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Thread: Chollywood rising

  1. #196
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    A Cuarón Chinese film?

    China’s Money Is Flooding Hollywood, But Its Films Are Sputtering In The US
    BY MATT PRESSBERG @MATTPRESSBERG ON 03/28/16 AT 5:43 PM


    Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle” did very well in the U.S. His “The Mermaid,” not so much. Pictured: Chow (right) poses with Sony Pictures Classics Co-President Michael Barker at the premiere afterparty for “Kung Fu Hustle” at Oceana in New York, March 31, 2005.
    PHOTO: EVAN AGOSTINI/GETTY IMAGES

    LOS ANGELES — Even as a deluge of Chinese cash flows into Hollywood, Chinese movies are sputtering with American audiences. And despite presiding over the world’s fastest-growing movie market — and one that may be bigger than the U.S.’s as soon as next year — China’s Hollywood ambitions apparently aren’t happening fast enough.

    At the March 25 China-U.S. Film Summit in Beijing, which featured keynote addresses from showbiz luminaries such as “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuarón and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and panels full of executives from both sides of the Pacific, there was plenty of venting about China’s inability to crack the code with American moviegoers, despite more money being pumped into its homegrown industry than ever — and those films packing local theaters.

    In her recap of the summit, ScreenDaily’s Liz Shackleton chronicled a laundry list of complaints on the topic. And it’s not just homegrown films’ seeming inability to travel that’s to blame. Despite a flurry of co-production deals between Chinese and American studios, such as China’s second-largest broadcaster, Hunan TV, ponying up $375 million to invest in a slate of films from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Perfect World Pictures’ $250 million arrangement with Universal Pictures, a true co-produced hit remains frustratingly elusive.

    Rance Pow, the chief executive of film consulting firm Artisan Gateway, said co-productions “haven’t hit their stride yet,” and that’s a major issue. David Lee, the chief executive of marketer and distributor Leeding Media, blamed subtitles. “One thing we’ve got to think about is the fact that American audiences are not used to reading subtitles in the way that other marketplaces are,” he said.

    And adding insult to injury, after a stretch where homegrown films dominated, U.S. studio films currently occupy the top two spots on China’s box-office charts. Chinese movies packed theaters during the Chinese New Year season, when its cinemas are closed to imports, but Hollywood has taken advantage of the window reopening. Disney’s “Zootopia” has made more than $173 million in China since opening March 4, and Warner Bros.’ “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opened with a $57 million weekend, which fell short of expectations but still put it comfortably in the lead.


    “Zootopia” dominated in China, but Chinese movies haven’t done much in the U.S. lately. Pictured, from left: Singer Shakira and actors Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman pose with the Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde characters at the Los Angeles premiere of the film in Hollywood, California, Feb. 17, 2016.
    PHOTO: CHARLEY GALLAY/GETTY IMAGES FOR DISNEY

    Chinese films haven’t traveled as well as one might think for a variety of reasons, including the fact that its domestic audience trends much younger than almost everywhere else, but blaming subtitles seems to miss the mark. Sure, they can clutter the screen and jokes often land at different times for the listening and reading audiences, but plenty of subtitled movies have made tons of money in the United States.

    Ang Lee’s Mandarin-language 2000 martial arts epic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was a surprise smash hit, making $128 million at the U.S. box office — and picking up an Academy Award for best foreign-language film. Another Chinese martial arts adventure, Zhang Yimou’s “Hero,” made nearly $54 million at American theaters despite being released in the U.S. nearly two years after the movie premiered in China in late 2002. And more recently, Mexican dramedy “Instructions Not Included” reeled in more than $44 million in the U.S.

    All those films resonated with American audiences despite forcing them to read words on a screen. But they also got plenty of promotion and buzz once the movies opened here — something China’s biggest-ever film, Stephen Chow’s delightfully insane comedy “Mei Ren Yu (The Mermaid)” didn’t. And maybe there’s something to giving Chinese movies some of the same hype in the U.S. that American films such as “Batman v Superman” get in China — where stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill traveled to promote the film.

    “The Mermaid” made $522 million in China and only about $3.1 million in the U.S, even though it had the highest per-theater average of any movie the first two weeks it was released here. But despite that obvious demand sign, its extremely limited footprint and lack of any kind of advertising or buzz never seemed to give it much of a chance to catch on. It maxed out at 106 theaters on March 4 — when “Zootopia” premiered and cannibalized much of its would-be audience.

    While “The Mermaid” clearly did not need American dollars to pay huge dividends, its complete lack of hype, even in Los Angeles, seems curious given China’s clear desire to be relevant in American theaters. The country’s richest man, Dalian Wanda Group founder Wang Jianlin, owns many of them — his firm owns AMC Theatres, which agreed to acquire Carmike Cinemas. And besides, the movie had an estimated $60 million production budget and a director who’s a known quantity internationally. Chow’s 2005 “Kung Fu Hustle” made $20 million in China, $8 million in Hong Kong — and $17 million in the U.S. And spending some marketing cash to give “The Mermaid’s” Mandarin-speaking megastars Deng Chao, Kris Wu, Zhang Yuqi and Show Luo a higher profile in the U.S. would seem to make sense for all parties.

    Maybe Cuarón can help crack the code. At the summit, he said he would like to make a movie in Chinese. That’s certain to get plenty of buzz on both sides of the Pacific.
    I really wanted to like The Mermaid. I love Chow's work. But it wasn't a 'delightfully insane comedy'. It was a disappointment. Anyone else here see it beyond me and RenDaHai?
    Gene Ching
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  2. #197
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    This is more like Chollywood falling...

