China Film Industry info

CONTENTSChina'sFilmIndustryWillWelcomeAFlourishingAge..................................................................1Nationenters3Derainfilmindustry................................................................................................3Cinemaindustryboomsonurbanites'growingincomes...................................................................5Chinaplanstomakemorefilms,buildtheaters................................................................................6Chinabecomesthebestnewtalentincinema...................................................................................7BoxofficebattlecontinuestorageinChina.....................................................................................9BoxOffice:'TheLastExorcism's'$22.3millionisahorrorfor'Takers'and'Avatar're-release....10ChinaIndustrialistBoldInvestmentHollywood-StyleMovie........................................................11[YinHong]ThechallengesandopportunitiesofChina‘sfilmindustry........................................15Chinatobecomefilmproductionpowerhouse...............................................................................18ForeignfilmstakemostofQ1Chinaboxoffice..............................................................................19Chinaplanstomakemorefilms,buildtheaters..............................................................................19HuayitoInvest1BillionYuantoBuildTheaterChain..................................................................20Chinafilm'Aftershock'rulesdomesticboxoffice..........................................................................22Filmindustrythriving,eyeinginteractivefuture............................................................................23ChinamovieindustrytoovertakeHollywoodinthreedecades......................................................25ReportonChinaCulturalIndustry,2010-2015...............................................................................27China'sFilmIndustryWillWelcomeAFlourishingAgePostat2010-1-2117:26|OnlyViewAuthor'sPosts=11474'Avatar'hasbeenflyinghighinChina,butBeijingisclippingitswings.OnTuesday,cinemasconfirmedthattheyhavebeenorderedtopulltwo-dimensionaleditionsoftheHollywoodblockbusterasofThursdaytomakewayforastate-sponsoredbiographyoftheChinesephilosopherConfucius.ThemovetosharplycurtailshowingsofthemoviehighlightsChina'seffortstolimitforeignfilms.ButitalsocomesamidarebirthoftheChinesefilmindustry.Aboutadecadeago,Chinesefilmsscoredbigatinternationalartfestivals,buttheindustrywasindisarrayathome.Cinemaswereoldanddecrepit,productionswereclunkersandpiratedvideotapesanddiscsproliferated.Bycontrast,Beijing'sYou-TownshoppingcenterwascrowdedwithyoungcoupleswatchingfilmsonarecentWednesdaynight.Themodern,six-cinemamultiplexseats1,200,andalmostalltheseatsweretakenat$8each,eventhoughstoresonthenextblockwereofferingpiratedfilmsforabout$1adisc.AllthefilmsondisplaywereHongKongordomesticallyproducedmovies.Domesticfilmsaccountformorethanhalfthebox-officegross,whichhasbeengrowingat25%ayearoverthepastfiveyears.In2009,growthacceleratedto42%,withtotalreceiptsof$911million.ThatisstillfarbehindtheU.S.,wherebox-officereceiptswere$9.87billionin2009,accordingtoAdamsMediaResearch.InDecember,foreignfilmmakerswereheartenedbyaWorldTradeOrganizationrulingthatsaidChinashouldopenitsmarkettoforeignfilmsbyliftingtherequirementthatthemoviesbesoldthroughagovernment-runmonopoly.Foreignfilmmakershavecomplainedthesystemdiscriminatesagainsttheirmoviesandlimitstheirrevenues.ChinahasayeartochangetherulesorfacetariffsfromtheU.S.,theWTOsaid.Thisweek'sAvatardecisionfitswithChina'slong-standingeffortstolimitforeignfilms;only20moviescanbeimportedeachyear,andmostareblackedoutduringpopularmoviegoingseasons,suchastheupcomingChineseNewYearfestival.Avatarwillcontinuetobeshowninsomeofthecountry'sestimated8003-DandIMAXcinemasbutnotinmosttheaters,whicharebeingclearedfortheholidayseasonfordomesticfilms.Twentieth-CenturyFox,thestudiobehind'Avatar,'isownedbyNewsCorp.,whichalsopublishesTheWallStreetJournal.ANewsCorp.spokesmandidn'thaveanimmediatecomment.AnofficialwithChinaStellarFilmCo.saidthedistributioncompanyhadreceivedan'urgentnotice'TuesdayfromChinaFilmGroup,thegovernmentcompanythatdistributesmostfilmsinChina,sayingChinaStellarhadtostoprunningtwo-dimensionalversionsofAvatar.ChinaFilmGroupdeclinedtocomment.Iftherulesonforeignfilmschange,morepicturescouldenterthemarket,butthedomesticindustryisnowinastrongerpositiontocompete.'Openingupmightbringinsomemoregoodforeignfilms,butI'mnotconvinceditwillchangethingsdramatically,'saysLambertYam,aU.S.filmmakerwhonowworksinChina.'Peoplelikeseeinglocalfilms,andlocalstudiosarestrongerthanbefore.'TheChinesefilmindustrybegantoturnaroundafterChinajoinedtheWTOin2001.Atthetime,theonlyfilmsthatdidwellinChinawereforeign---thebox-officekingthenwasthe1997film'Titanic,'whichgrossed$45millionhereand,like'Avatar,'wasdirectedbyJamesCameron.TojointheWTO,Chinaagreedtodoublethenumberofimportedfilmsto20.'P