Beijing Max Screen, a film distribution company in China, probably must have gotten jealous of the box office success of Stephen Chow’s "The Mermaid," which broke records with 3 billion yuan receipts that it padded its box office data.
The company claimed it earned 500 million yuan ($77.3 million) for four days showing of "IP Man 3." But movie industry observers and film fans questioned the figures which led Beijing Max to admit its fraud.
The film distributor admitted to buying 56 million yuan worth of tickets and faking the holding of over 7,600 screenings which was supposed to have earned the company 32 million yuan box office, reported China Daily. The Film Bureau, an agency under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, suspended on Friday Beijing Max Screen for one month.
The movie watchdog also gave three electronic ticket-selling groups that were in cahoots with the film distributor formal warning, while Beijing Max was ordered to correct its malpractices. The erring company, in a statement, said it studied and fully accepted its punishment, learned from the experience and promised to follow rules.
The bureau give 73 movie houses and identified and shamed the cinemas on the website of the China Association of Film Distributors and Cinemas. Ways of cheating include cinemas selling hand-written tickets, while claiming to hold screenings that are beyond its audience capacity.
“These kinds of issues could be considered inevitable in a young industry, but box office fraud has become so serious that it is already harming Chinese cinema,” said Zhang Hongsen, head of the film bureau.
“IP Man 3” is the third installment of the blockbuster martial arts franchise. It stars Donnie Yen and boxing icon Mike Tyson. Directed by Wilson Yip, it was shown in the U.S. nationwide on Jan. 22, 2016.