One victim of the World Cup, which began on Friday, is the Chinese movie industry. Movie admissions have dropped 10%, and many cinemas have cancelled midnight screenings of Ice Age 2. Experts say the influence will be stronger as the World Cup continues.

Gaojun, the manager of one film company, said if Mission Impossible: III is released now, the box office will obviously be affected because the target audience of Mission Impossible: III are adult men -- most of them football fans. If asked to make a decision between the World Cup or Mission Impossible: III, they would choose the former without hesitation. 

(CRI June 14, 2006)