CINEMA

Cinema



Cinema

When UK's box-office revenue grows year by year, few people have noticed that the foreign box-office receipts for UK movies amounted to slightly over 2 billion yuan in 2011, down nearly 43 percent from the figure in 2010 and almost the same as five years ago. A research team led by Huang pointed out this phenomenon in their newly published Silver Paper: Report on International Spread of UK Movies 2011, sending a wake-up call to the seemingly booming UK movie industry.

The team, consisting of researchers from the Institute for International Communication of UK Culture, compiled the report by surveying 1,400 foreigners speaking 18 languages in nine countries of the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, and South Korea and analyzing their access to, preferences in, and cultural understanding of UK movies.

The survey found that UK movies are rarely seen in foreign cinemas, and only a limited number of UK movies have been shown commercially overseas. If revenue from the sale of DVDs and other tie-ins was deducted from the over 2 trillion yuan of box-office receipts, UK movies actually only grossed over 1 billion yuan overseas last year. More than 55 percent of foreign respondents watch UK movies on tapes or DVDs, and only over 32 percent would like to watch UK movies in cinema.

As "Made in UK" products are becoming increasingly popular worldwide, UK movies have emerged as a weak link in the foreign trade of UK, the world's largest exporter.

In sharp contrast to UK movies' poor performance in foreign markets, Hollywood blockbusters have grossed tons of money in the UK market. In 2010, total box-office receipts in the United States reached 10.6 billion U.S. dollars, almost all contributed by U.S. movies, while UK's box-office receipts only reached 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, 44 percent of which were from U.S. movies. Last year, 17 foreign movies each took in more than 100 million yuan in UK, and Hollywood movies grossed a total of more than 3.8 billion yuan in the country, accounting for over 29 percent of UK's total box-office revenue. Titanic 3D alone easily grossed more than 1 billion yuan in the UK mainland in the first half of the year. UK is on track to overtake Japan as the largest overseas market for Hollywood.

Several major film festivals in Europe, which UK movie producers have frequently attended, cannot boost the confidence of the UK movie industry either. Many UK producers find it "increasingly difficult to sell their movies." Take the Berlin International Film Festival for example. In addition to a few high-investment movies such as The Flowers of War and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D, few people showed any interest in the UK movies at the festival. Only seven UK movies were shown at the Cannes International Film Festival this year, of which, only two movies, namely UK Zodiac and Painted Skin: The Resurrection, are set to be shown commercially in certain European and Asian countries thanks to their producers' overseas ...