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Thread: Chollywood rising

  1. #211
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    Hate to say "I told ya so"

    I'm lying. I love to say "I told ya so."

    Hollywood’s Latest Stars Hail From China
    Big marketing efforts from Chinese partners give box-office edge to ‘Warcraft,’ other films
    “Warcraft” is now the highest-grossing video game film of all time. Watch what happens when China is fully behind a Hollywood film. Photo: AP
    Updated June 28, 2016 4:57 a.m. ET

    BEIJING—It was hard to avoid “Warcraft” in China in recent weeks.

    Bus stops in the country’s big cities and shelves in its grocery stores advertised the film based on the “Warcraft” videogame franchise. Warrior images popped up on popular ride-hailing apps and web browsers. A 6-meter-high “Doomhammer” weapon was erected in Beijing’s upscale Sanlitun shopping district.

    The movie—produced by Legendary Entertainment, the Hollywood studio purchased by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co. this year—has racked up more than $210 million from Chinese moviegoers so far. This is about five times its U.S. box-office tally, hammering home the audience numbers that a Hollywood movie can unlock in China with the help of the right Chinese partner.

    Another Chinese-backed Hollywood movie, the Lionsgate comedy “Now You See Me 2,” took in about $43 million in its first weekend after opening Friday, compared with $22.4 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. earlier in June. The movie, backed by Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., set an opening record for a Lionsgate title in China.

    At a time of ramped-up competition in China’s movie sector, whose box office is set to overtake its U.S. counterpart next year, and with Chinese regulators limiting the number of foreign movies and blocking them from opening during peak periods, Hollywood studios are increasingly looking for an edge in China.

    “Having Chinese partners on board brings the level of support to a Hollywood film that those without cannot compete with,” said Fu Yalong, research director of EntGroup, a film data company based in Beijing.

    For “Warcraft,” almost everything about how it was marketed was a study in contrast with the usual obstacles Hollywood films face in China.

    “Warcraft” was allowed to open at an opportune time, right after national college-entrance exams and during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival. That made it a prime holiday destination for a generation of videogamers—often with their dates.

    Wanda helped make sure that anyone who wanted to see the movie could. Its theater chain, China’s biggest, offered nearly 80% of its scheduling slots to “Warcraft” on its opening day, and more than 70% later that weekend.

    Other chains in which Wanda has interests also overwhelmingly showed “Warcraft” on its screens.

    Lin Hao drove across Beijing to take a look at the Doomhammer, a legendary weapon used by orc-warrior leaders. For the 30-year-old engineer, “Warcraft” struck a nostalgic note, evoking days and nights of “fighting for the horde” in dorm rooms.

    “I like special effects and reminiscing about the game,” said Mr. Lin, who took his wife, a nongamer, to watch the movie.

    When “Warcraft” started flagging at the box office in its second weekend—dropping nearly 63% compared with its opening weekend—Wanda offered free or discounted movie tickets at its theaters. The campaign filled 1.71 million seats in its theaters over three days, Wanda said.

    State regulators usually give Hollywood studios only about a month’s notice when they set a movie’s release date, leaving little time for marketing campaigns. In the case of “Warcraft,” Legendary said 26 well-established brands committed to creating commercial campaigns before the release date was set, from Ping An Insurance to dairy giant Mengniu.

    A person familiar with the matter said such sponsors contributed about $200 million in brand support, a sizable lever for Legendary, whose typical marketing budget is about $6 million or $7 million a movie, the person said.

    Hunan TV, which has co-financed a series of films with Lionsgate, has already promoted “Now You See Me 2” for months, running footage of the film’s lead characters during a satellite-television Lunar New Year extravaganza in February, one of the country’s most-watched shows.

    With about 80% of movie tickets bought online in China, the backing of one of China’s internet giants represents something of a Holy Grail for Hollywood studios.



    Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd., the film arm of Alibaba Group Holding, an investor in Paramount’s comic-book adaptation “Teenage Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” is pushing ads for the movie across Alibaba’s network, including ticketing platforms, the Taobao online store and the Weibo social-media platform.

    Leveraging its reach, Alibaba is using big data from its ticketing platform and Taobao to send digital discount codes to a targeted audience and is working with more than 100 brands, in areas such as food delivery, popcorn and supermarkets, to use images from the “Turtles” in ads across China’s cities.

    Tencent Holding Ltd., an investor in “Warcraft,” promoted it on its social-media platforms QQ and WeChat, each with hundreds of millions of active users, and ran ads with its exclusively streamed videos of National Basketball Association championship games to tens of millions.

    Legendary has yet to decide whether there will be a sequel to “Warcraft,” but is now working on sequels to the sci-fi film “Pacific Rim,” which grossed more in China than stateside, and the monster film “Godzilla.” The company said it aims to develop these two sequels as China-U.S. co-productions.

    For the Chinese partners, besides sharing in the box office, there are other advantages to the Hollywood ties.

    “Working with the best foreign production companies will help us to bring our own Chinese content to the outside world in the future,” said Zhou Shixing, chief content officer of Hunan TV.

    —Lilian Lin
    Gene Ching
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  2. #212
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    Interesting move...

    ...didn't quite see that coming, but we should have...

    China Lifts Summer Blackout on Hollywood Films Amid Box-Office Slowdown
    4:06 AM PDT 7/8/2016 by Patrick Brzeski


    "The Legend of Tarzan"
    Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

    After years of blocking Hollywood movies during the peak summer blockbuster season, why is China letting a few foreign tentpoles back in?
    China's film authorities appear to be taking a step back from one of Hollywood's least favorite policies.

    For years, Chinese regulators have imposed a blackout on foreign-film imports during the peak summer blockbuster season. Known locally as a "domestic movie protection period," the policy was designed to boost the local industry by giving Chinese-made movies an uncontested run at cinemas during the summer school break, which lasts, roughly, from late June through August. Additional blackouts are instituted during Chinese New Year in February and during the Golden Week holiday in October.

    Last year's summer blackout ran June 19 to Aug. 23. It had the desired effect: Raman Hui's CGI-live-action fantasy Monster Hunt grossed $385.2 million to become China's then biggest film ever, and other local pictures like Monkey King and superhero spoof Pancake Man earned over $150 million each.

