China's Pivotal Role in Hollywood's Billion Dollar Movie Club

[Economic superpower]

This weekend Avengers: Age of Ultron became the 21st movie in Hollywood history to top $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue. Whether it will go on to surpass the $1.5 billion global revenue mark set by its 2013 predecessor Marvel’s The Avengers (the third highest grossing film ever behind Avatar and Titanic) will ultimately come down to its performance in two key territories: North America, and the People’s Republic of China. And China is certainly doing its part: about $150 million of Age of Ultron’s total so far has come since Tuesday from the PRC, where it will tally a final gross of somewhere around $250 million.

The billion dollar box office mark isn’t so much a magic number that guarantees profitability as it is a sort of symbolic Hollywood holy grail. After all, with more than half the box office receipts going to theater owners, and as much as a half billion dollars in production expenditures and global marketing costs, most studio blockbuster films rely far more on home video, digital distribution and TV sales than they rely on box office to break into the black. The billion dollar figure is important mainly because it offers the promise of big box office bonuses to the filmmakers and studio executives behind such successes, and bragging rights for everyone involved. If Hollywood gave out platinum records the way the music industry does, they would undoubtedly go to the producers of billion dollar bonanza movies.

Until recently, before its modern day cinema boom started, China mattered little in such affairs, because it accounted for only a negligible share of global cinema revenue. But since 2011, when it emerged as Hollywood’s most important overseas box office territory, China has played an increasingly essential role as kingmaker for those films aiming for the rarefied billion dollar threshold. And more often than not in recent years the major Hollywood studios’ key objective has been to generate films that cross that ten-figure threshold.

Of the 12 films that have reached billionaire box office status since 2011, half wouldn’t have gotten there without China’s ticket sales. The two most recent Transformers films, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the Jurassic Park re-release and now Avengers: Age of Ultron all made it over the top thanks to China’s movie-going audiences.

As China’s share of the global box office continues to rise—it will exceed 16 percent market share this year—Hollywood will need to keep a close eye on movie-going trends there to continue cranking out its billion dollar hits. If current trends continue it may not be long before China starts generating billion dollar blockbusters all on its own.

 

[Jlaw]

Pretty sad really. Whatever happened to Chinese as we used to be able to buy hollywood movies on dvd before it even came out. I guess if the Chinese public want to make racist Hollywood richer, it's their choice.

 

[Beast]

Pretty sad really. Whatever happened to Chinese as we used to be able to buy hollywood movies on dvd before it even came out. I guess if the Chinese public want to make racist Hollywood richer, it's their choice.

It's called global trade. American can act and threaten but end of the day. They will think twice about taking real action against China and most US film maker dare not make racist Chinese movie instead they will make movie promoting China to pass China sensor board or please Chinese audience.

 

[Economic superpower]

It's called global trade. American can act and threaten but end of the day. They will think twice about taking real action against China and most US film maker dare not make racist Chinese movie instead they will make movie promoting China to pass China sensor board or please Chinese audience.

Yes, having a big market can bring you a lot of influence. China can use its market size to shape Hollywood movies because if these movies want to get big money, it has to please China.

 

[Jlaw]

It's called global trade. American can act and threaten but end of the day. They will think twice about taking real action against China and most US film maker dare not make racist Chinese movie instead they will make movie promoting China to pass China sensor board or please Chinese audience.

I hate to break it to you, Hollywood still depict Chinese as whores, villains or asexual nerds.

If you want to make the change, you don't buy the product hurt their bank account, not buy the product hoping for a change.

 

[Economic superpower]

I hate to break it to you, Hollywood still depict Chinese as whores, villains or asexual nerds.

If you want to make the change, you don't buy the product hurt their bank account, not buy the product hoping for a change.

You can allow movies that are pro-China or neutral to be shown in China and ban anti-China movies.

That's the way you hurt them, as anti-China movies won't have access to the Chinese market which will be the biggest market in 3 years, which will hurt their sales and thus profitability.

If you ban all of the movies, you won't have any influence.

Look how the US uses its market size to achieve its geopolitical goals. They deny access to their market for anyone that goes against them (Iran, Cuba, etc).

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Well at least the Avenger movie seems to be okay with a 74% rating.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 15%

And Furious 7 with 82%
Furious 7 (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 26.5%

However....
Transformers Age of Extinction: Rating 18%
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 29%

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Rating: 35%
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 14%

Stop encouraging bad movies to hit the Billion mark.

