Why China Has Lost Interest in Hollywood Movies (NYT)

[entremet]

Very interesting development. And a big reason why box office receipts are lower overall. China was a huge market.

What's changed? A few things.

The pandemic did affect Chinese spending habits, much like everyone else. The Chinese government started funding more movies in line with their cultural drivers and also toeing the CCP values and more Chinese resonant marketing. And Hollywood was caught in the middle of altering films to be more CCP friendly, catching the ire of both parties in Congress.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/business/china-box-office-hollywood.html?unlocked_article_code=1.QU0.y8h4.IaccTHaHLOGu&smid=url-share

Before the sequel to "Aquaman" was released in China last month, Warner Bros. did everything it could to sustain the original movie's success.

The Hollywood studio blanketed Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with movie clips, behind-the-scenes footage and a video of an Aquaman ice sculpture at a winter festival in Harbin, a city in China's northeast. It sent the franchise's star, Jason Momoa, and director, James Wan, on a publicity tour in China — the type of barnstorming that had disappeared since the Covid pandemic. Mr. Momoa said China's fondness for the first "Aquaman" was why the sequel was debuting in China two days before the U.S. release.

"I'm very proud that China loved it, so that's why we brought it to you, and you guys are going to see it before the whole world," he said in an interview with CCTV 6, China's state-run film channel.

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"The days when a Hollywood film would make hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in China — that's gone," said Stanley Rosen, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies Chinese politics and the film industry.


China's film industry is producing more high-quality movies that resonate with domestic audiences. The country's top two films last year highlight the diversity of offerings: "Full River Red," a dialogue-rich suspense thriller, and "The Wandering Earth II," a science-fiction blockbuster heavy with special effects.

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[gdt]

Good for China, and good for anyone not looking to kowtow to the CCP. Overall gross is down, but I'm sure the hits to margin aint all that....

But I'm sure shareholders just want the big big big bigger number.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

No one wanted to see Aquaman 2. It was an international event to not see it!

 

[Ultima_5]

hopefully this will cut down on the pandering to them

 

[mreddie]

Yeah this is why Cap Marvel 2, Fast X and Aquaman 2 had massive dropoffs. China was helping these movies for so long. And now we are in a drastically different time.

 

[CupOfDoom]

Superhero movies are in their flop era so, I don't see how using them as an example here is helpful.

"no one in China wanted to see Aquaman 2", yeah, no shit, no one in America wanted to see it either.

 

[Sirhc]

No one wanted to see Aquaman 2. It was an international event to not see it!

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I was actually surprised to learn that it has apparently come out from this article, who knew?

 

[entremet]

Superhero movies are in their flop era so, I don't see how using them as an example here is helpful.

"no one in China wanted to see Aquaman 2", yeah, no shit, no one in America wanted to see it either.

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Read the article. It's free ;)

It's not just Aquaman. Funny lede tho. Everyone is cooking Aquaman still lol.

In 2023, no American films ranked among the 10 highest grossing in China despite highly anticipated sequels in the "Mission: Impossible," "Fast & the Furious" and "Spider-Man" franchises.

Neither "Oppenheimer" nor "Barbie," two of Hollywood's biggest hits last year, cracked the top 30 in China at the box office, according to Maoyan, a Chinese entertainment data provider that has tracked ticket sales since 2011. The only other recent year when Hollywood was shut out of China's top 10 was 2020, during the pandemic.

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[Joshua]

This is honestly just good for global security in general. So many companies were making stupid unethical decisions just because there were bundles of money to be made. It sucks that folks didn't do the right thing when it came to censorship in the end but hey this is the 2nd best solution I suppose.

 

[Tagyhag]

I wonder if this means no more pandering to the CCP

 

[SpoonSpatula]

Thank god - if only because it will reduce (but unfortunately not eliminate) the pandering to the CCP and the embarrassing self-censorship.

Plus, the shift allows more Chinese filmmakers to spread their creative wings and do their own thing for the domestic market.

 

[entremet]

This is honestly just good for global security in general. So many companies were making stupid unethical decisions just because there were bundles of money to be made. It sucks that folks didn't do the right thing when it came to censorship in the end but hey this is the 2nd best solution I suppose.

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As a film fan, it's also just better to avoid a monoculture in film. I'm curious to see more Chinese films as they are getting more budget now.

