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Thread: Chollywood rising

  1. #226
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    arggh

    I gotz nuttin to say 'bout dis 'ere news to fill the minimum post requirements, so I'll post like a pirate, mateys.

    David Goyer Strikes Deal With China’s Tencent Pictures
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    China's Tencent Strikes Deal With DavidBAFTA/REX SHUTTERSTOCK

    SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 | 08:10AM PT

    Fantasy and horror meister David S. Goyer (“Ghost Rider,” “The Dark Knight”) is to develop film projects that could be produced by Tencent Pictures, a film division of Tencent, China’s social media giant.

    Goyer appeared in person at an event Saturday in Beijing to celebrate the first anniversary of Tencent Pictures and to unveil the company’s first slate of movie projects. Goyer did not announce a specific title, but said they could be oriented either towards the local Chinese or global markets.

    As befits its social media and tech roots, the company unveiled a lineup that spans adaptations of book, comic books, animation and games. Tencent Pictures, headed by CEO Cheng Wu, is distinct from Penguin Pictures, another film operation under Tencent’s umbrella.

    Tencent Pictures was previously a part of the Chinese contingent in Legendary Entertainment’s “Warcraft” and it announced that it will also on board Legendary’s “Kong Skull Island.”

    Another horror specialist, the Japanese producer Takashige Ichise (“The Grudge,” “The Ring”) will produce “Koseison” for the studio. The film is an adaptation of old Japanese TV series “Dinosaur Cops Koseidon” from Tsuburaya Productions.

    Among the other headline projects is “The Tibet Code.” Based on a best-selling period fantasy series of novels by He Ma, the books will be developed as both TV series and video games.

    Lu Chuan, who previously directed “Kekexili: Mountain Patrol” and recently made “Born in China” for Disneynature, will deliver his new project “20,000 Miles Plan” for the fledgling studio. Other projects include “The Game of Antiques,” based on a novel by Ma Boyong; “aura,” an adaptation of Tencent hit MMORP game; and animated feature “The Tuzki 3D,” which will be co-produced with Turner Asia Pacific. The Tuzki character, conceived by Momo Wang, has appeared in short formats, social media platforms and apps since 2006. The film, to shoot in 2017 and be released in 2018, will be its first theatrical feature.
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  2. #227
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    Pinewood China

    I'm surprised a lot more studios aren't doing this.

    Pinewood Studios to Open China Office
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    COURTESY OF HIGH LEVEL/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

    SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 | 11:09PM PT

    Film and TV facilities group, Pinewood Studios has opened a Beijing representative office. It is to be headed by Amanda Halliday, who becomes senior VP, Pinewood China.

    The move comes in response to a growing demand in the flourishing Chinese film industry, for Pinewood’s services in the fields of studio design and build, production services including post production, content development, marine services, education and training, the company said.

    “Pinewood has been working in China for a number of years and we have forged some strong relationships with film companies, content producers and games developers. A permanent presence in China is a key strategic element of Pinewood’s overall international strategy,” said Andrew M. Smith, president, Pinewood China.

    Pinewood already provides consultancy services to a number of leading Chinese film companies and is advising the Wanda Group on the design and construction of the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, a film facility and studio complex comprising 45 stages and scheduled to open in 2017. Recently, Pinewood’s post production sound team provided post-production services to Chinese clients including Tencent Games and Disneynature/Shanghai Media Group.

    Halliday joined Pinewood in 2014 having previously worked in film and theatre in Beijing.
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  3. #228
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    Should've anticipated this

    Chinese Purchases of U.S. Companies Have Some in Congress Raising Eyebrows
    Sinosphere
    By EDWARD WONG SEPT. 30, 2016


    Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Wanda Group, hopes to buy at least a 50 percent stake in one of the “Big Six” Hollywood studios. Credit Thomas Peter/Reuters

    PRINCETON, N.J. — Movie theaters and studios are rarely the focus of geopolitical conflict.

    But 16 members of Congress are raising this question: Should foreign acquisition of these kinds of American companies be subject to special scrutiny?

    In a recent letter, those politicians cited the case of the Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate that in January bought Legendary Entertainment, one of Hollywood’s biggest production companies, for as much as $3.5 billion. In 2012, Wanda bought AMC Theaters, the large American chain, for $2.6 billion.

    “Should the definition of national security be broadened to address concerns about propaganda and control of the media and ‘soft power’ institutions?” the representatives said in the letter, which was dated Sept. 15 and addressed to Gene L. Dodaro, comptroller general.

    Mr. Dodaro is the head of the Government Accountability Office, and the aim of the letter was to urge that office to consider whether the government process to review foreign investment in the United States needs to be expanded. The process is overseen by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, an interagency group that is supervised by the Treasury Department.

    “As we prepare for the upcoming presidential transition, now is an opportune time for G.A.O. to review what has worked well, and where Cfius authorities may need to be expanded, especially given the rise in state-controlled enterprises from China and Russia, among other designated countries,” the letter said.

