‘The Meg’ Opens in Third Place in China Amid Controversy
By Patrick Frater
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Monster shark movie “The Meg” thrashed to a third-place finish at the Chinese box office Friday amid controversy over chart-topper “iPartment,” which was accused of artificially boosting its numbers.
“,” a U.S.-China co-production starring Jason Statham and Li Bingbing, was on course to score more than $15 million on its opening day Friday, according to data from Box Office at 9 p.m. local time. That gives the big-budget horror-action pic a 22% market share.
It appeared to be soundly beaten by local comedy drama “iPartment,” a new release that clocked up more than $45 million. Another Chinese comedy, “The Island,” directed by comedy king Huang Bo and starring Shu Qi, recorded more than $21 million.
But some pundits are already crying foul. They accuse “iPartment’s” distributors of buying more than $15 million (RMB100 million) in tickets to their own movie in order to give the impression of its being a hit.
While the Friday numbers are provisional and “The Meg” could pick up over the weekend, the $15 million opening day is unlikely to be what its backers – Warner Bros., Flagship Entertainment and Gravity Pictures – hoped for. The film, which reportedly cost $150 million to make, is laced with China-friendly elements , such as the casting of Li and Statham and the inclusion of Chinese plot points, that producers no doubt hoped would appeal to audiences in China, the world’s second-biggest movie market.
“The Meg’s” performance Friday is comparable to the opening-day take for “Skyscraper,” the Dwayne Johnson action film that also incorporated Chinese story elements and relied on Middle Kingdom moviegoers to help vindicate its nine-digit budget.
“‘iPartment” (also known as “Love Apartment”) may have other troubles besides the allegations of mass ticket-buying. It appears to be a movie adaptation of a Chinese sitcom that ran for four seasons from 2009 and that was criticized for ripping off “Friends.” However, viewers say it is not a romantic comedy and that there may be lawsuits for illegal use of the title.
