China's Spring-Festival holiday turned out to be a steroid injection for the domestic box office, which smashed the world's seven-day revenue record for a single territory. Ticket sales exceeded half a billion U.S. dollars in the week to Valentine's Day.
China box office breaks world record? |
China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television reports China's box office totaled three-billion yuan in the first six days of the week-long Spring Festival holiday. Then Valentine's Day added another 580 million.
In dollar terms, this took China's seven-day total beyond the prior record set in North America over Christmas with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".
The big moneyspinners this time were Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's latest comedy "Mermaid"; "From Vegas to Macau III", with Hong Kong actors Chow Yun-fat and Andy Lau; and "The Monkey King 2", starring Aaron Kwok and Gong Li.
Meanwhile, tourism revenue during the holiday jumped more than 16% compared with last year, according to the National Tourism Administration. Domestic airlines also report that overseas travel increased, the most popular destinations being Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia.