PK crosses $10 million in Chinese box office
Rajkumar Hirani’s film “PK” has crossed $10 million in earnings in China, creating a record for the highest ever earnings for a Bollywood film in any foreign market in what analysts described as “game-changing” for the prospects of India’s film industry in China.
As of Saturday, the Aamir Khan-starring film had brought in 64.8 million RMB in the Chinese box office (around Rs. 66 crores or $10.45 million), the Chinese box office said.
By the end of the weekend, barely one week since its May 22 launch, the film will have leapfrogged the $10.66 million made in the combined North America (United States and Canada) market — earlier the record by any Bollywood film in a foreign market.
A China-based film analyst described the film’s success in the China market as “game-changing”. “Considering that unlike the U.S. this is a market where there is no large Indian diaspora and the attendances have been entirely local
audiences, this is all the more impressive and game-changing,” said the analyst.
In China, the film is continuing to attract a high occupancy rate even though the number of shows has decreased by this weekend down from 18,000 earlier this week.
PK has already set a number of records in China. Gu Wancheng, Partner (Market Strategy) for NPRG, a Chinese firm which introduced the film to distributors here, told India Today the film only took two days to become the highest grossing Bollywood film in China, overtaking Dhoom 3 which made 19 million RMB throughout its entire release. It is now thought to be the highest grossing non-Hollywood, non-English film in China — a market that the Indian film industry had largely ignored considering the absence of a significant Indian diaspora.
The success of “3 Idiots” — another Hirani and Aamir Khan film — revived Indian interest in China, where films from India were widely popular in the 1970s before Hollywood began to dominate the annual quota of two dozen overseas films.
“PK”‘s success has been bolstered by a high profile launch event in Beijing mid-May, attended by Hirani, Aamir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, as well as the casting of popular Chinese action and comedy star Wang Baoqiang to provide the voiceover for the main role.
“PK” has received widely positive reviews and remains among the highest-rated films currently on show in China. “I have to say Indian films are so much better than Chinese films,” wrote blogger Karem on Chinese Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo last week.
“Today, after I watched the film, I sighed at the gap between comedies in India and China,” added blogger Yan Qiu.
And it isn’t just Chinese movie-goers who have been wowed by the film. The assistant to a high-profile Chinese director said this week, declining to be identified, that the director had written to his fellow directors in China instructing them all to “go and watch PK to learn how a smart comedy film should be made”.
As of Saturday, the Aamir Khan-starring film had brought in 64.8 million RMB in the Chinese box office (around Rs. 66 crores or $10.45 million), the Chinese box office said.
By the end of the weekend, barely one week since its May 22 launch, the film will have leapfrogged the $10.66 million made in the combined North America (United States and Canada) market — earlier the record by any Bollywood film in a foreign market.
A China-based film analyst described the film’s success in the China market as “game-changing”. “Considering that unlike the U.S. this is a market where there is no large Indian diaspora and the attendances have been entirely local
audiences, this is all the more impressive and game-changing,” said the analyst.
In China, the film is continuing to attract a high occupancy rate even though the number of shows has decreased by this weekend down from 18,000 earlier this week.
PK has already set a number of records in China. Gu Wancheng, Partner (Market Strategy) for NPRG, a Chinese firm which introduced the film to distributors here, told India Today the film only took two days to become the highest grossing Bollywood film in China, overtaking Dhoom 3 which made 19 million RMB throughout its entire release. It is now thought to be the highest grossing non-Hollywood, non-English film in China — a market that the Indian film industry had largely ignored considering the absence of a significant Indian diaspora.
The success of “3 Idiots” — another Hirani and Aamir Khan film — revived Indian interest in China, where films from India were widely popular in the 1970s before Hollywood began to dominate the annual quota of two dozen overseas films.
“PK”‘s success has been bolstered by a high profile launch event in Beijing mid-May, attended by Hirani, Aamir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, as well as the casting of popular Chinese action and comedy star Wang Baoqiang to provide the voiceover for the main role.
“PK” has received widely positive reviews and remains among the highest-rated films currently on show in China. “I have to say Indian films are so much better than Chinese films,” wrote blogger Karem on Chinese Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo last week.
“Today, after I watched the film, I sighed at the gap between comedies in India and China,” added blogger Yan Qiu.
And it isn’t just Chinese movie-goers who have been wowed by the film. The assistant to a high-profile Chinese director said this week, declining to be identified, that the director had written to his fellow directors in China instructing them all to “go and watch PK to learn how a smart comedy film should be made”.
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