The total box office revenue of Chinese films will hopefully exceed 2 billion yuan (about US$250 million) this year, a Chinese film investor has forecast.

The Chinese film market is gaining momentum after recording a total box office revenue of 1.5 billion yuan last year, said Wang Tianyun, CEO of the Shanghai Film Group, on Friday at a forum, held on the sideline of the 14th Golden Rooster and Full Blossom Film Festival in China's southernmost coastal city Sanya.

An array of Hollywood blockbusters, including Star Wars Episode III, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Legend of Zorro, have got favorable box office results in China, but two home-made hits, The Promise and Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, will challenge their American counterparts at the yearend, Wang said.

"The development momentum of the Chinese film industry is very good at present," he said. "The box office this year is likely to exceed 2 billion yuan, and that for the next year is expected to go beyond 3 billion yuan."

China's annual box office revenue hit 1.5 billion yuan (about US$183 million) in 2004, up 60 percent over the previous year. Out of the 1.5-billion-yuan box office, 55 percent was generated by the home-made films, an indication of the rejuvenation of the country's film industry, experts say.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2005)