If You Are The One 2 doing well in the U.S.

Seems like the idea by China Lion Entertainment to release If You Are The One 2 concurrently in the U.S. and China is a smart (and brave) one, and has paid off well. Earlier today, I saw this press release come through:

On only 13 screens in NY, LA, SFO , DC and Boston, [If You Are the One 2] was the 26h biggest picture in the US over the weekend and achieved the #8 Per Screen Average nationally of some $7475 per screen. At AMC site Atlantic Times Square in LA the film was # 1 for the weekend and was a top weekend film at AMC locations in New York & San Francisco. Most LA locations sold out for prime night sessions each night.

In Canada on just 7 screens the pic finished # 15 pic nationally for the weekend and was # 2 Per Screen Average with a whopping $12,160 per screen, with AMC site Kennedy Commons in Toronto and Cineplex site Station Square in Vancouver recording the pic as the # 1 film for the weekend.

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Obviously this is a sign that the Chinese living in the U.S. are thirsty for more home produced cultural products. I personally feel that there has always been a restless sense of longing in the minds of well to-do Chinese immigrants as they look across the Pacific from the comfort of their garaged houses and see China shining with glamorous lights they'd never before seen in their adopted country. Expect more big Chinese-produced blockbuster releases to come state-side, but only from established directors (Feng, Zhang, etc). Will there ever be a market for indie Chinese films beyond the Western art-house crowd? Now that's a fascinating question. (Probable answer: never)