explains the small increase. Poor increase for Mockingjay 2.

[Bluebomb]

Dec. 17 Weekend Previews

The Little Prince: Strong at business locations but weaker in rural areas. 2D has been very brisk so far.

Peanuts Movie: Very very strong business in 3D at nearly every location. The strongest of the 3 major Christmas releases that have previews.

Ip Man 3: Not far behind Peanuts. One premium theater is about 1/3 full and another theater that has terrible pre-selling has already sold tickets.

[Bluebomb]

Thursday estimates

1. Keeper of Darkness - $46,624/$1,722,497
2. Point Break - $44,033/$647,555
3. In the Heart of the Sea - $27,197/$518,044 by Friday
4. Port of Call - $22,793/$388,533 by Saturday
5. Burnt - $21,369
6. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2 - $16,836/$3,147,119
The Crow's Egg - $64,755
 

	Saturday				December 12
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Point Break	--	8,897	--	+53.0%
2	Keeper of Darkness	--	8,702	--	+58.8%
3	In the Heart of the Sea	--	7,960	--	+56.5%
4	Port of Call	--	5,237	--	+58.0%
5	Burnt	--	4,508	--	+28.0%
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	4,130	--	+52.2%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	2,398	--	+71.2%
8	Initiation Love	--	1,739	--	+95.0%
9	Spectre	--	1,503	--	--
10	The Crow's Egg	--	1,389	--	+69.0%

Nothing stood out on the positive side inside the top 5. Burnt suffered with no Friday date night boost. Strong increases for Initiation Love and Spectre, which more than doubled its Friday admissions.

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			December 13
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	In the Heart of the Sea	--	3,092	--	-3.6%
2	Point Break	--	2,476	--	-3.3%
3	Keeper of Darkness	--	1,694	--	+4.3%
4	Port of Call	--	1,515	--	+5.4%
5	Burnt	--	1,385	--	+0.6%
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	1,000	--	+5.0%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	755	--	+13.2%
8	Initiation Love	--	427	--	+24.1%
9	The Crow's Egg	--	366	--	--
10	Freeheld	--	359	--	--

Not great for Point Break or In the Heart of the Sea. Good for Keeper of Darkness and Port of Call.

Part 4 of Star Wars: The Force Awakens pre-sales
 

The ONE
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D					Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D					Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D					Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 17	12:01 AM	113	163	69.33%	Dec. 18	11:15 AM	82	163	50.31%	Dec. 19	11:15 AM	64	163	39.26%	Dec. 20	11:15 AM	70	163	42.94%
	11:15 AM	44	163	26.99%		1:50 PM	9	163	5.52%		1:50 PM	34	163	20.86%		1:50 PM	31	163	19.02%
	1:50 PM	12	163	7.36%		4:25 PM	29	163	17.79%		4:25 PM	68	163	41.72%		4:25 PM	69	163	42.33%
	4:25 PM	37	163	22.70%		7:00 PM	93	163	57.06%		7:00 PM	61	163	37.42%		7:00 PM	22	163	13.50%
	7:00 PM	100	163	61.35%		9:35 PM	106	163	65.03%		9:35 PM	32	163	19.63%		9:35 PM	11	163	6.75%
	9:35 PM	103	163	63.19%		9:50 PM	10	163	6.13%
	9:50 PM	5	111	4.50%		9:50 PM	4	111	3.60%
	10:00 PM	6	163	3.68%
Total		420	1252	33.55%	Total		333	1089	30.58%	Total		259	815	31.78%	Total		203	815	24.91%

At The ONE, Star Wars is not doing that hot. In the beginning, it had strong pre-sales but they have tapered off rapidly. The addition of Thursday and Friday night 10 pm showings 2 days ago have not gone well with total admission sales from the 4 showings combined sitting at a measly 9 admissions (I have left the blocked off seats in the table above but if you subtract each showing by 4 admissions, those are the true admissions for that particular showing. Yes, this means that one Friday 9:50 pm showing is empty!). This theater is one of the fastest in admission pre-selling and is in a tourist location so Star Wars is the type of film that should do extremely well here. The fact that its Thursday midnight showing is the best performing showtime of them all is terrifying and sad. Normally midnights do not do well in HK but a chunk of Star Wars fans are rushing to buy the very first showing.

Star Wars 7 reminds me of a better performing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I know I just compared a sequel to a prequel but both had mid December dates, high ticket prices but underperformed in pre-sales. It's possible that the high ticket prices are really putting people off from watching it like The Hobbit. It's also possible that the mid December weekend doesn't lend itself to strong pre-selling or movie watching though last year the top 3 combined for 3.7m. Traditionally this spot has been a disaster for tentpole movies though so the argument has to be made here.

I'm not going to alter my prediction yet. These 2 days will decide how many showings theaters will give to Star Wars. On Tuesday, we will look at theater schedules and an updated prediction.

