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Total sales of tickets in China were 14.5 billion yuan (1.57
billion pounds) in the first three months of the year, boosted
by a 6.9 billion yuan haul in February as millions flocked to
cinemas over the Lunar New Year holiday, said China National
Radio.
Despite government censorship and a limit of 34 foreign films a
year, Hollywood has become increasingly reliant on China's
rapidly growing box office as U.S. market growth has stalled. In
February, Chinese sales topped the U.S. for the first time,
according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Eager to cash in on the boom, and create a rival to Hollywood
that could promote Chinese values, domestic companies like
e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are working with U.S.
studios in an effort to produce local blockbusters.
But a ticketing fraud has called into question the validity of
sales data. More than 100 Chinese investors descended on the
offices of one financier of martial arts movie Ip man 3 on
Thursday, demanding their money back after the film's
distributor admitted to buying 56 million yuan in tickets to
bump up sales.
Among the bright spots for China's film industry was local hit
"The Mermaid", an oddball romantic comedy which broke box office
records by bringing in around 3.4 billion yuan.
Chinese films accounted for almost three-quarters of the
country's box office in the first quarter, China National Radio
reported.
(Reporting by Judy Hua and Paul Carsten; Editing by Richard
Pullin)
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