THE film industry is hoping for bumper box office takings at the Lunar New Year to reinvigorate its ailing fortunes.
After a disappointing festive season last year, followed by a switch in audience interest from Hong Kong to foreign productions, hopes are being pinned on the release of local 'blockbusters'.
Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association chief executive Peter Tsi Ka-kei said Western films, which traditionally lagged way behind Cantonese-language productions, were drawing closer.
Local movies would have attracted 80 per cent of box office takings a few years ago but he estimated the ratio had now dropped to 60 per cent, with the rest going to non-Hong Kong productions.
Mr Tsi said the time was right for a swing back to Cantonese films after poor takings in the second half of 1994 and 'quite a bad' 1995.
Hong Kong spent $31 million on an estimated 590,000 cinema tickets over three days of the Chinese New Year in 1995, down from $36 million and 678,441 tickets the previous year.