 

[Jlaw]

Well at least the Avenger movie seems to be okay with a 74% rating.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

And Furious 7 with 82%
Furious 7 (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

However....
Transformers Age of Extinction: Rating 18%
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 29%

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Rating: 35%
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - Rotten Tomatoes
Sales percent from China: 14%

Stop encouraging bad movies to hit the Billion mark.

These people only watch for the special effects for the most part. Transformers age of extinction was great for me when I couldn't sleep on the airplane.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

These people only watch for the special effects for the most part. Transformers age of extinction was great for me when I couldn't sleep on the airplane.

It put you to sleep?

 

[Jlaw]

It put you to sleep?

yup.

 

[Beast]

I hate to break it to you, Hollywood still depict Chinese as whores, villains or asexual nerds.

If you want to make the change, you don't buy the product hurt their bank account, not buy the product hoping for a change.

Those movie depict Chinese as whore are B grade movie or never make it pass Chinese censor board. Big block bluster wanted to make big bucks must please Chinese . take it as Chinese spend money on american to entertain us.

We cannot be like Japan who expect to export and do not spend money overseas. Global inter trade allows interaction of China and other world which in terms means projecting influence.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Those movie depict Chinese as whore are B grade movie or never make it pass Chinese censor board. Big block bluster wanted to make big bucks must please Chinese . take it as Chinese spend money on american to entertain us.

We cannot be like Japan who expect to export and do not spend money overseas. Global inter trade allows interaction of China and other world which in terms means projecting influence.

You do realize there are Chinese people living in the U.S. too.
In the new era of "political correctness" (started in 1990's) stuff like that doesn't happen much in mainstream movies.

Although it can sneak in with films made overseas.

 

[Shotgunner51]

It is just business. Hollywood is an US cultural product that have strong competitive edge in the world market, which includes China which being an important export market, certain customization is required to appeal to local customers. Look at cultural products alone, China is a net importer, the major suppliers include Hollywood, and many other content production companies (movies, TV, animation) from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Instead of off-the-shelf product import, due to the size of China market, import quota limit, as well as abundant production resources (includes financing), more and more foreign content producers are working with Chinese by forming joint ventures. This will largely boost China's domestic capability in manufacturing cultural products in the whole supply chain e.g. talent management, animation studios, special effects, music production, financial planning, marketing, etc.

Despite we have seen significant progress in Chinese cultural products e.g. the televised variety shows (TVS, 电视综艺节目) through JV with leading Korean/Taiwanese production companies, the whole industry still lacks competitiveness versus first tier countries like US, Korea and Japan. As I suggested in previous posts the government of China should further facilitate the development of the industry by relaxing censor (e.g. content grading 内容分级管理), tighten up IP protection, segregation of channel vs production (制播分离), lower the administrative entry barriers.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

You do realize there are Chinese people living in the U.S. too.
In the new era of "political correctness" (started in 1990's) stuff like that doesn't happen much in mainstream movies.

Although it can sneak in with films made overseas like "Despicable Me".

lmao what are you talking about? You still have "people" in Hollywood like Bai Ling literally acting as whores on screen. In movies in the US Asian males are almost non-existent or portrayed like Fu Manchu and 16 Candles. Take a look at Han from 2 Broke Girls, a short nerdy Korean guy leering at his white girl employees. What about William Hung? Short nerdy Chinese guy. Try portraying a black man as a similar stereotype though?

Diversity in the US is limited to the "welcomed" minorities only. Asians, especially Chinese, are actively discriminated against. Every success of Asians in the US is in spite of, not due to, the establishment.

 

[Economic superpower]

How China's Censors Influence Hollywood

Age of Ultron, the new Avengers movie, kicked off the summer blockbuster season in China last week and already has taken in more than $150 million. Fast and Furious 7 has finished up its run, pulling in more than $388 million — more than it made in the U.S. — and becoming China's all-time box-office champ.

Those huge box-office numbers underscore just how essential the Chinese market has become to Hollywood's bottom line. Because money is power, that also means the Communist Party has increasing influence over how some Hollywood movies are made and how they portray China.

China's government chooses which movies can be shown in what is now the world's second-biggest cinema market, so many filmmakers have to think more carefully about how to attract Chinese audiences and not offend the country's censors, according to scholars and theater owners.

Unlike the United States, China doesn't have a movie-rating system. So the government relies on censors at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People's Republic of China — SAPPRFT — to block content it deems offensive for general audiences. What officials find offensive can extend beyond sex, violence and foul language to politics, culture and portrayals of China.

