Thursday's Valentine's Day celebrations will feature not only comedy-romance films but also kung fu flicks.

In addition to Stephen Chow's heartwarming sci-fi film "CJ7," the action-packed "Kung Fu Dunk" starring Jay Chou, and Julian Jarrold's biographical film "Becoming Jane," movie buffs can see two new domestic pictures.

The matrimonial comedy "Marriage Trap" by Zhang Cheng tells a playful story of love and unexpected surprises as a man finds himself deeply infatuated by a gorgeous con artist.

Meanwhile, "A Room for Two Persons," starring veteran performers Zhu Shimao and Cong Shan, is a touching depiction of a middle-aged couple confronted with a mid-life crisis and acute marital stress.

"We made about 3.17 million yuan (US$434,000) on last year's Valentine's Day, mostly from the Hong Kong action drama 'Protégé' and Hollywood fantasy comedy 'Night at the Museum,'" said Wu Hehu, deputy director of Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city's largest cinema chain.

Wu expects even bigger audiences on Thursday as the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday ended just one day before.

Movie theaters in the city also did booming business over the seven-day Spring Festival.

Shanghai United Cinema Lines took more than 13.6 million yuan at the box office, about a 50-percent increase compared to last year.

"Kung Fu Dunk" and "CJ7" led the way with 6.78 million yuan and 5.44 million yuan respectively, accounting for more than 90 percent of movie tickets sold in the city last week.

Shanghai Film Art Center took in about 1.06 million yuan, half of which came from "Kung Fu Dunk." "Compared with the 760,000 yuan in box office sales during last year's Chinese New Year holiday, it's a big increase," said manager Shao Zhenhua.

Like many theaters, the center has a 10-percent discount on Thursday, with gifts such as T-shirts, mugs and bags.

(Shanghai Daily February 14, 2008)