That is to say, the highest grossing home-made movie of this year, "Painted Skin: The Resurrection" which grossed over 700 million (US$112 million), can get 10 million yuan in return from film funds.
The second notice was for theaters: If the domestic films' box office revenues stand at 50 percent and above of the total annual gross of a theater chain, the fund committee will reimburse all the money a theater previously handed over to them. If the percentage is between 45 percent and 50 percent, the committee will reimburse 80 percent of the funds a theater has handed over. If it's below 45 percent, but the domestic films revenue is still more than last year's, the fund will be reimbursed by 50 percent.
Policies described in the other two notices also benefit new theaters in both rural and western areas, as well as theaters which install digital projectors before Dec. 31, 2012.
All the policies in the four notices will be effective from Jan. 1, 2013.
Since 1996, Chinese film production companies and distributors and theater chains have to hand over 5 percent of all gross revenues earned to a special "National Film Development Funds," which was set up by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and Ministry of Finance.
Authorities will use this fund to finance more films, many of which are low-budget. In the first 8 years since the fund was set up, it financed 202 films. However, the Chinese film industry went through several reforms in 2002, and there are many enterprises with the money for funding films, so the special fund was fully allocated to the development and construction of new theaters.
Last August, director Feng Xiaogang openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the "5 percent" fund. He said Huayi Brothers Media, the film company he had shares in, had to hand over 40 million yuan (US$6.42 million) to the special fund in 2010, which almost made up for 50 percent of company's annual net revenue. Feng also pointed out that those film authorities had never told society how and where they were using the funds.
One industry veteran has said the new policies are very good news and will help both sides of the dispute settle down. The profit shares dispute is expected to be resolved soon before the most important new year film season starts on Nov. 29, when Feng Xiaogang's historical epic "Back to 1942" and Lu Chuan's blockbuster "The Last Supper" will open at theaters across China.
Record number of hopefuls sit annual civil service exam
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