The latest "Transformers" movie, which features Chinese locations, actors and products, has so far earned almost as much in China as in the United States, driven by a record number of screenings for a foreign movie.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" has made an estimated $149 million in the US and $134 million in China, the world's biggest and second-biggest movie markets, respectively, according to figures from box office tracking website Box Office Mojo.
Director Michael Bay's film, which was released June 27 in both markets, heavily courted the Chinese audience by employing Chinese stars, basing part of the action in cities in China and showing Chinese products such as liquor and milk. A reality TV show to choose four people to play roles in the film helped to drum up publicity.
Observers say "Transformers" is on course to beat "Avatar" as the biggest earner at the fast-growing Chinese box office. "Avatar" earned $218 million in China in 2010.
More than half of China's more than 20,000 screens showed the fourth in the "Transformers" blockbuster franchise.
Hou Tao, vice president of leading entertainment consultancy EntGroup, said Sunday that on average 55 percent of screens were set aside for the movie at the start, which had dropped to 46-48 percent in the last few days. He said that it was a record for foreign movies, which would normally be lucky to be shown on 40 percent of screens.
Whether any other foreign movie will receive such a favorable screening "just depends on the movie itself, whether it's popular, whether it's competitive enough, and whether at the time there is no other movie to compete with it," Hou said.
He said "Transformers" had done well in China because of its Chinese elements and it hadn't had to compete with any other big movies. Also, advertisers who had arranged for their products to be shown in the movie promoted the film by offering free tickets, Hou said.
最新上映的电影《变形金刚4》中展现了中国的场景、演员和产品，迄今为止中美票房几乎持平，也在刷新着国外影片在中国的放映纪录。
据票房跟踪网站“票房魔咒”（Box Office Mojo）的调查数据，《变形金刚4》据估算已获得了1亿4900万美元的美国票房和1亿3400万美元的中国票房，美国和中国分别是世界上第一和第二大电影市场。
迈克尔·贝导演的这部电影于6月27日在中美同时上映，并通过邀请中国明星参演、在中国拍摄部分场景、以及展示白酒和牛奶等中国产品来吸引中国观众。举办电视真人秀节目，选择四名中国演员参加《变形金刚4》的拍摄这一活动也帮助影片在中国造势。
观察家指出，《变形金刚4》即将击败《阿凡达》，成为急速增长的中国票房收入的最大赢家。2010年，《阿凡达》在中国获得了2亿1800万美元的票房。
中国超过2万块银幕中的半数以上都播放了《变形金刚4》，轰动影界。
艺恩咨询公司的副总裁侯涛于周日表示，这部影片最初上映时，平均预留的排片比例是55%，这一数据前几天下降到46%--48%。他说，这已经创下外国影片的放映纪录，通常这一比例达到40%就很幸运了。
侯滔说，是否有其他外国电影也会有这么高的排片比例“只取决于电影本身，是否受欢迎，是否有足够的竞争力，是否有其他的电影与它竞争。”
他还表示，《变形金刚4》在中国大获成功是因为其中富含中国元素，而且同期也没有其它大片与它竞争。同时，在电影中推销其产品的广告商通过提供免费电影票来推广该电影。