Hong Kong Hong Kong Box Office

[A Marvel Fanboy]

2.28 multiplier does make sense IMO. 3 is impossible.

[Bluebomb]

Actual:Battleship total - $2,118,020So about $540,000-$550,000 for its 2nd weekend.

[Bluebomb]

3. Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D

Released: April 14

OW - $1,679,759

Total - $5,290,771 (3.15 multiplier)

No one was quite sure what to make of Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy when it opened its doors on April 14 but it shocked viewers and box office analysts both. Early pre-selling two weeks ahead of its release might have been a signal that it was going to be a hot selling movie but analysts were apprehensive about what a porn movie in 3D could do at the box office. It received widespread media attention from both local and foreign media publications alike ahead of its release as it was billed as the 'first 3D porn film in the world'. It utilized the media attention and grabbed locals by piquing their curiosity of a porn film being shot in 3D. Tour guides from China even used the film as the main selling point to get people to come over since it did not receive a release in China. The special promotions didn't stop there though. Certain theaters even ran 'Ladies only" special screenings for those women who wanted to see the film but didn't want to see men jerking off or didn't feel safe being around men in general. The rejection from IMAX wasn't enough to stop Sex & Zen from going over the top in its opening weekend with an out-of-left field opening.

Sex & Zen blew past all expectations, opening to numerous sold out shows at night and it roped in an enormous $1.679m from its first 4 days. That opening is the highest OW for any category III-rated movie ever and it outperformed Lust, Caution by more than $250,000. Going by a day-by-day basis, Thursday delivered strong results with 41,967 admissions reported from 80% of theaters. The flurry of media coverage continued into its opening weekend as many media outlets ran the story of it beating Avatar's opening day after Thursday actuals came in. With $360,000 made on its opening day, it more than doubled Lust, Caution's opening Thursday. Friday, even with more sellouts, inched a mere 3% possibly indicating that it was frontloaded with many wanting to see this opening day. It pushed back on Saturday, moving 63,151 admissions for its biggest admissions day of its run. Without the late night to boost ticket sales, it cracked on Sunday and went down 23%. Total number of admissions for Sex & Zen's opening weekend tallied to 197,247, a mere orgasm away from 200,000. With its astonishing opening weekend, many seemed convinced this was going to do well over the holidays even with the amount of competition.

Unfortunately, for the porno, it faced a whopping 11 new releases Easter weekend. 7 of them even managed to reach the top 10. Still, none of the openers really provided a challenge for Sex & Zen as it easily repeated on top Easter weekend. While admissions slacked off its 2nd weekend (-56.4%), it only suffered a 48% decline in gross. Its total squirted up to 3.272m after 11 days, beating every film with that gross except for the other 9 films in the top 10 and becoming Newport's biggest hit of the year after only 2 weeks. 14 days into its run and it already zoomed up to 3.5m, positioning itself as the #1 film of the year at that time by taking out I Love Hong Kong.

Its 3rd weekend saw 2 formidable action films go head-to-head with each other. Thor and The Lost Bladesman took over for Sex & Zen and knocked it down to 3rd but it finished with a solid 53% hold, the 2nd best drop for a wide release that weekend. Its admissions saw better holds as the weekend went along as it went from a steep 68% fold on Thursday to easing 24% on Sunday. That would bring its total up to 3.987m after 2 1/2 weeks and it passed 4m on Monday.

The release of Fast Five in Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy's 4th weekend didn't deter it at all. It slithered with a 50% drop, the best of the top 20 and of any film showing on more than 2 screens that weekend. Its 4th weekend came in just above $200,000 and its total crept up to 4.4m. After seeing Sex & Zen breaking records and catching the eye of the media, there was only one question left for it to resolve. Would it make 5m?

Its weekend hold in its 5th weekend would give credence to that notion as it enjoyed the best hold for any semi-wide or wide release, sliding down 25%. Its total was up to a stunning 4.7m but it faced a huge obstacle the next weekend when every theater would make room for the 4th installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 did little to stop it. Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy didn't even flinch and it locked up another $93,000 in its 6th weekend and its total now stood at 4.862m, certain to pass 5m in a matter of weeks. It also spent its 6th weekend in the top 5.

After surviving Pirates 4, it ran away with the best drop of any holdover the next weekend. 7th weekend saw it stumble 25%, more than 10% better than the nearest holdover.

2 months into its run and it accomplished what many was thinking was never going to materialize. It snagged 5m and it did it with style, jumping back into the top 5 and diving only 29% even with 2 fairly big openers in X-Men: First Class and The Hangover 2. It once again enjoyed the best drop of any holdover for the 2nd weekend in a row.

