SHANGHAI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Chinese film "The Mermaid" has
broken China's box office record, overtaking locally-made
"Monster Hunt" and Hollywood action movie "Furious 7", as
domestic and international film battle over China's rapidly
growing cinema market.
The comedy by Hong Kong director Stephen Chow pulled in
around 2.47 billion yuan ($379 million) by Friday night, the
official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, citing
official data from the film industry watchdog.
The record was previously held by "Monster Hunt", which took
in 2.44 billion yuan in September last year when it knocked
Hollywood car chase movie "Furious 7" off the top spot.
Foreign film-makers from the likes of Sony Corp 6758.T and
Walt Disney Co DIS.N are increasingly turning to China despite
challenges of navigating censors and having to compete to be
allocated one of the coveted 34 spots allowed for foreign films
each year.
Foreign films have traditionally dominated China's box
office, but locally-made films are posing a growing challenge.
While the North American market, still the world's largest,
has seen box office growth slow down, ticket sales in China rose
to around 44 billion yuan last year, up nearly 50 percent over
2014, Xinhua said.
"The Mermaid" is an odd-ball romantic comedy about a
businessman property developer who falls in love with a mermaid
sent to assassinate him.
($1 = 6.5202 Chinese yuan renminbi)