http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/metro/userobject1ai1282320.html Yao movie a bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25/7/2005 7:47 Shanghai Daily News Yao Ming might be a big draw on the basketball court, but a documentary about the NBA star hasn't proven appealing at the box office. Seven local theaters showing "The Year of the Yao" have taken in only 80,000 yuan (US$9,877) since the movie opened in the city on July 15. "For each of the first three screenings, there were only several people sitting in the cinema," said Wang Tao, a manager at Stellar Cinema City. "Although the movie is actually an excellent one and has earned good reviews abroad, we had no choice but to reduce the number of scheduled screenings." Managers at the Paradise Warner Cinema City said only 10 to 20 people have taken in each screening. Neither cinema would reveal the exact number of tickets they have sold for the movie so far. Li Lan, a manager at Paradise Warner Cinema City attributed the movie's poor box office to a lack of promotions, and strong summer blockbuster competitors like "Madagascar" and "Mr and Mrs Smith." "If Yao himself came to town to promote the movie, I would have seen it, even though much of the content of the documentary could also be seen on the sports news on local TV," said Xu Zhongqing, a fan of Yao. Offering an insight into Yao's first year living in America and playing in the NBA, the 90-minute digital film was first screened in April at 12 theaters in the United States, where it also did poorly at the box office, despite praise from the critics. "In the past one week, we have taken around 500,000 yuan (US$60,240) in box office receipts from more than 140 cinemas across the nation," said Hu Huikang, a manager with China Digital Film Group, the movie's distributor in China. Hu said the film has a limited audience, since only basketball fans will be interested in seeing it.
There goes the whole "I know it didn't do well over here, but in China it's going to be a big hit" idea.
"Seven local theaters showing "The Year of the Yao" have taken in only 80,000 yuan (US$9,877) since the movie opened in the city on July 15. ________ Was Michael Bay the director?
No, because the movie was probably good and didnt make any money. If Michael Bay made the movie, it would suck balls and make tons of money off of people saying, "Why in the hell did I go see another Michael Bay movie?"
I don't think its that so much as it is the lack of interest the documentary and its story generate. It just never looked that compelling and anything more than what I've already seen on Sportcenter and read in articles. If the movie breached the surface and delved into cultural/racial issues Yao faced his rookie year (i.e. how bout the lack of respect from the refs ) than I would have been compelled to see it. The movie as is...well I'd go see March of the Penguins anyday over it (which I have yet to see but hear is really good)
I think if there was much more violence, sex and foul language, this movie would be a box office smash.
Are you serious...thats what the whole movie was about! I saw the movie and thought it was pretty good. As big as Yao is internationaly I think this was somewhat over-exposure for a guy who still has something to prove.
I read an article in some business magazine that many companies didn't want to promote Yao's movie because they didn't want any extra advertising for their competition. For example-Reebok didn't want to help promote it because there was footage of Yao in Nike gear (before he signed his contract with Reebok of course...) Then ditto with Pepsi not wanting to get involved because Yao's team in China was sponsored by Coke and there are images of Coca Cola in the movie. Plus the fact that Yao himself didn't promote it as much...so it was really an uphill battle to get that movie to be successful...
Well if that's what it really was about, then they did a piss poor job of marketing it. All the trailers painted the film as an hour and a half + fluff piece.
We're talking about China here guys...basically the home of bootlegs...my bet would be that everyone there has seen already it several months ago....
first,outdated....and then,most of chinese just waitting for the bt download...even the hottest fans actually,nowadays,go to cinema just making nosense ... two reasons,never shown any attractive movies..(just for me,maybe....) also we can rent or by illegal dvds...
I saw it, and it IS a 1.5 hour fluff piece. There was almost zero "insider" info on the season, which is what I was hoping for. It was intersting, but there's nothing in the movie a Clutchfan doesn't already know by heart.
