2014年底,內(nèi)地年度票房未能突300億大關。截至2015年12月,只用了11個月就突破了400億元目標。然而身為歷史與年度雙料票房冠軍的《捉妖記》卻被爆以“幽靈場”票房造假。數(shù)字的背后到底是“干貨”的喜悅、還是“水分”的尷尬?
測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識:
box office票房
medieval中古的,中世紀的
top-grossin(尤指電影)票房最高的
netizens網(wǎng)絡公民
distributor發(fā)行者
blackout管制
duplicate重復,輪排(電影)
China's best-selling film accused of inflating box office (401 words)
By Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai
China's box office champion for 2015 — a medieval fantasy about the child of a human man and monster queen that elbowed aside Furious 7 to become the country's top-grossing film to date — has been accused of inflating ticket sales to claim the crown.
The claims, made by state media after netizens raised doubts about the reliability of Monster Hunt's box office record, undermine the progress made by China's domestic film industry in grabbing market share from Hollywood this year.
Monster Hunt collected Rmb2.43bn ($379m) in ticket sales during its theatre run in August and September, outstripping Furious 7 by only Rmb160,000, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
The distributor has acknowledged giving away 40m tickets during the final 15 days of its run — an average of 2.7m tickets a day. That accounts for virtually all of the film's box office earnings in that period, according to calculations by National Business Daily. The film also played in theatres for 59 days compared with 47 days for Furious 7.
Total Chinese box office earnings reached Rmb40bn, a 47 per cent rise compared with 2014. Domestic films earned 59 per cent of total box office, the highest ratio in more than 10 years.
China restricts the number of foreign films shown in theatres each year to 35, up from 20 in 2012. Foreign films are also subject to an unofficial summer blackout period during which only domestic films are allowed to debut.
It is common practice for Chinese theatres and production companies to offer “public welfare screenings” with free tickets to young children, seniors, police, teachers and the disabled. Monster Hunt's distributor, Hong Kong-based Edko Films, appears to have exploited this strategy on an unusually large scale in a bid to claim the year's top spot.
Beginning in late August, netizens reported cases of theatres scheduling screenings of Monster Hunt in the middle of the night and multiple showings of the film on the same theatre screen scheduled less than 30 minutes apart. In September, state broadcaster China Central Television reported that public welfare screenings of Monster Hunt at three different theatres were empty.
Zhang Han, an Edko executive, told CCTV that “public welfare” tickets were counted in its official box office total. In a statement on its official Weibo account, Edko also acknowledged cases of overnight and duplicate screenings, and said it “instituted serious criticism” to the employees involved.
請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容,完成以下自測題目:
1.What kind of movie is the China's box office champion(2015)?
A.comedy
B.action movie
C.fantasy
D.thriller
答案(1)
2.Who was the runner-up for the box office performance?
A.Furious 7
B.Monster Hunt
C.Goodbye, Mr.loser
D.Lost in Hong Kong
答案(2)
3.What are occupied most of total box office in 2015?
A.Hollywood films
B.India films
C.European films
D.Chinese film
答案(3)
4.Who can not get the free tickets from “public welfare screenings” activity?
A.seniors
B.doctors
C. police
D.teachers
答案(4)
* * *
(1)答案:C.fantasy
解釋:文章第一段,是一部中世紀的奇幻片。
(2)答案:A.Furious 7
解釋:《捉妖記》在8月和9月的檔期斬獲24.3億元人民幣(合3.79億美元)票房,比《速度與激情7》多出16萬元人民幣。
(3)答案:D.Chinese film
解釋:國產(chǎn)電影占到了總票房的59%,這一比例為10多年來最高。
(4)答案:B. doctors
解釋:中國影院和制片公司通常會向兒童、老年人、警察、教師和殘疾人贈票,開展“公益放映”, 《捉妖記》發(fā)行方似乎大規(guī)模地采用了這種做法。