CRI听力:Hot Season for Movie Comes in China

The concept of the summer blockbuster season dates back to the summer of 1975 when the renowned American director Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" hit the screen. The popular movie had massive audiences and since then summer has become a huge competitive season for movie makers and cinemas. Now, the season usually targets audiences ages 4 to 24.

But the fierce competition has also brought higher risks for movie makers with an eye on the market. According to statistics from the Beijing Cinema Association, 29 movies will debut in June and more than 80 will premier in the city during the two month summer vacation. Manager Yu Chao from Capital Movie Theater in Beijing says.

"The screens are full of numerous movies during this time. The competition among movie makers is very tense."

This summer audience has a large variety of choices from both overseas and domestic productions. For example, the American sci-fi movie "The Hunger Games" is enormously popular with US movie-goers. So far, it has made 700 million US dollars at the box office, before its debut in Asia. It also expects to do well in China.

Cinema operators also say that domestic movies such as "If The Beauty Were A Beast," and the "Million Dollar Crocodile" will also draw large audiences. But manager Hong Jun from Beijing-based cinema management company, the New Film Association, says domestic movies are still less competitive than those from overseas.

"Hollywood movies will of course take up a greater share of the market. Usually we only have about 20 movies from Hollywood every summer, but now the number has been increased to 34. The 14 additional movies are mainly 3D or IMAX ones. So we can tell that the box office for imported movies will rise this summer. This is also a challenge our domestic movies are facing."

In order to compete for more movie goers, cinemas in cities like Beijing are busy giving discounts and promotions. Last year's summer movie market made four billion yuan – or 628 million US dollars – at the box office. But this year, the manager Hong Jun says the movie market will set a new record.

"There are many movies getting a lot of attention from movie goers this year. So our estimation is that this year's box office may surpass last year's performance, reaching or approaching five billion yuan."

In China, the summer vacation used to be a cold season. But since 2004 when Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers" made150 million yuan at the box office, the summer has become an important season for domestic movie makers. Many movie theaters in Beijing say they are quite optimistic about the profits they will make this summer. Newly opened theaters and those in rural areas are also providing large discounts to lure customers.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.