Smart Cinema: New drive for Chinese box office

World
Europe

A new mobile phone application released at the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair on Wednesday is considered by many insiders as giving new impetus to the booming Chinese film industry.

“We hope that the ‘Smart Cinema’ (app) would become a supplementary for the cinemas during its pilot operations and will encourage more film producers and directors to release their films online while at the same time cultivating more people, of different age spans and from different walks of life, to the habit of watching films,” said Gao Qunyao, CEO of the newly released application.

The booming Chinese film industry has become a strong competitor in the international market in recent years.

In the first quarter of 2018, China’s film box office overtook North America to become the biggest in the world, with 20.2 billion yuan (3.17 billion US dollars) in takings. Among the top 10 blockbusters, only two were by Hollywood films with the country’s domestic military film “Red Sea Operation” in the lead.

Participants in the launch ceremony for "Smart Cinema." /Photo via People's Daily

In 2017, China had over 9,500 new screens with the total amounting to 53,000, though attendance rates were down.

According to People’s Daily, the average attendance rate decreased from 18.1 percent in 2015 to 14.2 percent in 2017, and many cinemas could barely balance their profit and loss. The industry is in need of a new channel to maintain its increase.

That's where “Smart Cinema” comes in. The goal outlined at its launch ceremony is to create one billion new “screens” in five years for the Chinese film industry.

“In China, there are still one billion people who could not step into the cinemas due to various reasons, but their passion for watching films should not be neglected,” said Gao, “and the ‘Smart Cinema’ could help to fulfill their aspirations while becoming a new driver for Chinese films.”

Gao Qunyao, CEO of "Smart Cinema," speaking at the launch ceremony. /Photo via People's Daily

According to the data released by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first half of 2017, China had over 1.1 billion mobile phone internet users, meaning that potentially online filmmakers could bring a geometrical increase for the Chinese film box office.

However, at the present, most films can only be released online through video platforms, which cannot provide synchronous services with the cinemas. The box office on those websites could also not be calculated into the general box office, so that the producers of the films could not benefit from viewings.