    Of course, we're guilty of the same old thing.


    Hackneyed Hollywood Titles to Reappear in China With Chinese Characteristics
    Fergus Ryan | Mar 22, 2016 10:00 am

    It’s been clear for a while now that Hollywood has run out of ideas. Pick your favourite death knell. For some it was when they decided it would be a good idea to make a movie based on the board game Battleship. For others, it was when Sony acquired the Emoji Movie last year.
    And it’s not going to stop. On the horizon are reboots, remakes and spinoffs for Big Trouble in Little China, Heathers, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Indiana Jones and Blade Runner among others. In fact, according to Den of Geek, there are currently 107 remakes or reboots in the works.
    Now Hollywood has decided to reach into their back catalogues, dust off some old ideas, and remake them for Chinese audiences.
    Last week, Beijing-based film production company Desen International Media, announced it’s remaking the 2006 hit comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the project has already been approved for production by SAPPRFT, but curiously, Desen couldn’t confirm if it actually has the movie rights to the original Lauren Weisberger novel.
    It’s not clear who will reprise Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep’s roles, but we do know that New York City will be replaced by Shanghai for the Chinese version.
    Flagship Entertainment, the joint venture formed last September between Warner Bros, China Media Capital, and TVB, also announced it would be giving a spit and polish to the 2000 Sandra Bullock hit Miss Congeniality, as well as the woefully received 2014 Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy Blended.
    Other, totally original movies Flagship intend to make this year include the super-non-derivative-sounding Chinese Wall Street and When Larry Met Mary.
    Also on it’s way this year is a remake of the 1997 Julia Roberts romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding with Shu Qi taking Robert’s role.
    The second-bite-of-the-cherry strategy isn’t new. Last year's Only You (命中注定), starring Tang Wei and Liao Fan, was a remake of the same name 1994 romantic comedy starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.
    Here are some earlier examples of foreign fare that have been given some Chinese characteristics:


    12 Angry Men 《十二公民》
    Xu Ang's 12 Citizens adapts 12 Angry Men, setting the story in a Chinese law school.


    What Women Want 《我知女人心》
    Chen Daming’s 2011 saw Andy Lau and Gong Li replace Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.
    Cellular 《保持通话》
    2008 remake of David R. Ellis’ 2004 action crime thriller Cellular sees Louis Koo take over Jason Statham’s role.
    Bride Wars 《新娘大作战》
    Directed by Tony Chan, and starring Angelababy and Ni Ni in the roles originally played by Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway in 2009.


    High School Musical 《中国版歌舞青春》
    This attempt to transplant the glee-club phenomena fell flat on its face.

    A Simple Noodle Story 《三槍拍案驚奇》(Also known as A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop)
    Zhang Yimou’s remake of Blood Simple, the 1984 debut of the Coen brothers. Zhang switched the scene from a Texan town to a noodle shop in Gansu.
    Photos: Mtime
    Gene Ching
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  3. #198
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    a two-fer today


    Chinese Films Struggling To Find An Audience Abroad
    A story of censorship, corruption, and bad subtitles
    Charles Liu, March 31, 2016 12:34pm

    Despite the astronomical growth of Chinese films at the domestic box office, Chinese cinema is struggling to find an audience in foreign markets.

    According to a survey conducted by the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC), 30 percent of respondents considered “the thoughts and logic of Chinese films difficult to understand”, while less than 40 percent identified with the “values” expressed in the films. A third of respondents simply said they weren’t interested in Chinese films.

    The survey included 1,800 respondents from 46 different countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

    One argument as to why Chinese films are struggling abroad is a lack of marketing. Less than eight percent of surveyed respondents noticed Chinese film advertisements in their home countries, while 36 percent claim they’ve never seen any marketing for Chinese films at all.

    According to Sha Dan, with the China Film Archive, one solution to the marketing issue is more Chinese films that are co-produced with foreign production companies: “Commercial packaging is necessary for Chinese films if they want to be better accepted, no matter what genre it is,” said Sha.

    Another issue is subtitles. 70 percent of respondents said they were unsatisfied with subtitles, which often amount to nothing more than literal translations without reflecting the scene’s context. “To have quality subtitles, one will need to understand both Chinese culture and the culture of the foreign country,” said Luo Jun, deputy head of the AICCC. “We need Chinese who know foreign cultures well and expats who have an abundant knowledge of Chinese culture.”

    Feng Xiaogang, a director and actor who starred in the recent box office hit Mr Six, offers another explanation. Feng believes that Chinese films fail abroad because they are poorly made and hindered by domestic censorship regulations. Feng also questions the industry’s hiring practices: “Most of the people working in the lighting department are from Henan province,” said Feng at the recent Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). “They are not trained professionally – they got the job simply because they happen to know someone who works on the film crew.”

    Feng had previously accused the Chinese film industry of sacrificing quality for box office success. According to Feng, hit movies are actually making the Chinese film industry worse:

    They are a tremendously bad influence upon the development and production of the Chinese film industry. They cause producers to be less willing to invest in serious films that won’t make large profits.
    There is also the issue of censorship. TV screenwriter, Gao Mantang, said TV producers lean toward comedies and historical dramas to avoid state approval for their scripts. “If your script is based on reality, and if you touch [even] a little bit on social issues, or you want to talk about things in-depth, the censorship will be very, very difficult,” said Gao.

