As homegrown films continue to soar, the Chinese film market gains increasing interest from foreign film studios and outfits. (Photo : www.chinesefilms.cn)
"Monster Hunt" is now the second highest grossing film in China after gaining a big box-office boost from smaller cities, and is now poised to be the highest grossing film of all time by beating the record held by "Furious 7."
The fantasy epic earned more than $330 million in China, the second biggest film market in the world, after another successful week where it earned $39.43 million. In comparison, the record set by "Furious 7" earlier this year is $391 million.
After 25 days in the box office, the run of "Monster Hunt" has been extended until Sept. 15. Box-office analysts are saying that, with this extension, the film is almost sure to beat the record of "Furious 7."
According to data research group Entgroup, audiences in first-tier cities, such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, accounted for only 19.1 percent of the total audience of "Monster Hunt." This is a relatively small portion, considering that other blockbusters usually have more audiences coming from these larger cities, like "Transformers: Age of Extinction" with 24 percent of its audience coming from larger cities.
"Monster Hunt" has been more popular in second and third-tier cities, including regional capitals, with much of the movie's share of the market coming from the youth of these smaller cities. The recent marketing efforts for the film have also been aimed at these smaller cities.
According to Li Linhang, CEO of Shengmeng Longyuan, the marketing company of "Monster Hunt," "Hollywood blockbusters can't be marketed well here because the people don't know the Hollywood stars, and they won't bother to listen to English and watch the subtitles."
Li added that "artistic films also have very small market here because the townpeople want to see the colorful world outside instead of suffering and difficulties."
For "Monster Hunt," marketing has been quite local, with press conferences being held in smaller cities like Chengdu and Wuhan. In some cases, like in Sichuan, the language of the film was even changed into the local dialect.
Part of the success of "Monster Hunt" has been due to the unofficial blackout period, where the government has kept the box office free of foreign films, giving Chinese films an advantage. Other films that have benefitted include "Pancake Man" and "Monkey King: Hero Is Back."
