China wowed the global movie industry in 2015 when the Asian giant logged a 48 percent growth in box-office receipts. This led experts to project that the second-largest film market in the world would overtake the U.S. in a few years.
In the first six months of 2016, the box-office was even more impressive with a 50 percent hike and a new record established by Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid.” However, in the next five months, the trend suddenly plummeted unexpectedly, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
From July 1 through Dec. 15, 2016, growth slowed down to 10.5 percent and is projected to further slide down to 4.5 percent when the year ends. It would be barely 15 percent of the 30 percent growth estimated by media regulators of China.
The explanation behind the sudden slump in China’s box-office receipts include poorer quality of local movies, tighter rein on box-office fraud, substantial reduction in ticket subsidies given by online platforms attempting to build market share, more discerning Chinese viewers and the weakened local economy.
Among the measures taken by China to reverse the declining box office was to ease restrictions on importation of foreign movies during summer, considered the blockbuster season. Three foreign films were allowed to run during the months from July through August. These were “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” on July 2, “The Legend of Tarzan” on July 19 and “The Secret Life of Pets” on Aug. 2.
Meanwhile, Variety reported that “The Great Wall” by Zhang Yimou, starring Hollywood actor Matt Damon, earned $66 million on its opening weekend in China. On Friday, it earned $17.7 million, on Saturday, the box-office receipt grew to $24 million and returned to $17 million on Friday.