    But even without all of these disparate problems, there still remains the issue of corruption. The distributor for the recent Donnie Yen-Mike Tyson action film, Ip Man 3, had its license revoked after it was revealed the company artificially inflated the movie’s box office receipts. Claiming to have raked in 500 million yuan (77.3 million U.S. dollars) in just four days, Beijing Max Screens eventually admitted to buying 56 million yuan worth of Ip Man 3 tickets. Meanwhile, theaters colluding with Beijing Max Screens, fabricated more than 7,600 screenings of the film, falsely generating some 32 million yuan in ticket sales.

    So what does the future of Chinese cinema look like? According to Feng, it’s films that sell: “Costume dramas, and shows involving fairies and gods” he says. “Dramas made by people like me do not sell well anymore.”

    Source: China Daily, China Daily, LA Times
    Photos: News Locker

    Charles Liu
    The Nanfang's Senior Editor
    It's funny when you compare this to how Bollywood does around the world. China is so desperate for international face that they would bend over backwards to get that global hit, sacrificing all the uniqueness that makes Chollywood films so special. India don't care. They make the kind of films they like. They don't care as much what the world thinks of their cinema. If they do well internationally, that's a bonus.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #199
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    **** Cook Studios - $1/2 B

    China's Film Carnival: 5 Things to Know About **** Cook's $500M Financier
    5:00 AM PDT 4/1/2016 by Patrick Brzeski


    **** Cook
    Getty Images

    Meet the deep-pocketed Hangzhou-based company bank-rolling the former Disney Pictures chairman's new film and TV venture.

    **** Cook Studios, the upstart production company founded by former Walt Disney Studios chairman **** Cook, got a financial boost to the tune of $500 million from China's Film Carnival earlier this week.

    Under the terms of the deal, which was announced Tuesday, Film Carnival will finance 100 percent of Cook's movie projects, with an option to give "other Chinese investors [an] opportunity to invest in **** Cook Studios motion pictures on an individual basis," the companies said in a statement.

    The first film to be produced under the fund is an adaptation of Australian author John Flanagan's best-selling book series Ranger's Apprentice, which will be directed by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis from a screenplay written by Haggis and his daughter, Alissa Sullivan Haggis.

    The agreement deepens Cook's ties with Chinese money. He launched **** Cook Studios in 2015 with a $150 million investment from Citic Guoan Group Co. Ltd., a division of the state-owned Chinese conglomerate Citic Group.

    The landmark deal is the latest in a barrage of eye-popping Chinese cash injections into Hollywood film slates and production outfits. It follows Chinese real estate and investment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group's $3.5 billion acquisition of Thomas Tull's Legendary Entertainment, Beijing-based Perfect World Pictures's $250 million investment into Universal's slate and Bona Film Group's $235 million investment into six tentpoles from 20th Century Fox, among others.

    Cook is a true Hollywood veteran. He spent four decades at Disney, rising up through the ranks to serve as chairman from 2002 to 2009, overseeing the release of films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and Finding Nemo.

    Film Carnival is far less known to Hollywood — even in China, many high-level industry players have told THR they are unfamiliar with the company.

    Here are five things to know about Cook's new half-billion-dollar backers.

    1. The Lou Brothers Are in Charge

    Based in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province, Film Carnival is headed by two brothers: Lou Xiaolou is the company's chairman, while his younger brother, Lou Xiaodong, serves as president. Both are coming to the film business from financial backgrounds. The elder Lou began his career as a trader in the Shanghai Futures exchange in the 1990s, and later served as a director at Hong Kong Lianfa Securities. He is said to be enamored with the film business. Film Carnival partnered with DCS and Citic Guoan on the inaugural China-U.S. Motion Picture Summit held near Beijing last Friday. The one-day event featured panel discussions designed to encourage deeper ties between the world's two largest film industries. At one of the event's gatherings, Lou was overheard telling Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron, a keynote speaker at the event, that he loved Cuaron's work and would be willing to finance his next film "for any price."

    2. Film Carnival Is Also Known As...

    The company is also occasionally referred to as JSNH, which are the initials for its corporate name in Chinese — 嘉视年华 — which reads Jia Shi Nian Hua, literally meaning "the Golden Times of Fine Viewing/Entertainment."

    3. They Are Producing a Diverse Trio of Chinese-language Films

    Film Carnival has yet to release a film of its own. According to official documents, the company was established in 2006 with registered capital of 200 million Chinese yuan (about $31 million at today's exchange rates), but it remained relatively silent until 2015, when it signed agreements to finance and produce a film each from veteran Hong Kong commercial directors Jeffery Lau (A Chinese Odyssey (as director) and Kung Fu Hustle (as producer)) and Tony Ching (The Sorcerer and the White Snake), as well as the big-budget Chinese-language debut of South Korean arthouse star Kim Ki Duk. The Kim project caught both the Korean and Chinese industries by surprise, given that the auteur is know for producing risqué arthouse pictures that occasionally run into censorship trouble even in Korea, where the regulatory regime takes a much lighter hand than in China (His Venice Golden Lion winner, for example, featured several characteristic scenes of sexual violence). Titled Who Is God, and produced from a budget of $23.6 million (150 million yuan), the film is said to be about a fictional kingdom's wars with five foreign tribes set against a Buddhist backdrop. When the film was announced at the Busan Film Festival last October, Kim said it will be about "how politics manipulates religion" — two very taboo topics with China's censors.

