Box office revenue hits $4.8m in Jan, Feb

The box office revenue of China's cinemas in the first two months reached 3.75 billion yuan ($4.80 billion), more than that generated in the first quarter of last year, according to data released by the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association on Wednesday.

Domestic films contributed 2.9 billion yuan, taking a share of 77.3 percent.

After its premier on Dec 12, low-budget film Lost in Thailand set a new record in ticket sales for domestic films with total box office receipts of more than 1.26 billion yuan. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, the blockbuster directed by Stephen Chow and released during the Chinese New Year holidays, also had an impressive performance, with more than 1 billion yuan in ticket sales in 19 days.

Of the top 10 highest-grossing films on the Chinese mainland to date, six are domestic films, according to EntGroup Consulting, a Beijing-based entertainment industry consultancy.

Industry estimates indicate that the total revenue in the first quarter of the year could exceed 5 billion yuan, and that the annual figure could surpass 20 billion yuan, almost double that of 2010.

However, some analysts think that domestic films are still far from overtaking foreign films in terms of market share, and that the current situation is an anomaly, because in the first two months there were almost no imported blockbusters, and the success of the two domestic movies was unexpected.