�Aftershock� closes in on all-time record

Director Feng Xiaogang�s earthquake epic Aftershock is closing in on China�s all-time box office record � but rather than rejoicing, the production house behind the film is starting to sweat.

Such has been the unprecedented interest in the fortunes of the film � following the director�s boast last year that it would become the first-ever Chinese production to surpass 500 million yuan (RM233 million) � that producers and co-distributors the Huayi Brothers are remaining tight-lipped about just how and where the money is coming from.





Aftershock � which follows the fortunes of a group of survivors of China�s 1976 Tangshan earthquake � opened on around 4,000 screens around China on July 22 and has now collected more than 400 million yuan overall.

That figure includes receipts from China�s IMAX theaters which � for the very first time � opened a film at same time as regular cinemas.

IMAX screens picked up 4.3 million yuan on the film�s opening weekend � from its overall 160 million yuan. But Huayi Brothers have this week refused to be drawn on the make-up of the film�s now-400 million yuan, telling the film industry website Film Business Asia it had become a �very sensitive subject.��

There has been some controversy over Chinese box office figures in recent years � for both local and foreign releases � with some studios being accused of inflating numbers to grab more headlines. The raw data, meanwhile, is usually released by the Chinese government.

The previous highest-grossing Chinese film was last year�s The Founding of a Republic � made to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of China�s People�s Republic � which took in an estimated 410 million yuan. Avatar sees the all-time record for any film released in China by earlier this year raking in around 1.3 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the Hollywood box office smash Inception � which has now collected an estimated US$370 million (RM1.16 billion) worldwide has had its mainland China release date brought forward by almost a month � to September 2 � to avoid running into local productions which will be released for the country�s �Golden Week�� of holidays which begin with the October 1 National Day.

The period is traditionally a peak time for films in China as families gather for a week of feasts and celebrations.