今年聖誕檔期雖然主檔期電影已經準備就緒，可是元旦檔期的電影卻出現一個現象，就是紛紛押後映期至明年，輕則押後一周，重則押後個多月。
率先押後映期的，有迪士尼發行由史提芬史匹堡執導的《雷霆戰駒》，電影由原定的十二月廿九日押後至明年二月九日開畫，未知是否對奧斯卡入圍甚有信心，因而對映期先行押後。
至於另一部押後映期的電影，則是張藝謀執導同樣以戰爭為背景的《金陵十三釵》，電影在九月以「閉封式」公開場符合代表內地資格報名來年奧斯卡最佳外語片。電影將安排於十二月十六日在內地上映。香港映期方面，原定安排於十二月廿九日開畫，現已押後明年一月十九日賀歲。不過香港的安樂發行擬於聖誕及新年期間安排於自家院映放映優先場。
最近將映期調動的，還有馬楚成執導，湯唯、劉若英主演的《極速天使》，電影剛由十二月廿九日順延一周至明年一月五日。
在三片映期調動後，十二月廿九日映期由原本的六部電影，變成只有霍士的《翻身動物園》、邵氏與無線的《Laughing Gor之潛罪犯》及安樂的《我的華麗皮囊》，且看最終表現又會如何。
Ken Resurrected
It is only normal that less competitive movies should stay away from heavy competition. My top choice of that week is 《翻身動物園》, as Matt Damon is one of my favourite actors, and I like the film premise. However, 《翻身動物園》being able to screen that week is a testament to Fox HK’s lobbying power, as Matt Damon is hardly a box office draw in HK, but Fox HK has such a great track record in the HK market this year, that it is no surprise exhibitors shows their faith.
The real eye-opener is to see the opening of《雷霆戰駒》being delayed that long. To me, this movie does not have strong Oscar buzz. In the last 20 years, only 3 of Steven Spielberg’s movies reach the Best Picture Oscar race, all 3 of them related to WW2/Jewish, and 《雷霆戰駒》does not belong.
My take is that the disappointing grosses for ADVENTURES OF TINTIN shows that Steven Spielberg’s name cannot carry a movie too far in the HK market, so with a film premise that is hardly appealing,《雷霆戰駒》is only a marginal player and not worth battling the Christmas holiday holdovers.
As for 張藝謀 and 馬楚成, they have almost completely lose the HK market anyway.