中國成全球第二大電影市場 僅次於美國

China surpassed Japan in 2012 to become the world's second-largest movie market, behind the U.S., with box office receipts in the world's most populous nation up 36% to $2.7 billion.

中國在2012年超過日本，成爲僅次於美國的全球第二大電影市場。這個世界人口最多的國家去年票房收入增長了36%，達到27億美元。

The new data, contained in a report released Thursday by the Motion Picture Association of America, underscores the growing importance of China to Hollywood's studios despite the ongoing challenges they face in exporting their movies there.

美國電影協會(Motion Picture Association of America)週四發佈的報告中提到了上述新數據。數據凸顯出，中國對好萊塢電影製作公司的重要性正不斷增強，雖然這些公司在向中國出口電影時仍然面臨着挑戰。

Last year, concerned that foreign films were taking too big a share of box office, the government-controlled China Film distribution company released some big Hollywood movies on the same date, limiting their commercial potential.

去年，由於擔心外國電影在中國電影票房收入中佔據的份額太大，政府控制的發行公司中國電影集團(China Film Group，簡稱：中影集團)讓一些好萊塢大片在相同的檔期放映，進而限制了它們的商業潛力。

Among the blockbusters pitted against each other were 'The Dark Knight Rises,' from Time Warner Inc.'s TWX -0.44% Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures Entertainment's 'The Amazing Spider-Man.'

這些需要彼此競爭的大片包括，時代華納公司(Time Warner Inc.)旗下華納兄弟影業公司(Warner Bros. Pictures)發行的《蝙蝠俠：黑暗騎士崛起》(The Dark Knight Rises)，以及索尼影視娛樂公司(Sony Pictures Entertainment)發行的《超凡蜘蛛俠》(The Amazing Spider-Man)。

In the U.S., those films opened more than two weeks apart. China Film also imposed several 'blackout periods' during which no foreign films were allowed to play in theaters.

在美國，這些影片的上映時間至少間隔了兩個星期。中影集團還製造了幾個“空檔期”，在這段時間，中國的影院不允許放映任何外國電影。

On a conference call with reporters, MPAA Chief Executive Chris Dodd said such issues are 'still a concern' and that his Hollywood studio trade group has 'raised our concerns about that with the very highest authorities we have access to.'

在與記者進行的電話會議上，美國電影協會的首席執行長多德(Chris Dodd)說，這類問題仍然令人擔憂，並表示，他所領導的這個好萊塢電影行業組織已經就此向他們能夠接觸到的最高層部門表達了關切。

China enjoyed the fastest growth of the world's top ten movie markets, an MPAA spokesman said. Total global box office rose 6% to $34.7 billion, thanks to increases Latin America, North America and the Asia Pacific region.

美國電影協會的一名發言人說，在全球10大電影市場中，中國的增長速度最快。此外，受拉丁美洲、北美和亞太地區的增長推動，全球總票房收入增長了6%，達到347億美元。

But declines in France, Italy, Spain and other countries hurt receipts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which fell 1% to $10.7 billion.

不過，法國、意大利、西班牙和其他國家票房收入的下降影響了歐洲、中東和非洲的總票房收入，這些地區的票房收入下降了1%，至107億美元。

Box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada rose 6% to $10.8 billion, as 1.36 billion tickets were sold, 80 million more than in 2011. The average ticket price rose less than 1% to $7.96, after at least nine years of steeper price hikes. Admissions fell in both 2010 and 2011, and are down more than 10% since 2003.

美國和加拿大的票房收入增長了6%，達到108億美元，該地區2012年共售出13.6億張電影票，比2011年增加了8,000萬張。平均票價增長了不到1%，至7.96美元，此前的至少九年裏，電影票價的漲幅都更加劇烈。2010年和2011年的觀影人數都有所減少，與2003年相比減少了超過10%。

Last year's positive news hasn't continued so far this year, however, as flops like 'Jack the Giant Slayer' and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'The Last Stand' have helped to drive domestic receipts down 12% so far compared with the same period in 2012.

不過，到目前爲止，今年並沒有延續去年美國票房的增長之勢。《巨人殺手傑克》(Jack the Giant Slayer)和施瓦辛格(Arnold Schwarzenegger)的《背水一戰》(The Last Stand)等失敗之作導致今年迄今美國國內票房同比下降了12%。

John Fithian, CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, blamed the decline on a lack of diversity in the offerings from studios, saying there have been too many R-rated movies. Based on the films planned for future release, he said he expects that negative trend to turn around by the end of 2013.

美國全國影院業主協會(National Association of Theatre Owners)主席菲西恩(John Fithian)認爲，票房收入下降應歸咎於新上映的電影不夠多元化。他說，R級的影片太多了。他預計，根據未來計劃上映的影片來判斷，這個消極的趨勢將在2013年年底前發生轉變。