With the release of more 3-D films, which have higher ticket prices, in Hong Kong, the total box office take increased from HK$1.39 billion in 2011 to HK$1.56 billion in 2012. While the number of Hong Kong films released in 2012 remained at 54, a relatively low level, the total gross increased from HK$273 million to HK$349 million, and the market share of Hong Kong films increased from 19 per cent in 2011 to 22 per cent in 2012. That is a return to the market share of 2010. If anything, last year showed that box office in Hong Kong cannot be predicted.
The highest grossing Hong Kong film was Cold War, directed by two new directors, Sunny Luk and Longman Leung, with an A-list cast of Tony Leung Ka-fai, Aaron Kwok and Andy Lau. A strong promotional campaign by distributor Edko helped the box office. Meanwhile, director Pang Ho-cheung proved a guaranteed draw at the local box office. Love in the Buff, the sequel to the well-reviewed Love in a Puff, was released around Easter and grossed HK$28 million. But a bigger surprise came from Vulgaria, a low-budget production by Sun Entertainment that cast Chapman To and Ronald Cheng.
It used a lot of dirty talk, and reflected the difficulties of film production in a vulgar way. It beat a lot of bigger budget local films, and even some Hollywood films, to end up passing the HK$ 30 million mark.
Sun Entertainment was very active last year and released six films. Besides Vulgaria, there was My Sassy Hubby, the sequel to My Wife Is 18, directed by James Yuen. That showed how a good script can attract an audience. After a relatively weak opening, it ended up grossing over HK$10 million. The remaining four films did badly in cinemas, especially Kam Kwokleung’s Passion Island, which took only HK$24,000 after a week’s release.
The local box office continued to indicate that the large budget co-production market is over-saturated.
Andrew Lau’s The Guillotines, a 3-D action production by Media Asia with a cast from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, ended up taking less than HK$3 million.
Stephen Fung’s two Taichi movies fared even worse.
Each only managed HK$1 million, despite extensive use of computer graphics.
Ironically, mainland Chinese directors did better at the box office with large productions. Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War grossed over HK$10 million, despite being a bit heavy for a Lunar New Year release. Wuershan’s Painted Skin: The Resurrection was only shown in 2-D in Hong Kong, but it grossed more than HK$9 million, which is much better than Gordon Chan’s original.
Casting held less sway at the box office than usual.
Two Tony Leung Chiu-wai movies flopped: The Silent War, by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, and Derek Yee’s The Great Magician. Jackie Chan’s CZ12 barely passed the HK$ 10 million mark, a bad performance probably because of his negative comments about demonstrations in Hong Kong around the time of release. But Cecilia Cheung is the worst case. She starred in four films, but none of them grossed over HK$0.15 million. Filmmakers have reservations about casting her in anything new.
It’s no surprise that sex still sells at the box office.
Wilson Chin’s Lan Kwai Fong 2, which focuses on a sexy young cast, benefitted from the wave of locally targeted films, grossing about HK$11 million. The same went for Mark Wu’s debut Due West: Our Sex Journey, which was based on online stories on a popular discussion board.
It grossed almost HK$20 million after more than 100 days of release.
Although You Are the Apple of My Eye broke the Chinese-language films box office record in Hong Kong in 2011, Taiwan films were relatively invisible in 2012.
Out of 11 Taiwan films last year, only Love grossed over HK$5 million.
This year has got off to a mixed start. Wong Kar-wai’s long-time-coming The Grandmaster finally got a release in January, and grossed over HK$20 million, which is a record for the director. Lunar New Year films were roundly beaten by the Hollywood blockbuster A Good Day to Die Hard. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, directed by Stephen Chow and Derek Kwok, irritated the local audience as it was obviously aimed at the China market, but was still the top local film through the Lunar New Year holidays. There would still seem to be still hope for local films, but they have to ensure that Hong Kong audiences don’t lose faith in them.
Ryan Law