Chinese film industry wants to show new angle to S Koreans

Filmmakers are growing and the ScreenX system (top) is one of the latest examples. Chinese Film Festival recently held in Seoul displayed some of China's biggest hits of the year, including Monkey King: Hero Is Back and Monster Hunt.[Photo provided to China Daily]

New technology

With box-office revenues in China expected to rise 50 percent this year, leading cinema operators in South Korea are planning a stronger presence in the world's second-largest film market.

CGV, for instance, South Korea's largest multiplex chain affiliated to the CJ Group, will use its new technology ScreenX in China soon after its debut in the country.

The multi-projection system uses two side walls in theaters as broadened "screens" to offer moviegoers a greater experience. The technology was widely used in the advertisement industry in South Korea, but is largely untested in the film industry.

The Priest, which was released on Thursday, is the first Korean feature film on ScreenX. The Ghouls, a fantasy which will premiere in December, will be the first Chinese film to be released in the format.

The ScreenX system has been set up in four cinemas in China: two in Beijing, one in Dalian, Liaoning province, and one in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, according to Choi Byung-hwan, vice-president of CJ Group's CGV division. The technology will be used in shooting for more Chinese films in the future rather than format-adaption in post-production.

And 4DX, another screening system of CGV, which offers moviegoers multisensory environmental experiences such as wind, bubbles and scents, has also established its network in China.

According to Brandon Choi, the chief officer for 4DX's marketing team, 45 4DX screens have been set up on the Chinese mainland, and the first 4DX screen outside South Korea opened in Beijing in 2009. It has cooperated with Chinese multiplex giants like UME and Wanda for better promotion.

"4DX naturally fits Hollywood blockbusters with strong visual effects," Choi says, adding however, that with the growth of Chinese film technology and Sino-Korean productions, using such systems for Chinese films will become necessary.

The phenomenal Monkey King: Hero Is Back, for example, was released in 4DX this year in China.