    Wanda is not a state-controlled enterprise, but the writers said that any Chinese company designated a “state champion” that benefits from “illegal subsidies” could pose a strategic, if not overt, national security threat. They said there have been “growing concerns about China’s efforts to censor topics and exert propaganda controls on American media.”

    The letter also pointed to the $43 billion purchase of Syngenta, a Swiss company specializing in seeds and farm chemicals, by the state-owned China National Chemical Corporation as another transaction that had raised “concern” in Congress. That deal was approved by the committee in August.

    In a list of nine questions at the end of the letter, the signers also asked whether the committee sufficiently reviews Chinese angel or venture capital funds being established in the United States, as well as Chinese investment in technology accelerators and regulators.

    In February, Steven Davidoff Solomon, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote in The New York Times that some bids for foreign businesses by Chinese companies were canceled after scrutiny by the committee. While it approves most transactions, he wrote, we should “expect tensions to get worse” since Chinese companies are increasingly investing in foreign companies as a way of moving money out of China.

    “We are entering into a new phase with Chinese acquisitions,” Mr. Solomon wrote. “The United States’ national security service, never considered a transparent process, is going to have to grapple with how far it can allow these Chinese companies to go.”

    Among the signers of the Sept. 15 letter are some well-known critics of the Chinese Communist Party.

    Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, introduced a bill in 2012 that called for the government to withhold visas for Chinese journalists if Beijing continued its policy of not issuing such documents to American journalists or news organizations that it deemed to be troublemakers. Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, speaks out regularly against human rights abuses in China.

    “Beijing is increasingly confident that its version of state authoritarianism can be exported, though the Communist Party’s efforts at ‘soft power’ outreach have little credibility or impact at this point,” Mr. Smith said in a written statement to The Times on Wednesday.

    “But the buying spree by Dalian Wanda Group and other Chinese investments in Hollywood, media and entertainment should raise questions that restrictions on creative freedom or media self-censorship will follow, particularly when Dalian Wanda’s C.E.O. is very clear that his goal is to subvert American pop culture’s influence and change the world where rules are set by foreigners,” he said.

    “Would any movies favorably portraying the Dalai Lama, Liu Xiaobo or Chen Guangcheng be greenlighted if they risked the loss of Chinese investment — I don’t think so,” he added, referring to three people deemed prominent political adversaries by the Communist Party.

    Wanda declined to comment on Friday.

    On Wednesday, Wang Jianlin, Wanda’s chairman and founder, told CNN that he thought the American lawmakers were “over-worried.” He also said he would continue to invest in companies in the United States and was interested in buying at least a 50 percent stake in one of the “Big Six” Hollywood studios.

    In a speech at Harvard Business School in October 2015, Mr. Wang, designated by Forbes as China’s richest man, emphasized that he ran a “privately owned corporation” whose “first objective is to make money.”

    An investigative article published by The Times in April 2015 showed that relatives of top Communist Party officials and their business associates were early investors in Wanda and held significant stakes in the company.

    At the Harvard speech, Mr. Wang, in reply to a question about that article, acknowledged that Qi Qiaoqiao, the sister of Xi Jinping, China’s president and the leader of the Communist Party, and Deng Jiagui, her husband, had held shares in Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties but sold them before an initial public offering. Mr. Wang said that meant the couple had missed out on making a “fortune” from capital gains.

    Follow Edward Wong on Twitter @comradewong.

    A version of this article appears in print on October 3, 2016, on page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Chinese Deals for U.S. Media Have Some in Congress Raising Eyebrows
    Chicoms buying out U.S. capitalists?
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  4. #229
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    ‘Propaganda’ Play

    And once again, fear of the "Yellow Peril" rises.

    Washington Post Warns That China’s Hollywood Invasion Is a ‘Propaganda’ Play
    Dalian Wanda Group has bought Legendary Pictures, set a strategic alliance with Sony Pictures and is in talks to buy **** Clark Productions
    Beatrice Verhoeven | October 6, 2016 @ 9:10 AM


    Dalian Wanda

    In the wake of a Hollywood spending spree by China’s Dalian Wanda Group, the Washington Post has published a deeply cautionary editorial, warning that “Beijing’s next propaganda outlet” could be the entertainment industry.

    The Chinese firm has purchased Legendary Entertainment and has a pending deal to buy **** Clark Productions, which produces the Golden Globes and American Music Awards, and the paper sees this as “a matter of national strategic importance.”

    “China already has imposed its censorious values on Hollywood studios, using access to its lucrative but strictly limited market (where Dalian Wanda also controls many theaters) as leverage,” the editorial says, adding that Wanda enjoys substantially greater freedom to conduct business in the U.S. than foreign firms are granted in China.

    “Not only does Beijing seek to impose its censor’s rules on American films, but it also refuses foreign investors the same access to Chinese media and entertainment industries that Dalian Wanda enjoys in the United States. It is not far-fetched to assume that China would seek to spread pro-regime propaganda via ownership of U.S. entertainment media.”

    Wanda, which bought Legendary for $3.5 billion and plans to target one of the “Big Six” Hollywood studios next, is in talks to buy **** Clark Productions at a $1 billion valuation.

