The theaters eagerly arranged additional screenings by public demand during the ten-day festival, which wrapped up on Sunday. Now, they are revising their schedules to sustain the improvement.

Starring Mina Sadati and Milad Keymaram, director Amir-Ahmad Ansari’s thriller “Rabies” had its premiere in Iran on Monday three years after its production.

The X-rated movie is about Shahrokh and Siavash, two friends who have paved a criminal path. By the help of a woman, they set a trap for a rich criminal and rob him of all his fortune and send him to jail.

The film has been screened at several international events, including the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania.

Majid Majidi’s drama “Beyond the Clouds”, which was filmed in India in 2017, and Vahid Jalilvand’s acclaimed movie “No Date, No Signature” are scheduled to hit Iranian theaters tomorrow.

“Beyond the Clouds” had its Iranian premiere at Tehran’s Kurosh Cineplex on Monday night during a special ceremony, which was attended by Majidi and a large number of Iranian cineastes.

Starring Ishaan Khattar, Malavika Mohanan and Sharada, “Beyond the Clouds” revolves around the life of a young boy, Amir, and his sister, Tara, in Mumbai. When on the run from the cops, Amir finds his estranged sister, who in a bid to protect her brother lands in jail. Their entire lives are clouded by despair when, unexpectedly, the light shines on them from beyond the clouds.

“No Date, No Signature” is about Dr. Nariman, a forensic pathologist who has a car accident with a motorcyclist and injures his 8-year-old son. He offers to take the child to a clinic nearby, but the father refuses his help and money. The next morning, in the hospital where he works, Dr. Nariman finds out that the little boy has been brought in for an autopsy after a suspicious death.

Earlier in September 2017, the film brought Jalilvand the best director award and its star Navid Mohammadzadeh was picked as best actor in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival in Italy.

“No Date, No Signature” also won a Gold Hugo Special Jury Prize at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival last October.

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China’s box-office revenues surged in 2017 after slowing sharply the preceding year, official media reported, as the world’s second-largest movie market edges closer to overtaking the US.

Ticket revenue grew 13.45 percent to 55.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) in 2017, more than triple 2016’s growth rate, state media Xinhua reported late Tuesday, citing data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT).

China’s box-office grew just 3.7 percent in 2016, dramatically slower than 2015’s 48 percent growth.

Over half of 2017’s ticket revenue came from domestic films, with record breaking patriotic action blockbuster “Wolf Warrior 2” collecting 5.7 billion yuan, topping the year’s box office list.

The American action thriller “The Fate of The Furious” came in second, with box-office revenue of 2.7 billion yuan.

International films — most of which were made in the US — grossed 25.8 billion yuan and accounted for 46 percent of 2017’s total revenue, compared to 19 billion yuan and 42 percent in 2016.

Hollywood has a keen eye on China’s potentially lucrative movie market, although Beijing strictly limits the number of foreign films that can be released in Chinese cinemas.

China also takes measures to help boost domestic films’ performance, including limiting the screening of foreign films during peak seasons and rewarding cinemas for playing more domestic titles.

In December, authorities announced cinemas will be eligible for tax refunds if over 55 percent of their annual ticket sales come from Chinese films.

Chinese cinemas pay a five percent tax on gross box-office revenue to the country’s cinema regulator for a “movie industry development special fund”.

The number of Chinese cinemagoers rose 18 percent in 2017. Nearly 10,000 new screens were built, bringing the total number to 50,776, Xinhua said.

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