How China Crushed Hollywood's Summer at the PRC Box Office
,
, and especially
hauling away Chinese renminbi like never before. Hollywood’s share of PRC box office takings was well over 50 percent.
All of that came to a screeching halt on June 19th, when China’s State Administration of Print, Publishing, Radio, Film and Television (“SAPPRFT”, or more commonly “SARFT”) imposed the crushing blow of its annual summer ‘domestic film protection period.’ More commonly referred to as the ‘blackout’ period in Hollywood circles, this is a stretch of typically six to eight weeks when imported ‘quota’ films are barred from mainland theaters in order to open up more screen time for Chinese movies. SARFT’s goal is to ensure that local films—not foreign ones—maintain at least a 50% annual share of box office receipts, and the blackouts are a key method for reaching that goal.
In years past the summer blackout has often seen a dip in attendance, because local Chinese films haven’t been as successful in attracting moviegoers as Hollywood’s offerings. This year has been a completely different story. Chinese distributors have rolled out several huge audience pleasers in the past few weeks, with family fantasy epic
Monster Hunt leading the way. Directed by
Shrek the 3rd co-director Raman Hui and produced by Edko’s Bill Kong (
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
Hero),
Monster Hunt will soon eclipse the 2012 hit
Lost in Thailand to become the highest grossing locally made film ever, and it has a real shot at surpassing the $319 million earned by
Transformers 4 to become the PRC’s second biggest release in history.
Another local film, the animated family adventure
The Monkey King: Hero is Back, has succeeded beyond all expectations. This week it will roll past the long-standing $92 million record held by 2011 Dreamworks Animation’s release
Kung Fu Panda 2 to set a new record for highest grossing animated film in China.
Even without a single foreign quota film playing, the PRC has set new records for the biggest grossing weekend with $183 million last weekend; the biggest week with $282 million last week; and the biggest month ever, with July expected to hit nearly $900 million.
According to SARFT, as of this week local Chinese films hold a 54 percent share of the nation’s year-to-date RMB25 billion ($4.03 billion) in ticket sales. There is still another month to go before the blackout ends (with the release of
on August 23rd), so even if its coming releases perform extremely well, Hollywood won’t be able to catch up, and will likely finish the year with a market share of 45 percent at most.