There was a dilemma in its 9th weekend as an adapted stage play hoping to steal Sex & Zen's audience made its way into theaters. Although the adaptation was a comedy instead of an erotic film, it had the name 'Sex' in the title and it frequently referenced jokes about erections and other bodily functions. Microsex Office got its playdate along with Super 8 but they were no match for Sex & Zen's staying power. Sex & Zen got slashed 34% and its total funneled up to 5.111m.

Its 10th weekend saw it lose another 3 screens and push down another 2 spots but it did the unthinkable and increased 19%. It got no holiday boost and it held on for another week inside the top 10.

Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy would drop out of the top 10 on its 11th weekend with Beginning of the Great Revival and Treasure Inn coming out but it came so close with it showing on just 4 theaters. It limped past 5.2m after 11 weeks.

Transformers was supposed to decimate the remaining screens for Sex & Zen but it never happened. Instead, the erotic film countered with a 41% slide, one of only 2 films that escaped with a drop of less than 50%. It also marked its return into the top 10 where it placed #9.

It clung onto another weekend in the top 10, even when half of its business vanished from the weekend before. Its 13th weekend saw it make only $7,741 but it climbed another spots to #7, meaning it spent 3 full months inside the top 10, an incredible achievement.

Sex & Zen continued its hot streak on its 14 weekend of release. The farewell party for Harry Potter didn't spoil Sex & Zen moviegoers and it notched $6,626 from 1 theater while rising to #6 from only a 14% decline.

Good declines carried on through Kung Fu Panda 2's release as it lost 22% of its business to pull its total up to 5.269m. This would mark its final week in the top 10.

Wu Xia put an end to Sex & Zen's extreme run in the top 10 as it along with 4 other openers pushed Sex & Zen well outside the top 10. Sex & Zen didn't suffer any drastic fallout though. It shook off only 43% for another weekend drop below 50%.

Its 17th and final weekend saw it slow down only 30% and it was a fitting end to such a bizarre and amazing run.

Let's run down the numbers and facts here. Sex & Zen was #1 for 2 weeks and beat out every other film at the time in only 2 weeks. It was a mainstay in the top 5 and top 10, amassing 7 and 14 weeks respectively. It was ranked inside the top 10 for 14/17 weeks. Even though it was a male driven film, it survived well on the weeks where male oriented movies came out. Super 8, Transformers, Hangover 2, X-Men: First Class, Thor, The Lost Bladesman, Wu Xia, Harry Potter 7-2 all couldn't stop Sex & Zen from achieving one of the best runs ever. It also spent the last 13 weeks of its run dropping 50% or below, one of the most peculiar things to ever happen to a film. Typically, even films with great WOM would see larger and larger drops as it box office declines but Sex & Zen defied that trend. It tied Toy Story 3 for number of weeks in release with 17 and it finished the year ahead of some big names like Kung Fu Panda 2, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, X-Men: First Class and Black Swan. It kept on accumulating exceptional weekend holds in the face of extreme competition and that carried it to one of the biggest totals ever for a category III film. It obliterated everyone's expectations and almost defiantly, slowly crept its way to being one of the biggest films of 2011.

Highlights

Opening weekend - $1.679 million, highest opening ever for III rated movie

2nd weekend - 48% drop with 11 new openers to contend with

3rd weekend - 53% drop with release of Thor and The Lost Bladesman

4th weekend - ...

5th weekend - 25% drop, passed 4.7m

6th weekend - 39% drop with release of Pirates 4

7th weekend - 25% drop

8th weekend - 29% drop with X-Men: First Class and Hangover 2 openers, passed 5m

9th weekend - ...

10th weekend - 19% increase

11th weekend - passed 5.2m

12th weekend - 41% drop in face of Transformers 3

13th weekend - ...

14th weekend - 14% drop with finale of Harry Potter opening

15th weekend - 22% drop with Kung Fu Panda 2 opening

16th weekend - [ties Inception for number of weeks in release]

17th weekend - final weekend, 30% drop, [ties Toy Story 3 for number of weeks in release]

5th-17th weekend - dropped 50% or below

[A Marvel Fanboy]

Just wow to your article.

[Bluebomb]

The Avengers in 2D is only being shown in a handful of theaters. That's less than what Transformers 3 and Harry Potter 7-2 got.The Avengers will debut somewhere in the 2.4-3.5m range.

