Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Business
    Home / Business / Industries

    IMAX takes up bigger share of cinema visits

    By Liu Yukun | China Daily | Updated: 2019-02-21 08:32
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    A logo of IMAX. [Photo/IC]

    IMAX screenings hit a new high during Spring Festival despite a drop in total cinema visits, amid rising concerns that Chinese consumers' interest in movies is cooling as consumer spending weakens.

    The total box office for IMAX screenings of the sci-fi hit The Wandering Earth, which premiered during the peak moviegoing season during the Spring Festival holidays, had exceeded 300 million yuan ($45 million) by last Sunday, a record high for IMAX screenings in China, followed by Avengers: Infinity War.

    The total screen share of IMAX movies increased nearly 40 percent year-on-year during the holiday season, and contributed around 3.7 percent of total box office intake, according to data from professional box office tracker Maoyan.

    "The growing audience for IMAX screenings-which apparently charge much more than ordinary screenings-shows that Chinese people are still willing to pay for moviegoing, and pay even more for good content and better services," said Wang Yi, a senior analyst from Maoyan Research Institute.

    "Although many media reports said the drop in cinema visits was mainly due to rising ticket prices during a time when Chinese consumers are tightening their belts, the increase in visits to IMAX screenings suggests something else," Wang said, in response to recent reports revealing that total visits to the cinema fell 10.3 percent year-on-year to 130 million during the holiday.

    Xiao Yanyan, a senior manager for media at CITIC Securities, said: "What appeared to be different this year is that people might be more picky about content, as they are now enjoying more varied ways to celebrate this traditional family reunion time, such as browsing short videos on Douyin (one of China's most popular video-sharing platforms)."

    "That posed greater challenges and placed higher requirements on film productions," Xiao added.

    The comments follow recent heated discussions on social media platform Weibo that audiences were less willing to spend on film tickets as prices were increased in some places during Spring Festival. The situation is quite reasonable to Wang Xing, general manager for marketing at cinema chain UME's Chongqing branch, who said that as cinemas were packed with families during the holiday, prices surged to boost profits.

    "I couldn't believe watching a film with my family could cost up to almost 1,000 yuan," said 29-year-old Huang Xinyi, who visited her family in Hefei, Anhui province, during Spring Festival, and decided to offer them a treat by taking eight relatives to the cinema.

    Huang, who lives in Beijing, was apparently reluctant to pay almost one-eighth of her monthly salary in the cinema, and she was not the only one. Average ticket prices in second and third-tier cities have risen by almost 15 percent, while the rate for first-tier cities was about 9 percent.

    Neil Wang, president of Frost & Sullivan China, explained that the rise in ticket prices was in parallel with the tightening of the ticket subsidy policy.

    In the past, many moviegoers rushed to the cinema to get a ticket for just 9.9 yuan or 19.9 yuan, which was barely half of the full price. The price cuts were compensated by subsidies from film production companies and online distributors.

    "A decline in ticket subsidies on ticketing website such as Maoyan has led to increases to the prices online. Although the price is still affordable to the majority of people, a sudden price rise might push many people, who are not frequent moviegoers, to other entertainment options," said Neil Wang.

    But Wang Xing from Chongqing UME said the impact of the ticket price rise remains limited. "After all people value their happiness and family time more than money during times such as an important holiday. Cinemas will also cut their prices once they see a drop in visits," he said.

    He noted that piracy, instead of rising ticket prices, may well be the reason why there has been a decline in visits to the cinema.

    Views of pirated online versions of The Wandering Earth with an HD viewing experience were said to have reached 20 million during the six-day holiday screening. But this number is still conservative as peer-to-peer downloads were not included.

    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    CLOSE
     
    在线播放中文字幕 | 久久综合精品国产二区无码| 中文亚洲AV片不卡在线观看| 四虎成人精品无码| 最近中文字幕免费mv在线视频| 国产成人无码午夜福利软件| 无码孕妇孕交在线观看| 无码av中文一二三区| 日韩精品一区二区三区中文| 免费一区二区无码视频在线播放 | 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码麻豆| 亚洲国产中文字幕在线观看| 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃臀网站 | 免费无遮挡无码视频在线观看| 无码专区AAAAAA免费视频| 无码H黄肉动漫在线观看网站| 久久精品中文闷骚内射| 中文字幕无码不卡免费视频| 极品粉嫩嫩模大尺度无码视频| 久久亚洲AV成人无码国产| 无码人妻精品中文字幕免费| 免费无码av片在线观看| 再看日本中文字幕在线观看 | 日韩AV高清无码| 最近免费字幕中文大全| 日本在线中文字幕第一视频| a亚洲欧美中文日韩在线v日本| 无码中文字幕av免费放dvd| 中文字幕乱偷无码AV先锋| 中文字幕国产精品| 熟妇人妻VA精品中文字幕| 久久超乳爆乳中文字幕| 日韩中文字幕在线观看| 日本在线中文字幕第一视频| 国产欧美日韩中文字幕 | 成人午夜精品无码区久久| 亚洲精品无码国产| 日韩人妻无码一区二区三区久久| 亚洲中文字幕无码爆乳AV| 日韩一区二区三区无码影院| 成人毛片无码一区二区三区|