《變形金剛4》大打中國元素 或將刷新中國票房紀錄
The latest "Transformers" movie, which features Chinese locations, actors and products, has so far earned almost as much in China as in the United States, driven by a record number of screenings for a foreign movie.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" has made an estimated $149 million in the US and $134 million in China, the world's biggest and second-biggest movie markets, respectively, according to figures from box office tracking website Box Office Mojo.
Director Michael Bay's film, which was released June 27 in both markets, heavily courted the Chinese audience by employing Chinese stars, basing part of the action in cities in China and showing Chinese products such as liquor and milk. A reality TV show to choose four people to play roles in the film helped to drum up publicity.
Observers say "Transformers" is on course to beat "Avatar" as the biggest earner at the fast-growing Chinese box office. "Avatar" earned $218 million in China in 2010.
More than half of China's more than 20,000 screens showed the fourth in the "Transformers" blockbuster franchise.
Hou Tao, vice president of leading entertainment consultancy EntGroup, said Sunday that on average 55 percent of screens were set aside for the movie at the start, which had dropped to 46-48 percent in the last few days. He said that it was a record for foreign movies, which would normally be lucky to be shown on 40 percent of screens.
Whether any other foreign movie will receive such a favorable screening "just depends on the movie itself, whether it's popular, whether it's competitive enough, and whether at the time there is no other movie to compete with it," Hou said.
He said "Transformers" had done well in China because of its Chinese elements and it hadn't had to compete with any other big movies. Also, advertisers who had arranged for their products to be shown in the movie promoted the film by offering free tickets, Hou said.最新上映的電影《變形金剛4》中展現了中國的場景、演員和產品，迄今爲止中美票房幾乎持平，也在刷新着國外影片在中國的放映紀錄。
據票房跟蹤網站“票房魔咒”（Box Office Mojo）的調查數據，《變形金剛4》據估算已獲得了1億4900萬美元的美國票房和1億3400萬美元的中國票房，美國和中國分別是世界上第一和第二大電影市場。
邁克爾·貝導演的這部電影於6月27日在中美同時上映，並通過邀請中國明星參演、在中國拍攝部分場景、以及展示白酒和牛奶等中國產品來吸引中國觀衆。舉辦電視真人秀節目，選擇四名中國演員參加《變形金剛4》的拍攝這一活動也幫助影片在中國造勢。
觀察家指出，《變形金剛4》即將擊敗《阿凡達》，成爲急速增長的中國票房收入的最大贏家。2010年，《阿凡達》在中國獲得了2億1800萬美元的票房。
中國超過2萬塊銀幕中的半數以上都播放了《變形金剛4》，轟動影界。
藝恩諮詢公司的副總裁侯濤於週日表示，這部影片最初上映時，平均預留的排片比例是55%，這一數據前幾天下降到46%--48%。他說，這已經創下外國影片的放映紀錄，通常這一比例達到40%就很幸運了。
侯滔說，是否有其他外國電影也會有這麼高的排片比例“只取決於電影本身，是否受歡迎，是否有足夠的競爭力，是否有其他的電影與它競爭。”
他還表示，《變形金剛4》在中國大獲成功是因爲其中富含中國元素，而且同期也沒有其它大片與它競爭。同時，在電影中推銷其產品的廣告商通過提供免費電影票來推廣該電影。
