'Aftershock' shakes the Chinese box office, setting new record

“Aftershock,” the long-awaited film by one of China’s more successful directors, Feng Xiaogang, grossed over RMB 100 million within three days of its release on July 22, according to the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT). That means it has beaten the record previously held by "The Founding of a Republic," which took three and a half days to earn RMB 100 million and went on to earn more than RMB 420 million in box office revenue in China.

"Aftershock" also set a new box office record when it earned RMB 36.2 million on its first day, the most ever made by a locally made movie on opening day. “Aftershock,” with a budget of more than US$20 million, quite high by Chinese standards, is also the first Chinese-directed movie to be screened in IMAX theaters. 

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that, “The movie's box office is close to what [Feng] had expected and that there is ‘no big problem’ for it grossing between 350 and 400 million yuan over the next two weeks.”

There is talk that the film could be the first to ever reach the RMB 500 million threshold. In the same interview Feng said, “It would depend on whether the movie can attract another three to four million viewers 20 days after its release.” Considering the film is playing on an unprecedented 4,000-plus screens in China, it might have a shot.

Also in Feng's favor, a survey on Sina.com, one of China's largest online portals, reports that almost 50 percent of the 20,015 people surveyed said the movie was "very good and surpassed expectations."

“Aftershock” is about a family torn apart by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed more than 250,000 people, and then the same, now broken family, reuniting in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that left more than 85,000 dead or missing.

Of the film’s sensitive topic, Feng simply says in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, “I hope audiences will be moved."

Hollywood looks east

Feng is known for delivering commercially successful Chinese films, most recently “If You Are the One,” which earned approximately RMB 350 million. "Aftershock" also confirms Hollywood’s interest in China, the world’s fastest-growing movie market, whose box office jumped 86 percent to RMB 4.84 billion in the first half of 2010 compared to 2009, according to Xinhua. 

The film is the first to come out of a partnership between IMAX Corp. from the United States and the film's Chinese producer, Huayi Brothers, and is IMAX's first commercial movie produced outside of their home territory according to The Wall Street Journal. It is playing on more than a dozen IMAX screens across China and Hong Kong. The deal between IMAX Corp. and the Huayi Brothers’s extends to two more Chinese language films, yet to be announced. 

As the first Chinese film to be seen on IMAX screens, "Aftershock" represents IMAX’s physical as well as financial expansion into China. With the film's success, IMAX Corp. expects to have 57 screens in operation by 2012.

Feng said to Xinhua, “Having IMAX’s support is a ‘strong and powerful’ advancement for the country’s movie industry,” which is still in its early stages with a handful of directors like Feng receiving international recognition.

“Aftershock” is already released in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and will continue to roll out in other parts of Asia and the United Kingdom over the next few months. No release date has been set for the film’s debut in the United States.