Hong Kong films suffer worst year in a decade

Wednesday January 4, 2006 Hong Kong

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's film industry suffered its worst year in a decade in 2005 with plunging domestic box office receipts and a decline in the number of local productions, according to figures released Wednesday.

Ticket revenues slumped by a third, grossing 284 million Hong Kong dollars (36.4 million US) compared with 421 million in 2004, according to Hong Kong's Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA).

The industry released just 55 films -- the lowest number in a decade -- and well down on the 64 that hit cinema screens the year before.

Piracy and the inability of moviemakers to meet the changing tastes of local audiences in the face of big-budget Hollywood blockbusters were blamed for the decline in fortunes.

Only two local films made the year's top ten earners: car racing action flick "Initial D" which grossed 37.86 million dollars and "Wait Til You're Older" starring heartthrob Andy Lau with 20.2 million dollars.

Action hero Jackie Chan's "The Myth" proved a major flop, grossing 17.1 million dollars.

The figures were in sharp contrast with 2004 when box office revenues soared, led by Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle", which was the city's highest grossing film ever with a take of 61.3 million dollars.

"Piracy definitely has played a major role in this. More people watch pirated DVDs and films from illegal downloads (on the Internet)," said MPIA chief executive Woody Tsung, blaming rampant piracy in the territory.

"It's very difficult to make films nowadays. If you make 10 films, you will make a loss in nine films. You don't make enough money," Tsung said, predicting little upturn in fortunes in 2006.

Foreign films which also had to battle pirates, however, boosted their market share, with box office receipts growing by 25.5 percent to 621 million dollars from 189 movies released, 21 more than 2004.

The top three foreign titles include "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" which grossed 35 million dollars, "The Incredibles" with 33.8 million dollars and "King Kong" with 30.6 million dollars.

A local film critic who goes by the name Longtin said a change in audience tastes had also contributed to the poor box office performance.

"There are more and more people who like to see Hollywood films and their taste of films have been influenced by Hollywood and this has become a benchmark standard for them to judge whether a film is good or not," he said.

The same type of films that used to make a local box office smash no longer attracted cinema-goers, he said.

"It's not just a problem in Hong Kong, it's a problem all over the world," he said. "Hollywood produces bigger projects with big stars which local productions can't match."

In the 1980s Hong Kong was the third largest producer of films after Bollywood and Hollywood, a time when more than 300 films rolled annually from its studios. Since then 80 percent of its workforce has been lost.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/186618/1/.html