Founding Of A Republic

China’s gross box office reached a six-year high in 2009, up 43% on 2008, thanks to a boom in the multiplex construction and a fast-growing trend to build shopping malls alongside cinemas.

A trip to the cinema before or after shopping has become the leisure activity of choice for the country’s burgeoning middle class.

A trop of films passed the RMB400 mark - around $60m - for the first time: Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. However, one underperformer was China Film Group’s (CFG) 700-print release of Australia, which grossed $2.4m (RMB16.4m), around 50% less than CFG hoped.

China: Top 5 Films 
Title (origin)DistributorGross
2012 (US)Huaxia Film Distribution/China Film Group$67.5m
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (US)Huaxia Film Distribution/China Film Group$63m
Founding Of A Republic (Chi)China Film Group$61.5m
A Woman, A Gun And  A Noodle Shop (Chi)China Film Group$34m*
The Message (Chi)Huayi Bros Pictures$32.8m

*Still on release as of Dec 31, 2009. Source: Screen

China: Local Films 2009
Title (origin)DistributorGross
Founding Of A Republic (Chi)China Film Group$61.5m
Red Cliff Part II (Chi)China Film Group$37.9m
A Woman, A Gun And  A Noodle Shop (Chi)Huayi Bros Pictures$34m*
The Message (Chi)Huayi Bros Pictures$32.8m
Bodyguards And Assassins (Chi)Polybona Film Distribution, China Film Group$30.4m*

*Still on release as of Dec 31, 2009. Source: Screen

China: Top 10 Foreign Releases 2009
Title (origin)DistributorGross
Transporter 3 (Fr)China Film Group$9.1m
Slumdog Millionaire (UK)China Film Group$7.9m
Astro Boy (US-Jap-HK)Huayi Bros Pictures$7m
Two Worlds (Fr)Huaxia Film Distribution$3.8m
Rogue (Aus-US)China Film Group$3.3m
Les Femmes De L’Ombre (Fr)Shanghai Huayu Films, China Film Group$3.2m
Cape No.7 (Tai)China Film Group$3.2m
Black Book (Neth-Ger-Bel)Huayu Films, China Films Group$2.7m
Scandal Makers (Kor)China Film Group$2.1m
The Rock Climber (Rus)Polybona, Huaxia Film Distributions$2m

Source: Screen

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