    "A general phenomenon for art-house movies is that most of them struggle to survive. We strive to provide for more space for them to develop," Lou Xiaodong said in Busan, according to the state-backed China Daily.

    Jeffery Lau's project for Film Carnival is rather more conventional. Titled Ne Zha, the movie is a fantasy action movie based on the legendary figure from Chinese mythology who fights evil dragons to protect the people of the Middle Kingdom. It is targeting a February, 2017 release during the Chinese New Year.

    4. The Cash Comes From Private Equity Funds Under the Lous' Management

    For each of the films it has announced, Film Carnival has set up private equity funds managed by securities company Huafeng Investment Consultancy, where the elder Lou also serves as president. THR was not able to ascertain the source of Huafeng's financing and has reached out to the company for comment.

    5. The Company Is Also Investing in Boutique Entertainment Complexes and... Tea Houses

    Together with CITIC Guoan, Film Carnival has said it plans to build a new type of comprehensive pan-entertainment centers called "film culture experience entertainment centers," which will house different upmarket entertainment facilities including movie theaters, cultural centers, VR technology centers, gyms, and hotels. The company hopes to establish the centers in China's first-tier cities of Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

    Lou Xiaolou also appears to be an avid tea drinker. In August 2015, Film Carnival launched Xiaolou Tea House, a tea shop business named after the chairman.
    Who is God? and Nezha both sound interesting
    Gene Ching
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  5. #200
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    Chinese companies are now producing (or co-producing) some American movies. Last year, Jake Gyllanhaal's (sp?) Southpaw, as well as the upcoming Hardcore Henry, are some examples.

    As for mainland Chinese cinema and 'face', they will never cross over internationally with how they're making movies now. Mainland Chinese filmmakers need to put out a better product to ever hope to achieve crossover appeal. Obsession with 'face' is a killer.

  6. #201
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    Up 51%

    China Box Office Jumps 51% Amid Ticket Fraud Scandal
    BY ADITYA KONDALAMAHANTY ON 04/03/16 AT 7:47 AM
    China Box Office


    Will the Chinese box office exceed the U.S. in 2016? Pictured: Chinese moviegoers in Beijing, Jan. 6, 2015.
    PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

    China’s box office revenues grew 51 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to news reports Sunday that cited China National Radio. However a recent ticketing scandal has cast doubts over the accuracy of the figures.

    Ticket sales in the first three months of 2016 amounted to 14.5 billion yuan ($2.24 billion), with Chinese films accounting for almost three-quarters of the country’s box office sales, the state-run radio channel said.

    China’s movie ticket sales grossed $6.3 billion in 2015, a 48 percent jump from the year before. In February, Chinese sales of movie tickets overtook the U.S. for the first time, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Hollywood has become increasingly reliant on China — the world's second-largest film market — as the domestic market stagnates.

    In March, China’s box office watchdog suspended the license of a distributor who had artificially inflated the box office figures of a martial arts film — “Ip Man 3.”

    “These kinds of issues could be considered inevitable in a young industry, but box office fraud has become so serious that it is already harming Chinese cinema,” Zhang Hongsen, head of China’s state-run film bureau told the BRICS Post.

    China currently limits the number of foreign films that can be released in the country to 34 a year, prompting Hollywood studios — including Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. — to strike partnerships with Chinese film and media companies to make local blockbusters.
    The stupid thing about these inflated box office figures is that they are so unnecessary.

    China's box office certain to overtake US as takings up 50% in 2016's first quarter
    Huge rises in number of screens, homegrown hits and admissions have meant China set to overtake US as biggest movie market in 2017, even as Chinese ticket prices fall and local directors bemoan quality of talent


    Tale of tails … a still from The Mermaid, Stephen Chow’s comedy which has helped China’s box office to unprecedented levels of success

    Catherine Shoard and agencies @catherineshoard
    Friday 1 April 2016 11.10 EDT Last modified on Friday 1 April 2016 11.21 EDT

    China is set to become the highest-grossing cinema territory in the world next year, based on the rise in its takings over the past 15 months.

    In the last quarter, revenues from cinemas in the mainland of China rose by 50%, in line with rises witnessed throughout 2015.

    If sustained, China would make more than $10bn in 2016, closing in on the US 2015 total of $11bn. The north American box office plateaued around $10bn for eight years, before a 7.3% rise in 2015 took receipts into the teens.

    The first quarter Chinese box office gross in 2015 was RMB9.663bn, rising to RMB14.49bn for the three months just ended. Last year’s total was RMB44bn ($6.78bn).

    Takings have risen alongside the number of cinema screens: in 2015, 8,035 were added in China, at the rate of 22 per day, upping the total by around 40% to 31,627 screens. By the end of 2016, China is expected to have beaten the US, which has just shy of 40,000.

    The 51.08% year-on-year rise in admissions in China accounts for how the territory was able to combat its comparatively low ticket price: $5.36, more than three dollars cheaper than the US’s $8.38. China’s average ticket price has actually fallen 2.5% from its 2015 figure. More than 60% of bookings taken in the country are made online.

    China’s mushrooming numbers are also credited to its booming local industry, with incentives in place for cinemas which show domestic rather than Hollywood films. Chinese movies accounted for 61.48% of ticket sales in 2015, with many of the biggest hits – such as The Mermaid, The Monkey King 2 and The Man From Macau 3 – falling into this category.

