Domestic movie a box-office sizzler
- By Zhang Fengming
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, January 15, 2013
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The poster of "Lost in Thailand" |
Chinese comedy "Lost in Thailand" well illustrates the concept of "Small is beautiful." The low-budget hit has raked in a Chinese mainland box office of 1.2 billion yuan, only second to Avatar's 1.38 billion yuan in history.
The big news in China's entertainment industry is a low-budget Chinese comedy from a rookie director that set a box office record of 1.2 billion yuan (US$159 million), beating all Hollywood blockbusters so far, save "Avatar."
The domestic hit "Lost in Thailand" was released on December 12 and raked in 100 million yuan in the first three days. On January 1, it became the first Chinese-made movie to surpass 1 billion yuan in ticket sales.
Its plot is simple and somewhat Hollywood-esque. Two Chinese businessmen battle one another to secure the authorization signature of their partner in Thailand for a newly developed fuel-oil additive. En route to find the partner, they meet a slow-witted pancake chef, and that's where the fun begins.
The film was made on a budget of 30 million yuan, and movie fans simply love it.
Fans like Brenda Sun, 31, a marketing manager in Shanghai. "It's fun and laid-back," she said. "I wanted to see something to cheer me up, and the movie did.
"I got a 50 yuan Wagas chicken sandwich after paying for a 16.50 yuan Big Mac," she added, referring to the food at a Western cafe chain. "For the price, I got two hours of laughter and left in a good mood. It was certainly worth it."
Gross receipts from the film show no sign of abating. "Lost in Thailand" is now on track to challenge "Avatar," which was the most successful box office ever in China at 1.38 billion yuan.
Ten-fold return
Beijing Enlight Media, the studio that produced the comedy, is laughing all the way to the bank. The company, which has claim to 43 percent of box office sales, is expected to reap a 10-fold return on investment.
The cinema triumph has also excited the stock market. Enlight Media's shares have soared more than 50 percent since the film was released. The stock trades on ChiNext, the Nasdaq-style board in Shenzhen for Chinese start-ups. It was listed in August 2011 - the third TV, movie and media company to go public on the board.
Xu Zheng, the film's director and also one of its three leading actors, is amazed by the success of "Lost in Thailand."
"It's like a runaway horse with no reins," he said during a TV interview. "It's far more than a movie. It's a cultural phenomenon."
Enlight Media Chairman Wang Changtian has emerged from the wings and into the limelight since the success of the film. He started his career as a TV journalist in Beijing.
"The buzz is even greater than that when we went public," he said of his company. "At that time, we were known only within the media industry and capital markets. That's all changed now." Wang set up Enlight Media in 1998 as mainly a television production company. He moved into cinema in 2006. The firm has invested in 40-plus films since then, according to earlier media reports, but most of them were mediocre at the box office.
Indeed, Chinese forays into cinema production have a checkered history.
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