Tickets for 3D Sex And Zen almost all snapped up

Almost all shows have been sold out for the R21-rated erotic comedy 3D Sex And Zen since it opened last Thursday, said its distributor Golden Village (GV). -- PHOTO: AFP

Almost all shows have been sold out for the R21-rated erotic comedy 3D Sex And Zen since it opened last Thursday, said its distributor Golden Village (GV).

'Shows were selling out from Thursday afternoon,' said a GV spokesman. She estimated that slightly over half the audience members were men, contrary to expectations for the Hong Kong film, which features both female and male frontal nudity. Curiosity, whipped up by press coverage, was certainly a factor in drawing the crowds, she added.

Opening weekend sales totalled $155,000 for 11 prints, of which seven were 3-D. The figure compares well against the first erotic 3-D film that screened here.

The Korean R21-rated thriller Natali earned $47,000 during its opening weekend in April this year. 

Playing on five screens, all in 3-D, it had an opening weekend average $9,400 a print. 3-D Sex And Zen has bested that figure by averaging sales of $14,000 a print.

'This is a good turnout when you consider that the film opened months ago in Hong Kong and Taiwan,' said the GV spokesman.

Delayed film openings are usually hurt by Internet piracy, but this does not seem to have affected the notoriously lurid, near-soft porn 3-D movie, which earned press coverage for beating the Hollywood epic Avatar in Hong Kong's opening day ticket sales.