Chow's "Odyssey" to break Chinese box office record

 　　BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Stephen Chow's fantasy comedy "Odyssey¹" is poised² to become the highest grossing domestic film in China.

　　It has earned 1 billion yuan (159 million U.S. dollars) in just half a month, becoming one of only two domestic films to generate more than 1 billion yuan in box office revenues on the mainland, China Film News said Monday.

　　It took 20 days for "Lost in Thailand," the current box office record holder³, to bring in the same amount of money.

　　"Lost," a low-budget comedy, has earned gross revenues of more than 1.2 billion yuan since it debuted⁴ last December.

　　But many believe the film's record will soon be usurped⁵ by "Odyssey," as the latter will stay on Chinese theaters' "hit films" list for at least another 15 days.

　　Following the popularity of Chow's 1994 two-part film series "A Chinese Odyssey," the film is a retelling of the classic Chinese tale "Journey to the West."

　　"Odyssey" debuted on Feb. 10 and took in 80 million yuan on its first day, the biggest opening ever for a domestic film, according to figures from the film's producer, the Huayi Bros. Media Group.

　　It also reset⁶ the mainland's single-day box office record after taking in revenues of 122 million yuan on Valentine's Day. The previous single-day record was 112 million yuan earned by "Transformers III: Dark of the Moon" in 2011.

　　China is the world's second-largest film market. Its 2012 box office sales hit 17.07 billion yuan, surging 30.18 percent year on year.

1 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

2 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

5 usurped   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• That magazine usurped copyrighted material. 那杂志盗用了版权为他人所有的素材。
• The expression'social engineering'has been usurped by the Utopianist without a shadow of light. “社会工程”这个词已被乌托邦主义者毫无理由地盗用了。

6 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。