China box office stumbles, but Stephen Chow is still laughing
BEIJING: This was the year the box office in China stumbled, but Hong Kong director Stephen Chow still laughed all the way to the bank.
His top-ranking movie The Mermaid grossed 3.39 billion yuan (RM2.2 billion), and was even screened in North America.
Chow did nothing spectacular. All he did was to add special effects to his trademark humour, honed through the production of classics like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.
His follow-up to his hit 2013 adaptation of Journey to the West is slated for a release on Jan 28, and it could well set a new box office record.
After five years of unprecedented growth, China’s box office stumbled due to issues from a maturing market to crackdowns on box office fraud. Regardless, mainland China remains a major power that some analysts predict will pass the United States as early as next year as the world’s biggest movie market.
This year, Hollywood movies made a huge splash in China, with Zootopia ranking second on the net income list.
It hauled in 1.53 billion (RM996 million).
Released on the same day in China as the US, Zootopia grossed 500 million yuan more than this year’s Kung Fu Panda 3 to become the seventh highest grossing film of all-time in China and Disney’s biggest success so far.
In third place this year was Warcraft with 1.47 billion (RM957 million).
No country is more responsible for the inevitable film franchise adaptation of the hit computer game. While North America was less than charmed, Warcraft struck a major chord in China thanks to a massive marketing push from its Chinese producers Wanda. Despite horrific reviews, the film managed to edge out higher budgeted fare like Captain America: Civil War to be China’s most popular action film of the year.
Fourth in the total revenue list was Captain America: Civil War with 1.246 billion yuan (RM811 million).
With over US$1 billion earned worldwide, Captain America was 2016’s biggest film and the second most successful Marvel movie in China (behind last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron). Widely praised for its cinematic portrayal of the erosion of the Avengers, Captain America received a same-day China release and reflects Disney’s patient integration within the mainland film world. However, there’s still room for improvement. Captain American earned half a million yuan less in China than the latest editions in the American franchises Fast and Furious and Transformers.
Fifth was The Monkey King 2 with 1.201 billion (RM781 million).
Despite the absence of the first film’s star Donnie Yen, this glitzy 3D fantasy adaptation of Wu Cheng’en’s classic novel, Journey to the West was one of the big hits in a record-breaking Chinese New Year for film. Aaron Kwok stepped into the titular role while award-winning actress Gong Li co-starred as a bloodthirsty demon. The Monkey King 3 is already scheduled for a Spring Festival 2018 opening.
Three out of the top five movies in China this year were Hollywood productions. That speaks volumes of what Chinese producers need to do to ensure that box office revenues are mostly channelled to hone homegrown talent.
That’s essential, because without the likes of Stephen Chow, this year would have been a total disaster.