    “Is its ownership also a matter of national strategic importance?” asked the article. “The answer, according to a growing number of U.S. officials and entertainment industry observers, is maybe. That’s because the would-be buyer is Dalian Wanda, a Chinese conglomerate whose chairman’s Communist Party membership and close ties to President Xi Jinping’s government in Beijing make it a private firm only in a nominal sense.”

    The editorial added, “If fully executed, this acquisition strategy could give Dalian Wanda, and by extension its patrons in Beijing, influence over not only the distribution of films but also their content.”

    The paper recalls when Japan spent billions of dollars to take over Columbia Pictures and Universal but were forced to retreat because they underwent financial losses. However, it said, there is a “fundamental difference” between China and Japan’s spending habits.

    “Japan is a strategic ally of the United States and a democracy committed to free expression,” it said. “China, by contrast, is adversarial and ruled by a dictator, Mr. Xi, who has openly declared a global propaganda agenda, based on the idea that ‘Chinese art will further develop only when we make foreign things serve China.’“

    The 28-year-old Wanda Group is on pace to spend more than $30 billion in deals this year, with almost half of that in sports and entertainment. The company that began as a residential real estate development firm in the northern port city of Dalian, China, has grown at a record pace. Two months ago, it announced plans to install 4,000 new RealD 3D screens and 150 new IMAX theaters — the largest-ever installation deals for each of those formats.

    Its latest move was to set a strategic alliance with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Wanda will invest in key film franchises that will be announced within the coming weeks, one individual familiar with the deal said. In return, SPE will take advantage of the considerable marketing and release power that the investment group enjoys in China.

    And congress seems to be concerned by all of the activity. Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office accepted a request from members of congress to review the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and determine whether its legal powers have kept pace with the influx of international buyers targeting American companies — particularly the fire hose of Chinese investment in Hollywood.
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  5. #230
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    And once again, fear of the "Yellow Peril" rises.
    Gene,

    In this instance, I think the article is more or less spot-on. I don't consider this an example of "yellow peril" fears but a very real concern of something that has been happening for some time.

  6. #231
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    Profits over propaganda

    We Americans are too wrapped up in our own propaganda to be seduced by Chicom movie propaganda.


    PAPER TIGER.
    PHOTOGRAPHER: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES


    China's Invading Hollywood! Now, Relax

    17 OCT 7, 2016 11:35 AM EDT
    By Adam Minter

    Wang Jianlin, China's richest man, has been on a Hollywood shopping spree. As chief executive of the Wanda Group, he's acquired Legendary Entertainment, producer of "Jurassic Park," and is in talks to pay $1 billion for **** Clark Productions, producer of the Golden Globes and other live television events. An earlier purchase, AMC Entertainment, recently announced plans to buy Carmike Cinema, which would create the world's biggest theater chain.

    When Wang arrives in Hollywood for a highly anticipated visit later this month, he'll have even bigger game in sight: one of the Big Six Hollywood studios that control as much as 85 percent of U.S. and Canadian box office revenue. If successful, he'll be the first Chinese national to own one.

    That's aroused worries that Wang and other aspiring Chinese movie moguls may restrict creative freedoms and spread Chinese propaganda in the U.S. and beyond. Last month, 16 members of Congress wrote to the Government Accountability Office asking it to reconsider how foreign investments in the U.S. are reviewed. Since then, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has added his signature to the letter. Wanda's entertainment acquisitions were on the list of worries: "Should the definition of national security be broadened to address concerns about propaganda and control of the media and ‘soft power’ institutions?" the group asked.

    At home, it's true, China operates one of the world's most formidable propaganda and censorship programs, and tycoons like Wang have succeeded in part because of their willingness to play by its rules. China's Communist Party has long embraced the idea that the role of art is to advance its interests. In October 2014, President Xi Jinping made that commitment explicit in a speech in which he called on Chinese painters, writers and filmmakers to "fully implement the Party's art policy."

    Every Chinese artist knows what red lines shouldn't be crossed; the idea of Tibetan or Taiwanese independence is off-limits, for instance, as are topics that call into question the canonical history of the Communist Party. More recently, the government has added a few specific bans, including one barring television programming that promotes "Western lifestyles."

    The idea that Wang might be able to export Communist dogma to Hollywood, however, seems fanciful. The most successful Chinese movies tend to be harmless melodramas and martial arts films. So far, this year's biggest box office success is a comedy about a mermaid assassin who falls in love with the greedy real estate developer she was sent to kill. On those rare occasions when Chinese filmmakers dabble in propaganda, the films have invariably failed (unless propped up by box office fraud).

    Indeed, even on their home turf, Chinese films are no competition for Hollywood, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of China's box office receipts in 2015 despite rampant piracy and strict limits on the number of foreign films. Wang has openly acknowledged that part of his goal is to obtain U.S. technology and know-how in order to improve Chinese filmmaking. He has little incentive to transform a U.S. studio into a facsimile of its Chinese peers.

