Off the wire
• Militias clash in Libya's capital  • Zambian government confirms shortage of HIV testing kits  • Cuba grants highest state honor to Venezuelan president  • Ghanaian appointed AU special representative on anti-terrorism  • 1st LD: Explosion hits central Istanbul, 5 deaths reported  • Weather forecast for world cities -- March 19  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- March 19  • Feature: Finnish enterprises hope to win bigger shares in Chinese economic story  • Venezuela's Supreme Court approves state of economic emergency  • Angola launches campaign to combat yellow fever, malaria  
You are here: 　 Home

"Ip Man 3" distributor suspended for box office fraud

Xinhua, March 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

China's film market watchdog has suspended the business of a distributor that committed fraud to jack up the box office figures for martial arts film "Ip Man 3."

Filmgoers and industry observers have been questioning the authenticity of the film's box office data after it reportedly raked in more than 500 million yuan (77.3 million U.S. dollars) in just four days after its premiere.

Max Screen, the film's distributor, bought 56 million yuan's worth of the tickets itself, and the conspirators fabricated more than 7,600 screenings of the film that they claimed generated 32 million yuan in ticket sales, said the film bureau under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television in a statement released late on Friday.

The bureau said it had ordered Max Screen to suspend distribution for a month while it "rectifies all malpractices," and that it had given serious warnings to three electronic ticket-selling groups involved in the fraud.

Seventy-three cinemas were given serious warnings. They will be reprimanded by the local film watchdog and their names will be exposed at the official website of the China association of film distributors and cinemas. Endi