Roland Emmerich’s 2012 has set a new record for the Chinese Box Office. The film has grossed $67.3 million as of last weekend, breaking the previous mark — also set in 2009 — by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
The new record comes just a few days after the Dec. 21st ruling by the WTO which upheld an earlier ruling that said China was restricting U.S. film, music and book imports. With the ruling of the WTO, Hollywood knows they they have a better chance of bringing over more of their movies and other media into mainland China.
Bigger box office grosses for Western movies in China is good news for both Hollywood and Chinese consumers who enjoy watching Western movies. Probably not so good news for the Chinese government, however, who continue to want to curb Western influence in their country as much as possible (with Western movies and other media a big target of that).
2012 has done well domestically, but it’s done incredibly well overseas. In addition to China — which probably benefited from the plot of the film being linked to the country — the Roland Emmerich disaster film has grossed $572.79 million from overseas markets. Coupled with domestic receipts of $161.49 million, the film sits at an enormous $734.28 million worldwide.