    A bigger concern is self-censorship. In recent years, Hollywood studios have become adept at making -- or at least, editing -- films that can get past China's censors. Some have gone further and rewritten storylines that might raise hackles in Beijing, as when MGM decided to change Chinese villains into North Korean ones in a clumsy 2011 remake of "Red Dawn." A Chinese-owned studio would no doubt be at least as conscientious about the Party's sensitivities, if not more so.

    Fortunately, the impact would probably be limited. Since the 1940s, Hollywood's studio system has given way to a blossoming of independent production companies, distribution channels and exhibition formats that give an independent-minded filmmaker many options. A Wang-owned studio could still pass on controversial projects, of course. But shareholders and audiences would look askance if management repeatedly missed out on successful films, and at least some filmmakers and talents would look elsewhere if Wanda developed a reputation for asserting a political agenda. Meanwhile, the proliferation of production houses -- not just indies, but major companies such as Amazon and Netflix -- means that U.S. viewers aren't likely to be starved for choice.

    In theory, Wanda could use its power as the owner of AMC to ensure that large numbers of U.S. cinemas are stocked only with politically acceptable films. But the Justice Department's antitrust lawyers have required AMC to sell off theaters for competition reasons in the past, and the proposed Carmike acquisition - currently under investigation - may inspire them to do so again.

    Meanwhile, under a landmark Supreme Court antitrust ruling in 1948, Hollywood studios were required to divest themselves of their theater-chain holdings and stop forcing independent theaters to book their films. Even if Wanda acquires a major studio, that decision - and a zealous Justice Department - ensures that it won't be able to force propaganda down the throats of American audiences that are probably home watching American-owned Netflix, anyway.

    Americans have plenty of reasons to be wary of China's expanding influence. But at a time of expanding entertainment options, fear that China might be taking over the local multiplex is overheated and outdated. Taste, technology and ambition will ensure that there is always something else to watch.

    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
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  7. #232
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    Spielberg & Ma

    Aliblin? Amblibaba?

    Steven Spielberg's Amblin Pacts With China's Alibaba Pictures Group
    12:02 AM PDT 10/9/2016 by Abid Rahman


    Getty Images
    Steven Spielberg (left), Jack Ma

    The legendary director joined Alibaba boss Jack Ma at a signing ceremony in Beijing that will see Alibaba Pictures take an equity stake in Amblin.
    Amblin Partners and China's Alibaba Pictures Group have entered into a strategic partnership to co-produce and finance films for global and Chinese audiences.

    At a glitzy event Sunday in Beijing, attended by Steven Spielberg and Alibaba Group chief Jack Ma, the companies said they also will collaborate on the marketing, distribution and merchandising of Amblin's films in China. Alibaba Pictures also will have the option to co-finance Amblin films worldwide.

    Under the terms of the deal, Alibaba Pictures will acquire an unspecified minority equity stake in Amblin with an Alibaba representative joining Amblin's board.

    Alibaba Pictures joins India's Reliance, Canda's eOne and Jeff Skoll's Participant Media as equity holders in Amblin Partners, which was established in December.

    Joining Ma onstage for an informal talk, Spielberg said that he hoped the partnership would "bring more of America to China, and bring more of China to America."

    Ma praised Spielberg's storytelling abilities and how his style resonated with Chinese audiences. "I don’t think there are many differences between East and West — the only difference is that the West is better at telling stories," said Ma, adding that Alibaba Pictures hoped to learn more from Spielberg and Amblin.

    Jeff Small, president and co-CEO of Amblin, also was in Beijing for the signing ceremony. Small confirmed the Alibaba deal was the Amblin's first alliance in China and that both companies had been speaking for several months.

    Alibaba Pictures president Zhang Wei said that the partnership will begin with the marketing and distribution of the Spielberg-directed The BFG, which is set for release Friday in China.

    The fledgling Chinese film studio already has invested in several high-profile Hollywood projects including Star Trek Beyond, Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and most recently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

    Amblin's upcoming slate of films includes comedy A Dog's Purpose, to be released Jan. 27, and sci-fi adventure film Ready Player One, based on the best-selling book by Ernest Cline and directed by Spielberg. The pic, starring Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg and Tye Sheridan, is slated to hit theaters March 30, 2018.
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  8. #233
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    Hollywood panderers

    18 Hollywood movies that pandered to China's giant box office
    Gus Lubin
    5h


    "Looper" did everything it could to get a Chinese release.TriStar

    Hollywood is paying more attention than ever before to China, which could have the world’s biggest box office by 2017. And that means courting Chinese censors, who allow distribution of as few as 34 foreign films each year.

    "No Hollywood producer that wants to take advantage of the Chinese market would at this point include a film that includes anything about Taiwan, about Tibet, about Tiananmen," Aynne Kokas, author of the forthcoming book "Hollywood in China" and a professor at the University of Virginia, recently told Business Insider.

    And that’s just the start.