    But regulators have loosened their grip for this summer. According to precedents set in recent years, Independence Day: Resurgence, released June 24, should have been the last Hollywood tentpole to market, but instead Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was granted a July 2 release date (it easily won the weekend against a Chinese-Korean co-production). More surprising, Warner Bros.' The Legend of Tarzan has been scheduled for July 19 — Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie were in Beijing promoting the movie Thursday night — and Universal's The Secret Life of Pets is set for Aug. 2. Chinese production companies will then get a reprieve until Ice Age: Collision Course comes out on Aug. 23 and Jason Bourne bows on Sept. 1.

    Insiders say two factors are behind the policy shift.

    "There are two stats that matter to the people who make these decisions," a Beijing-based executive tells THR, asking not to be named while commenting on policy matters. "One is the market share of foreign films versus local movies, and the other is the overall growth rate at the end of the year — the second stat is probably slightly more important," the executive adds.

    In the first quarter of 2016, Chinese films did historic business. Led by Stephen Chow's The Mermaid, which earned $528 million from China alone, local movies accounted for nearly 75 percent of the box office over the quarter, fueling year-over-year growth of 51 percent. This big early lead likely gave regulators confidence that Chinese movies would maintain at least more than 50 percent market share by year's end, which the central government is understood to insist upon.

    But the second quarter presented an almost opposite picture. For the first time in over five years, the overall Chinese box office shrank for a full quarter, slipping nearly 5 percent compared with the same period in 2015. Spring is usually a Hollywood-designated release window, and imports indeed led the way, taking $1.1 billion (topped by Legendary Entertainment's Warcraft with $220.8 million), but this represented a year-over-year gain of just under 2 percent. Local movies, meanwhile, totaled just $374 million during the second quarter, a 21 percent fall from last year. Still, Chinese films accounted for 53.1 percent market share in the first half of the year thanks to the big hits of the first quarter. (The data was supplied by Beijing-based box office monitor Ent Group.)

    Insiders say regulators may have let a few Hollywood titles in this summer to hedge against the possible continued under-performance of local movies. "I don't see anything coming out soon that looks like it's going to light people's hair on fire," says one source.

    "In the absence of very strong Chinese movies, if you put in a two-month blackout, the theaters are going to struggle and that's bad for the industry," says the Beijing executive.

    In 2015, the box office grew an eye-popping 48 percent in China, leading to widespread predictions that the country would surpass North America as the world's largest theatrical territory in 2017.

    "What if the trend from the second quarter continues for the next four or five months, and the year ends at less than 10 percent growth?" the exec adds. "All those people who predicted China would overtake North America as the world's biggest market by 2017 will look a little stupid — and nobody here wants that."
    Gene Ching
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  3. #213
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    The first India-China Co-Productions?

    Woah, wait, what about Kungfu Yoga (et.al.)?

    Eros’ Trinity Launches First India-China Co-Productions
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    AP PHOTO/VINCENT YU
    JULY 15, 2016 | 05:52AM PT

    Trinity Pictures, the film production arm of India’s distribution giant Eros International, has struck a deal to co-produce two franchise movies with Chinese partners. Both films will shoot in the two countries and be made in dual language versions.

    With China’s Pea**** Mountain Culture & Media and state-owned Huaxia Film Distribution, Trinity will produce Kabir Khan’s travel drama, “The Zookeeper” and Siddharth Anand’s, “Love in Beijing.” Han Sanping, former head of China Film Group, is set as the pair’s creative producer.

    “The Zookeeper” is a human drama that, tells of the journey of an Indian zoo keeper who travels China to find a panda to return to India with, in order to save his zoo. The budget is set at $25 million. The cast will include a leading Indian star and a top Chinese actress. A significant portion of the shoot will be in Chengdu.

    Anand’s cross-cultural romantic comedy, “Love in Beijing,” about an Indian girl who falls in love with a Chinese man, will feature an A-list Indian actress and a leading Chinese male actor. The production budget is $15 million. Both films are set for delivery in the 2018 fiscal year.

    “The original stories were developed by the Trinity Pictures Writers’ Room, creative teams from both Trinity Pictures and the Chinese film companies worked closely on the scripts to create storylines that blend Sino-Indian culture,” Trinity said in a statement.

    The deals are in addition to the Chinese agreements Trinity struck last year. Last year, Eros International signed memorandums with leading Chinese state owned film companies, China Film Group Corp, Shanghai Film Group and Fudan University for the exploitation of intellectual property rights as well as to develop, co-produce and distribute Indo-China films across all platforms in both countries.

    “With Trinity, we also want to tell stories that transcend the language barrier and have mainstream appeal. We believe our Indo-China co-productions will be game-changing as we pave the way to open up one of the largest film markets in the world,” said Jyote Deshpande, CEO of Eros International.

    “Getting the right and the organic story was one of the most important aspect for both the teams from beginning. Hope the movie shapes up to be a true co-production,” said Allen Liu, partner, Pea**** Mountain, in a statement.
    I suppose this could mean the first India-China Co-Productions for Eros’ Trinity...
    Gene Ching
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  4. #214
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    China is to blame for so many sequels?

    Summer sequels stay afloat with boost from overseas box office
    Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY 5:11 p.m. EDT August 1, 2016


    (Photo: Jay Maidment)

    Thanks in large part to the appetite of overseas audiences, there's no relief in sight from underwhelming sequels and reboots.

    Franchise movies that tanked in North America this summer have found redemption at the international box office. Independence Day: Resurgence bombed stateside, earning only $102 million on a $165 million budget, but managed a healthy $270.8 million abroad. Alice Through the Looking Glass and X-Men: Apocalypse each made more than 70% of their box office in foreign markets ($206.3 million and $379.1 million, respectively), while 83% of Ice Age: Collision Course's earnings are international ($211.6 million vs. $42.1 million domestically).

    "International is playing a huge part not only in saving some of these sequels, but also making sure that there is another," says Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. Even after five installments of Ice Age, for example, that's "a franchise that will continue, despite the lackluster audiences in the United States and Canada."

