Noting the success of Studio City in Westgate Mall, theater operators are scurrying to open multi-screen cinemas in malls, which are becoming one-stop shopping, dining and entertainment destinations.

Multi-screen cinemas in shopping malls are quickly becoming a fixture in Shanghai, and now the Pudong area is getting one, too.

A new cinemaplex will open at the Super Brand Shopping Mall in Lujiazui by the end of the year - good news for Pudong's film fans. Invested by Thailand's Chia Tai Group, the Super Brand Shopping Mall is yet to announce the partner for its theater project, only revealing that it could be a Beijing-based media venture.

"There are hardly any mall cinemas in Pudong at present," says Ma Dezhong, vice director of the Shanghai Administrative Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television & Film. "The new theater will be a great boon to movie fans in Pudong."

Chai Tai is not alone in focusing their efforts on Pudong. Domestic real estate developer Shi Mao Group said earlier that it will construct a movie theater with 14 screens, also in Pudong's Lujiazui area. The theater, which occupies an area of 6,500 square meters, will open in 2004.

For local film fans, the combination of theater and shopping complex isn't new. The success of Studio City in the Westgate Mall on Nanjing Road W. has convinced theater operators that malls are ideal locations for cinemas.

The 3-year-old Sino-British theater operator was started with an investment of 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million). Last year, it brought in 24 million yuan in ticket sales alone, ranking No. 1 nationwide.

"A cinema's location and environment have had a significant impact on box-office revenues," says Ma. "Paradise Cinema City is an excellent example. The new theater within the Grand Gateway Plaza in Xujiahui shopping area raked in 1.43 million yuan in just 17 days after its opening."

Bustling Xujiahui also boasts Kodak Cinema World, located in Metro City. With four screens, the theater quickly scaled the box-office ladder to third position in the city after its March opening last year.

"Those figures are actually low, as they reflect only nine months of receipts," notes Xu Youlin, Kodak's operating manager. "The potential film market in Shanghai is huge, we're not threatened by the opening of another mall-cinema."

Xu says that Kodak deliberately selected Metro City, with its game parlors, beauty salons and gyms to attract the youth market. That strategy, say consumers, is working.

"I prefer mall cinemas. Studio City is my first choice," says Opal Liu, a 30-something white-collar worker. "I like a place where I can do some shopping before the movie starts, and have somewhere to go afterwards - maybe a restaurant where we can discuss the film over dinner."

For hard-core movie buffs, of course, the setting is not nearly as important as the quality of the film itself. "I'd like to see more interesting films," says a college student, who identified himself with an English name, Thomas Wu.

For many moviegoers, that means more imported films - which theater operators would like to see, as well.

Big-name imported films bring in the highest box office receipts, and a month without a blockbuster is a low month, indeed: "Box-office receipts were quite poor last month, but we expect that to change with the arrival of 'The Lord of the Rings' this month," says Kodak's Xu.

Xu also feels that the present film distribution system should be changed. The current system requires theaters to screen the same movie during the same period, making it difficult for theaters to distinguish themselves.

"It is our hope that more film distribution channels can be developed so that every theater is able to establish its own style," Xu adds.

Although the number of foreign films that may be imported into China annually has almost doubled - to 20 - since China's entry into the World Trade Organization, this figure is still far below market demand. Blockbusters like "Pearl Harbor" pull in as much as 15 million yuan, but make up less than a third of total films screened in China.

Domestic movies will continue to dominate the country's screens in the foreseeable future.

Paradise Cinema City spokesman Xu Xiaomeng is sanguine. "While there is a shortage of films here, we are certain that the situation will change for the better."

In addition to the improving distribution system, adopting latest movie technology is another urgent task for Chinese filmmakers, according to Xu.

The Paradise Cinema City is the first in the Chinese mainland that has the digital film equipment worth in excess of 2-million-yuan.

"However, we are still waiting for the country's first digital-shot film," Xu adds. The date won't be far, he continues, as "Rescue," China's first digital-shot movie, is expected to hit local screen late this year.

( eastday.com April 15, 2002)