Editing Not One Less (section)

=== Box office and release ===
{{Anchor|Box office}}
Rights to distribute the film were purchased by the China Film Group Corporation, a state-sponsored organization, and the government actively promoted the film.<ref name="Pang119" /> It was officially released in mainland China in {{Nowrap|April 1999}},<ref name="Pang118" /> although there were showings as early as mid-February.<ref name="Lu2005-129" /> Sheldon H. Lu reports that the film grossed [[Renminbi|¥]]18&nbsp;million, an average amount, in its first three months of showing; by the end of its run in November, it sold ¥40&nbsp;million at the box office.<ref name="Lu2005-129">{{Harvnb|Lu|2005|p=129}}.</ref> (In comparison, Zhang's 2002 film ''[[Hero (2002 film)|Hero]]'' would earn ¥270&nbsp;million three years later.)<ref name="Lu2005-132">{{Harvnb|Lu|2005|p=132}}.</ref> Nevertheless, ''Not One Less'' was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1999, and Laikwan Pang has called it a "box office success".<ref name="Pang118">{{Harvnb|Pang|2004|p=118}}.</ref> In the United States, the film was released in theaters on {{Nowrap|18 February}} 2000, and grossed $50,256 in its first weekend and $592,586 overall;<ref name="boxofficemojo">{{cite web | work=[[Box Office Mojo]] | url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=notoneless.htm | access-date=16 September 2009 | title=Not One Less}}</ref> The release was handled by [[Sony Pictures Classics]],<ref name="tothetest" /> and home video distribution by [[Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group|Columbia TriStar]];<ref name="Kraicer87" /><ref name="lemonde" /> ''Not One Less'' was Columbia's first Chinese film.<ref name="Redeeming">{{cite news | title=Redeeming features | work=[[South China Morning Post]] | date=22 January 2006 | last=Liu | first=Joey}}</ref>

Lu warns that domestic box office sales are not reliable indicators of a film's popularity in mainland China, because of piracy and because of state or social group sponsorship;<ref>{{Harvnb|Lu|2005|pp=126–7, 129–31}}.</ref> many workers were given free tickets to promote the film, and a 1999 report claimed that more tickets were purchased by the government than by individuals.<ref name="Pang119">{{Harvnb|Pang|2004|p=119}}.</ref> The film was more popular than most government-promoted films touting the party line and Lu claims that it had "tremendous social support",<ref>{{Harvnb|Lu|2005|p=31}}.</ref> but Pang points out that its success was "not purely egalitarian, but partly constructed."<ref name="Pang120">{{Harvnb|Pang|2004|p=120}}.</ref>

At the time of ''Not One Less''{{'}} release, DVD and VCD piracy was a growing concern in mainland China, and the [[Intellectual property in the People's Republic of China|China Copyright Office]] issued a notice forbidding unauthorized production or distribution of the film. This was the first time China had enacted special copyright protections for a domestic film.<ref name="eladies_sina">{{cite web | url=http://eladies.sina.com.cn/yige/ | access-date=5 October 2009 | title=一个都不能少 新闻摘要 (''Not One Less'' news summary) | publisher=[[Sina.com]]|language=zh}}</ref><ref name="realportrayalquote1">{{Harvnb|Liu|Xu|2007}}. "这是我国第一次对国产影片的版权实行如此正式的保护。"</ref> On {{Nowrap|21 April}} 1999, [[Hubei]] province's [[Culture Office]] issued an "Urgent Notice for Immediate Confiscation of Pirated ''Not One Less'' VCDs", and two days later the Culture Office and movie company joined forces to conduct raids on ten audio-video stores, seizing pirated discs from six of them.<ref name="eladies_sina" />