    While some US movies performed well – Zootopia is currently on $207m – others did not make it to release in China. The country does not have an official certification system and all films are edited to be acceptable for all ages, with authorities and film-makers usually liaising over required cuts.

    In the case of Deadpool – which earlier this week became the best-performing R-rated film ever – the frequency of inappropriate material meant a compromise could not be met.

    Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, by contrast, was afforded release, and boosted month-end takings around the globe, including in China.

    Over the Chinese New Year period in 2016, the country set a new record for the highest box office gross during one week in one territory. It made $548m, overtaking the previous record of $529.6m, which was set over the 2015 Christmas week in north America.
    Gene Ching
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  7. #202
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    Movie merch

    I'm a little surprised that it has taken this long to start on this. After all, all the Hollywood movie merch is made in China.

    China's Film Industry Targets Merchandising as New Revenue Stream
    6:30 AM PDT 4/18/2016 by Patrick Brzeski


    The producers of Chinese hit 'Monster Hunt' are developing movie merchandise for its upcoming sequels.
    Courtesy of Edko Films

    While China's box office is surging, the country's revenue from consumer products is just a trickle compared to Hollywood, but the local industry is looking to change that.

    The explosive growth of China's box office is the envy of the global film industry. But amidst the country's surging ticket sales, many areas of China's entertainment sector still lag far behind Hollywood — none more so than movie merchandising.

    Such was the consensus on Monday at the Beijing International Film Festival's first annual Chinese Film Merchandising Summit, which featured a panel of influential executives from both Chinese and Hollywood studios.

    China's box office expanded 50 percent in the first quarter of 2016, and the country is projected to overtake North America as the world's largest theatrical territory next year.

    But as Beijing's deputy mayor Li Shixiang pointed out during a keynote preceding the panel, 80 percent of China's film-related revenue comes from box office, whereas in North America, just 30 percent comes from ticket sales.

    "The rest is made of up of derivative products," the deputy mayor said, adding: "It's very important for us to develop a merchandise industry ... Our hope is that not only the Chinese audience will know Iron Man and the Transformers, but families around the world will own figurines of the Monkey King and other Chinese characters."

    As the seminar in Beijing on Monday laid bare, the Chinese industry has begun making efforts to bootstrap its nascent merchandising business. Last year, China Film Group, the country's dominant state-backed film enterprise, created a research institute for movie merchandising in collaboration with the Beijing Film Institute, which also added a movie merchandising major to its film studies programs.

    Jeffrey Godsick, president of consumer products at 20th Century Fox, said he believes China's merchandising space will soon follow the explosive growth of the exhibition sector. He said he has made three trips to China so far this year as Fox is "spending a lot of time here looking for local partners."

    "Chinese consumers want authenticity and they want real brands," Godsick said. "This is the most exciting moment in the history of merchandising in China, because you're starting at the beginning and you understand how important it is in the industry and you're taking it very seriously."

    Jerry Ye, CEO of leading Chinese studio Huayi Brothers Pictures, agreed that the sector was important, but noted the considerable challenges Chinese studios still face in launching healthy merchandising divisions.

    "Every country's toys are manufactured in China, so why can't we produce toys for our own films?" Ye asked. "The development of the IP industry must first have an environment of copyright protection to defend our IP from knock-offs," he explained. "Otherwise, these products will only be another form of promotion for the films, and not a very good form."

    Once copyright protection is in place, Chinese studios will still require more time to develop strong franchises to build product lines around, Ye said. "We need to create our own super heroes," he said. "Your film first has to become very successful to be well-suited for merchandised products."

    Some in the Chinese industry believe changes in local tastes and improvements in copyright enforcement have already created a viable marketplace for high-quality movie goods, provided that IP holders, manufacturers and retailers can make it as easy to acquire legitimate products as it is to get pirated products.

    "Consumers' purchasing power has been growing rapidly and under these circumstances they are looking for great products and not just great films," said La Peking, chairman of China Film Group, adding: "Since 2015, the merchandising sector has been growing quickly.

    Last year, Chinese media company Mtime, which runs a popular movie reviews site and a mobile ticketing service, partnered with real estate and investment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group to launch over 50 brick-and-mortar stores in cinemas in 10 cities, laying the groundwork for a cross-country online-to-offline merchandise service. The company released a mobile app in December, making it possible for cinema chains to order licensed film goods directly to their theaters with a few clicks.

    So far, Mtime's service has mostly trafficked in Hollywood merchandise, as Chinese production companies are just beginning to develop merchandise-able franchises to feed local demand.

    In a video montage played during Monday's panel at the Beijing festival, Hong Kong director Raman Hui, director of China's second highest-grossing film ever, Monster Hunt ($385 million), noted how his film missed a merchandising opportunity during its wildly successful run in cinemas last July.

    A live-action CGI adventure-fantasy featuring a color cast of monsters, the movie would indeed ripe for development into wildly popular toys. "A lot of people were making bad knock-offs and there was not much we could do, because we didn't make any merchandise for the first film," Hui said. "At that time, I said to my boss, 'we should have started this years ago'."

    The boss in question was Hong Kong super-producer Bill Kong, chairman of Edko Films, who was among Monday's panelists.

