In a sign of China's growing importance to the movie business, Rentrak said Tuesday that it will begin providing daily box-office results for films released in that country.
China recently surpassed Japan as the second largest movie market in the world after it contributed $2.7 billion in box-office revenue in 2012. The country is also investing heavily in its infrastructure and building new theaters at a rate of 10 screens a day.
Rentrak, which provides box-office information domestically as well as in other Asian countries like Malaysia and Japan, said it has gathered two years of historical data from China. It said it will receive data from 2,500 theaters, which accounts for 95 percent of the market in China.
"Our theatrical business is all about growth, and China is the fastest-growing theatrical market," Ron Giambra, president of theatrical worldwide at Rentrak, said in a statement. "As international box office revenue continues to grow in China, our expanded measurement is vital in helping serve our studio clients all over the world.”
