CCTV9英语新闻：Crackdown targets phantom screenings and fake sales in China

"Monster Hunt" is not the only culprit in faking box-office receipts. According to industry insiders, cooking the books has become an unspoken rule in the film industry.

 

Generally, a big box-office number generates an even bigger one. So distributors are inflating returns for the opening days of their movies, creating a false allure.

 

"Distributors will usually "purchase" tickets by some means in the first three days of release. In this way, it will make an audience think it's a good movie and want to see it. Higher attendance will also influence the movie's screening schedule in cinemas. And it's not just one case; it's quite common in the industry, " said Gao Jun, former deputy director of New Film Association.

 

Sometimes, distributors and cinemas conspire with each other, and the ploys are many. For example, 300 tickets may be sold in a movie theater of 200 seats. Or a cinema may understate its revenues in order to steal from a distributor.

 

But China's film authority has vowed to crack down.

 

In October, China launched its first government-sanctioned box-office reporting platform.

 

"Cinemas must update real-time data and numbers for a film's total admissions and screen count to the platform. In the meantime, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television  - which oversees the country's media and entertainment sectors - has issued new rules requiring cinemas to upgrade to a national digital ticketing platform to prevent theater chains from under-reporting ticket sales to 'steal' revenue," said Jiang Tao, from SAPPRFT.

  

The aim is to steer China's movie market, the second-largest in the world, to a "healthy, regulated" model, especially as the industry works more closely with foreign partners.

 

The State Administration hopes a clean market with reliable box-office numbers will attract more foreign studios and raise the market's global reputation.