BEIJING, Dec. 19 -- Zhang Yimou's 360 million yuan (US$45 million) film "Curse of the Golden Flower" proved a hit on its opening weekend, making nine million yuan in Shanghai's cinemas alone.
Its total box office on the Chinese mainland during the past weekend is expected to near 100 million yuan, industry officials estimated.
In contrast, Jia Zhangke's "Still Life," the winner of the Golden Lion prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, had a bleak beginning in ticket sales, according to Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city's largest chain. It also officially opened last Thursday, December 14.
The "Curse" is proving a real curse for other movies. Over the weekend, local ticket sales for other movies, such as "Battle of Wits" and "The Knot," were estimated to be less than 500,000 yuan.
"Local ticket sales for 'Curse' may even roar to 25 million yuan amid the festive season of Christmas and New Year, surpassing Chen Kaige's 'The Promise,' shown at the same period last year," said Wu Hehu, the cinema chain's deputy general manager.
The opening weekend take for "The Promise" was 8.82 million yuan in the city, which finally made 210 million yuan in ticket sales on the Chinese mainland. Paradise Warner Cinema City has sold one million yuan worth of tickets to "Curse," but only 10,000 yuan to "Still."
"Our theaters were nearly 90 percent full for 'Curse' over the weekend," said Li Lan, manager of the cinema. "Now the movie has more than 20 screenings every day. We have received plenty of calls inquiring about screening times."
Chen Xiaohong, manager of Studio City Cinema, said opening-weekend ticket revenues for "Curse" had surpassed 900,000 yuan at her cinema, better than that of "The Promise" and Feng Xiaogang's "The Banquet" (nearly 600,000 yuan).
"But 'Still Life' attracted just a handful of audience members, taking only several thousand yuan in ticket sales," she added.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
