Huayi stocks slump as 'Personal Tailor' debuts

By Zhang Rui: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, December 19, 2013

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The sweeping bad reviews for Huayi Brothers Media Corp's new blockbuster "Personal Tailor" may have caused the huge slump of the film company's stocks yesterday.

A poster of the film "Personal Tailor." [File Photo]

The film was directed by Feng Xiaogang, who was a pioneer in the so-called New Year holiday season in the Chinese film market, with "The Dream Factory" in 1997.

"Personal Tailor" also recruited a top writer, Wang Shuo, to write the script and invited popular comedians and actors including Ge You, Fan Wei, Song Dandan and Jackie Chan to be part of the cast. It is the first time in three years that Feng has come back to his strength of urban comedy after experimenting with other genres like war, romance and earthquake epic films.

With the high anticipation and huge promotion in China during December, the film industry, cinemas, security companies, stock market brokers and analysts all expected the film to make 1.1 billion yuan (US$181 million) to 1.3 billion yuan (US$214 million) at the box office and become the highest grossing Chinese film in 2013, if not of all time.

However, Tuesday's premieres destroyed this confidence. The slow pace, unreasonable plots and lack of anything to laugh at have drawn furious criticism and disappointment from movie-goers and caused panic among investors.

At the opening of stock market yesterday, Huayi's stock was down 3.65 percent, after a period of continued increases. In the afternoon, the value of the stock dropped by the 10 percent daily limit, losing a stunning 4 billion yuan (US$658.8 million).

Hu Min, secretary of Huayi's board of directors, responded to media suspicions that the huge slump was due to the capital market's butterfly effect following capital tension, as well as the high interest rates which made the market fragile by the end of the year. Nevertheless, she said she wasn't worried about the film's box office results or influence.

"Everyone has put too much attention on 'Personal Tailor' and they are too sensitive," Hu told the press.

"Personal Tailor" hit Chinese screens on Dec. 19, 2013. According to statistics, the film accounted for 50.39 percent of cinema viewings on its opening day and will account for an estimated 55.28 percent on the following day. It is due to set several domestic records. The film already made 80 million yuan in advertising revenue even before its debut.

"This is unprecedented," Hu said, pointing out that even Stephen Chow's "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," which was promoted by Huayi and has grossed US$200 million in China and become the second highest grossing Chinese film ever earlier this year, only accounted for 33 percent of cinema viewings.

It is not still clear if the widespread criticisms will start to affect “Personal Tailor's” money-making potential after its blockbuster opening.