Jonathan Papish |

Lunar New Year Box Office: The Biggest Week Ever

Feb 22, 2017 / Infographics /

Moviegoing in China during the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday has become essential recreation for many Chinese families in recent years. The past two years in particular have each established new box office records for the highest grossing seven-day period in any single territory. The largest daily totals occur on the first day of the Read More

Box Office Revenue In China: How It Works

Feb 15, 2017 / Infographics /

The average cost of a movie ticket in China currently approximates RMB 35 ($5.10), from which RMB 3.3 ($0.48) is paid as a Value Added Tax (VAT)* RMB 5 ($0.73) is apportioned to the National Special Funds for the Development of Film. From the remaining RMB 26.7 ($3.89) RMB 11.48 ($1.67), or 43% gets divided Read More

V-Day Box Office: La La, xXx Win ♥♥♥, Earn $$$

Feb 14, 2017 / Box Office /

xXx and La La Land benefit from a Valentine’s Day box office boom. Chinese moviegoers got in the holiday spirit, pre-booking seats for a Valentine’s Day screening of La La Land in Beijing. (Courtesy Weibo) Date-night at Chinese cineplexes propelled the box office on Valentine’s Day to an estimated RMB 384 million ($55.9 million) in ticket Read More

Asian Brilliant Stars Awards Chinese Films in First-Ever Edition

Feb 13, 2017 / News /

Aimed at showcasing behind-the-scenes Asian talent and fostering Asian-European film cooperation, this first edition of the Asian Brilliant Stars awards were decidedly Sinocentric, owing both to the dominant position of China's film industry in the region and the Chinese government's continual "soft power" efforts to export its film products whilst touting cultural exchange. Read More

xXx Marks The Spot

Feb 10, 2017 / Box Office /

A local marketing blitz by Paramount partner/investor Huahua Media, and an international cast featuring popular personalities Kris Wu, Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, and Vin Diesel propelled xXx: The Return of Xander Cage to an impressive opening on Friday with estimated RMB 129.4 million ($20.3M), excluding service fees from third-party ticketing apps. With a debut nearly Read More

China’s All-time Highest Grossing Imports

Feb 8, 2017 / Infographics /

This chart highlights the highest-grossing imported film per year from The Fugitive in 1994 to Zootopia in 2016, showing not only the scale of China’s growth as a market, but something of the tastes of Chinese moviegoers. Read More

China’s Lunar New Year Moviegoing Record — How’s That Foam Taste?

Feb 7, 2017 / Box Office /

The week-long Chinese New Year moviegoing period ended with a record RMB 3.38 billion (US$492.4 million) in ticket sales this year according to official data — a 9.5 percent increase over last year’s record haul — but a close inspection of the numbers reveals the growth to be something short of robust. Read More

China Box Office: A Record Set, A Scandal Brews, and Accounting Rules Change

Jan 31, 2017 / Box Office /

After three chaotic days of five wide-release Chinese New Year (CNY) films jockeying for the hearts and wallets of Chinese moviegoers, a clearer picture of the holiday’s box office winners and losers has begun to emerge. Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back (西游伏妖篇) Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back (西游伏妖篇), a Read More

‘Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back’ Sets Records

Jan 29, 2017 / Box Office /

The sequel sets a new single-day mark and looks like it’s going higher. Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back exploded at the Chinese box office on Saturday, the first day of the week-long Lunar New Year Holiday, it scored a single-day record for local language films with RMB 345 million (US$50.2 million) in Read More

On Screen China: Part Two of CFI’s Chinese New Year Preview

Jan 28, 2017 / Box Office /

This Saturday, the first day of the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year (CNY), tens of millions of Chinese citizens will flock to cinemas nationwide in the start of the busiest moviegoing period on the planet. Last year, RMB 3.56 billion (US$548 million) in tickets were sold over the seven-day CNY period, the highest-grossing week in any Read More

Jonathan Papish