Top 10 movies screened in China in 2012
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 1, 2013
Titanic 3D
"Titanic 3D" is a phenomenon in China. The 3D re-release of James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" was a never-before-seen box office hit in the nation, eventually raking in 939 million yuan (US$150.7 million), more than all its global box office revenues put together.
China's outstanding performance helps the ship sail across the global US$2 billion threshold, thanks to a national nostalgic vibe and the extensive film market. "Titanic 3D's" haul has also surpassed total grossings of the original "Titanic," which raked in 360 million yuan (US$55 million, not adjusted for inflation) in China and held the record for over a decade.
The results made James Cameron fully aware of the potential China's 3D market has to offer. He soon travelled to China to attend the Beijing International Film Festival, talked to Chinese directors including Zhang Yimou, and even launched a 3D production company in Tianjin.
The high income of "Titanic 3D" also confirms the ideas of certain Chinese film officials to contain foreign films' performances, in order to create more room for the growth of China's domestic films (which they officially denied). As a result, the highly-anticipated "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Rises" were arranged to go onto China's silver screens on the same day later this year. Both movies eventually obtained average box office revenues -- by blockbuster standards.
The success of "Titanic 3D" has also led to the 3-D release of another hit movie, "2012." China Film Group Corporation asked six Hollywood giants if they could, or would, replicate this massive success. Columbia Pictures then proposed to 3D-ize "2012," which initially grossed a whopping 465 million yuan (US$ 74.61 million) across China in 2009, as this year happened to coincide with the doomsday legend. 460 engineers joined forced and worked together for months in order to re-create "2012" in 3D. However, both critics and moviegoers were skeptical that the re-release was just another way to bank in on the film's original success and clean out Chinese moviegoers. Columbia tried to convince audiences otherwise, but the "Titanic" miracle did not strike again. The box office tellers for "2012 3D" stopped at 135.9 million yuan (US$ 21.8 million).
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