Two interesting new reports about China’s box office paint very different pictures about the country’s movie industry. Everyone agrees the sector is growing at a rapid clip, and will probably eclipse the US over the next decade to become the world’s largest box office. But who exactly is fueling that growth is a subject of debate, with one report saying domestic productions are suddenly surging as another says Chinese film companies are boosting their appetite for foreign productions. The underlying factor behind this apparent paradox is a growing confluence between East and West, with foreign studios increasingly working with Chinese partners and customizing their films for Chinese audiences. Read Full Post…
The growing China-Hollywood love affair has taken an interesting and new twist with the purchase of a major bankrupt US digital effects studio by a partnership between a Chinese production house and one of India’s leading communications groups. Adding further intrigue to the picture are the bankrupt US venture’s links to blockbuster director James Cameron, who seems to have taken his own a sudden interest in the China market. If all of this sounds like something from a Hollywood movie, then perhaps it’s because so many US entertainment executives are getting overly excited about the huge potential of the Chinese movie and TV markets, which appear to finally be opening after years of being largely closed to foreign investment. My main advice to all the excited parties, both in China and the US, would be to temper their big expectations with some realism, as it’s quite possible that either Beijing or Washington could quickly become worried about this rapidly evolving love affair and take steps to cool things off.
Hollywood’s growing love affair with China continues to steam ahead with word that James Cameron, director the blockbusters “Titanic” and “Avatar”, is setting up a joint venture in the city of Tianjin. Unlike the growing number of Hollywood companies that have flocked to China this year, Cameron’s venture won’t offer any mass-market products to consumers and instead will focus on supplying technology to Chinese filmmakers to help them make more 3D moves.
