‘Blockbuster’ Monster Hunt’s box-office takings more reel than real
Distributor reportedly spent 4 million yuan in conducting ‘charity screenings’ to boost collections as China’s movie industry is blamed for fudging sales figures
The distributor of a Chinese blockbuster, Monster Hunt, reportedly spent 4 million yuan (HK$4.6 million) in making up screenings to inflate box-office figures in another collections’ fraud as industry insiders say boosting ticket sales is a common practice in China’s movie industry.
The Beijing branch of the Hong Kong movie company Edko Films Ltd, the distributor of Monster Hunt, an animation comedy and a joint production by mainland and Hong Kong filmmakers last year, reportedly spent over 4 million yuan in conducting “charity screenings” to boost box-office figures, CCTV reported on Wednesday.
The movie was touted as the highest-grossing film, which was released last July, on the mainland. The distributor at the time announced that the box-office collections were 2.4 billion yuan, about 2 million higher than the Hollywood blockbuster Fast and Furious 7 also screened at the same time. The “charity screenings” contributed about 40 million yuan of the total box-office takings.
Online users became sceptical about the credibility of Monster Hunt’s ticket sales by the end of last August, when the distributor started conducting “charity screenings” to rake up higher box-office takings.
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According to the latest CCTV report, Edko purchased movie tickets in bulk from the 29 cinemas it owned in China, and handed out free tickets to the public.
Monster Hunt reportedly reached the box-office figure of 720,000 yuan in a Hangzhou cinema on August 28. In contrast, the box-office collections of the rest of seven movies on show on that day were only about 66,000 yuan.
The distributor could have spent 4 million yuan to boost the sales to 40 million yuan
The distributor could have spent 4 million yuan to boost the sales to 40 million yuan, Gao Jun, a former manager of the New Film Association, told CCTV.
A representative of Edko is quoted by the report as saying that the company paid for all the tickets in their “charity screenings” since they wanted more people to watch the movie.
Edko cannot be reached for comment on Wednesday.
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The report also quoted industry insiders as saying that inflating ticket sales has become the unwritten rule in China’s movie industry. Some distributors would secretly strike a deal with local cinemas to buy up screenings at midnight when there were no actual audience.
By boosting ticket sales, the distributor managed to create a buzz and attract more audience, the report said.
It also quoted an official in the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television as saying that the authorities are planning to strengthen regulation by blacklisting companies that fabricate ticket sales.
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The authorities plan to install CCTV cameras to monitor actual audience to match with ticket sales. The authorities will be alerted when the figures are at odds.
The latest report came after Beijing Max Screen, the Chinese distributor of martial arts movie Ip Man 3 starring former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, has had its licence suspended last month for making up thousands of screenings in another massive box-office fraud.