[RobinHood26]

IP Man 3!!!!!!!!! Pumped

[Bluebomb]

Pre-sales for Dec. 17 previews
 

The Little Prince	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
	30	243	12.35%
	25	243	10.29%
	115	115	100.00%
	4	70	5.71%
	11	70	15.71%
	10	114	8.77%
	5	114	4.39%
	1	89	1.12%
	9	89	10.11%
	18	187	9.63%
	19	187	10.16%
	7	109	6.42%
	4	109	3.67%
	73	94	77.66%
	18	90	20.00%
	20	90	22.22%
	6	112	5.36%
	21	112	18.75%
	92	111	82.88%
	21	111	18.92%
	32	111	28.83%
	28	111	25.23%
	17	111	15.32%
	12	138	8.70%
	20	138	14.49%
	15	213	7.04%
	2	83	2.41%
	2	83	2.41%
	8	138	5.80%
	10	126	7.94%
	17	213	7.98%
	5	194	2.58%
	3	194	1.55%
	35	112	31.25%
	42	112	37.50%
	6	191	3.14%
Total	763	4727	16.14%

The Little Prince is being heavily skewed by the full 2D French showing at Cinematheque and then the 2 3D English showings at The ONE and Palace IFC. Without them, it drops to 10.96% capacity. The showings for The Little Prince are spread out over 3 days so it does not look all that impressive at the moment. The business district + most of the high tourist/traffic areas are performing admirably. The rest including high traffic theater Palace APM are slow out of the gate.
 

The Peanuts Movie	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
	17	144	11.81%
	16	136	11.76%
	47	111	42.34%
	39	138	28.26%
	23	243	9.47%
	8	70	11.43%
	19	114	16.67%
	61	213	28.64%
	10	131	7.63%
	10	126	7.94%
	0	124	0.00%
	53	151	35.10%
	4	227	1.76%
	2	139	1.44%
	2	82	2.44%
	15	138	10.87%
	15	92	16.30%
	9	209	4.31%
	40	139	28.78%
	6	116	5.17%
	0	126	0.00%
	10	123	8.13%
	8	285	2.81%
	0	258	0.00%
	44	191	23.04%
Total	458	3826	11.97%

Peanuts Movie is doing pretty well. Most of the admissions are spread out. Standout theaters include Festival Walk, Pacific Place, Cine Times and Cityplaza. Though it has several zeros to its name, a couple of very rural theaters with low pre-selling have sold tickets so it seems it is only a matter of time before every showing will have admissions sold. All of these preview showings are for Friday night and in 3D vs. a 3 day spread and a mix of 3D/2D showings for The Little Prince.
 

Ip Man 3	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
	2	124	1.61%
	2	124	1.61%
	5	124	4.03%
	7	124	5.65%
	0	265	0.00%
	0	265	0.00%
	8	191	4.19%
	7	191	3.66%
	6	191	3.14%
	4	191	2.09%
	53	121	43.80%
Total	94	1911	4.92%

These special screenings for Ip Man 3 are all run by independent theaters. These independent theaters are in remote places so pre-sales are usually very slow. Not one showing is from a franchised theater which is weird. What is most impressive about Ip Man 3 so far is that it has sold tickets in every showing at the Yuen Long theater, the same theater responsible for the gooseegg for The Peanuts Movie and a theater where Star Wars 7 is not doing much better than Ip Man 3 at the moment. Pre-sales are hard to come by at that theater and it surprisingly has sold the most tickets for Sunday night at 10 PM, the worst weekend showtime by far. Most of these showings popped up a couple of days ago or today so the deck is really stacked against Ip Man 3 right now. The 43% sold showing is from a premium 4DX showing with the lowest ticket set at $175 HK.

[TigerPaw]

19 hours ago, Jay Salahi said:

IP Man 3!!!!!!!!! Pumped

ME TOO! Will be watching in Singapore! unfortunately, its biggest market, China's release date has not been confirmed. Gosh.

[Bluebomb]

	Sunday				December 13
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Point Break	13,454	8,137	-39.5%	-8.5%
2	Keeper of Darkness	13,082	7,548	-42.3%	-13.3%
3	In the Heart of the Sea	12,430	6,965	-44.0%	-12.5%
4	Port of Call	6,574	4,634	-29.5%	-11.5%
5	Burnt	--	3,988	--	-11.5%
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	7,436	3,974	-46.6%	-3.8%
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	2,259	--	-5.8%
8	Initiation Love	--	1,744	--	+0.3%
9	Spectre	2,471	1,267	-48.7%	-15.7%
10	The Crow's Egg	1,879	1,117	-40.6%	-19.6%

Low openers allowed all holdovers to hold at least half of its last Sunday audience.
 

