【英语中国】《唐山大地震》为中国电影业吃下第一个Imax螃蟹

The first Chinese film to play on Imax screens opens today in China, marking the latest move by Hollywood to seek a role in one of the world's fastest-growing movie markets.

'Aftershock,' with a budget of more than $20 million (considered high by Chinese standards), from director Feng Xiaogang, is playing on more than a dozen of Imax's giant screens across China and Hong Kong.

Imax Corp. partnered with the Huayi Brothers, the film's producer, for its first commercial movie produced outside of the U.S. It's the first of three Chinese-language films that Imax and Huayi plan to release, in a deal that was announced last year. Imax says it is continuing talks with Huayi on the next two films but that nothing has yet been announced.

While Imax isn't new to China - 'Avatar,' for instance, was a hit on Imax screens earlier this year - 'Aftershock' represents Imax's first non-Hollywood major studio film. Imax has been expanding in China, announcing several deals this year with Chinese partners to increase the number of Imax screens in the country. It expects to have 57 in operation by 2012.

Hollywood is eager to tap into the growing movie industry in China, where the country's box office jumped 86% to 4.84 billion yuan ($714.2 million) in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier, according to a report this week from the state-run Xinhua news agency.

As China's home-grown commercial film business continues to mature, Feng says that having Imax's support is a 'strong and powerful' advancement for the country's movie industry. 'I am very glad and grateful that Imax chose 'Aftershock' as its first non-Hollywood Imax film.'

'Aftershock' is tear-jerker about a family torn apart by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, killing about a quarter of a million people, and reuniting decades later in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that left more than 85,000 dead or missing.

Feng is China's most commercially successful director with a string of domestic hits and possessing a Spielberg-like quality of flourishing in all types of genres.

After Thursday's opening in mainland China and Hong Kong, 'Aftershock' rolls out in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore on Friday, followed by other parts of Asia and the U.K. over the next few months. It isn't clear when the movie will see a U.S. release date.

第一部在Imax超大银幕上放映的中文影片周四在中国上映，这是好莱坞试图抢滩全球增长最快的电影市场之一的最新举措。

相关报导《唐山大地震》是一部催人泪下的电影，它讲述了一个家庭的故事，这个家庭被1976年导致约25万人丧生的唐山大地震搞得四分五裂，几十年后又因2008年的汶川大地震而重新团聚。汶川地震的死亡和失踪者超过85,000人。

冯小刚是中国在商业上最成功的导演，他执导了一系列在中国市场热映的电影，他有种斯皮尔伯格(Spielberg)的特质，能够得心应手地导演各种类型的电影。

《唐山大地震》继本周四在中国大陆和香港首映后，周五还将在澳大利亚、新西兰和新加坡推出，并将于未来几个月在亚洲其他地区和英国上映。尚不清楚这部影片何时会在美国上映。