Time to get reel

The just ended movie holiday season was major for film exhibitors while the quality of domestic releases was a letdown

February 28 neatly bookends the three-month-plus "holiday season" for China's film industry, which began on Nov 20. The receipts have been tallied and box-office sales topped 3 billion yuan ($439 million). But not everyone in the industry is laughing all the way to the bank. In fact, quite a few are weeping behind closed doors. The reason is simple: Domestic releases had a lackluster response and the two Hollywood blockbusters, 2012 and Avatar, accounted for more than half of the receipts.

So the unprecedented turnout across the nation's cinemas turned out to be good news for film exhibitors, like those movie chains, but terrible news for most filmmakers.