Success of Chinese sci-fi blockbuster ‘The Wandering Earth’ propels producers’ shares into the stratosphere
- Beijing Jingxi Culture and Tourism Co jumped by 10 per cent on Monday
- Company also co-produced China’s highest-grossing film Wolf Warrior 2
The unexpected box office success of China’s first science fiction blockbuster, The Wandering Earth, sent shares of its two major producers skyrocketing on the first trading day of the Lunar New Year.
Beijing Jingxi Culture and Tourism Co, which also co-produced China’s highest-grossing film, Wolf Warrior 2, surged by the 10 per cent daily limit in Shenzhen to 14.51 yuan on Monday.
State-owned China Film Group jumped by as much as 7.8 per cent before paring the gains to close 2.7 per cent higher.
The Wandering Earth, with a scale rivalling Hollywood space epics like Interstellar, has raked in over 2 billion yuan (US$296 million) in box office revenue since its release on February 5, the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The film was the highest-grossing film during the Lunar New Year holiday, a traditional peak box office period.
“The market did not expect its box office performance to be so spectacular, because domestic sci-fi films were not very popular in the past,” said Zhang Heng, an equity analyst specialising in media and entertainment at Guosen Securities.
A gauge tracking 66 film-related stocks listed in mainland China rose 2 per cent on Monday, against a 1.4 per cent increase in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.