China movie box office likely to hit US$1.5 bln in 2010
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Movie box office takings in China could exceed 10 billion yuan (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) this year, up 61 percent from the previous year, an official said Saturday.
La Peikang, a deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said the box office had surged to 6.2 billion yuan in 2009 from less than 1 billion in 2003.
China-made films grabbed a 56.6-percent share of the box office last year with competition from Hollywood blockbusters, La told a forum on animated films in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
During that period, the number of screens in world's fastest-growing major economy had quintupled to more than 5,000, including 20 percent with 3-D screens, La said.
Director James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic "Avatar" earned a record 1.3 billion yuan (190 million dollars) in China at the beginning of the year, according to the film's distributor China Film Group Corporation.
The film, which aroused great interest in 3D movies, made a record 2.7 billion U.S. dollars globally.