	Weekend adm.			Dec 10-13
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	% chg
1	Point Break	--	27,058	--
2	Keeper of Darkness	--	26,027	--
3	In the Heart of the Sea	--	24,253	--
4	Port of Call	--	15,485	--
5	Burnt	--	14,104	--
6	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2	--	12,443	--
7	Go Lala Go 2	--	7,283	--
8	Initiation Love	--	5,017	--

 

	Weekend Estimates			December 10
Rank	Movie	TW	% chg	Total
1	Keeper of Darkness	$275,000	-43.9%	$1,950,000
1	Point Break	$275,000	-42.8%	$880,000
3	In the Heart of the Sea	$195,000	-45.6%	$635,000
4	Port of Call	$155,000	-26.0%	$430,000
5	Burnt	$145,000		$145,000

#1 this week will come down to actuals. The race between Keeper of Darkness and Point Break will be very close. In the Heart of the Sea was lucky that the openers were dead weight. Great hold for Port of Call. Terrible opening for Burnt.

[Bluebomb]

6 hours ago, TigerPaw said:

ME TOO! Will be watching in Singapore! unfortunately, its biggest market, China's release date has not been confirmed. Gosh.

It will be released on New Year's Eve (December 31) according to Olive.

[Lordmandeep]

I liked IP 1 2 was ehhhh 

[Olive]

45 minutes ago, Bluebomb said:

It will be released on New Year's Eve (December 31) according to Olive.

Some are saying its date will be postponed to March in Mainland.

[TigerPaw]

5 hours ago, The Good Olive said:

Some are saying its date will be postponed to March in Mainland.

Yup, but hopefully not. Piracy might kill it. Dec 31st was a good date, but it has since been changed.

The distributor is a first time distributor, and is unable to handle such large project, extremely disappointed with them. They had 0 publicity until 7th of December and decided to change the release dates. Ip Man 2 was 7th in China's 2010 Box Office, Ip Man was 12 at the 2008 China Box Office, and Ip Man 3 is being delayed... its crazy.

[Bluebomb]

19 hours ago, The Good Olive said:

Some are saying its date will be postponed to March in Mainland.

What?! Any specific reason why?

 

 

13 hours ago, TigerPaw said:

Yup, but hopefully not. Piracy might kill it. Dec 31st was a good date, but it has since been changed.

The distributor is a first time distributor, and is unable to handle such large project, extremely disappointed with them. They had 0 publicity until 7th of December and decided to change the release dates. Ip Man 2 was 7th in China's 2010 Box Office, Ip Man was 12 at the 2008 China Box Office, and Ip Man 3 is being delayed... its crazy.

I agree. The distributor is small time. They only own 1 theater in HK and they've done a terrible job with promoting the film so far. It's nearly a week left before release and I still see more The Little Prince/Peanuts Movie ads than Ip Man 3! How crazy is that? Not to mention that they are showing previews on Star Wars weekend. It's boggling. This movie is a tentpole not a release that needs good WOM to spread. By the way, several people have said this movie is really good so fingers crossed!

 

December 10 Weekend Estimates

1. Point Break - $898,166
2. Keeper of Darkness - $1,942,155
3. In the Heart of the Sea - $645,234
Port of Call - $445,211
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - $3,226,172

Point Break won over Keeper of Darkness this weekend but it wasn't by much. Point Break will get to 1m before exiting theaters. Keeper of Darkness lost by a very slim margin to Point Break this weekend but I doubt EDKO is complaining. 2 weeks at #1 and a 2m finish in the dead of winter is an excellent gross. In the Heart of the Sea didn't drown but its opening weekend was a lost cause. Port of Call had a very good hold while The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 passed Mockingjay Part 1 to become the 2nd biggest grossing film in the franchise behind Catching Fire. Mockingjay won't reach CF's total though. I think we all know why.

Onto the big one...

Early Thursday schedules
 

Festival Walk

New

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D - 26 showings

Not quite as big as Avengers 2 which got 31 showings despite a longer running time than Star Wars 7 and lower than Iron Man 3's 27 opening day showtimes.
 

The ONE

New

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D - 21 showings (incl. 2 midnights)

Below both Iron Man 3 and Avengers 2's OD showtimes (26 for IM3/27 for Avengers 2).

Opening day pre-sales at Palace APM
 

Palace APM
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 17	11:35 AM	98	286	34.27%
	2:10 PM	25	286	8.74%
	4:45 PM	30	286	10.49%
	7:20 PM	152	286	53.15%
	9:55 PM	79	286	27.62%
	12:25 AM	20	286	6.99%
Total		404	1716	23.54%

This has done about half of Iron Man 3's OD pre-sales at Palace APM even with its admissions taken at a later time than when Iron Man 3's was taken. Iron Man 3 also had an extra screen already scheduled while Star Wars 7 still only has the 1 screen for now.

