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'Transformers 2' becomes biggest-ever China hit

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[July 17, 2009]  HONG KONG (AP) -- The "Transformers" sequel has become China's biggest box office hit ever by earning 400 million Chinese yuan ($59 million), a publicist for the country's only film importer said Tuesday.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" surpassed the 11-year-old record of 360 million yuan set by "Titanic," spokesman Weng Li at the state-run China Film Group told The Associated Press. "Titanic" made about $43 million based on exchange rates in 1998, the year it was released.

Weng said the "Transformers" sequel, released June 24, received a wide release on several thousand screens. China had about 4,100 screens by the end of 2008. The first "Transformers" installment raked in 280 million yuan in 2007.

"This is a tremendous achievement for the market in China and clearly shows that there is a strong growing demand for international films," said Mike Ellis, Asia-Pacific managing director of the Hollywood trade organization, Motion Picture Association of America.

The group wants China to relax its movie import quota of allowing in just 20 foreign blockbusters a year, aimed at boosting its domestic industry.

Weng said both installments of John Woo's two-part Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff" earned 300 million yuan ($44 million) this year and last, as did Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's 2008 romantic comedy "If You Are the One."

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," a science fiction movie, was apparently slightly censored. In the film's opening sequence, the Autobots and Decepticons battle in an industrial part of Shanghai, but when a U.S. military commander refers to the city, the word "Shanghai" is muffled.

Chinese censors are sensitive to portrayals of their country in foreign movies.

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The "Transformers" record also highlights the earning potential of Hollywood films in China. But with piracy a lingering problem and moviegoing largely the habit of wealthier urbanites, the growing Chinese box office revenues remain small compared to the U.S.

The "Transformers" sequel earned $62 million on its opening day in the U.S. alone. The $200 million production has grossed $348 million in the U.S. and $380 million outside the country, according to the box office tracking Web site Box Office Mojo.

Chinese box office revenues totaled 4.3 billion yuan ($630 million) in 2008, compared to $9.8 billion in the U.S. in the same year.

[Associated Press; By MIN LEE]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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