It was a hard year for the Hong Kong box office, and for the cinema business in general, in 2017. Despite ticket prices remaining at the same level as 2016, the overall box office recorded a drop from HK$1.95 billion to HK$1.85 billion, denoting a significant decline of 4.81 per cent. The number of Hong Kong films shown, as defined by Hong Kong Film Awards Association, remained the same as 2016 at 65, yet the total box office recorded a sharp drop from HK$361m in 2016 to HK$255m in 2017. That’s a slide of over 30 per cent. The market share of Hong Kong cinema has further shrunk from 18 per cent in 2016, to 14 per cent in 2017.
The sharp drop can be understood by looking at the top 10 local films at the Hong Kong box office. There was no mega blockbuster like Cold War 2 (HK$66.82m) or Mermaid (HK$56.22m). Instead, Pang Ho-cheung’s romantic sequel Love Off the Cuff occupied the top spot, taking HK$30.70m, followed by Herman Yau’s action crime film Shock Wave, which took HK$ 25.47m. Combined, these two films contributed 65 per cent of the annual local box office. On the other hand, more local films hit the HK$10m mark, increasing from six in 2016 to nine in 2017. Overall, the box office for local films seems to be more evenly distributed.
It’s also remarkable to note that last year, a number of first-time directors entered to the top 10 with relatively non-mainstream approaches or subjects. Wong Chun’s Mad World, a drama focusing on the recovery of a young man with bipolar disorder living in a tiny room with his truck-driver father, unexpectedly grossed HK$17.13m. This was perhaps due to a savvy promotional strategy by Golden Scene, which garnered some film awards nominations. Likewise, Kearen Pang’s debut, 29+1, based on her play about two girls facing their thirties, over-performed by grossing HK$15.29m by striking a chord among female audiences. Stephen Ng and Nero Ng’s directorial debut The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey, a comedy about a group of people living in a tiny capsule space, suited the taste of the younger generation and grossed at HK$10.23m after summer. All three of these films showed the potential for specialised topics.
2017 saw more box office flops during the traditional peak season than usual, with audiences failing to connect with major releases. Meow, a big budget Hong Kong-China collaboration starring Louis Koo and a large cat, failed to wow the children’s film market, grossing less than HK$3m with generally negative reviews. Paradox, a Wilson Yip action spin-off from the SPL series, had difficulty competing with Hollywood blockbusters and was only able to gross less than HK$8m. The situation was even worse during the Christmas season, as Chinese-language films were absent during this period.
It’s interesting to note that there were more horror/zombie films made in 2017, given the fact that these films have difficulty entering the mainland China market. Vampire Cleanup Department, directed by new directors Yan Pak-wing and Chiu Sin-hang, gave the vampire genre new blood by grossing over HK$7m. Herman Yau’s Always Be with You, regarded as a tribute film for 20th anniversary of the Troublesome Night series, performed reasonably with a HK$4.2m take when released in October. The low-budget short film series Ghost Net failed to impress audiences, resulting in HK$0.8m at the box office, which will make it hard to break even.
There were 15 mainland Chinese films released in Hong Kong in 2017. Wu Jing’s Wolf Warrior II grossed over HK$7m in Hong Kong in September after it broke the box office record in China. Stanley Tong’s Kung Fu Yoga flopped during Chinese New Year last year by grossing less than HK$2m. Other Chinese films grossed less than HK$1m with small scale distribution. Out of the 11 Taiwanese films released in Hong Kong last year, the horror film The Tag-Along 2 had the highest gross at HK$3.75m. However, the youth-flavoured 52Hz, I Love You and Take Me to the Moon performed badly, as audiences have tired of this kind of film over the last few years.
As for Asian cinema, Korean movies performed better than Japanese films in Hong Kong in 2017. After the breakthrough of Edko’s Train to Busan in 2017, Edko released The Battleship Island during late summer with a gross of HK$ 14.25m. The biggest surprise was Golden Scene’s A Taxi Driver, a film about the Gwangju democracy campaign in 1980, that resulted in more than HK$10m due to its similarity with the political climate of Hong Kong. The other 14 Korean films grossed less than HK$1m. Animations still dominated the Japanese box office in Hong Kong. Out of the 58 Japanese films released, Doraemon the Movie 2017 grossed the most, taking HK$9m and reaching audiences of all ages.
Hong Kong cinema didn’t get off to a good start in 2018. There were six Hong Kong films released in January, but none was able to gross more than HK$1m. It was very disappointing to note that Yuen Woo-ping’s remake of The Thousand Faces of Dunjia only lasted for two weeks in cinemas, earning less than HK$0.6m at the box office. Hopefully, the Lunar New Year numbers will show a rebound for Hong Kong cinema, with four Lunar New Year films showing during the period. With several new directors debuting this year, there may still be some positive surprises for Hong Kong cinema in 2018.
Top 10 Box Office Hong Kong Films in 2017
1° Love Off the Cuff, HK$30.70m
2° Shock Wave, HK$25.47m
3° Journey to the West: The Demons
Strike Back, HK$24.39m
4° Chasing the Dragon, HK$18.98m
5° Mad World, HK$17.13m
6° The Yuppie Fantasia 3, HK$16.52m
7° 29+1, HK$15.29m
8° 77 Heartbreaks, HK$14.50m
9° The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey,
HK$10.23m
10° Paradox, HK$7.82m
Ryan Law