Opening Saturday pre-sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Festival Walk
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 17	8:40 AM	127	354	35.88%
	11:15 AM	200	354	56.50%
	1:50 PM	135	354	38.14%
	4:25 PM	174	354	49.15%
	7:00 PM	149	354	42.09%
	9:35 PM	100	354	28.25%
Total		885	2124	41.67%

Slightly below Iron Man 3's opening Saturday admissions with an additional showtime.

Full Thursday schedules will be posted tomorrow.

[Olive]

No specific reasons for Ip Man' s delay, most likely to avoid competitions. 

[Bluebomb]

12 hours ago, The Good Olive said:

No specific reasons for Ip Man' s delay, most likely to avoid competitions. 

That's dumb.

 

It is the opposite of what they did for Ip Man 3 before. They moved up its release to Christmas from a January playdate. If they are that worried about local competition/Star Wars in China then they should not have moved up its release date everywhere.

[Olive]

4 minutes ago, Bluebomb said:

That's dumb.

 

It is the opposite of what they did for Ip Man 3 before. They moved up its release to Christmas from a January playdate. If they are that worried about local competition/Star Wars in China then they should not have moved up its release date everywhere.

Yeah, piracy might kill it..

[Bluebomb]

Part 5 of Star Wars: The Force Awakens pre-sales
 

Festival Walk
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 17	10:45 AM	20	138	14.49%
	11:15 AM	214	354	60.45%
	11:20 AM	20	144	13.89%
	12:00 PM	16	156	10.26%
	1:20 PM	4	138	2.90%
	1:50 PM	109	354	30.79%
	2:00 PM	6	144	4.17%
	2:10 PM	5	156	3.21%
	2:35 PM	45	156	28.85%
	3:00 PM	8	127	6.30%
	3:55 PM	7	138	5.07%
	4:25 PM	142	354	40.11%
	4:35 PM	6	144	4.17%
	4:40 PM	8	156	5.13%
	5:10 PM	37	156	23.72%
	5:30 PM	9	127	7.09%
	6:30 PM	5	138	3.62%
	7:00 PM	234	354	66.10%
	7:10 PM	6	156	3.85%
	7:45 PM	95	156	60.90%
	8:00 PM	14	127	11.02%
	9:05 PM	12	138	8.70%
	9:35 PM	214	354	60.45%
	9:45 PM	11	156	7.05%
	9:50 PM	6	144	4.17%
	10:20 PM	27	156	17.31%
Total		1280	4821	26.55%

At Festival Walk, Star Wars generated about 100 admissions since last night. Afternoon and evening shows have struggled a lot.

The situation is even more precarious at Palace APM...

Palace APM
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 17	10:25 AM	6	112	5.36%
	11:10 AM	7	114	6.14%
	11:35 AM	106	286	37.06%
	12:00 PM	4	167	2.40%
	1:00 PM	4	112	3.57%
	1:45 PM	4	114	3.51%
	2:10 PM	31	286	10.84%
	2:35 PM	4	167	2.40%
	3:35 PM	4	112	3.57%
	4:20 PM	6	114	5.26%
	4:45 PM	30	286	10.49%
	5:10 PM	8	167	4.79%
	7:00 PM	7	114	6.14%
	7:20 PM	154	286	53.85%
	7:45 PM	4	167	2.40%
	8:05 PM	4	112	3.57%
	9:35 PM	4	114	3.51%
	9:55 PM	79	286	27.62%
	10:20 PM	4	167	2.40%
	10:40 PM	4	112	3.57%
	11:50 PM	4	98	4.08%
	12:25 AM	20	286	6.99%
Total		498	3779	13.18%

11 showtimes starting at noon are empty. That includes 2 7 pm showtimes. It is doing less than half than what Iron Man 3 did at this theater (38% of Iron Man 3's pre-sales) although I took Star Wars pre-sales about 5 hours ahead of Iron Man 3's.

I am still waiting for Star Wars admissions to kick in but it hasn't happened yet. It's been strange following its pre-sales from the beginning. Really fast pre-selling in the beginning and now it's very slow.

[TigerPaw]

19 hours ago, The Good Olive said:

No specific reasons for Ip Man' s delay, most likely to avoid competitions. 

May be the case,  and the public suspects this, but i highly doubt it.

 

Hearsay the China distributor is facing financial distress, and cannot afford publicity, hence changing its release date.

 

They spent a lot on the original promotion, inviting Mike Tyson and Donnie Yen to square off in a ring, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qorONpQaJnY
but apparently the distributor is not doing very well now and cannot afford any publicity and is trying to invite more investors, even members of public to invest in publicity and profit-sharing. Read all this on the Donnie Yen Baidu Tieba Forums. 

I am quite positive about Ip Man 3's box office results around the world, but now China is a tricky one, they need to change the distributor but it is hard because the current distributor is also one of the production and investment companies.