'Titanic 3D' China box office hit
- Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 16, 2012
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Poster of "Titanic 3D" |
James Cameron's 3D re-release of the 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" sweeps Chinese box office.
"Titanic 3D" is once again a runaway hit in China, earning US$58 million from 3,500 theaters over the weekend. "Titanic 3D" marks the best opening gross of all time in China, and is helping the ship sail across the US$2 billion threshold worldwide, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" held the previous record, opening to US$55 million last year in China.
Chinese industry insiders also confirmed to China.org.cn that "Titanic 3D" grossed more than 468 million yuan (US$74.26 million) in its first six days. Thanks to a national nostalgic vibe and extended film market, the haul has already surpassed the total gross of the original "Titanic," which raked in 360 million yuan (US$55 million, not adjusted for inflation) and held the record for over a decade.
The 3D conversion of "Titanic" cost US$18 million, and was personally supervised by Cameron.
But thanks to the China opening, "Titanic 3D" easily won the weekend race at the foreign box office, grossing $88.2 million from 69 markets for an international total of $146.4 million. The movie beat Universal's "Battleship," which earned a projected US$58 million as it rolled out in its first 26 markets. "Battleship" doesn't open in China until Wednesday.
The re-release of "Titanic" may have been a slow starter last weekend, but it has since taken off, with a 12-day worldwide cumulative total of nearly US$191 million through Sunday, and pushing the movie's global lifetime gross past the $2 billion mark.
IMAX showings contributed US$5.8 million of Titanic's global weekend gross, including north of US$3 million in China alone. IMAX's 12-day total is US$13.6 million, well ahead of expectations.
But in North America, "Titanic 3D" came in No. 4 for the weekend, falling 22 percent to an estimated US$11.6 million for a total of US$44.5 million.
"Titanic 3D's" global revenue of US$190.9 million eclipses the US$178.2 million earned worldwide by Disney's 3D re-release of "The Lion King" last year. "Lion King 3D" was a box office hit, grossing US$94.2 million domestically and US$84 million worldwide for a total US$178.2 million.
As it was previously reported by 20th Century Fox International, "Titanic 3D" raked in an estimated $11.6 million from 2,400 3D screens and 66 IMAX 3D screens in China on Tuesday, whereas China Film News gave an estimate of 66 million yuan (US$10.46 million).
It's a huge box office result for China, but due to the film's 3-hour length, it failed to break the opening day record set by "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," yet comes in at a respectable second. That also made it Fox's best opening day ever in China.
Cameron will come to China to further promote the film at this year's Beijing International Film Festival, scheduled to run from April 23 to 28.
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