    "Before a film comes into reality, how do you know it will become popular?" Kong said. "At the beginning of Monster Hunt, we went to McDonald's and KFC [to talk about some merchandising] and they didn't take us seriously — the talks went nowhere."

    Kong said a sequel to Monster Hunt, again directed by Hui, a DreamWorks Animation veteran, will be released in the summer of 2018, followed by a third film at a later date.

    "We'll be paying more attention to merchandising in the future," Kong said.
    Gene Ching
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    Another 2017 prediction

    Hollywood's Good News/Bad News China Problem
    5:00 AM PDT 6/8/2016 by Paul Bond


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    The country's movie industry is set to grow 19 percent a year and reach $15 billion, says PwC's new annual report, but the U.S. share of it is declining rapidly.
    After years of ratcheting projections for China's box office higher, experts now predict the country with nearly 1.4 billion citizens will overtake the U.S. (population 323 million) as the planet's most lucrative cinema market in 2017 — and absolutely crush it for years thereafter.

    That's potentially good news for the U.S.-based entertainment industry, which has made significant inroads in China. The bad news: Hollywood's share of the Chinese box office slipped from 46 percent in 2014 to 38 percent in 2015 as the quality of local films improves and a state-sponsored quota on outside movies remains. In fact, Hengdian World Studios — sprawled across 7,000 acres in eastern China — now is the world's biggest film studio.

    By 2020, China's box office is projected to top $15 billion, while the U.S. will just hit $11 billion — courtesy of 19 percent annual growth, compared with 2 percent — according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. China already has surpassed the U.S. as the largest market for 3D films. The country is adding 15 screens a day and could be primed for more because China has only 23 screens per 1 million people, compared with 125 per million in the U.S. There's also room for ticket inflation: The average price in China is projected to be $6.04 in 2020, compared with $9.02 in the U.S.

    Switching to television, the study reveals global growth would be anemic if not for strength in advertising, which is increasing at 4.7 percent annually. With competition from the internet, the U.S. TV industry — sans advertising — is projected to shrink in 2020 compared with 2019, a first during the 17 years PwC has published its annual report. Domestically, revenue from over-the-top services already has overtaken that from physical home video and is set to do so globally in 2017. An X-factor is virtual reality, which PwC's Matt Lieberman says will begin having a small effect on TV in two years. The research firm is running focus groups for clients who have turned TV content into VR experiences. "They're doing deep dives into which genres and demographics work best," he says. "This is one to watch."







    This story first appeared in the June 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
    Nice graphs...
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  9. #204
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    21 new screens a day

    Shanghai Film Festival: China to Top U.S. Screen Total by 2017, Says Wanda Cinema Chief
    8:37 AM PDT 6/12/2016 by Abid Rahman


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    Zeng Maojun says 21 new screens a day are being built in the country and that 80,000 screens is optimum number for China's population.
    China will overtake the U.S. in total number of screens next year, according to Zeng Maojun, president of Wanda Cinema Line, the country's biggest exhibitor.

    Speaking Sunday at the “Communication or Confrontation: On Capitalizing the Chinese Film Industry” forum at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Zeng said that China was adding 21 new screens a day and that the demand for new theaters was still far from maturity.

    In 2015, China had 31,627 screens, an increase of 8,035 screens from the previous year. The MPAA's annual market review put U.S. screen numbers at 40,547 in 2015, a 262-screen increase from 2014. At a rate of 21 new screens per day, China should be just shy of 40,000 screens by the end of 2016 and is on track to overtake the U.S. in early 2017.

    Maojun rejected the notion that there was a bubble in screen-building in China, which some have linked to the vagaries of shopping mall construction in the country. With China's economy slowing from its breakneck pace of the 2000s, shopping mall construction has likewise slowed. Zeng conceded that some cities such as Chengdu were at saturation point when it came to theaters, but that there were still many cities that were underserved.

    Wanda Cinema Line, part of the giant Dalian Wanda conglomerate that also owns AMC Entertainment in the U.S and Hoyts in Australia, has 6,000 screens in China and Zeng was bullish on the near-term prospects for his company and the wider market.

    He added that China could comfortably support 80,000 screens, double the U.S. number, in the coming years.

    Later in the discussion, Zeng revealed Wanda Cinema's push to increase its customer loyalty membership program, which currently stands at 60 million users in China. He also said that AMC was looking to increase its membership program from 3 million users to 10 million users by the end of 2016 and the company is seeking similar growth for Hoyts.

    The Wanda Group hopes to have 100 million members worldwide for its various theater brands by 2020. This strategy to increase membership dovetails with the group's data mining strategy, Zeng said, the plan being to have more targeted releases for audiences by category, demographically and even geographically.
    It's all about Warcraft right now.
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  10. #205
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    Good summation of the story so far

    Eastern promise: the Hollywood films making their money in China
    With Warcraft: The Beginning breaking records in Asia yet failing in its homeland, what does the future hold for American-made blockbusters?


    Big in China ... clockwise from top left, Pacific Rim, Terminator: Genisys, Warcraft: The Beginning and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
    Benjamin Lee @benfraserlee
    Tuesday 14 June 2016 13.38 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 14 June 2016 17.03 EDT

    The ambitiously, or perhaps foolishly, titled orcs v humans video game adaptation Warcraft: The Beginning was perceived as not just a standalone summer blockbuster but the first instalment in an epic new series of adventures. Before the film had even been released, director Duncan Jones was teasing that more was to come and Universal, a studio that’s seen franchises bloom in recent years from Fast & Furious to Despicable Me to Fifty Shades, was surely eyeing a Lord of the Rings style profit-making saga.

