China’s All-Time Highest Grossing Movie Imports

This post comes courtesy of our content partners at China Film Insider.

In 1994, China announced it would allow in 10 imported films per year that “basically reflected the finest global cultural achievements and represented the latest artistic and technological accomplishments in contemporary world cinema.”

On November 12 of that year, The Fugitive, directed by Andrew Davis and starring Harrison Ford opened in 56 movie theaters across six major Chinese cities. A runaway success, it singlehandedly ushered in the age of the Hollywood blockbuster in China with 1.4 million admissions nationwide and RMB 25.8 million (USD 3.15 million) in ticket sales.

In the years to come, the quota would increase – first to 20, when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and then its current 34 after negotiations with the MPAA in 2012.

The chart above highlights the highest-grossing imported film per year during this era – from The Fugitive in 1994 to Zootopia in 2016, showing not only the scale of China’s growth as a market, but something of the tastes of Chinese moviegoers.

Year

Title

Chinese Gross (millons of RMB)

1994

The Fugitive

25.8

1995

True Lies

103

1996

Twister

54.5

1997

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

72.1

1998

Titanic

360

1999

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

33.94

2000

U-571

29

2001

Pearl Harbor

105

2002

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

56.2

2003

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

52.2

2004

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

86.3

2005

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

94

2006

The Da Vinci Code

105

2007

Transformers

282

2008

Kung Fu Panda

182

2009

2012

447

2010

Avatar

1,340

2011

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

1,070

2012

Titanic 3D

946

2013

Iron Man

755

2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction

1,980

2015

Furious 7

2,420

2016

Zootopia

1,530

Image: AV Club