[A Marvel Fanboy]

Seems 2D prints are limited everywhere.

[Bluebomb]

That is disappointing then. Was hoping for a bigger 2D release similar to what Transformers 3 had.

[Bluebomb]

Thursday schedules

Avengers killed most of the holdovers this week. Battleship is the consensus survivor. Love in the Buff and Titanic are next in line but around half of the theaters have cut them from their schedules. Nightfall, Mirror Mirror, Machine Gun Preacher, One for the Money have been axed from most of the theaters. 407 Dark Flight is still showing in about half of the theaters that played it last weekend. A Simple Life is still showing in most places.

Opening day for The Avengers - Palace APM

Incredible % for The Avengers on opening day. I wouldn't put 3m past it at this point. It looks like it could hit 50,000-60,000 admissions opening day.

[Fullbuster]

The Avengers could be huge in HK, maybe the best performance of 2012 for the moment, maybe it's a good sign for it in continental China.

[Bluebomb]

The Avengers could be huge in HK, maybe the best performance of 2012 for the moment, maybe it's a good sign for it in continental China.

It will definitely be #1 of the year by the end of its 3rd week.

[druv10]

Bluebomb, can TA finish top 5 in HK for the year?

[Bluebomb]

Bluebomb, can TA finish top 5 in HK for the year?

Yes, although I expect it to battle with Ice Age and possibly a local film for #4 and #5.

[Bluebomb]

April 26 Weekend Predictions

1. The Avengers - $2,600,000

2. Battleship - $150,000 (-73%)

3. Titanic 3D - $85,000 (-58%)

4. 407 Dark Flight - $55,000 (-71%)

5. Love in the Buff - $45,000 (-67%)

The Avengers will double the highest OW of the year. Getting only a handful of 2D screens diminishes the maximum potential gross for the Avengers but 3D will sell like gangbusters. Pre-sales have been excellent so far with IMAX almost selling out and regular theaters having sold out shows so far away.

Battleship will only slide down 1 spot thanks to it being the big winner last weekend. The Avengers will hit it hard but I could see it getting some spillover effect from full shows of The Avengers. Titanic should place 3rd with extreme 3D prices. It's getting cut in more than half of its theaters including IMAX but pre-sales have looked decent so it'll avoid a horrendous drop. 407 Dark Flight will drop heavily because it's a horror film, a foreign language film and The Avengers will monopolize the screens. Dropping out of the top 5 is not of the question either. Love in the Buff has had a very good run so far but it is also getting tossed out in half of the theaters currently showing it. After a bad holiday week, it stabilized last weekend but it'll get pulverized by The Avengers.

A Simple Life is an interesting choice. After last weekend's bump, it should see a fairly big drop with demand being met. The Avengers taking almost all the screens is a negative effect but theaters have managed to slot A Simple Life either in the morning or afternoon. Surprisingly, it retained most of its theaters this week so it could have the best drop of the top 10 this week and may even spend an extra weekend in the top 5.

Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels is getting a limited-semi wide release. It's also a possibility for a top 5 finish but the low theater count concerns me. The attention for The Avengers is also non-stop and I'm not sure if Thomas & Friends will engage kids enough to get them to beg their parents and take them to see it. $50,000 for the weekend is achievable but it's getting a really small release, something I think will torpedo its chances of making the top 5.

Sunny increased last weekend and is a dark horse candidate to make the top 5. It is being kept in almost all of the locations from last weekend but most theaters have taken away its 7 PM showtime from last week and given it to The Avengers. I could see a small 20-30% decrease this weekend if business continues to hold up.

The Hunger Games is winding down now. I only expect about $20,000-$25,000 for the weekend.

[Bluebomb]

[lab276]

How does that compare with other movies?

[Chewy]

Thursday as big as Battleship's Saturday?What does this mean for the weekend?

[Shantal]

'Cause its difficult for me to compare and contrast since I'm not that knowledgeable with previous HK numbers, I'm assuming that's good for The Avengers? Edited April 25, 2012 by Shantal

[RTX]

This compares with Harry Potter presales. DH2 opened to 3.4M.

[Bluebomb]

How does that compare with other movies?

Up 44% from Iron Man 2's opening day pre-sales.

Thursday as big as Battleship's Saturday?What does this mean for the weekend?

It means that Saturday and Sunday will go over 100,000 admissions each. Now it's looking like it will come somewhere between 3-3.5m for OW.

[RTX]

Can we declare Battleship officially dead now, or is it still being underreported somehow?