Monster Hunt

Hollywood has been bracing for its seemingly imminent usurping as the world’s largest movie market by China, which was forecasted to come as soon as 2017. After a summer drought in the Middle Kingdom, Tinseltown isn’t going to have to hand off the baton just yet – but it will soon.

After growing a staggering 49 percent between 2014 and 2015 to $6.8 billion and continuing to surge in the first half of the year behind the country’s biggest movie ever, China’s yearly box office looks like it will finish essentially flat. That will keep it well behind the U.S. box office, which cleared $11 billion for the first time last year and sits at $10.7 billion as of Dec. 21, with Christmas season still to come.

While a major factor in China’s plateau has been the reduction of exceedingly generous online ticketing subsidies — you used to be able to see new films in Imax 3D for $5 or so — China’s film industry had an unseasonably ice cold summer, and probably won’t get that unlucky again.

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That’s a major reason why Jonathan Papish, an industry analyst at China Film Insider, says he still expects China’s box office to surpass the U.S. in the near future.

“I think China will overtake North America within the next five years,” he told TheWrap.

Papish pointed out that this summer’s slump isn’t likely to repeat itself, and if it had one of last summer’s multiple summer hits it would have been a very different story.

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“What we’ll likely see for the next few years or maybe even decade is some up years and some down years,” Papish said. “I think the key variable in this equation is the quality of films released in any given year. If this summer had another ‘Monster Hunt’ or ‘Jian Bing Man’ or even ‘Goodbye Mr. Loser,’ we’d have seen 30 to 35 percent growth in 2016.”

All three of those films (plus “Lost in Hong Kong”) were released between July and September 2015 and made at least $186 million in China, with “Monster Hunt” topping out at $382 million — just a hair behind “Furious 7,” China’s highest grossing movie of 2015, and at that point, all-time. China traditionally imposes an unofficial summer blackout period over much of July and August, clearing the field for local fare like “Monster Hunt” to do monster numbers.

But this year, after “The Mermaid” burst out of the gates in February to become the country’s top-grossing film ever with $527 million, Chinese cinema kind of ran out of gas. No other homegrown movie cleared the $200 million mark, and the highest-grossing summer movie was “Operation Mekong,” with $170 million.

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And while a handful of imported films such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” were allowed in during the summer, it’s not like they cannibalized Chinese films. “Warcraft,” a movie that made more than four times as much money in China than in the U.S., was the only Hollywood movie released over the summer that cracked the top 18 of the Chinese box office.

Hollywood knows better than any industry that nothing is a sure thing, not even growth in China. But Papish said he wouldn’t expect this year to be a trend as long as the release schedule has just a few more monsters.

Hollywood's 22 Biggest Box Office Champs in China (Photos)

Chinese moviegoers love to spend their hard-earned yuan on Hollywood blockbusters like "Captain America: Civil War," "Avatar" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Comedies and dramas? Not so much. Read on to see which American hits have raked in the most money (according to BoxOfficeMojo) in that nation across the Pacific.
Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm/Fox
"Furious 7" (2015)

$390.9 million

The Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson revved-up action flick is easily the highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever in China. The late Paul Walker remains among China's most beloved American actors.
Universal
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" (2014)

$320 million

Mark Wahlberg starred in the sci-fi movie based on the foldable toys, which was co-produced by two Chinese firms and was the first Hollywood movie to make more than $300 million in the Middle Kingdom.
Paramount
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)

$240.1 million

The superhero mashup is China's highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe film, a franchise that's been embraced by the country's young-leaning moviegoers.
Marvel
"Zootopia" (2016)

$235.6 million

The buddy-cop comedy is the highest-grossing imported animated film in the history of the Chinese box office, and it played especially well in China's second- and third-tier cities.
Disney
"Jurassic World" (2015)

$228.7 million

Like "Furious 7," the dinosaur sci-fi adventure was produced by Legendary Entertainment, which was acquired by China's Dalian Wanda Group in January.
Universal
"Warcraft" (2016)

$220.8 million

Another Legendary film, this one inspired by a video game series, flopped in the U.S. but dominated the Chinese market, which is home to about half of the video game's players worldwide.
Universal
"Avatar" (2009)

$204.1 million

The worldwide smash hit also captivated Chinese audiences, even back in 2009, when the country's box office was a fraction of the size that it is today.
Fox
"Captain America: Civil War" (2016)

$190.4 million

The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- with an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle -- continued the iconic comic book company's momentum in China.
Marvel
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011)

$165.1 million

The prequel to this film, 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," made $65.8 million in China, setting the stage for "Dark of the Moon" to be the country's highest-grossing Hollywood film since "Avatar" at the time.
Paramount
"Kung Fu Panda 3" (2016)

$154.3 million

The Mandarin-language version of the movie starring Jack Black as a friendly fighting bear had the characters reanimated so their mouths moved naturally with the translated words.
DreamWorks
"The Jungle Book" (2016)

$150.1 million

The live-action/animation hybrid was a hit in several international markets, especially India, and it also played well throughout China.
Disney
"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015)

$135.7 million

China's Alibaba Pictures invested in "Rogue Nation," and star Tom Cruise visited several Chinese cities to promote the film, helping it open strong and stick around in theaters even though its China debut came more than a month after its U.S. premiere.
Paramount
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2016)

$124.2 million

Despite China being one of the few markets that didn't catch "Star Wars" fever -- the movie put some people there to sleep -- Disney's promotional efforts helped it clear $100 million.
Lucasfilm
"Interstellar" (2014)

$122 million

The epic space adventure starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain connected with Chinese audiences, even though it wasn't in the 3D format that crowds there have grown used to.

Paramount
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (2014)

$121.7 million

The third and final installment in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" series was another movie that succeeded even though it was released in China well after its U.S. premiere.
Warner Bros.
"Iron Man 3" (2013)

$121.2 million

All three movies in the Robert Downey Jr. franchise have played in China, helping build brand awareness beyond just the bankable Marvel name.
Marvel
"X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016)

$12o.8 million

Disney bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009, but Fox acquired the film rights to Marvel's "X-Men" franchise before then. It doesn't seem to matter much in China, where anything Marvel often turns into a big hit.
Fox
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014)

$115.6 million

The predecessor to this year's "Civil War," "Winter Soldier" was a hit despite its fairly political content, which is usually a negative in Chinese theaters.
Marvel
"Terminator Genisys" (2015)

$113.2 million

The fifth "Terminator" film was the franchise's lowest-grossing since the 1984 original, but it was the first in the series to get a Chinese theatrical release.
Paramount
"Pacific Rim" (2013)

$111.9 million

The futuristic sci-fi adventure, in which humans battle sea monsters, is yet another fantasy action movie that Chinese audiences loved.
Warner Bros.
"Ant-Man" (2015)

$105.4 million

Yet another Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Ant-Man" made just $180.2 million at the domestic box office but was a much bigger hit in China.
Marvel
"San Andreas" (2015)

$103.2 million

China knows Dwayne Johnson from the "Fast and Furious" franchise, and the earthquake disaster film he headlined last year reverberated at the Chinese box office.
Warner Bros.

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Chinese moviegoers can’t get enough of America’s big-budget action flicks

Chinese moviegoers love to spend their hard-earned yuan on Hollywood blockbusters like "Captain America: Civil War," "Avatar" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Comedies and dramas? Not so much. Read on to see which American hits have raked in the most money (according to BoxOfficeMojo) in that nation across the Pacific.

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