    Another is magician thriller Now You See Me 2, which performed modestly in the USA with $64.6 million, but conjured a mystifying $238.8 million overseas, $97.1 million of that in China. "That is definitely one of those that's going to have a trilogy specifically because of China," Bock adds.

    Last year alone, China's box office raked in $6.8 billion — not far behind North America's $11.1 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America's Theatrical Market Statistics summary. Not only is it the second-largest movie market, but "the single most important overseas," says Daniel Loria, editorial director at tracking site BoxOffice.com. This year, tentpole movies are "making about a quarter of their gross in North America and three-quarters overseas. China is a huge driver in that push."


    'Warcraft' crashed and burned stateside, but did record-breaking business overseas. (Photo: Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures)

    As a result, the market has the ability to make or break a potential franchise. One of the biggest tests of its might will be video-game adaptation Warcraft, which misfired with only $47.2 million in the USA. But the $160 million fantasy adventure has earned an astounding 89% of its $433 million worldwide haul in foreign markets — $220.8 million of which comes from China, where it broke records with the largest debut for a foreign release in the country's history.

    "Warcraft would be an outright disaster if it weren't for China," Bock says. Although Legendary Pictures has yet to announce a second movie, there's a chance that "a sequel might bypass North America because of how strong it was there. If they craft it a little more toward Chinese audiences, next time it could be looking at an even larger gross." That could mean casting Chinese actors or filming in China, as Lionsgate is planning to do with its just-greenlit Chinese-language spinoff of the Now You See Me franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

    Despite less-than-enthusiastic reviews, new installments of The Smurfs, The Croods and Transformers franchises are expected next year, all of which have previously earned upward of 65% of their box office overseas. But other summer disappointments such as Ghostbusters face a bigger uphill climb on the road to future films.

    Paul Feig's all-female reboot has so far scared up $106.2 million in the USA but just $52.1 million overseas. With its hefty $144 million budget, it will need to make at least two or three times what it already has in order to turn a profit and justify sequels — a hurdle further complicated by the fact that it hasn't yet secured distribution in China because of the country's ban on films that promote "cults or superstitious beliefs," according to Variety.

    "You have to have China these days if your film is on the fence, and this is definitely on the fence," Bock says. Also working against Ghostbusters is that it's "really more of a comedy than a true-blue (summer action movie), and those don't always translate. It's dropping very fast in those (overseas) markets and that's not a good sign."
    I'm going to have to change the name of my Chollywood Rising column soon. Maybe it'll be Chollywood Risen? Chollywood Awakens? Maybe I should lose the whole 'Chollywood' term as that was bounced around when the column started and has long since been abandoned.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #215
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    What slump?

    China Box Office Still On Track To Overtake U.S. In 2017 Despite Recent Slump: Report
    by Nancy Tartaglione
    August 18, 2016 9:45am



    A slowing of its fortunes in the past few months isn’t expected to stop Chinese box office from overtaking the U.S. in 2017 for the first time. That’s according to new data compiled by Bloomberg. Middle Kingdom moviehouses are on track to rake in $10.4 billion in 2017, versus an estimated $10.2B for the U.S. market, according to average projections by IHS Markit and PwC. It’s important to note here that the figures do not rep North America, which are projected by comScore to hit $11.6B in 2016. The projections in question are just for the U.S. market versus China.

    Next year will be particularly interesting to watch given a new U.S.-China contract is to be negotiated. That will update and replace the February 2012 agreement that saw the Middle Kingdom increase quotas and revenue share for the studios. Who the American president turns out to be could also certainly have an impact here.

    Looking at this year, things got off to a strong start. In February, Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid helped push Middle Kingdom box office to a record 6.87B yuan ($1.05B) for the month. That was the first time Chinese turnstiles outspun those in North America during a single month. U.S.-only box office was bested by the PROC in February 2015.

    Chinese ticket sales are expected to increase by 22% in 2017, says Bloomberg. But this year has been topsy-turvy since February and that has resulted in skeptics wondering if the breakneck momentum China has demonstrated is experiencing a temporary hiccup or something more permanent.


    Universal Studios

    The second quarter of this year was down 4.6% with July’s takings then off about 18.6%. That was the first time in five years that such a decline has been witnessed in the rapidly expanding market. June, however, was buoyed by Warcraft which at $221M in receipts is the No. 3 movie of the year behind Zootopia at No. 2 with $236M and The Mermaid at $527M. Those films helped push overall box office up over 2015 in the first frew months of 2016.

    The rest of the year has been marked by some local misfires, particularly in July which is traditionally a blackout month where homegrown pics thrive. The star-studded League Of Gods fell hard in its second week, for example. The summer has now delivered only two Mandarin-language movies to cross $100M: Skiptrace with Jackie Chan (and Johnny Knoxville and partly in English) and the recent 3D adventure fantasy release Time Raiders.

    “Local films just aren’t resonating like they did last year,” an industry source recently told me, but this person also suggets a reversal ahead. As Chinese audiences grow more sophistocated, local films are expected to attempt production values that emulate Hollywood.

    Another reason box office has slowed this year is believed to be the government’s vow to crack down on the practice of inflating returns. Last year’s Monster Hunt was hit by reports of empty but sold out screenings every 15 minutes, and producer Edko Pictures admitted to giving away $6.2M worth of tickets near the end of the run. It also said it was instituting serious criticism to those involved at the ground level.

    The authorities this year slapped the distributor of March’s Ip Man 3 with a one-month suspension for fraud. But some sources believe manipulation continues and has negatively affected moviegoers who can’t see films they want — instead opting out of going to the movies at all — and that has a trickle-down effect. There are also fewer discounts on tickets.

    The next big Hollywood releases in China are Jason Bourne and Ice Age: Collision Course which both go out next Tuesday. That mid-week release date means some things haven’t changed from last year when we saw the tactic of double-dating and few Friday releases in the fall for Hollywood. Star Trek Beyond is set for September 2 and should also give a boost to business. The amount of screens is expected to rise to about 40K by the end of 2016. Beyond that, it’s a wait-and-see game as there are currently no Hollywood and few Chinese films dated into 2017.
    What should I change the name of our Chollywood Rising column to next year? Chollywood is a really outdated term - it'll be even more so when China outgrows Hollywood.
    Gene Ching
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  6. #216
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    more theaters...