    But as every poorly received trailer and poster landed online, the buzz started to smell worse than the inside of an orc’s boot. The reviews were reflective of this undeniable stench. It was labelled “a contender for the worst movie of the year” and one reviewer hoped that the sequel “languishes in development hell forever”. Audiences made this a safe bet with a disastrous US opening of just $24.4m, meaning its domestic gross would be unlikely to make back even half of its $160m budget. Game over.

    But on the other side of the world, one country was desperately inserting coins to continue. Warcraft opened in China to a record-breaking five-day total of $156m, the highest ever debut for a foreign release, thanks to the game’s popularity, a whopping 26 brand sponsors and a stack of specially created localised marketing materials. Along with a strong showing from other countries, it’s up to $300m worldwide, with analysts suggesting that an entirely achievable $450m would be the magic break-even number that might even lead to a sequel.

    Its success has come just a week after news of John Boyega signing on to star in Pacific Rim 2, pushing the film closer to production. In 2013, this seemed an unlikely proposition. The reviews were more positive for Guillermo del Toro’s brash monster movie, but it failed to find the required audience in the US. A $101m total might sound respectable but from a $190m budget, it’s a disaster. Yet the film scored overseas, making $114m in China and topping out at $411m worldwide.


    Rinko Kikuchi in Pacific Rim. Photograph: Warner Bros

    The sequel, again teased early on by the original film’s director, was still far from a sure thing, but in the years since China’s box office has become even more important, with 2016 set to be the year that the country overtakes the US. Pacific Rim 2 then became the first Hollywood sequel to be greenlit thanks to international audiences, and, if China continues to embrace the orcs actioner, Warcraft: The Middle could well be on the way.

    However, it’s not guaranteed. The resurrection of the Terminator franchise was seen as a regrettable decision by critics and audiences in the US, but in China, Terminator: Genisys was a hit, making $113m compared with a US total of just $89m. Ultimately, Paramount decided against their planned sequel, despite a $440m worldwide number.

    There’s also a problem with heritage when it comes to Chinese blockbusters. The success of Warcraft and Pacific Rim could be traced back to their relative newness. But the success of sequels and reboots often relies on brand awareness, and since many Hollywood films have never been released in China, that’s not always easy to ensure. Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke records around the world, but it was only moderately successful with Chinese audiences and its final underwhelming gross was seen by some analysts as the reason why the film didn’t beat Avatar’s international record. The first film in the series to be released in the country was Phantom Menace in 1999, meaning the saga doesn’t have the same feverish cult following in China. The forthcoming spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has smartly recruited Chinese stars Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen.


    Joseph Gordon Levitt in Looper. Photograph: Sony Pictures/AP

    If we’re being cynical, it’s a tactical casting decision, but it’s far from a new trend. Transformers: Age of Extinction was part-funded by China Movie Channel and utilised local talent and locations, while Iron Man 3 included extra footage in China with popular actor Fan Bingbing. It all started, though, with a more modestly budgeted film: 2009’s indie time-travel thriller Looper. A co-production with a Chinese company led to a major location change from Paris to Shanghai for key scenes, extended for the Chinese release, and it became the first US film to open to more money in China than at home. Working with a Chinese company also means that the film is exempt from the country’s strict annual quota of just 34 foreign movie releases (a number that may increase next year).

    Warcraft: The Beginning was also a co-production between Universal and Legendary, a company that has recently become a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Wanda Media Group. Next year, the company is set to release prequel Kong: Skull Island and The Great Wall, a China-set fantasy adventure from director Zhang Yimou starring Matt Damon, a film that’s a clear sign of a growing commercial relationship between the two countries as well as a creative one.

    It’s still likely to leave many Hollywood films unaffected but could lead to worrying side-effects. While spectacle translates well to international audiences, humour isn’t always as easy. Guardians of the Galaxy proved a hit with critics and audiences in most of the world, but it didn’t catch on in China. The title translation to Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team goes some way to explain why the film’s unique brand of comedy was tough to convey. The less joke-heavy X-Men: Apocalypse has already eclipsed it.


    Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

    It’s also likely to affect content on a broader level, with Chinese censorship still notoriously stringent. Deadpool was denied a release in the country thanks to its violence, nudity and language, while Crimson Peak was barred because of its supernatural content as the censorship guidelines prohibit films that “promote cults or superstition”. An alarming, commercially minded future could see all blockbusters conforming to Chinese rules in order to maximise profits.

    The overseas success of Warcraft: The Beginning is an undeniable turning point for global box office, but the long-term effects remain unknown. Jackie Chan believes that it will lead to more homegrown blockbusters, once the Chinese film industry realises the money that can be made. That would make sense and hopefully curb an influx of overly modified US offerings.

    Appealing to an international audience doesn’t need to be a bad thing, but if the industry spends too much time and effort directing content to one country, one that has an entirely different view on so many issues, Hollywood could end up losing its domestic audience. Warcraft: The Beginning (and the end), please.
    It's all about Warcraft now.
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  11. #206
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    How about, rather than Hollywood movies having to conform to China's censorship rules, that the Chinese censors be less uptight, open their minds a little and adapt themselves? Of course, that's too much to ask. TBH, I've become very picky about which Hollywood 'blockbusters' I'll even watch anymore, but I do NOT believe that China should be able to dictate the content and subjects of movies made here, or anywhere else outside of China. They're using their own admittedly lucrative market (along with buying up much of the U.S., including in Hollywood) as a passive-aggressive bid at world domination, and unfortunately, far too many people and corporations in this country are only too willing to bend over and take it from them. Last I heard, the U.S. isn't a communist country (not yet, anyway).
    Last edited by Jimbo; 06-16-2016 at 07:35 AM.

