Movie baron sees rosy future for Chinese screen

China's box office revenue will reach 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in 2010, says a Chinese film mogul.

Han Sanping, chairman of the State-owned China Film Group (CFG), claimed at a seminar last week that China is the world's second-largest film market, after the US, with a box office gross of 2 billion yuan over January and February.

Compared to the annual gross takings of $9.87 billion in the US in 2009, the $910 million of Chinese box office revenue is still small. But it has surged 44 percent over 2008 and realized an annual rise of more than 25 percent since 2002.

Among the 11 highest-grossing films last year, six were made by China Film Group. The star-studded The Founding of a Republic (建国大业) is by far the most profitable Chinese film, raking in 419 million yuan ($61 million).

For 2010, the studio has an ambitious plan to make more money.

Spurred by the success of Republic, another political film, The Founding of a Party (tentative title), is now in the pipeline. It will focus on the birth of the Chinese Communist Party in the early 20th century.

The group has also cooperated with Will Smith and Jackie Chan to make The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith and Chan. The film will premiere in June.

A remake of Jet Li's big screen debut Shaolin Temple will compete in the most coveted winter holiday season. The kung fu flick features a star cast including Jackie Chan and Andy Lau.

Jiang Wen is back to direct Let the Bullets Fly (让子弹飞), which gathers some of the most talented Chinese actors such as Ge You and Chow Yun-fat.

CFG will also join hands with some renowned filmmakers such as John Woo and Stephen Chow in 2010. Woo will shoot a film on the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in World War II, while Chow is directing a film on tai chi.

The studio, as the exclusive importer of the 20 foreign films allowed in mainland theaters every year, also released this year's possible choices.

On the 2010 list is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, Shrek 4, Iron Man 2 and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

The latest release is Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which hit theaters on March 14.

Jiang Defu of CFG admits that there is still a long way to go in competing with the US, where the box office gross is only one eighth of the industry's total income.

"We rely heavily on the box office, which accounts for 85 percent of the whole industry's revenue," he said at the seminar, while talking on better promotion of the group's films.

Jiang said CFG would look at more innovating marketing in 2010. Plans include making its filming base in suburban Beijing a tourist destination.