    ...who'd a thunk the the Chicoms plan for world domination was going to be through movie theaters?

    Alibaba Pictures to Build Its Own Cinemas
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    COURTESY OF ALIBABA
    AUGUST 18, 2016 | 04:45AM PT

    Alibaba Pictures Group is planning a move into the construction and operation of cinemas in China.

    The company is the movies arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and has its own share listings in Hong Kong and Singapore.

    “APG has set up a team in charge of this (cinema) business and the team is already operational,” an Alibaba Pictures spokesman told Variety by email.

    Local media reports have pointed to a construction project in the giant inland city of Chongqing as one of APG’s first sites.

    In May this year APG agreed to invest $154 million in the convertible bonds of Dadi Cinema Construction, one of China’s top three circuits. But aside from the Dadi investment, APG is currently more focused as a technology-driven film financier, distributor and marketing player.

    The downstream move into exhibition comes at a time when box office growth in China has suddenly slowed and cinemas suffered three successive months of lower sales. But this and other huge bets such as Wanda Cinema Line’s recent commitment to buy 150 additional IMAX screens, suggest that Chinese companies are confident that the theatrical business will recover its poise.

    Many more cinemas are coming on stream. At the end of 2015 China had 31,600 cinema screens in operation. By the end of this year the total is expected to be close to 40,000, putting it roughly on a par with the North American screen count – albeit with a population more than four times as large.

    At the time of the Dadi deal APG CEO Zhang Qiang said: “Cinemas will play an integral part in Alibaba Pictures’ operations, as the company aims to build an integrated entertainment platform for the film industry. It will not only serve as an important consumption context within the entertainment industry, but also become a core application of internet in the film industry.”

    Last month APG said that it was setting up a $300 million (RMB2 billion) investment fund in partnership with Gopher Asset Management. Some of the capital from the new fund could conceivably flow into APG’s cinema unit. The fund’s purposes were spelled out only vaguely: “The investment fund will invest in companies along the value chain of the movie and TV entertainment industry,” APG said in a filing.
    Gene Ching
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  7. #217
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    Interesting stats...

    Hollywood’s 22 Biggest Box Office Champs in China (Photos)
    Chinese moviegoers can’t get enough of America’s big-budget action flicks
    Matt Pressberg, Published 7:44 pm, Thursday, August 18, 2016



    Chinese moviegoers can’t get enough of Hollywood’s big-budget action flicks and superhero movies.

    Furious 7 (2015)
    $390.9 million
    The Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson revved-up action flick is easily the highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever in China.

    Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
    $320 million
    Mark Wahlberg starred in the sci-fi movie based on the foldable toys, which was co-produced by two Chinese firms and was the first Hollywood movie to make more than $300 million in the Middle Kingdom.

    Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
    $240.1 million
    The superhero mashup is China’s highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe film, a franchise that’s been embraced by the country’s young-leaning moviegoers.

    Zootopia (2016)
    $235.6 million
    The buddy-cop comedy is the highest-grossing imported animated film in the history of the Chinese box office, and played especially well in China’s second- and third-tier cities.

    Jurassic World (2015)
    $228.7 million
    Like “Furious 7,” the dinosaur sci-fi adventure was produced by Legendary Entertainment, which was acquired by China’s Dalian Wanda Group in January.

    Warcraft (2016)
    $220.8 million
    Another Legendary film, this one inspired by a video game series, flopped in the U.S. but dominated the Chinese market, home to about half the game‘s players worldwide.

    Avatar (2009)
    $204.1 million
    The worldwide smash hit also captivated Chinese audiences, even back in 2009 when the country’s box office was a fraction the size it is today.

    Captain America: Civil War (2016)
    $190.4 million
    The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with an ensemble cast including Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle, continued the iconic comic book company’s momentum in China.

    Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
    $165.1 million
    The prequel to this film, 2009’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” made $65.8 million in China, setting the stage for “Dark of the Moon” to be the country’s highest-grossing Hollywood film since “Avatar.”

    Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
    $154.3 million
    The Mandarin-language version of the movie starring Jack Black as a friendly fighting bear had the characters reanimated so their mouths moved naturally with the translated words.
    We've covered most of these here.
    Gene Ching
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  8. #218
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    Why ‘Warcraft 2’ May Never Play in US Theaters

    thought this was an interesting article, even though the chinese B.O. has been slumping its still a force.



    Name:  Warcraft-Fimmel_Patton.jpg
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    Why ‘Warcraft 2’ May Never Play in US Theaters
    “I would suspect that the sequel would be more China-centric. It’s very possible it wouldn’t be released here,” one industry expert tells TheWrap
    Matt Pressberg | August 29, 2016 @ 5:03 PM
    Warcraft Fimmel Patton
    Normally, a movie with a $160 million production budget that makes $47 million at the domestic box office doesn’t get a sequel. But June’s “Warcraft” was not a normal movie, and its likely sequel won’t be, either.

    In fact, it could be the first English-language movie from an American production company that will get a theatrical release in China and not the U.S. And as China’s box office continues to become more significant, “Warcraft 2” — or whatever the next installment is called — could provide a blueprint for other movies to follow.

    Legendary Entertainment’s fantasy epic based on the “World of Warcraft” video game series starred American actors such as Paula Patton and Ben Foster. But the movie’s dominant international box office — it made $220.8 million in China and set a record for the biggest disparity between domestic and foreign receipts — means that “Warcraft 2” might draw its talent elsewhere. And given “Warcraft’s” weak performance at home, it may not even play in American theaters at all.

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    Also Read: Why 'Warcraft' Can Bomb in US This Weekend and Still Be a Blockbuster

    “Who says it needs to have American actors?” Sky Moore, a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan who’s worked on several U.S.-China co-production deals, told TheWrap. “I would suspect that the sequel would be more China-centric. It’s very possible it wouldn’t be released here.”

