A big-spending Chinese "role model" movie which eulogizes an oil field worker has since its production walked the tight rope between profit-making and being just an ethics sermon.

"Iron Man", a 50-million-yuan (7.32 million U.S. dollars) budget movie, had raked in 27 million yuan in box office by the end of June since it was released on May 1.

The figure did not include tens of millions of yuan from group ticket sales, according to the movie director Yin Li, who said the exact figure was not available at present.

Though far from a match for some Hollywood blockbuster films such as "Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen", which raked in 300 million yuan in 12 days on the Chinese mainland, the performance of "Iron Man" was quite impressive among home-made "role model" movies.

The director's goal of a box office of 100 million yuan is likely as there are still about three months left before the movie withdraws from the big screen.

It has, however, been a hard slog.

In the first two weeks of its release, "Iron Man" was not well received in the market. As of May 22, it recorded more than 13 million yuan in group ticket sales and less than 3 million yuan in retail.

Initially only a few cinemas showed "Iron Man", one of the major movies to mark the 60th founding anniversary of the PRC, and most of the cinemas showed it in the morning. To make things worse, it's hard to buy tickets for individuals.

"It almost became a movie reserved for a special group, instead of the public," Yin said.

A meeting, however, changed things for the better.

On May 14, the film bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), representatives of theater chains and producers met to discuss ways to promote the movie's distribution.

Measures worked out include extending the film's schedule to an unprecedented five months until the National Day, which falls on Oct. 1; increasing the number of film copies to 1,000; and mobilizing at least 5 percent of the country's 200 million trade union members to watch it.

The next day, two government documents were dispatched to theater chains, urging them to carry out the measures.

After that, sales began to improve with most of them from group ticket sales.

It was a common practice for the government to support the sales of such "role model" movies by issuing documents in China. Some experts said the government channel was an essential way for such movies to make money.

In fact, "Iron Man" is no exception.

Director Yin Li tried hard to make "Iron Man" a successful commercial film despite inherent political symbolism.

He invited popular Chinese movie stars to play key roles in the movie. He used a variety of advanced technologies to make the movie more appealing.

In the movie, two story lines intertwined - one about China's No.1 model worker Wang Jinxi, who was dubbed the "iron man" and died at 47 in 1970, and the other on a fictitious oil model worker now - and the scene constantly switches between the past and present.

"I hope this arrangement could help a young audience feel more attached to my film which depicts a bygone hero," he said.

The director is winner of several national film awards. He sometimes found the label "role model movie" itself worrying.

"The label itself will make some people, especially the young, uncomfortable these days as they know such movies aim to educate them," he said. "They could decide to stay away from such movies even before they have a knowledge of what it's like or about."

In the 1980s, the government began to encourage directors to produce "central theme" films, which uphold good ethics, optimism, and spirit and value that are in line with the socialist country. Many of them took the form of "role model" movies.

Gao Rongrong, president of the Beijing Jinjuhai Investment Company Ltd., one of "Iron Man"'s producers, did not expect much from the film in terms of economic gain.

She said, "I invested in the film because I was moved by Wang's spirit, his dedication and ethics."

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2009)