Box office on Valentine's Day drops markedly year-on-year
Xinhua, February 19, 2017 Adjust font size:
China's box office sales totaled 380 million yuan (about 55.4 million U.S. dollars) on Valentine's Day, a marked decline from a record high in last year, industry figures showed Sunday.
The box office figure contracted by 35.6 percent from the same day last year, according to data released by the China Film News.
"xXx: The Return of Xander Cage," a Hollywood action movie starring Vin Diesel, was the biggest winner on the recording day, earning a whopping 150 million yuan.
The ticket sales reading dwarfed that of "La La Land," a comedy-drama starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which landed in second place with about 66.7 million yuan.
The third place went to "Revenge for Love," a domestic comedy-romance, which raked in 30.75 million yuan.
Observers said this year's box office sales were buoyant despite the drop, since Valentine's Day box office in 2016 surged largely due to that date closely following the Spring Festival holiday in that year.
The box office surge during the Spring Festival holiday in last year, which totalled 3 billion yuan from Feb. 8 to 13, spilled over into Valentine's Day, according to observers.
The box office on the day averaged about 220 million yuan for the three years from 2013. Endit