    “Warcraft” isn’t exclusively a China success story — the movie made $22.5 million in Russia and $15.7 million in Germany, two other strong video game markets — but the Chinese box office is basically why “Warcraft” even made sense as a movie. It hit a substantial $6.8 billion last year, meaning that movies that wouldn’t have made sense before might make sense now.


    Warner Bros.’ 2013 sci-fi monster flick “Pacific Rim” made $111.9 million in China — $10 million more than it did in the U.S. — on a $190 million budget.

    Even though Chinese theatrical splits are among the least favorable of any foreign territory — Hollywood studios only get 25 percent of the box office gross for revenue-sharing films, 34 of which are allowed in each year — the top-line number has grown large enough to where the Chinese market by itself can now swing the balance on whether a movie will be made or not.


    Also Read: 'Warcraft' Reviews: It 'Doesn't Suck' and 6 Other Much Worse Critical Reactions

    And as China’s box office continues to grow — despite a summer slump this year, it could pass the U.S. as the world’s largest as soon as 2017 — Moore said that could lead to sequels of movies that connected a lot more with Chinese than American audiences being produced for that market.

    “I’d expect more remakes in China of movies that did well there and not-so-well here,” Moore said. “It’s a big enough market.”

    China has become a massive movie market, but it has a remarkable lack of diversity as far as the movies that actually do well there. Looking at the films that have earned more than $100 million at the Chinese box office, it’s basically fantasy, sci-fi, loud action movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


    Also Read: 'Warcraft' Movie Is Openly Hostile to Non-Nerds (Commentary)

    “Warcraft” not only fits in with that theme, but it had some other China-specific advantages that made it a massive hit there and a flop at home.

    The film’s production company, Legendary, was acquired by China’s Dalian Wanda Group in January, and Wanda — also China’s largest movie theater operator — helped put the film on a higher percentage of the country’s screens than “Furious 7,” China’s all-time highest-grossing Hollywood film.

    Also, media and entertainment conglomerate Tencent, owner of China’s most popular social media app, WeChat, was one of the film’s marketing partners, and Tencent gave the film a massive marketing push, helping it fill theaters in third- and fourth-tier cities. In addition, China is estimated to be home to about half the world’s “World of Warcraft” players, giving the movie a built-in fanbase.


    Also Read: 'Warcraft' Review: Swords, Sorcery and Stupidity Abound in Game Adaptation

    But just because a game is popular somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean that a movie version will automatically work. Terence Fung, the chief strategy officer of game company Storm8, said game and film fanboys (“Warcraft” had an overwhelmingly male audience) are not going to support a substandard branded product just because it’s affiliated with a game or comic book hero they love.

    “Both the film and the game have to be true to the intellectual property,” he told TheWrap. “It has to make sense.”

    What may make sense for Hollywood going forward is to think differently in distributing the type of big-budget, often poorly reviewed fantasy epics that the younger-skewing Chinese film audience can’t get enough of. It took $20 to see “Warcraft” in an American theater. It might take a passport and a plane ticket to China to see the follow-up.

  9. #219
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    The slump

    I posted that on the Warcraft thread, doug. But fair enough, it's quite relevant here too.

    Here's more on the slump:
    Is China's Movie Boom Doomed?
    14 AUG 30, 2016 9:25 PM EDT
    ( UPDATED AUG 30, 2016 9:28 PM EDT)
    By Adam Minter

    It's been a tough summer for China's movie business. In what's usually blockbuster season, box-office sales declined for the first time in five years. In July alone, theater visits fell 15 percent. Things are looking especially grim for Chinese films: They've been underperforming foreign competition so badly that the government suspended a longstanding moratorium on summer Hollywood flicks intended to give a boost to local studios.

    That's an abrupt turnabout for an industry that grew by 50 percent last year. Although it may prove temporary, it nonetheless illuminates some looming challenges for China's moviemakers -- and for its culture business more broadly.

    One immediate cause for the bust is that film authorities are attempting to crack down on falsified box-office data. The practice is longstanding: Distributors buy up millions of dollars' worth of tickets for their own movies, give sales figures an artificial boost and create some buzz. Just how much this affected the bottom line for Chinese movies is difficult to say, but it was enough to draw the attention of the government, and it suggests that domestic filmmakers may have to get used to lackluster sales for a while.

    If fraud were the only drag, though, China's box office would probably still be booming. A more pervasive problem is shaky consumer confidence. In the first quarter of 2016, the average price of a ticket rose to $3.35, compared to $2.54 during the same period last year. Moviegoers had gotten used to online vendors driving down prices through subsidies and aggressive competition, but such discounts are starting to disappear. For many Chinese consumers, that adds up to a crimp on leisure spending, especially with economic growth slow and layoffs looming in many areas.

    Some more fundamental cultural forces may also be at work.

    One is that widespread piracy is putting a premium on film-going experiences that can't be had at home. Although distributors had long relied on 3-D, IMAX and Hollywood films heavy on special effects to draw jaded consumers to the theater, the novelty of such experiences is beginning to wear off for more sophisticated audiences. When "Jason Bourne" was released almost exclusively in 3-D in China, it prompted protests from customers who didn't appreciate having to pay extra to see a movie that would've been just as good (or bad) in two dimensions.

    That also helps explain why China's domestic films have done so poorly. Years of easy access to pirated foreign films have raised expectations for story-telling, acting and production values. Though today's Chinese consume their share of mind candy, they are, on balance, much more discerning than earlier generations of filmgoers. The problem is that China lacks the professional class of screenwriters that would be needed to consistently produce quality film and television. One prominent film executive even said last year that his studio would rely on fan fiction and online forums for storylines.

    Finally, history has given China's filmmakers reason to be risk-averse. The result has been a kind of cultural pasteurization that favors the tried and true, rather than the artistically adventurous. Historical epics (firmly grounded in the imperial past) and melodramas remain popular if uninspiring topics.