 

[chaostrophy]

Good for the Chinese film industry! It's always interesting to see creative work from other cultures, so I'm glad they're able to compete with Hollywood and make successful films.

 

[Finaika]

hopefully this will cut down on the pandering to them

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Thisss

 

[Raftina]

OP left out the most important reasons.

Domestic films got better and are more suited to domestic tastes. Same reason sale of South Korean goods cratered. Same reason every foreign automaker's sales except Toyota's cratered.

 

[Dolomite Shadow]

I read a really fascinating/frightening book on how the CCP used Hollywood as a backdoor into "soft power". Essentially it was a two pronged approach where they let in many more American blockbusters than before over the last 20 years while simultaneously bringing in faded studio filmmakers (Renny Harlan's done a ton of work over there) in order to study western blockbusters and apply those same techniques to their home-grown industry.

A passage that stood out to me was Chinese audiences saying they were tired of being served "hamburgers & fries" and wanted a "warm bowl of noodles" instead. They were expressing how tired they were of these VERY broad and accessible movies we kept shoving down their throats, they want movies that come from a uniquely Chinese perspective, understandably. I think they're getting those movies now and they've been wildly successful, and I'd love to see Hollywood take note; less sludge from the IP factory, please!

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Read the article. It's free ;)

It's not just Aquaman. Funny lede tho. Everyone is cooking Aquaman still lol.

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The article is making weird cultural assumptions about mid to bad movies not setting the box office on fire. It barely touches on the reasons that Barbie and Oppenheimer didn't do well (Lack of cultural attachment to Barbie and waiting to pirate non censored releases).

 

[entremet]

OP left out the most important reasons.

Domestic films got better and are more suited to domestic tastes. Same reason sale of South Korean goods cratered. Same reason every foreign automaker's sales except Toyota's cratered.

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I said that in the Op, tho. China is funding more of those projects.

The article is making weird cultural assumptions about mid to bad movies not setting the box office on fire. It barely touches on the reasons that Barbie and Oppenheimer didn't do well (Lack of cultural attachment to Barbie and waiting to pirate non censored releases).

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Mission Impossible was pretty good and historically has done better there. Also we're talking about blockbusters here, not necessarily the best films usually.

 

[Booshka]

Didn't know they made a Wandering Earth sequel, I dug the first one.

Seems like Chinese cinema got a lot better and enough Hollywood films fell off in quality for them to not really care about them.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Mission Impossible was pretty good and historically has done better there. Also we're talking about blockbusters here, not necessarily the best films usually.

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Mission Impossible under performed in every market.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

hopefully this will cut down on the pandering to them

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Well this overall is going to create more pandering, just not from Hollywood

 

[CreepingFear]

hopefully this will cut down on the pandering to them

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Amen to that. Minorities exist, no matter what Winnie the Pooh and his government would like to erase.

 

[Marvo Pandoras]

I enjoyed wandering Earth II on Netflix.

 

[mreddie]

hopefully this will cut down on the pandering to them

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Hollywood movies will just pander to other places now.

 

[bangai-o]

John Cena learned a whole new language and now they lost interest.

 

[jph139]

I feel like, at the same time Western companies stopped trying to sell to Chinese audiences, Chinese companies stopped trying to sell to international audiences, and I'm kinda bummed about that. Occasionally we get blockbusters dumped on Netflix but I feel like they rarely break through into the public consciousness or wider discussion.

Chinese language movies in general just end up with very little penetration into Western markets - like, you go back to the 70s and 80s and Hong Kong action movies have a ton of cultural penetration in the west, then in the 90s and 00s you see more arthouse stuff breaking through, winning Academy Awards, and so on. A ton of international stars birthed out of that crossover. It felt like a major part of the conversation.

That's all dried up now. Even with Michelle Yeoh winning Best Actress a couple years ago, I feel like that only happened because she was already a big name in American movies from her roles 10+ years ago. I have no idea who the current rising stars or big directors are. And that has to come down to marketing as much as anything else.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

John Cena learned a whole new language and now they lost interest.

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Now what will he do with all of his bing gi ling?!

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Some of these big Hollywood movies not do good any where so China no differnt from rest of the world lol .

 

[CupOfDoom]

Read the article. It's free ;)

It's not just Aquaman. Funny lede tho. Everyone is cooking Aquaman still lol.