    "You won’t see the Chinese government acting as an enemy to the US state, but you will see the counterexample of things like 'The Martian' and 'Gravity' where Chinese astronauts save an American astronaut," Kokas said. "If the US and China had that level of cooperation in their military and space programs, we wouldn’t be having all these conflicts in the South China Sea."

    Beijing also looks down on "violent content, sexual content, political content, particularly anything that shows Chinese leaders who are corrupt — American leaders who are corrupt is less of a problem. Also supernatural content," Kokas added. (It’s worth noting that China doesn’t have ratings, so all movies must be approved for a general audience.)

    Kokas expects even more seamless coordination between Hollywood and China in the future, as US and Chinese companies announce collaborative film slates, Chinese companies buy US entertainment companies, US studios announce more Chinese coproductions, and US studios open China-focused subsidiaries.

    "There are really structural changes in the US media industry that are less visible to consumers but will have a substantial change in how Hollywood actually operates," Kokas said.

    We've rounded up some movies that made obvious changes in hopes of Chinese distribution:

    Marvel’s "Doctor Strange" changed The Ancient One from Tibetan in the comics to Celtic. "If you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bull**** and risk the Chinese government going, '…we’re not going to show your movie,'" "Doctor Strange" screenwriter C. Robert Cargill said.

    [IMG]http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57ffdcd652dd7340018b4b1f-1200/marvels-doctor-strange-changed-the-ancient-one-from-tibetan-in-the-comics-to-celtic-if-you-acknowledge-that-tibet-is-a-place-and-that-hes-tibetan-you-risk-alienating-one-billion-people-who-think-that-thats-bull****-and-risk-the-chinese-government-going-were-not-going-to-show-your-movie-doctor-strange-screenwriter-c-robert-cargill-said.jpg[/IMG]
    Disney

    Cargill also claimed this was a no-win scenario, saying the original character was "a racist stereotype."

    Source: Double Toasted via Cinema Blend

    "Iron Man 3" changed The Mandarin from an evil Chinese mastermind in the comics to a Western actor hired by the real villains. It also crammed the movie with product placement and more.

    Iron Man 3 trailer

    "Iron Man 3" shows a doctor drinking China’s Gu Li Duo milk — positive propaganda after batches of domestic milk in real life China were contaminated with mercury. It also features Chinese medicine, product placement for China’s TCL and Zoomlion, two Chinese supporting actors, and a winning shot of cheering Chinese schoolchildren, as noted by The New York Times.

    Some of these elements exist only in the special Chinese cut.

    "Cloud Atlas" removed nearly 30 minutes from its Chinese cut, largely plotlines and scenes with controversial sexual relations.


    Zhou Xun plays a human-replicant in "Cloud Atlas.""Cloud Atlas"
    Notably, the same-sex romance between two men and sex between a future "human-replicant" and her foreman.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

    "Looper" changed a scene from future Paris to future Shanghai, hoping to qualify as a Chinese coproduction.

    eshiu.com

    A time-traveler discourages another character from retiring in France. "I’m from the future," he says. "You should go to China."

    The film also added Chinese actress Xu Qing.

    Source: Film School Rejects

    Li Bingbing plays Blink in "X-Men: Days of Future Past.""X-Men: Days of Future Past"

    "X-Men: Days of Future Past" featured half an hour of content in Hong Kong and cameos by Chinese star Li Bingbing and a Chinese boy band.

    Source: The Guardian

    "Skyfall" took out a scene in which James Bond kills a Chinese security guard in the Chinese cut.

    "Skyfall"

    It also dropped a plotline in which a character turned villainous after being left in Chinese custody. All versions of the film include scenes in Shanghai and Macau.

    Source: The New Yorker

    "Mission: Impossible 3" dropped a shot of clothes on clotheslines in Shanghai for the Chinese cut. Apparently, the lack of dryer ownership is a sensitive issue.

    "Mission Impossible 3"

    Source: NPR

    "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End" removed Chinese actor Chun Yow Fat from the Chinese cut because displaying a Chinese pirate was not acceptable.

    Disney
    Source: The Federalist

    "Transformers: Age of Extinction" included shots of a debit card from the Chinese Construction Bank and a main character drinking a Chinese brand of milk.

    "Transformers: Age of Extinction"
    The movie, which was coproduced by China’s Jiaflix Enterprises, generally shows the Chinese government as benevolent, while some US government agents appear as indecisive and corrupt.

    Source: The Diplomat / Listverse

    "Men in Black 3" cut a scene in which Chinese bystanders get their memories erased for the Chinese edit.

    "Men in Black 3"
    "This could have been a hint on the use of internet censorship to maintain social stability," China’s Southern Daily newspaper noted. The Chinese cut also dropped scenes in which shady aliens are disguised as Chinese restaurant workers.

    Source: The Telegraph
    continued next post
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    Continued from previous post

    "World War Z" changed the origin of a zombie virus from China in the book to Russia in the movie.

    Paramount Pictures
    Source: Listverse

    "Pixels" removed an attack on the Great Wall among other changes.

    "Pixels"
    Leaked emails from Sony Pictures Entertainment show that the studio removed the Great Wall scene as well as a reference to hacking by a "Communist-conspiracy brother" in hopes of getting Chinese distribution.