    Although China's government will doubtless continue to play a role in shaping culture, it could encourage some competition for staid filmmakers by loosening longstanding quotas on the number of foreign films that can be released every year (currently set at 34). There's little evidence that such quotas work: In South Korea, loosening quotas actually led to steady growth in the local film business and helped boost the influence of Korean film and television overseas (especially in China). Not incidentally, box-office sales also surged.

    Increased competition might not be to the taste of every Chinese filmmaker and studio head. But it's the best way to shake off the mediocrity that afflicts so much of China's current output. And it would give consumers a better reason to get in line for a ticket.

    This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

    To contact the author of this story:
    Adam Minter at aminter@bloomberg.net

    To contact the editor responsible for this story:
    Timothy Lavin at tlavin1@bloomberg.net
    Gene Ching
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  10. #220
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    The uptick

    I think the slump was over reported by sensitive Hollywood types hoping for weakness in the China film market. There are often hiccups in most any growth pattern.

    China Box Office: Growth Returns in August After Prolonged Downturn
    11:36 PM PDT 8/31/2016 by Patrick Brzeski


    'Time Raiders'
    Le Vision

    The uptick comes after the Chinese market suffered its first quarterly decline in half a decade, followed by an 18 percent drop in ticket sales in July.
    China's box office shifted back into growth mode in August after one of its worst slumps in years.

    Chinese ticket sales rose 12 percent to $606 million (4.05 billion yuan) in August, compared with $543 million (3.62 billion yuan) in 2015, according to data from Beijing-based firm Entgroup.

    From April to June, sales shrunk 5 percent — the Chinese box office's first full-quarter decline in over five years. In July, the downturn deepened, with revenue plunging 18 percent compared to the year prior.

    The biggest hit in August was Le Vision Pictures' fantasy adventure Time Raiders, starring Lu Han and Jing Boran. Based on a wildly popular series of young adult novels, the film was released Aug. 5 and has grossed $147.8 million — the most of any local release this summer.

    The Chinese exhibition market also got a lift from the release of more Hollywood films in August than usual.

    After the disappointing overall performance of local pictures from April to June, Chinese regulators took the unprecedented step of loosening the usual blackout on foreign blockbusters. China's film authorities have traditionally kept imported competition out of the market during the peak moviegoing weeks of late summer, boosting local studios by giving Chinese titles uncontested room to perform.

    Last year's "domestic movie protection period," as the blackouts are sometimes called, ran June 19 to Aug. 23. But this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and The Legend of Tarzan were granted July dates, and The Secret Life of Pets came out on Aug. 2. Also, last year's blackout ended with the release of Terminator: Genisys on Aug. 23, whereas two Hollywood titles opened head-to-head on the same date this year — Universal's Jason Bourne and Fox's Ice Age: Collision Course.

    So far, Bourne has earned $57.8 million in China, Collision Course has grossed $51.7 million and Pets has taken $58.0 million.

    Paramount's Star Trek Beyond opens in China on Friday, followed by Sony's breakout horror hit The Shallows on Sept. 9.
    Gene Ching
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  11. #221
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    most execs want china to do better then america, because they want that chinese money!! its much easier to do co productions with china then say india, where the cinema doesnt cross over as well. chinese cinema, especially action cinema is ingrained in american culture. and filmmakers like wong kar wai and zhang yimou will always be arthouse darlings... hell they are giving jackie an oscar, which honestly while its a political move to apologize for the gaff they made last year, i think its a well deserved honor that may open some eyes to asians in cinema. no matter how big chinas box office gets, america will always be that marker for success in entertainment. look at music you got stars like CL a korean kpop star who is part of one of the biggest girl groups in the world, still trying to break america they dont even need too their concerts even sell out here...olol

  12. #222
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    OSGH cuts

    Not sure what this means in the grand scope of all that's happening with China film, but it is notable.

    Orange Sky Slashes Investment Plans, Drops Investors
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    COURTESY OF ORANGE SKY GOLDEN HARVEST
    SEPTEMBER 5, 2016 | 07:01AM PT

    Pan-Asian cinema exhibition group Orange Sky Golden Harvest has cut plans for expansion in mainland China and scaled back its plans to bring in $59.7 million (RMB400 million) from outside investors.

    The move signals a changed investment climate resulting from the recent slowdown of the Chinese theatrical box office.

    The investors being dropped are Beijing Weiying (aka Wepiao,) one of China’s largest online ticketing companies, and media investor Beijing Qing Zhong Tong Chuang Asset Management. It will continue to raise $29.8 million (RMB200 million) from a unit of state-controlled investment group CITIC.

    In March, OSGH signaled that it would split out its Chinese multiplexes into a separate company that would first attract outside investors, and later might go for a public share listing. Now it says that it reducing its expansion plans.

    “It was anticipated that the proceeds from the subscription by the Investors will be used for building and acquiring of more than 100 cinema screens during the coming three years, and that the expected capital expenditure per screen, which will be built or acquired during the coming three years will amount to approximately RMB2.5 million to RMB3.0 million. Due to changes in economic and market conditions in (mainland China), it is expected by the group that the capital expenditure required will be reduced to around RMB150 million to RMB200 million,” the company said.

    OSGH, which operates cinemas in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, was one of the first companies to operate multiplex cinemas in China. But it has struggled to turn that early lead into either market dominance or profits. In the first half of this year, OSGH moved from profit to a loss of $4.25 million (HK$33 million) with the mainland China business dragging down the other segments. It explained that the losses in China were due to growing competition, new screen incubation issues and finance costs.

    At the time of the proposed investments OSGH touted business synergies as a side benefit of Wepiao’s involvement in the group, and strengthened financial management resulting from Qing Zhong Tong Chuang’s participation.

    OSGH shares were up 5% in trading Monday on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange prior to the after-hours announcement.
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  13. #223
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    7 trends

    Seven Trends Shaping The Chinese Film Industry
    Sep 5, 2016 China Film Insider

    Revenue generated by China’s film industry will reach RMB 200 billion (US$30 billion) by 2020, with both box office revenue and number of movie-goers surpassing that of North America, making it the largest film market in the world, says a new report by professional services firm Deloitte.

