‘Hi, Mom’ Takes USD668 Mln at China Box Office in Big Boost to Distributor Hengten Networks
Ye Yuchen | Chen Rui
DATE:  Feb 24 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
‘Hi, Mom’ Takes USD668 Mln at China Box Office in Big Boost to Distributor Hengten Networks ‘Hi, Mom’ Takes USD668 Mln at China Box Office in Big Boost to Distributor Hengten Networks

(Yicai Global) Feb. 24 -- Chinese comedy Hi, Mom was the biggest dark horse movie over this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, a boom for its distributor Hengten Networks Group.

Hi, Mom had grossed about CNY4.3 billion (USD668 million) at the box office in the 12 days to 11.00 p.m. yesterday, ranking fourth in Chinese cinema history.

The movie’s producer, Beijing Jingxi Culture and Tourism, said on Feb. 18 that it had commissioned a distributor, guaranteeing it box office revenue of CNY1.5 billion. But as of midnight on Feb. 17, Hi, Mom had already taken about CNY2.7 billion, with about CNY60 million to CNY65 million (USD9.3 million to USD10.1 million) attributable to Jingxi Culture.

Chinese producers and distributors share movie earnings between them after deducting taxes, fees and cinema charges, which are generally a third of the box-office takings. Based on that, Jingxi Culture’s share from Hi, Mom is about 7 percent.

After Jingxi Culture’s announcement, the gain in its stock price narrowed to about 6 percent from as much as 20 percent after the holiday. The shares [SHE: 000802] closed 1.2 percent lower today at CNY5.84 (91 US cents), while the benchmark Shenzhen Component Index lost 2.4 percent.

Hengten Networks [HKG: 0136] soared almost seven-fold in the month to Feb. 17, when it peaked at HKD17.80 (USD2.30), before giving up some of the gains. The stock fell 3.7 percent today to end at HKD12.38, giving Hengten Networks a market value of HKD114.3 billion (USD14.7 billion). The Hang Seng Index was off 3 percent.

Hengten Networks said on Feb. 21 that its wholly owned unit Ruyi Films is the movie’s main producer and largest guaranteed distributor. Ruyi Films is expected to pocket a considerable part of the box-office takings though the actual percentage has not been revealed because Hi, Mom is expected to gross more than CNY5 billion.

Real estate giant Evergrande Group and tech titan Tencent Holdings own 38 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively, in Hengten Networks, making them its largest and third-biggest shareholders.

Editor: Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   BeiJing Jingxi Culture & Tourism,Hengten Networks Group,Hi Mom