Chinese Box Office for Terminator Genisys Surpasses North America

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Terminator Genisys, released by Paramount and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, hit the mainland Chinese market on August 23. The box office revenue of US$27 million dollars from its first day, ranking #4 on the list of first day box office revenue in China. After 10 days of release, Terminator Genisys's box office in mainland China had already overtaken North America to become the largest box office market for the film around the world. Currently, the Chinese box office gross has reached US$113 million dollars, ranking #12 on the ranking list of box office revenue of imported films, and its global box office has already surpassed the US$400 million dollar mark. Though screenings in China began two months later than North America, the film's strong performance in Chinese market was particularly important to its overall success.

Rise of the Chinese Market Changes Global Strategies of Hollywood Films
It is predicted that box office in China may reach 40 billion yuan in 2015 and that it will soon surpass North America to become the world's number one market for ticket sales. A complex market environment has taken shape in China owing to the country's large territory with territorial differences in income, climates, languages and cultures. Meanwhile, cinemas are showing more than 20 films a day on average with more than 150,000 screenings in the country. While there is huge box office potential, competition between domestic and imported films is getting fiercer than ever. Results in the Chinese market have become increasingly important for films in the global market.

China Media Movie Group (CMM Group), led the marketing efforts for Terminator Genisys in mainland China, and is also one of the global investors for the film. Well known in Chinese film industry, CMM Group is a movie company that specializes in integrated marketing operations, real-time Big Data analysis and application, film investment, film marketing and film media advertising. CMM worked together with Paramount for the first time in 2014, taking on a key role in the marketing of Transformers: Age of Extinction in mainland China.  The film garnered approximately US$319 million dollars in box office revenue in China, breaking box office records for a US film in Chinese film history and successfully reaching the US$1 billion dollar mark in global box office.

Localized Efforts of Hollywood Blockbusters
This week, China Movie Media Group and Paramount Pictures held a celebration party in Los Angeles, California, during which Brad Zhang, President and CEO of CMM Group, expressed his gratitude to Paramount Pictures.  "Our cooperation has been continuously enhanced from Transformers: Age of Extinction to Terminator Genisys—5 movies to date.  We have reached tacit understanding and developed a close friendship.  In future ventures, CMM will be able to utilize a number of new and exclusive resources and look forward to the increased profits these tools will generate back to Hollywood," said Brad Zhang. In addition, Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures expressed his regards and gratitude to CMM Group.  "We are thrilled with the successful performance of Terminator Genisys in China and are grateful to the CMM Group for their great efforts in making the film a hit. All of us at Paramount look forward to collaborating again in the future," said Moore on behalf of Paramount Pictures.

In order to rapidly adapt to Chinese market, studios with Hollywood blockbusters under profit-sharing agreements have to approach the market differently. Terminator Genisys has become an example of exemplary localized efforts. CMM has a strong foothold in the Chinese film market with a complete understanding of China's audiences, culture, media, environment and other factors and with unsurpassed resources in the industry. By using its real-time Big Data intelligence system (Film Business Intelligence or Film BI), CMM has formulated a set of marketing strategies suitable for Chinese local markets which provides a scientific and data-driven direction for film marketing campaign. CMM's inventive thinking and localized concerted efforts helped Terminator Genisys breathe new air into the Terminator franchise in China and contributed to its strong results at the box office.

For example, CMM brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to meet the audience at the film's midnight premiere. This act of promotion was a first in China that a Hollywood star attends events for a midnight film screening, and greatly helped with the film's publicity. The marketing team also arranged for Arnold to attend China's hottest variety show, thus allowing the film to receive exposure to hundreds of millions of people. These two innovative marketing tactics have become a highlight for the film's marketing in China.

The scientific marketing strategy that CMM formulated for Terminator Genisys was crucial to its success in China. CMM also possesses multiple cinema resources, including the largest cinema chain in Asia – Wanda Cinemas.  By way of a comprehensive marketing strategy including on-site marketing, such as creating Terminator themed cinemas, film-related merchandising, online ticketing platform promotional activities and dissemination of film information aimed at 43 million cinema members, the film has achieved great popularity and publicity. These main components of the marketing campaign are strong catalysts for the film's local box office success. 

About China Movie Media Group
China Movie Media Group is a leading advertising and marketing company specializing in creative multi-platform promotional activities in China for all imported foreign and limited numbers of high profile domestic movies. Its core competencies include placement of the highest valued pre-show ads (right after film trailers) in movie theaters for all imported movies, interactive in-person advertising campaigns with increasingly affluent movie goers inside more than 90% of the top 500 Chinese movie theaters (which represents 70% of total box office revenue yearly), product placements in major blockbuster movies, co-promotion activities with studios, and social media marketing campaigns for new releasing movies.

At present, China is on track to surpass the US box office revenue in 2018 after becoming the second biggest box office market in the world last year, and China Movie Media Group is the only company in China that has exclusive resources covering technology in new media marketing for film release, box office monitoring, pre-show ads, and in-theater promotional campaigns. In June 2013, China Movie Media Group was awarded "the Best Movie Advertising and Marketing Company" by the Shanghai Film Festival in China.

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SOURCE China Movie Media Group