Unlike the years when China's New Year time film market was flooded with comedies, this year has witnessed an audio-visual banquet of movies in every genre imaginable. Several new films including two Oscar hopefuls have hit China's big screen successively towards the end of the year, ushering in a new era in the movie industry.

Perhaps Love, The Promise, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, and A Chinese Tale Story are widely expected to be four of the biggest hits in the national market with world-acclaimed directors and stars, stunning special effects, international cooperation, and strong promotion. In this holiday season, the battle for box office supremacy has begun.

Compared with last year, this year has seen an influx of heavyweight films to the market. The holiday season began 20 days earlier than last year and will last until the Chinese Spring festival, at the end of January in 2006.

 The giants' PK

On December 1, Perhaps Love premiered ahead of schedule in a bid to be the first to reap the box office, signaling the start of the battle of  New Year's films.

The opera film Perhaps Love soon met its rivals, each with its own trump card. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is an art movie, A Chinese Tale Story a comedy, and The Promise an epic.

 Perhaps Love: Chinese Moulin Rouge

Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Xun, Hong Kong veteran singer Jackie Cheung, and South Korean star Ji Jin-hee.

Premiere: Dec. 1st

Directed by: Peter Chan, Hong Kong director, writer, and producer.

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