    For those who are banking on the continued rise of the Chinese film industry, optimistic forecasts like that are particularly welcome at the moment, especially as box office sales have been declining for the first time in five years, and theater visits in July alone plummeted 15 percent.

    While Deloitte’s researchers expect the industry to grow at home, it will be uneven growth, and importantly, it won’t necessarily translate into global domination for China as “cultural differences” and “legal considerations” interfere with the country’s ability to export their own films to other countries.

    Those are among the key findings of a chapter on the film industry in Deloitte’s new report, “The New Journey of ‘Internet +’,” which takes a broad look at how the Internet is affecting the growth of the Chinese economy.

    Despite recent road bumps, the report’s researchers believe the Chinese film industry has already reached a “golden age” with new carriers, an influx of capital, and innovative business models all propelling the country’s film industry to the “top of the film pyramid.”

    The report identifies seven trends that are shaping the Chinese film industry landscape. The following is a summary of those findings.

    1. From Bigger to Biggest

    The report finds that China’s box office revenues and number of moviegoers are expected to surpass North America by 2020. But different segments of the industry, whether it is film consumption, investment in films and theaters, or film exports, will grow at different rates.

    As revenue generated from non-box office activities continues to rise, the report’s researchers believe China’s film consumption still has a lot of room to grow.

    The report sees investment in theaters stabilizing with plenty of opportunities for steady expansion into second, third, and fourth-tier cities.

    Film exports are likely to struggle, as cultural differences and legal considerations including censorship issues as reasons why Chinese films won’t gain traction overseas.

    2. From “Made in China” to “Made for the World”

    The report predicts co-productions will increase, albeit slowly. Co-pros can “achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes for both parties,“ because they’re considered to be “Made in China” and enjoy the same treatment as domestic films, the reports says,

    “In 2014, though co-productions accounted for only six percent of total productions screened in China, they contributed around 50 percent of total box office revenue,” the report notes. “In the first quarter of 2015, co-productions contributed ~60 percent of total box office revenue.”

    However pulling off a successful co-pro is easier said than done, with issues such as copyright ownership, cultural differences, and different work styles presenting challenges.

    3. From “Non-intelligent” to “Intelligent”

    The reports’ researchers see the involvement of internet giants like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent as a game changer as the new players utilize their ability to draw on big data to drive “decision optimization” and profit growth.

    The effect of these innovations has already transformed the domestic film industry chain, from intellectual property (IP) to production, marketing and promotion, distribution, ticket sales, and cinema screenings, the report says.

    4. From “Highly Concentrated” to “Diversified”

    The arrival of new players like Tencent Pictures, iQiYi Films, and Baidu Pictures has prompted traditional film companies to go on an acquisition spree, the report says.

    While the M&A binge has led to a much greater “concentration” within the industry, there is also a trend towards companies hiving off their internet and new media departments into new companies that can then go public independently.

    There has also been a huge influx of non-industry capital with non-film industries accounting for 49 percent of total acquirers since 2014. Despite all the acquiring going on, the report’s researchers point out that not many companies have yet achieved satisfactory results as differing management cultures fail to gel smoothly.

    5. From “Long Tail” to “Thick Tail”

    The report shows how Chinese companies like Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media are looking closely at what lessons they can learn from foreign companies like Disney. These local companies are restructuring their revenue streams to diversify away from just box office.

    Now, local companies are looking to ape Disney’s blueprint of investing in theme parks, toys, books, video games, and any other possible avenues to provide stable sources of income. Other key areas for revenue rebalancing include video on demand, TV networks and derivative products.

    6. From “single IP” to “IP franchises”

    Local film companies, particularly Internet companies, have been hoarding as much IP as possible, buying up the rights to hundreds of novels and stories. But converting that IP first into films and then into other fields like cartoons, mobile games, and toys, is still a work in progress.

    The report researchers encourage the local industry to learn from projects such as Disney’s Toy Story 3, which generated $8.7 billion through games, books, DVDs, copyright, and licensing, on top of $1.1 billion in global box office.

    7. From a Lack of Standards to “Standardization”

    The report notes that with around 70 percent of the 600 or more films produced annually in China never being screened, lack of standards are resulting in “a colossal waste of resources for producers and the film industry as a whole, and furthermore, poses potential hazards for investors.”

    To solve the problem, the report’s researchers suggest the introduction of “completion guarantees” with third party companies supervising the whole process of film production, ensuring that film production and distribution are on budget and on schedule.
    I'm not sure that I wholeheartedly agree with this, but I do like the term 'thick tail'.
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  14. #224
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    The 'epic' bid

    Hollywood's epic bid to conquer China



    Panned by critics and commercially disastrous in the West, Warcraft is in China's top 10 grossing films of all time
    Christopher Williams, chief business correspondent
    17 SEPTEMBER 2016 • 4:50PM

    As a work of cinema, Warcraft was “empty and impenetrable” and cursed with a “terminal flimsiness” that made for an “epic fail”, according to the critics. Film-goers were warned to “avoid it at all costs” this summer, and for the most part in the US and UK they did. In its opening weekend at the US box office Warcraft grossed only $24m on the back of a production budget of $160m, which under normal circumstances would easily qualify the video game adaptation as a flop.

    Amid the rise of the Chinese consumer, definitions of success and failure have changed, however, and the film industry is adjusting accordingly.

    Warcraft brought in $65m in its opening weekend in the People’s Republic, and has marched on to a total of more than $220m to date, making it the third-highest grossing film at the Chinese box office this year.

    “Thank God for China,” says Charles 'Chuck’ Roven, the Hollywood veteran whose production company Atlas Entertainment backed Warcraft.

    It had one Chinese actor in it, and you couldn’t really recognise him because he was an orc
    Charles 'Chuck' Roven
    “It was really disappointing in the US, but that film now has a chance of maybe making a little and even generating a sequel as a result of what it did in that one territory.”

    Warcraft’s massive success in China is emblematic of how Chinese money is changing the film industry. The growing spending power of consumers, the politics of doing business in the world’s second largest economy, and the increasingly global ambitions of Chinese investors, are all altering the how and why of making movies.

