Hard to Get a Ticket
《阿凡达》热潮席卷中国,一票难求
Just days after the Jan. 4 premiere of Hollywood blockbuster Avatar in China, the box offices across the country had gone beyond 100 million yuan, thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans.
好莱坞大片《阿凡达》1 月4 日在中国上映以来受到了众多中国影迷的热烈欢迎,还没几天票房就已经突破1 亿人民币。
As the year’s first foreign movie in China, the sci-fi film has grabbed the imagination of tens of millions of Chinese.
作为今年中国第一部进口大片,这部科幻影片为千万中国影迷奉上了一场想象力的盛宴。
China Film Group Corp. Estimates are that the total box office take may ultimately top 500 million yuan.
据中影集团估计,这部影片的总票房将突破5 亿元。
So far, the Hollywood disaster film 2012 has fetched the most at the box office in China’s history at 460 million yuan.
截至目前,好莱坞灾难片《2012》创造了中国观影史上的最高票房纪录,4.6 亿元票房。
Though almost every movie theater in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai gives Avatar top billing, with as many as 20 show times a day, Chinese viewers still find it tough to get a ticket.
北京和上海等大城市的各大院线都为《阿凡达》安排了最优先的档期,每天最多达20 场,然而中国观众仍然觉得一票难求。
In Shanghai, to get an IMAX ticket for Avatar can mean waiting in freezing weather all night for a show three days later.
在上海,为了买到一张《阿凡达》IMAX 电影票,你必须在寒风中守一整晚,买到的还是三天后的场次。
Shanghai local media reported that on Friday, around 500 people were queuing for tickets at 8 a.m. in front of the downtown Peace Cinema, including some who had waited for 12 hours.
上海当地媒体报道,上周五早上8 点,市中心的和平影都已经有约500 人排队买票,其中一些人已经排了12 个小时。
Movie fans came equipped with quilts, wooden stools and snacks, in a scene reminiscent of that at train-station ticket windows before the Lunar New Year holidays in China, when huge numbers of Chinese travel to be with family.
排队的影迷们带上了棉被、凳子和零食,此情此景让人想起中国春运前的火车票售票窗口。
With a lack of IMAX theaters, people are traveling long distances to see the movie.
由于IMAX 影院稀缺,人们不远万里到其他城市看这部电影。
In southern China, the IMAX-equipped Dongguan Wanda theater has seen a huge influx of people from Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
无数人从广州和深圳赶到东莞的万达影院,因为那里配有IMAX 放映厅。
Wednesday afternoon, due to a technical breakdown of the system, the movie was suspended for an hour, and the sound didn’t synch with the picture.
上周三下午,影片由于系统技术故障放映暂停了一小时,随后又出现声音与画面不同步的问题。
In the end, the general manager of the theater had to beg forgiveness on his knees twice to sooth the angry audience who drove a long way to see the movie;
最后,影院总经理不得不两次向观众下跪,以平息远道而来的观众的怒火;
the theater had to refund each audience member the full ticket price as well as 200 yuan for traffic expenses.
影院方面为每位观众全额退还票价,并赔偿200 元交通费。