  12. #207
    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    They're using their own admittedly lucrative market (along with buying up much of the U.S., including in Hollywood) as a passive-aggressive bid at world domination, and unfortunately, far too many people and corporations in this country are only too willing to bend over and take it from them.
    Greetings,

    Jimbo (thank you for the pm): I thought I was the only lit candle in the dark with regard to the above. The amount of power China is flexing is a reflection of the massive amount of debt the USA is in. It seems that the only way out would be WAR. Back in the early '90s, someone I knew predicted that the USA would get into a very big war with China. Time will tell.

    mickey

  13. #208
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    Quote Originally Posted by mickey View Post
    Greetings,

    Jimbo (thank you for the pm): I thought I was the only lit candle in the dark with regard to the above. The amount of power China is flexing is a reflection of the massive amount of debt the USA is in. It seems that the only way out would be WAR. Back in the early '90s, someone I knew predicted that the USA would get into a very big war with China. Time will tell.

    mickey
    mickey,

    I've actually been observing this since the '90s. But for all their sabre-rattling and military buildup, I have doubts that China wants to actually get into a war militarily with the U.S., or any other country that could potentially inflict damage in return. No, IMO their war is with dollars, and unfortunately, it's working very well for them. They know very well that American corporate greed, and the willingness of consumers to prefer cheaper, generally inferior products made in China over higher-quality but more expensive products produced elsewhere (among other things), is making their goal easy. China has also been buying up much of the world's gold.

    I remember hearing from an American businessman who worked in China for a time, and he said that a high-powered Chinese businesswoman flat-out told him, gleefully, that China's ultimate goal was to financially ruin/take over the U.S. and become THE number one world superpower.

    In Hollywood nowadays, there cannot even be a Chinese villain anymore. Everything has to depict them as the great partner/savior of the world. And of course, Hollywood bows down obediently and does as it's told. It's a very insidious, wolf-in-sheep's-clothing type of situation.

    Keep in mind, I'm not saying all the people in China are in on this, but it's clear that their government and big corporations certainly are.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 06-17-2016 at 07:22 AM.

  14. #209
    Greetings,

    Jimbo, I agree with your observations. It would be the US government who would want the war. It is pretty much their only vice.

    I met someone who was into finances and he shared it is the government to which the debt is owed who really calls the shots. So, the USA is very much on the brink of collapse or has already done so, with media is only maintaining appearances. This person also shared that he is glad he has dual citizenship because when it really hits the fan, he has a place to go to and live easy. He does not have one moment of worry.


    mickey

  15. #210
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    Flagship Entertainment

    Elaine Feng Named President of Warner Bros.' Chinese Studio Flagship Entertainment
    1:07 AM PDT 6/23/2016 by Patrick Brzeski


    Elaine Feng
    Flagship Entertainment

    The joint-venture studio is developing remakes of "Miss Congeniality" and Adam Sandler's "Blended," along with at least 10 other Chiense-language titles.
    Elaine Feng is the new boss of Flagship Entertainment, the Chinese film studio co-owned by Warner Bros' and China Media Capital.

    In the newly created role as President of Flagship Entertainment, Feng will oversee day-to-day operations, including staffing, operations and creative development, as well as marketing and co-production activities. Feng moves to Flagship from her role as CEO of Warner Music China, where she handled Warner Music Group's recorded music operations for the region.

    Launched in September last year as a joint venture between Warner and public equity and venture capital firm China Media Capital, Flagship Entertainment aims to produce high-end Chinese-language films for the country's booming theatrical market, as well as international territories.

    In March, Flagship announced its first slate of 12 films, including titles of every genre with a wide range of budgets. The studio is developing Chinese remakes of Miss Congeniality and Adam Sandler's Blended, along with an original disaster picture titled Crater and other titles. The studio is targeting its first release for later this year.

    "'I'm honored to lead Flagship Pictures China at this important juncture," said Feng. "Not only is this a unique opportunity to put my experience across the media, Internet and entertainment sectors to use in the rapidly growing and evolving Chinese film industry, it's also a privilege to play a role in realizing the vision so clear in the DNA of both partners — the pursuit of excellence and the creation of impactful films."

    Warner Bros veteran Richard Fox relocated to China late last year to head up and oversee the studio's minority 49 percent stake in Flagship. It is understood that Feng and Fox will work side-by-side, with no formal reporting structure between the two.

    "Elaine possesses rich experience, expertise and contacts across the creative and operational sides in both traditional media and internet space, and makes a great leader for Flagship," said Ruigang Li, chairman of CMC, in a statement. "We believe she will bring out maximum potential for our company as we establish Flagship as an important player in the Chinese-language film business within China and globally."

    Added Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros: "With Elaine, we’re getting someone with long track record of success across the Chinese entertainment industry. She's strategic, creative and well-connected, and has the knowledge and experience necessary to establish and position Flagship for ongoing success."
    That Miss Congeniality remake better have some Kung Fu.
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