hess grubbing: Caixin Online: Low-budget comedy finds success in China

By Yang Qiubo and Ge Yang

BEIJING ( Caixin Online ) ? Since its debut on Dec. 12, the low-budget comedy Lost in Thailand has earned 1.2 billion yuan ($193 million) at the box office, making it the most profitable film ever in China.

In the month since it opened, a record 38 million cinema-goers have viewed the movie, a story about three men who visit Thailand. This means the film has had more Chinese viewers than the most popular Hollywood blockbusters to hit the country, Transformers III and Avatar.

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Considering this success, Beijing-based Enlight Media /quotes/zigman/5796865 CN:300251 +0.25% , which made the film and is its main investor, said it decided to extend its run in theaters. It will also debut in Hong Kong by the end of January.

The company won?t say how much the movie cost to make, but many sources close to its production said it was only around 36 million yuan /quotes/zigman/4869230/sampled USDCNY +0.0193% .?The box office success will mean huge income for Enlight Media, which owns a 90% stake in the film.

Much to the surprise of many in the film industry, Lost in Thailand is also beating domestically made big-budget offerings, such as Back to 1942, which costs 150 million yuan to make, and The Last Tycoon, starring Chow Yun-fat.

Wang Changtian, president of Enlight Media, attributed the success to a good story, the production team, the choice of release date, and marketing and distribution efforts.

Enlight Media started making films in 2007 and now has the largest film distribution network in the country.

Gao Jun, the general manager of Shengshi Film Production Co., said that a dearth of good comedies created demand for a film like Lost in Thailand.

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Gao also said Enlight Media changed the debut date, which turned out to be critical. The original date, Dec. 21, was chosen in the hopes of cashing in on the New Year holiday. However, Enlight moved the date up to avoid direct competition with big-budget films.

Liu Cuiping, research manager of the entertainment industry analysis company EntGroup Inc., said Enlight Media made some smart marketing moves, too. For instance, both CITIC and Everbright banks have offered discounted tickets to people who use the banks? credit cards.

Also, in the days after the film opened, many banks and brokers booked an entire cinema for the film for their employees. Some of the companies hold shares of Enlight Media, Liu said.

Enlight Media?s success has cheered investors in the film industry. In the two weeks after Lost in Thailand opened, shares in the Shenzhen-listed company surged 40%. Several brokers have upgraded its rating.

But Liu warned that the success of a single film wouldn?t last long. Enlight Media hasn?t signed a long-term deal with the film?s director, Xu Zheng, who also acts in the film, Liu said, and the company needed a long-term business model to ensure continued success.

Read this report on Caixin Online.

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