China Box Office Tops N. American Market In Q1

China surpassed North America to become the world's largest movie market during the first quarter of 2018, fuelled in part by big-grossing domestic films, according to US and Chinese box-office figures.

The mainland's movie market made US$3.17 billion between January and March, according to the China Movie Data Information Network, while US trade journal Variety said the North America box office reached US$2.85 billion. Almost three quarters of the revenue came from Chinese-produced movies, the China data showed.

Of the top 10 films watched on the mainland during the first quarter, seven were domestically produced, and Chinese-made movies occupied the top five slots.

The Chinese numbers were also boosted by movie-goers flocking to cinemas during the extended Lunar New Year holiday in February.

China's box-office revenues surged in 2017 after slowing sharply the preceding year, official media reported in January.

Ticket revenue grew 13.45 percent to US$8.6 billion in 2017, the official Xinhua had said, citing data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Hollywood has a keen eye on China's potentially lucrative movie market, although Beijing strictly limits the number of foreign films that can be released in mainland cinemas.

China also takes measures to help boost domestic films' performance, including limiting the screening of foreign films during peak seasons and rewarding cinemas for playing more domestic titles. (AFP)