    Source: Reuters


    "Red Dawn" changed an invading army from Chinese to North Korean in postproduction.

    "Red Dawn"
    "The studio spent a considerable amount of money to digitally alter the film," said Stanley Rosen, professor of political science at University of Southern California. "But with North Korea as the enemy, there was no challenge since there’s really no market for US films there."

    "Captain America: Civil War" shows Avengers using China’s Vivo phones.
    .
    Vivo
    This doesn’t make sense in the context of the movie, Geek.com’s Dave Gonzales explains, not only because those well-funded characters would not use such mediocre products, but also because US government-backed secret agents would never be allowed to use products with such unreliable security.

    "Warcraft" is based on a game franchise that might have more players in China than the US. Adding Chinese actor Daniel Wu was a cherry on top.

    "Warcraft" character Gul'dan was voiced by Daniel Wu."Warcraft"
    It also helped that this CGI-heavy movie was easy to dub into Chinese.

    "Warcraft" went on to earn much more in China ($221 million) than the US ($47 million).

    Source: Vanity Fair

    "Independence Day: Resurgence" featured Chinese star Angelababy and a bunch of Chinese products.

    "Independence Day: Resurgence"
    Lead actor Liam Hemsworth is shown using China’s popular QQ instant messaging service. Also a Chinese product, Moon Milk, is all over the film.

    Source: Vanity Fair

    "Django Unchained" was drastically recut to remove violence in China.

    Weinstein Company
    While another version of the film was cleared for release, it was pulled from theaters in a matter of hours.

    The movie was rereleased a month later with major changes: Django and his wife are not seen naked while they undergo torture; a flashback of a slave mauled by dogs is not present; and the shootout at the end of the movie is heavily altered.

    Source: The Guardian

    The rebooted "Karate Kid" was radically recut for China to remove negative portrayals of Chinese characters — tricky in a movie about an American expat fighting Chinese bullies. As an American critic noted, it went from an "underdog story to one of self-discovery."

    "Karate Kid"
    Notably, the movie cut scenes in which Chinese kids were bullies, showing instead that they don’t fight the Americans unless provoked. Also the Chinese kung fu teacher no longer seems like a bloodthirsty jerk.

    Also the movie title was changed to "The Kung Fu Kid."

    Source: Shandogxifu / Listverse


    Don’t be surprised if you see Chinese stars in more movies. For example "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" prominently features China’s Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen — perhaps a strategy to recover from the weak Chinese response to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

    "Rogue One: A Star Wars story"
    Source: The Hollywood Reporter
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  10. #235
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    Continued from previous post

    What movies got outright blocked from release in China? It’s a long list.

    Warner Bros.
    Some examples:

    "Suicide Squad." Aynne Kokas said: "A case like 'Suicide Squad' is relatively easy to understand because it’s a really violent film and removing that violence would make it difficult to actually release the film."

    "The Departed." A Chinese spokesperson said: "It’s very bloody and violent. It’d be difficult to edit all those violent scenes out …. [also] this military procurement plot involving the government, of course, is not appropriate for the domestic market."

    "Top Gun." A 3D rerelease was rejected because it portrayed US military dominance, notes the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

    "Captain Phillips." Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Pictures, speculated in leaked emails that the plot was a nonstarter: "Reasons being the big military machine of the US saving one US citizen. China would never do the same and in no way would want to promote this idea."

    "Seven Years in Tibet." Obviously, the story of an Austrian climber befriending the Dalai Lama wasn’t getting into China. Interestingly, it led to temporary bans on all movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment and actor Brad Pitt.

    "Ghostbusters," "Crimson Peak," and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" were all blocked, presumably because of ghosts.
    I find the term 'marketing' better than 'pandering' here.
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  11. #236
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    The return of McCarthyism?

    Great Stalin quote.

    Hollywood, Chinese-style
    Congress probes China’s inroads in the U.S. film industry



