Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow may be the king of comedy films in China, according to a new survey.

一项新的调查显示，香港电影制作人周星驰是中国当之无愧的喜剧之王。

Toutiao.com, the website of a popular cellphone application, gathered data from its nearly 300 million users to show Chow's influence on cinema audiences since the 1990s.

一个受欢迎的手机应用程序的网站——《今日头条》从3亿用户中收集数据展示了星爷自上世纪90年代在观众中的影响力。

The survey, which was released in Beijing on Saturday, said the 53-year-old director, actor and scriptwriter of some of the country's most memorable¹ comedy films, was rated the most popular director in the genre².

上周六在北京公布的调查显示，53岁的星爷作为许多令人印象深刻电影的导演，演员，编剧，是电影界最受欢迎的男演员。

More than 280 million hits were recorded on Toutiao.com stories related to Chow－outstripping by almost four times those for Xu Zheng, the most popular director in the category after Chow. Xu is best-known for Lost in Thailand (2012).

《今日头条》上与星爷相关的报道点击量高达2.8亿，几乎是徐峥的四倍，徐峥是仅次于星爷的高人气喜剧片导演，他最有名的作品是2012年的《泰囧》。

Chow's new feature, Mermaid³, is the most anticipated film scheduled for release in the traditionally cut-throat Spring Festival season next year, the survey showed.

调查表明，星爷的新作《美人鱼》最受期待，预计在明年竞争最激烈的春节档上映。

His film King of Comedy (1999), in which he plays the lead role other than directing it, was found to be his best film by users of Toutiao.com.

《今日头条》用户评出星爷1999年的《喜剧之王》是最棒的电影，剧中他是男主却不是导演。

He has influenced more than a generation of Chinese with a long list of comedy films, ranging from crime thrillers⁴ to sci-fi, featuring a trademark⁵ display of his nonsensical sense of humor.

他影响了不止一代人，参演喜剧片无数从犯罪惊悚片到科幻片，以他独一无二的荒诞式幽默为标志。

For mainland audiences, many of Chow's earlier films were watched not in the theaters but online or on TV, often repeatedly.

对于大陆观众来说，许多星爷的电影并不是在影院看的，而是在网上或电视上反复观看。

The survey suggested Chinese between the ages 18 and 30 were among Chow's most avid⁶ followers⁷. They are also today's most coveted⁸ group of moviegoers.

调查表明，18-30岁的中国人是星爷的铁粉，他们也是当今最主力的观影群体。

Chow's last film, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons⁹, earned more than 1.24 billion yuan ($194 million) from the box office in 2013.

星爷上一部电影《大话西游：西游降魔篇》在2013年收获12.4亿票房（约1.94亿美元）。

In the last decade, comedy films have been driving revenues in the world's second-largest film market, according to Entgroup, a Beijing-based industry consultancy. Action and romance are the genres¹⁰ that come after comedy in China.

总部位于北京的一家咨询公司，艺恩公司称，过去十年里，喜剧电影在全球第二大电影市场中国一直是票房最大贡献力量，动作片和爱情片紧随其后。