Spring Festival box office soars to new heights

"Actually we came much earlier than the mainland headlines discovered. When the mainland market was not as prosperous as today, we (Hong Kong filmmakers) were here (on the mainland)," says the 71-year-old veteran, recognized by the West for his martial arts choreography in The Matrix and Kill Bill series.

And most mainland moviegoers, who were born between 1970s and 1980s, have strong emotional connections to Hong Kong films. In this generation's childhood, the major way to see movies starring Stephen Chow or Chow Yun-fat was through video tapes or DVDs.

That also explains Stephen Chow's achievement in Mermaid. Hailed as the "King of Comedy", the 54-year-old filmmaker has influenced a generation of Chinese for his brand of nonsensical humor.

"We'll owe Stephen Chow a ticket," the sign — initiating from cyberspace and soon going viral – reflects collective nostalgia, a significant element supporting Mermaid's commercial triumph.

Now that China has 31,600 movie screens in about 6,000 cinemas, moviegoers can see their idols on big screens.

Promotional road shows – previously held in big cities – have revealed a new trend of transferring more focus to third- and fourth-tier cities, says Zeng Zhigang, vice-president of Ariadne's Thread, a Beijing-based movie firm.

The populous country will see more Chinese forming a consuming habit of going to cinemas, Zeng says in a telephone interview with China Daily.

"More and more Chinese show their rising demands for good-quality entertaining content, which can be used as a social net-working tool or family hanging-out," he says.

"Compared to stage plays or concerts, watching movies is definitely much cheaper," Zeng adds.

Most of the industry insiders believe the box office bonanza will march on in the weeks to come, mainly pushed by Mermaid.

As the fantasy comedy has been released for only 10 days – a blockbuster usually takes one month or more to earn high returns– analysts predict Mermaid will overtake Monster Hunt to top China's box office charts of all time. The live-action animated movie Monster Hunt, which ran in cinemas for 63 days, grossed up to 2.4 billion yuan last summer.

"The largest puzzle is not about whether Mermaid will beat Monster Hunt –as the answer almost looks to be yes -- but if a Chinese-language big movie can reach a landmark high at 3 billion yuan," says critic Yang Wenshan.

China's booming movie market last year surged the box office haul to 44.1 billion yuan, or a 48 percent rise year-on-year, and drew scores of Internet and financial moguls.

The powerful newcomers are the major pushers behind the box office bonanza, says Zhuang Yuxin, a literature professor with Beijing Film Academy.

But Zhuang, also an industry observer, say some underground rules are harming the market, such as some cinemas cheating on ticket sales.