Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in China on Saturday after generating more $1.5bn at the global box office in 19 days, putting it on course to surpass Avatar as the top grossing movie ever released.

上映19天全球票房破15亿美元的《星球大战：原力觉醒》(Star Wars: The Force Awakens)本周六将在中国上映，这使其有望超过《阿凡达》(Avatar)，成为有史以来最卖座的电影。

The Walt Disney film capped a record 2015 for Hollywood, with global receipts for all movies exceeding $38bn, thanks to a multiplex boom in China, and total US box-office returns hitting $11bn for the first time.

由迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)出品的这部电影为好莱坞创纪录的一年画上句号，2015年好莱坞全球票房总收入超过380亿美元，得益于多厅影院在中国风行，以及美国票房总收入首次突破110亿美元。

China’s cinema market is growing rapidly. Its total box office increased 49 per cent in 2015 according to state figures, generating $6.77bn in revenues. The country is adding an average of 22 new screens per day.

中国的影院市场正在迅速增长。根据官方数据，其票房总收入在2015年增长了49%，创造了67.7亿美元的总收入。中国每天平均增加22块新银幕。

If it continues to grow at its current rate China is projected to overtake the US as the world’s largest movie market by 2017.

如果按当前速度继续增长，预计中国将在2017年超过美国，成为全球最大电影市场。

Chinese screens could give a significant boost to the performance of The Force Awakens. In recent years the biggest films have performed similarly in China and the US. The Martian, the 2015 film from 21st Century Fox, made $50.1m in its opening weekend in China, which compares with its $54.4m first weekend in the US.

在中国上映可能会显著提高《原力觉醒》的票房表现。近年来，电影巨作在中国和美国的表现不相上下。21世纪福克斯(21st Century Fox)出品的《火星救援》(The Martian)在中国首映当周周末创下了5010万美元的票房，而该片在美国首映当周周末的票房为5440万美元。

The Force Awakens has already generated $740.3m in the US, making it the biggest grossing film of 2015 and the second of all time behind Avatar, which made $760.5m. With China to come, the Avatar global haul of $2.8bn is in reach.

《原力觉醒》在美国已经创造了7.403亿美元的收入，使其成为2015年最卖座的电影，及继《阿凡达》之后史上第二卖座电影，后者在美国的票房收入为7.605亿美元。由于还未在中国上映，《阿凡达》28亿美元的全球票房收入对《原力觉醒》来说触手可及。

Only part of The Force Awakens’ value lies in box-office returns. Macquarie Securities estimates that the film could generate $5bn in consumer product sales, with Disney likely to earn $500m-$1bn in royalties.

《原力觉醒》的价值并不只在于票房收入。据麦格理证券(Macquarie Securities)估算，这部电影相关的消费类产品销售收入可能达到50亿美元，而迪士尼可能获得5亿美元到10亿美元的版税收入。

Disney is also planning extensive new attractions at its theme parks, which will be linked to the film and five other Star Wars titles it has commissioned, following its 2012 purchase of the rights to the series.

迪士尼还计划在其主体公园建造大量新游乐设施，这些设施将以这部电影以及迪士尼在2012年收购《星战》系列后委托制作的另外5部《星战》影片为主题。

Disney paid $4bn to George Lucas, the creator of the series, for his Lucasfilm company. Last week he criticised The Force Awakens as “retro” and compared the original series to his children, saying he had sold them to “white slavers”. He later apologised for the comments.

迪士尼斥资40亿美元从《星战》系列的创造者——乔治戠慓斯(George Lucas)那里买下了卢卡斯电影公司。上周，卢卡斯批评《原力觉醒》是一部“复古”作品。他把原来的《星战》系列比作自己的孩子，称他把它们卖给了“逼良为娼的人”。后来他为这些言论向迪士尼致歉。

Investor anticipation about The Force Awakens lifted Disney shares over 2015. Disney and AMC Networks, home of The Walking Dead series, were the only US media companies to end 2015 with their shares up on 2014. Disney finished 2015 about 10 per cent up on the previous year.

2015年期间，投资者对《原力觉醒》的期望抬高了迪士尼的股价。2015年股价上涨的美国传媒公司只有迪士尼和制作《行尸走肉》(The Walking Dead)系列的AMC Networks。迪士尼在2015年底的股价较上年提高了10%。

Lower television ratings and fears about “cord-cutting” — the cancellation of cable and satellite television subscriptions — hit US media shares in 2015 with the S&P 500 Media Index falling 5.7 per cent, far more than the broader market, which was flat for the year.

2015年，电视收视率走低以及对“掐线”行为（取消订阅有线电视和卫星电视）的忧虑让美国媒体股遭遇冲击，标准普尔500指数(S&P 500)传媒指数(Media Index)下跌5.7%，跌幅远超与上年持平的大盘。

Weakness in the sector is a contrast to the performance of Netflix, the on-demand streaming service that has upended viewing patterns of traditional television. Netflix shares ended 2015 up 130 per cent on 2014.

该行业的疲弱同颠覆了传统电视观看模式的点播流媒体服务Netflix形成了对比。Netflix在2015年底的股价较2014年上涨了130%。