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It was a strange year for blockbusters in America as well though, with most of the bigger releases being mediocre to bad, so trying to draw any larger cultural trends from this feels like a bit of a stretch.

Openhimer and Mission Impossible not doing well is a bit surprising, and to a lesser extent Barbie, but that movie had incredible marketing in the US and I don't know how well that managed to translate.

 

[entremet]

It was a strange year for blockbusters in America as well though, with most of the bigger releases being mediocre to bad, so trying to draw any larger cultural trends from this feels like a bit of a stretch.

Openhimer and Mission Impossible not doing well is a bit surprising, and to a lesser extent Barbie, but that movie had incredible marketing in the US and I don't know how well that managed to translate.

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Not a stretch at all. It's a pretty trackable trend. Only one of the Fast franchise movies hit the top 5 barely. That was in 2021.

Chinese cinema is now appealing more to its domestic audience and getting better funding.

It's such a clear trend that Hollywood itself is adjusting.

 

[AaronD]

Didn't know they made a Wandering Earth sequel, I dug the first one.

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Wandering Earth II is on Amazon Prime if you have it. I thought it was pretty good.

 

[Ceerious]

Funny that, the box office for Aquaman 2 in China exceeds that of The Marvels and Antman-3 combined. Guardian 3 was the best-performing post-endgame cape picture in China, and it is also the most praised superhero film of the recent bunch. Is this a coincidence???

OP left out the most important reasons.
Domestic films got better and are more suited to domestic tastes.

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it's in the last quote of OP

China's film industry is producing more high-quality movies that resonate with domestic audiences.

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Neither "Oppenheimer" nor "Barbie," two of Hollywood's biggest hits last year, cracked the top 30 in China at the box office, according to Maoyan, a Chinese entertainment data provider that has tracked ticket sales since 2011.

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This is where the writer loses touch with reality about how the Chinese film market works.

Even if they were released before Pendamic, films such as Oppenheimer and Barbie would not have achieved such success in China. They are considered as "Drama" not blockbusters. They both had a limited release in China. Considering their limited theatrical release, these two have been highly successful and received very well by Chinese filmgoers.

Government policy is one of the most significant influences on the box office performance of international films in China. Chinese cinema isn't a totally free capitalist market, and even from a capitalist standpoint, it benefits films with Chinese investment. A patriotic film with government backing, such as Changjin Lake, can be shown in theaters for two years without being pulled off the air, whereas international films will be dropped if they don't perform well after a month or so.

Some Hollywood movies still get top-notch promotional resources, and it's the movies that get those resources and still fail miserably that are more indicative of the declining quality(in the eyes of Chinese audiences) of Hollywood movies.

The article is making weird cultural assumptions about mid to bad movies not setting the box office on fire. It barely touches on the reasons that Barbie and Oppenheimer didn't do well (Lack of cultural attachment to Barbie and waiting to pirate non censored releases).

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Yeah. This article isn't really in-depth on some issues.

 

[Sesha]

So that leaves releases in Russia and Islamic countries where Hollywood will cut token gay bit characters and scenes out of.

 

[t26]

Meanwhile Slam Dunk movie broke record in China

China Box Office: ‘The First Slam Dunk’ Scores $55 Million in Four-Day Opening Period

Japanese animation film, ‘The First Slam Dunk’ enjoyed massive dominance of the China box office, scoring $55 million in a four-day opening period.

variety.com

 

[ReginaldXIV]

Were Barbie and the Mario movie the only ones that did extremely well last year domestically?

Looking at the list, yeesh. Barely any big budget movie lasted more than a week after opening.

 

[DPT120]

They're too busy focusing on making the next big boys love hit.

TV shows are more popular than movies in China. It makes sense because you have actors churning out like a dozen a year. Easier to watch too and stays in the public's mind longer (because of the daily/weekly releases).

 

[BossAttack]

Good.

 

[Valkerion]

Saw a few short docs on YouTube about the quality of Chinese cinema in the last few years seeing a massive upward trend in quality in recent years so it's not all that surprising I guess. Looking at clips of the movies before those it totally makes sense

 

[massoluk]

The last few times Hollywood bend over to pander to Chinese people, they backfired hilariously. The many out of place Chinese celeb cameos weirded people out. When Hollywood movies are set in ancient China, the settings are just off. That Mulan adaptation missed the mark so much on even the basic Wuxia tropes it kinda insulted fans of the genre