HK martial arts movie in spotlight over huge box office receipts

（CHINADAILY）IpMan3,arecentlyreleasedHongKongmartialartsfilm,isunderscrutinyforboxofficefraud,withallegationsthatthemovie'sboxofficereceiptshavebeenartificiallyhyped.

OfficialswiththeStateAdministrationofPress,Publication,Radio,FilmandTelevisionlaunchedaninvestigationthismonth,andsaidtheywouldlookintothepotentialissuesoffakedticketsales,andthesevereirregularitiesofboxofficefluctuations.

Thefakeboxofficereceiptswon'tbecounted,andimpropermarketingbehaviorwillbedealtwithaccordingtothelaw,theadministrationsaidinastatement.

Theactionmovie,whichwasreleasedonMarch4,hasruledtheChineseboxofficewithnearly600millionyuan($92million)inrevenueinjustsixdays.

InMarch,oftenalowseasonformoviesales,itsboxofficeperformancewasbeyondexpectations.

AccordingtoareportinbusinessmagazineCaijing,screeningsofIpMan3werebizarresincetheticketsweresoldoutquicklyforunpopulartimes,suchasinthemorning,atmidnight,butthecinemaswerereportedtobevirtuallyempty.

ThereportsaidthatShanghaiKuailuInvestmentGroup,theinvestorinthefilm,isinflatingticketsalesaspartofastrategytoraisecapital.

KuailurespondedinastatementthatIpMan3isagreatfilmandthereisnoneedtofabricatetheboxoffice.

Infact,itisallegedthatKuailutendstosecuritizeitsboxofficeassets,andraisefundsfromitspeer-to-peerandcrowdfundingplatforms,basedonboxofficeexpectations.

Inaddition,ShanghaiShenkaiPetroleumEquipmentCorpLtdisreportedtohaveofferedtobuyafund,andthefund'ssubjectofinvestmentistheboxofficerightsofIpMan3.

IndustrysourcessaidafewblockbusterChinesefilms,suchasLostinHongKongandMonsterHunt,havebeenthesubjectofallegedlyinflatedboxofficesales.

Thephenomenonisanunspokenruleintheindustry,sincemanyfilmproducerswillreservesomecostsasboxofficeallowances.

Moviegoerscanusuallybuyfilmticketsatadiscount,andproducerswillsubsidizetheremainderofthefullprice,whichcanberegardedasapromotionalactivity.

However,ifthereisnorealdemandtoseethefilm,butproducersbuytheticketsinadvance,thisisconsideredillegal.

PengKan,researchandconsultingdirectoratLegendMediaCo,aBeijing-basedconsultingagency,said:"Fabricatingboxofficesisnotnew,butthistimetheapproachisquiteexplicit.

"Theboxofficeofthefirstweekiskey,asitdecidesthelaterscreeningschedulesofafilmatcinemas.Hypingboxofficescanhelpafilmwithitsmarketingcampaign."