No, thankfully not another earthquake in China - just a movie about one. While Hollywood blockbusters have been dominating most of Asia recently (Leonardo DiCaprio's Inception in Japan and Angelina Jolie's Salt in India), a Chinese blockbuster is setting box office records in mainland China since its release this past Thursday.
Aftershocks (唐山大地震; Tángshān Dàdìzhèn) broke the record for opening day theater revenues by a Chinese film, earning about U.S. $5 million according to China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). The previous opening day record was by Red Cliff’s (赤壁). Aftershock may have even broken the record for all films (Chinese and foreign) since its producer, Huayi Brothers (華誼兄弟), said it earned $5.32 million (which would have beaten Avatar's opening day earlier this year) and went on to earn $23.5 million in its opening weekend.
Aftershocks revolves around the devastating Tangshan earthquake of 1976 which resulted in over 240,000 deaths. The film's director, Feng Xiaogang, is no stranger to bringing in big bucks (or big yuan more accurately). Feng's romantic comedy, If You Are The One, starring Ge You and Shu Qi, earned $46 million at the Chinese box office to top the market in 2008.
Aftershocks also holds the distinction of being the first non-English feature film converted to the IMAX format and China has rushed to open addition IMAX screens in anticipation.
Aftershocks is a prime illustration of the potential for continued growth of China's film industry which has been experiencing substantial recent growth. During the first 6 months of 2010, mainland China's gross box office revenue was $714 million and is expected to reach up to $1.5 billion by the end of the year. With a growing percentage of the Chinese population having discretionary income and wanting entertainment and a corresponding increase in the number of theaters in China (including mobile, digital projection facilities for rural areas), massive growth for the Chinese movie industry is likely to continue.
I haven't seen Aftershocks yet since it isn't available in any form in the U.S. so far, but I hope to see it in the near future and will try to post a review.
Aftershocks also holds the distinction of being the first non-English feature film converted to the IMAX format and China has rushed to open addition IMAX screens in anticipation.
Aftershocks is a prime illustration of the potential for continued growth of China's film industry which has been experiencing substantial recent growth. During the first 6 months of 2010, mainland China's gross box office revenue was $714 million and is expected to reach up to $1.5 billion by the end of the year. With a growing percentage of the Chinese population having discretionary income and wanting entertainment and a corresponding increase in the number of theaters in China (including mobile, digital projection facilities for rural areas), massive growth for the Chinese movie industry is likely to continue.
I haven't seen Aftershocks yet since it isn't available in any form in the U.S. so far, but I hope to see it in the near future and will try to post a review.
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