Consider Mission: Impossible III, which was partially shot in Shanghai. The film's establishing shot of Shanghai shows Tom Cruise walking past the winking lights of the modern cityscape and then past underwear hanging from a clothesline. The movie was released in 2006. Even now, many people in Shanghai don't own dryers and hang their clothes out on the balcony to dry.

"The censors felt that it did not portray Shanghai in a positive light, so that scene was removed from the movie," says T.J. Green, CEO of Apex Entertainment, which owns and builds movie theaters in China.

"The censorship always goes back to the Communist Party. They're in charge and they're always looking at how China is portrayed," he says. "They didn't want to see something that portrayed it ... [as] a developing country."

Nor do they like to see Chinese portrayed as incapable of defending themselves. In the latest 007 movie, Skyfall, an assassin walks into a skyscraper in Shanghai's showcase financial district and shoots a security guard. Censors ordered that scene cut, too.

"My speculation would be they didn't like the fact that a foreign perpetrator comes in and a Chinese security guard just gets shot and looks weak," says Green, who adds that the scene amounts to a loss of face. From the censors' perspective, the movie is saying: "They can't secure their most prized assets in China."

Green's company, Apex, estimates the China movie market will surpass North America as the world's largest within a few years. So, some filmmakers are adding scenes — at times clumsily — to appeal to Chinese audiences.

For the Chinese release of Iron Man 3, moviemakers inserted a scene of doctors, played by major Chinese movie stars, discussing surgery on the superhero. The scene made no sense and seemed like it was from a different film. The Chinese audience I watched it with at an IMAX theater in Shanghai was bewildered.

Green says adding the scene, which was not in the global version, was seen as "a blatant attempt to try to get more Chinese audiences into the movie to make a quick buck. Some in the industry took offense to that, saying you're belittling Chinese actors and talent."

Iron Man 3 received some financing from DMG, an entertainment company in Beijing, which also backed the 2012 sci-fi movie Looper. In an attempt to appeal to Chinese audiences, the filmmakers shifted Looper's international scenes from Paris to Shanghai. Director Rian Johnson said they didn't have enough money to actually shoot in Paris and were going to have to use New Orleans.

"Our Chinese distributor stepped in and said, 'Look, if it makes sense to you for that section of the story for him to go to Shanghai instead, we can make this a co-production,' " Johnson said in a 2012 interview with the website Filmschoolrejects.com.

As a Chinese co-production, the film was not subject to the government's annual foreign import quota of just 34 movies. Some of the Shanghai scenes were cut after testing poorly in the U.S., but remained in the Chinese version.

In recent years, foreign filmmakers have also gone out of their way not to provoke the Communist Party. For instance, the 2012 remake of the Cold War action movie, Red Dawn, originally featured Chinese soldiers invading an American town. After filming was complete, though, the moviemakers went back and turned the attacking army into North Koreans, which seemed a safer target, at least until last year's hack of Sony Pictures.

Peter Shiao, who runs Orb Media Group, a film production and financing company with offices in China and the U.S., says Chinese diplomats asked him to arrange a conversation with the makers of Red Dawn.

"They were not interested in their country being perceived as a violent military threat to the lives of the average American," Shiao recalls. By then, though, Shiao says the filmmakers were already erasing references to China in post-production.

"You pick up the scenes where the Chinese flag may be on a uniform and retroactively paint them as something else," Shiao says.

Ying Zhu, a professor of media culture at the College of Staten Island at the City University of New York, worries China's growing market power is giving the Communist Party too much leverage over Hollywood.

"The Chinese censors can act as world film police on how China can be depicted, how China's government can be depicted, in Hollywood films," she says. "Therefore, films critical of the Chinese government will be absolutely taboo."

In the late 1990s, when China's box office was still small, Hollywood did make movies that angered the Communist Party, such as Seven Years In Tibet, about the life of the Dalai Lama, and Red Corner, a Richard Gere thriller that criticized China's legal system. Given the importance of the China market now, Zhu says those movies wouldn't get financing today.

When it comes to free expression in general, the situation in China these days isn't encouraging. But Shiao of Orb Media is optimistic about the long-term future of film in the country.

"The things we can see on the screens in China right now versus what was allowable 10 years ago are very, very different," he says.

Shiao thinks China's increasingly sophisticated audiences will demand better movies and not just the ones censors want them to see.