    By Richard Berman - - Monday, October 17, 2016
    ANALYSIS/OPINION:
    Joseph Stalin once said, “If I could control the medium of the American motion picture, I would need nothing else to convert the entire world to communism.”
    The Chinese government is taking those words to heart. China’s Communist Party claims that “efforts should be made to manifest core socialist values in internet publicity, culture, and service.” President Xi Jinping has vowed to “strengthen China’s soft power” and “build its capacity in international communication.” In his words: “The stories of China should be well told, voices of China well spread, and characteristics of China well explained.” The country now spends $10 billion every year on external propaganda.
    Chinese officials are intent on spreading favorable spins of the Chinese Communist government — from repression of its citizens to its aggressive foreign policy and military buildup agenda.
    How are they doing it? In part by buying U.S. film studios and movie theater chains, which the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently agreed to review in depth.
    It comes at a crucial time. China’s foot soldier is Dalian Wanda, a Chinese firm closely aligned to the Communist Party. In 2012, Wanda bought AMC Entertainment — the second-largest movie theater chain in the country — for $2.6 billion. It purchased Legendary Entertainment — the producer of “The Dark Knight Trilogy” — for an even heftier $3.5 billion in January.
    Wanda-owned AMC now plans to buy Carmike Cinemas for $1.2 billion, forming the country’s largest chain with 8,380 screens in more than 600 theaters. The company has also shown interest in buying at least a portion of Lionsgate Corp. and Paramount Pictures — if not some of Hollywood’s “Big Six” studios.
    Wanda’s founder and chairman, Wang Jianlin, is not shy about his ambitions — or his ties to the Chinese government. A former Communist deputy and China’s wealthiest man, Mr. Wang strives to turn Wanda into “a juggernaut” in the movie industry through high-dollar mergers and acquisitions that grant him greater control of major production and distribution channels.
    Ownership of AMC theaters, for example, will allow Mr. Wang to promote his country’s motion pictures to American moviegoers and to depress viewing of films and treatments he may not want viewed by American audiences. Before Wanda’s takeover, the company’s cinemas showed no Chinese films, yet now put on double-digit productions every year. As Mr. Wang puts it, “[AMC’s] boss is Chinese, so more Chinese films should be in their theaters where possible.”
    And he has used the Chinese government’s soft-power policy to his advantage. Calling it “very beneficial” to Wanda’s bottom line, Mr. Wang has steered at least $1.1 billion in government subsidies to Wanda. He has sold company stakes to relatives of some of China’s most powerful politicians and business executives, including the business partner of former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s daughter and relatives of two members of the Politburo — the Communist Party’s principal policymaking committee. Qi Qiaoqiao, the elder sister of President Xi Jinping, was also an early Wanda investor. Mr. Wang’s motto says it all: “Stay close to the government and distant from politics.”
    The cozy relationship blurs the line between Wanda’s interests and the Communist Party’s. While the company gains greater market share through mergers and acquisitions, it also gains the opportunity to alter movie scripts prerelease and prevent certain films from being shown at Wanda-owned theaters if Chinese officials lobby for it.
    It’s not a stretch. “Pixels,” the 2015 action-comedy flick, initially depicted aliens blasting a hole in the Great Wall. The scene was removed entirely from the final version of the movie. Similarly, the 2012 remake of “Red Dawn” originally featured Chinese soldiers invading an American town, but filmmakers changed the invaders into North Koreans without even receiving a formal complaint from Beijing.
    Wanda recently bankrolled the $25 million production budget of “Southpaw,” becoming the first Chinese firm to “solely finance an American movie.” And it left fingerprints everywhere. According to David Glasser, who helped produce and market the film, “[Wanda was] involved — it wasn’t just a silent investment.” Mr. Glasser went even further: “They were on the set and involved in production, postproduction, marketing, everything.”
    What prevents Mr. Wang’s company from removing a scene critical of China’s aggressive military posturing in the South China Sea? Or keeping such a movie out of its American theaters?
    Fortunately, Congress is aware of China’s subtle power play. The promised GAO review came in response to a request from 18 bipartisan members of Congress to investigate Mr. Wang’s dealmaking and the effects of Chinese propagandizing through state-supported companies. Rep. John Culberson, Texas Republican, also asked the Department of Justice to launch a review of the Foreign Agents Registration Act to see if the “foreign propaganda influence over American media” was being sufficiently addressed. Wang Jainlin, the Wanda CEO, will be in Hollywood this week on a public relations tour promoting his government’s offer to subsidize American film making in China.
    Congress should heed Stalin’s words. It may be a bridge too far for the Communist Chinese to achieve these control goals. However, there will be a lot of mischief experienced while they try.

    • Richard Berman is the president of Berman and Company, a public affairs firm in Washington, D.C.
    Gene Ching
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  12. #237
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    dramatic slow down

    A dramatic box-office slowdown in China has Hollywood nervous


    A Wanda Cinema location in Wuhan, in the Chinese province of Hubei. (Zhang Peng / LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Ryan Faughnder and Yanan Wang

    At the Wanda Imax theater in Beijing’s bustling Central Business District, shopping mall patrons passed the time on couches in the lobby as they waited to meet friends on a Wednesday afternoon — but many weren’t there to see movies.

    Some in fact, like 21-year-old Tian Zhuanghui, said a lack of good films have kept them away from the multiplex.

    “I watch movies a lot less now,” Tian, a recent university graduate, said with a shrug. “I just don’t have the desire to anymore. The excitement is gone.”

    Tian, who prefers fantasy and science fiction pictures, is far from alone in her waning interest. Her sentiment reflects a surprising plot twist in the world’s second-largest film market: a dramatic box-office slowdown.

    Ticket sales in China during the last six months have been down by 10% compared with the same period last year, according to EntGroup, a Beijing-based research firm. That’s a striking turnaround for a country that saw a nearly 50% jump in box office receipts in 2015 to $6.78 billion, leading many people to believe that mainland China would overtake the U.S. and Canada as the world’s No. 1 market as soon as next year. But a weak summer season has dampened the hype.

