If breaking records is the only motive, only movies that are already big hits and are backed by financial heavyweights can afford to play this game.
However, it has more tangible benefits than simple ego boosting. A film with an enviable box-office figure may stimulate the herd mentality and attract real audiences as its stellar showing is touted as proof of its popularity.
And as a corollary, the expected turnout of the audience will be used as leverage to add more screenings by the theaters, thus squeezing out less competitive fare for the same time slots.That is why the game of inflation was not only played by Monster Hunt and Lost in Hong Kong, which were blockbusters in the first place, but by mid-size movies with the dream of leapfrogging into the major leagues－achieved by buying big chunks of seats for the first few days of release.
A movie with higher grosses will also be able to fetch a better price when sold for television or Web rights. Sometimes even movie stars may secure entire screenings to prevent the appearance of sagging popularity.
But then the line can be blurry as a dozen screenings for family and friends are considered normal, similar to giving out free samples, but blocking out hundreds of shows for so-called fans is tantamount to box-office inflation.
Touching up box-office receipts as if they are on-screen special effects has the added lure of drawing in future investment. So much hot money is flowing into showbiz that a hit movie often brings several times the size of investment as the actual size of the film's budget.
That makes production companies and stars very happy because they can all raise their asking price for future projects. The result is a bubble that looks fantastic on the outside but may be pricked at any moment.
Fortunately, film is not like food or housing, where inflation and a bursting of the bubble, if not dealt with, will harm ordinary people.
Chinese investors in showbiz, like those who flock to Hollywood, do not usually spend their lunch money but more or less treat it as a luxury－and a gamble－anyway.
People in the film industry often say that what happens off screen is often more dramatic than action on screen. The same could be true of movie business deceit, which has evolved over the years.
First it was movie theaters underreporting box-office receipts so they could pocket the difference. Now it is film companies wanting to make the numbers more enticing than they actually are.
Regulators need to keep up with the ever-changing game to ensure health and fairness in the market.