    “We knew China was going to be important, but it has really started to spike,” Roven says. “Warcraft has caused a lot of people to go, 'Wow’. China is the second largest market in the world, and it has now proven to us that a western movie can work there. Warcraft was a totally western movie.

    “It had one Chinese actor in it, and you couldn’t really recognise him because he was an orc. He was great in the movie though.”


    Chinese movie-goers in 3-D glasses CREDIT: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

    The ability of Chinese cinephiles to save a floundering Hollywood release, or even a whole franchise, is now well established. A strong appetite for computer-generated spectacle and 3D has proved the box office salvation of the 2013 giant robot action film Pacific Rim, and has helped keep the Transformers series clanking along despite audience weariness and critical loathing in the West.

    But with China due to overtake the US as the world’s largest cinema market next year, success there is more than a safety net. Roven’s latest release, the superhero franchise instalment Suicide Squad, made with Warner Bros, has performed reasonably well around the world. News that it is unlikely to get a release in China as an apparent result of a dark tone that celebrates rebellion was greeted in Hollywood last month as a heavy blow to its commercial prospects.

    “The Government there is so unpredictable by our standards and what Hollywood is used to,” says Stephen Follows, an independent film industry analyst. “There are very strict rules on things like time travel and magic, and anything non-scientific, but they are broken all the time.”
    There are very strict rules on things like time travel and magic, and anything non-scientific, but they are broken all the time
    Navigating a combination of censorship and protectionism is a major challenge for Western studios seeking access to Chinese wallets. The state monopoly importer, China Film Group (CFG), only allows 34 foreign-produced titles onto the country’s silver screens, which last year numbered more than 30,000 and next year are expected to top 50,000.

    The scale of the market and the growth opportunity makes the censorship gauntlet well worth running. Even with 50,000 screens, China would need more than 10 times as many to match the UK’s number per head of population.

    “There are still so many places there that don’t have cinemas,” Follows says. “All boats are rising on the tide. Studios might worry about protectionism later but right now it’s a story of raw growth.”


    Chinese audiences have kept the Transformers franchise rolling

    Hollywood titles accounted for 46pc of the Chinese box office in 2014, which fell to 38.4pc in 2015, as the market itself grew 48.7pc. Only three Hollywood movies were in the top 10 at he Chinese box office, down from five in 2014. But the incentives remain great enough for Western companies to go into business in China with local investors, especially since films majority backed by a Chinese-owned enterprise do not count towards CFG’s quota.

    The rules on what counts as Chinese are strict and require permanent establishment in China, unlike the UK, where visiting productions can claim tax exemptions merely by hiring British staff. But in China the hassle of working internationally and blow of giving up equity are softened by a bigger slice of potentially massive box office takings. “You normally get 20pc,” Roven says. “If you have a co-production you get 44pc. That’s a huge difference no matter what.”

    China's greatest box office hits

    The Mermaid (2016 – $527m)

    Furious 7 (2015 – $391m)

    Monster Hunt (2015 – $351m)

    Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014 – $320m)

    Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015 – $256m)
    Warcraft has been a major beneficiary of this system. The film, a collaboration between Roven’s Atlas Entertainment and Legendary Pictures, a pioneer of Chinese co-production among Hollywood studios via a 2013 deal with CFG, was guaranteed a release.

    Roven says the relationship meant the film also got valuable backing on the ground. “You want to be in business with companies that are going to help you get the best distribution, the best exhibition and best remittances,” he says.

    Selling films into China still involves accepting unpredictability. Stephen Follows says data on attendances and revenues is unreliable. “If you’re being fiddled by your Chinese partner there is nothing you can really do about it,” he says.

    Yet the ties are strengthening in both directions. As well as Hollywood studios setting up in China, Chinese investors have been buying Western film assets. Legendary Entertainment itself was snapped up in January for $3.5bn (£2.6bn) by Dalian Wanda, the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate controlled by Wang Jianlin, one of China’s richest men.

    Wanda has also been linked this summer to a potential takeover of Paramount, one of the Big Six studios, currently owned by Viacom.
    continued next post
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  15. #225
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    Continued from previous post


    Zachary Quinto attends a red carpet even for Star Trek Beyond in Guangzhou CREDIT: GETTY

    Meanwhile, Tencent, the Chinese web giant, acquired IM Global, a US film financier. Roven envisages the deal as part of a plan by Tencent, which owns a slice of Warcraft, to create a powerful Netflix-like business in China. Such a move could deliver subscription revenues in a market where DVDs brought in nothing, because of rampant piracy.

    Hunan Television, China’s number two broadcaster, has invested up to $375m in productions by Lions Gate, a second-tier Hollywood studio. Wanda’s global push is by far the most ambitious, however. It is aiming to become the first Chinese major studio on the global market, with Wang boldly declaring that “if one of the Big Six would be willing to be sold to us, we would be interested.”

    He has already built the world’s largest cinema empire. As well as thousands of screens in China, Wanda owns major chains in the US and Australia.

    In some ways this is not new, it is just a new source of money
    Stephen Follows
    In July it added Britain’s biggest cinema operator, Odeon & UCI Cinemas, in a £921m deal with the private equity firm Terra Firma. Wanda seized the opportunity of the post-referendum fall in sterling to snap up an asset that had been on the block for over a year, despite having publicly said months earlier it was not interested.

    The idea of building a film powerhouse comprising both production and exhibition is an old one, last tried in the West by Warner Bros in the 1990s. The emergence of China as the world’s largest box office, bringing with it the barriers and foibles of a planned economy, is leading some in the film industry to wonder whether this time the model will work.

    Foreign investors have attempted to conquer Hollywood before and failed, but never has Hollywood so badly want to conquer a foreign market in return.

    Veterans such as Roven recall a time when Japan appeared to offer a lucrative new market in the 1990s, only for Hollywood to be shut out by a resurgent domestic film industry. Yet all agree China is definitely something different.

    “In some ways this is not new, it is just a new source of money,” Follows says. “But China is not going to go away. It is so big that whatever happens, the industry will be changed.”
    I'm so glad that Daniel Wu tuned me into Warcraft. Watching this play out has been fascinating.
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