[*]China box office saw new height in 2009, delivering three 400m yuan grossers, and 2010 looks to start out with a bang due to the release of Avatar. I'll have the full details on 2009 performances some time later, but figure I'll start a separate thread given its rapid growth and the additional resources I have now to post more detailed information. I'd not be surprised to see a couple of movies making 500m yuan this year.

First on Avatar, even with the big snowstorm over the weekend, Beijing is looking very good the first day. 41 theaters, 39 of which had midnight shows, are giving it 1,551 total showings for the opening day (over 60% of the total # of showings); that's almost 38 showings per theater, amazing. And the midnight showings were averaging over 80% full, 3am showings averaging 60% full, with both IMAX theaters selling out their shows for the entire week.

I read from a Hong Kong newspaper that the cinemas in China are giving most of the nighttime showings to Avatar while local films are getting only daytime showings.

Also, Avatar is the only foreign release (or at least the only Hollywood release) playing in China at the moment.

Here is the showing breakdown in Beijing today:

Avatar - 41 theaters, 1551 showings
Bodyguards and Assassins - 41, 378
A Simple Noodle Story - 38, 293
The Treasure Hunter - 16, 58
The Storm Riders 2 - 15, 40
Poker King - 10, 22
Midnight Taxi - 6, 11

Yay, another international thread! :-D

xiayun, are you able to post a yearly Top 5/10 for 2009 or any previous years this decade?

I'll try to locate them.

I second that request.

P.S. I will post Hong Kong's top 10 in 2009.

I am surprised to see Hong Kong film Bodyguards and Assassins has more showings than Zhang Yi Mou's Noodle Story in Beijing.

I'm curious to know how Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf performed. I read a sequel was going to be released really soon as well, so I'd assume it did well (or maybe they were made at the same time or something).

It's not surprising when you consider B&A was released a week after Noodle Story and is performing better overall.

It grossed 76m yuan, or $11.1m, which was definitely a positive surprise.

Heard the first concrete report on Avatar's midnight performance: in Guangdong (Canton) province, it surpassed both Transformers 2 and 2012 to break the record, in terms of both the gross and the admissions.

That's huge! Guangdong is the richest province, isn't it?

So we can expect the film to do at least as well in relation to recent blockbusters in China as it has done in other territories.

How are the prices for 3D tickets in China, and how's the availability of digital 3D screens? That could push Avatar well beyond Transformers 2 and 2012 if it's already set to perform on a higher level admissions wise...

But still, in Beijing, Zhang Yi Mou is BIG, much bigger than the Hong Kong actors in Assassins.

From what I read from a Hong Kong blogger, ticket price for the 3D version is 25% higher than that for the 2D version (80 Yuan vs. 60 Yuan).

2009 China TOP10:
movie--------------------------total gross-----release
1 2012------------------------------$6750-----11.13(now playing)
2 Transformers 2-----------------$6661-----06.24
3 The Founding Of A Republic--$6149-----09.16
4 Red Cliff 2-----------------------$3807-----01.07
5 Bodyguards And Assassins--$3805-----12.17(estimate,now playing)
6 A Simple Noodle Story--------$3689-----12.10(estimate,now playing)
7 The Message-------------------$3192-----09.29
8 Nanking Nanking---------------$2533-----04.22
9 HarryPotter 6-------------------$2284-----07.15
10 Ice Age 3-----------------------$2240-----07.08

may inaccurate
the price in citys like beijing and shanghai for 2D version is 70yuan RMB(about $10.25),3D version is 100yuan, IMAX is 130yuan(about $19) tonight……

7 The massage-------------------$3192-----09.29
————————————————————————————
sorry The Message, not The Massage……

Are the total grosses in US Dollar (ten thousands)?

Yes，the unit in China is Wan(in pinyin),means ten thousands. And ￥6.83 =$1 now.

any early predicts about avatar's potential. you did predict 50m for 2012 just after its release and that proved quite conservative.

I'm waiting for the first number on the opening day performance. If it breaks 30m yuan ($4.4m), then I could see $100m total.

thanks. cant wait for your updates.

All the reports from the big cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu) are indicating a humongous opening day. People were lining up 7am in the morning and could only buy a 10pm ticket due to all the sellouts. I'd not be surprised by a 40m yuan (~$6m) day.

WOW. You are definitely hyping it. Does that compare to reports for TF2 and 2012.