    Movie ticket receipts are weakening even though cinema chains are still building theaters at a rapid pace.

    The headwinds have caused growing anxiety in an increasingly global-focused Hollywood, which has placed big bets on the burgeoning appetite of Chinese consumers for entertainment. U.S. studios are increasingly gearing their would-be blockbusters to appeal to audiences in China, and doing deals with local companies to improve their chances of doing big business there.

    Experts have scrambled to explain the phenomenon, citing a poor film lineup, a lack of discounts from online ticket sellers, and increased government scrutiny of phony box office statistics.

    “There are a lot of things to be concerned about, and a slowdown in the box office there is one of them,” said Rob Cain, a producer and veteran studio consultant on China. “A lot of Chinese audiences are getting tired of paying good money for bad films.”

    The slowdown has sparked a sharp reaction from some Chinese investors eager to court Hollywood.

    China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, chairman of cinema and real estate giant Dalian Wanda Group, tried to quell concerns last week during a speech to Hollywood executives in Los Angeles. Wang, who came to a Los Angeles County Museum of Art event to tout his new $8.2 billion, 408-acre movie production complex in Qingdao, stressed that the box office would continue to show strong growth throughout the next decade, despite the current hiccups.

    “I believe any pessimism about China’s film market is inaccurate,” Wang said, according to an English language transcript of his speech last Monday night. “As China continues its urbanization, as the number of shopping malls grows, and as the income of the Chinese population rises, China’s film market will maintain a fast growth rate over the next 10 years.”

    Nonetheless, it’s become clear that the torrid pace of the past several years is not sustainable. Wang said China’s box office sales should increase up to 15% annually during the next decade, meaning the industry could reach $30 billion by 2016 — three times the size of North America ($11.1 billion in 2015).

    Analysts blame the slowdown partly on a leap in prices consumers have to pay for tickets sold online. For years, tech companies such as Alibaba Group and Tencent offered aggressive subsidies discounting tickets as much as 50% in order to fight for market share. That practice has been cut back significantly now that the ticket sellers are under increasing pressure to turn profits. The average ticket price in China is about $5, compared with $8.51 in the U.S.

    Industry observers also single out the past manipulation of box office statistics by private companies that inflated the successes of their movies in previous years. In March, Chinese regulators launched an investigation into online ticket sellers to find out if they had inflated the sales numbers for the martial arts movie “Ip Man 3,” starring Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson.

    The crackdown on the practice by China’s government regulators raised questions about the reliability of the overall statistics for the Chinese market. The sudden sluggishness may reflect greater transparency in the market, and could cause headaches for investors and studios who had hoped for easier returns on their movies.

    “It may cause some short-term dislocation,” said Marc Ganis, co-founder and managing director of Jiaflix Enterprises, which helps studios distribute movies in China. “This is significant and meaningful, but it ought not to reduce the interest in the Chinese market.”

    Then there is the issue of quality, or lack thereof. China needs better movies in order to draw the masses to cinemas. Wanda Group’s Wang, along with many analysts, said the box office boom inspired a wave of investment in pictures that were rushed to market in order to take advantage of the upswing. While the industry fielded a couple of homegrown blockbusters including “The Mermaid” ($526 million in China) this year, there were a number of movies with major stars that did poor business, such as the comedy “Papa,” historical adventure “Xuan Zang” and the war flick “Brothers.”

    Lawrence Wang, China regional manager for cinema technology provider Vista Group, said sacrificing quality has backfired.

    “Because the market is crazy, people are thinking any film can make money,” he said. “But it's an illusion. The audiences there have their own taste, and they can tell if the film is not good.”

    Hollywood itself may be partly responsible for the stalled growth in China. Last year’s box office boom in the world’s most populous country was partly fueled by American blockbusters like “Jurassic World” and “Furious 7” that have been in short supply this year.

    Movie producers and studio executives in Los Angeles privately downplayed the long-term significance of the China slump, but acknowledged that studios have to do a better job of studying the tastes of Chinese moviegoers. To many, China remains an enormous untapped opportunity. People there see an average of less than one movie each year, whereas their U.S. counterparts buy almost four tickets each annually. Analysts and executives hope Chinese per capita attendance continues to grow as more of the population has access to local movie theaters.

    Recent sluggishness at the box office hasn’t curtailed deal making on either side of the Pacific.

    Chinese film production and marketing company Huahua Media said last week it would invest in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Brad Pitt World War II movie “Allied.” That comes on the heels of Alibaba Pictures’ agreement to co-produce and co-finance movies with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners.

    Sony Pictures in September secured a commitment from Wanda to invest in a handful of its major projects, in hopes of giving its films a leg up in the country. While Wanda has been the most aggressive in the space, studios and production companies have also lined up to work with Chinese partners like Tencent, Alibaba, Hunan TV and Fosun International. Last year, Warner Bros. and China Media Capital set up a joint venture called Flagship Entertainment Group to make local-language movies.

    In turn, China film companies have turned to U.S. studios to learn more about the art and craft of modern filmmaking. Hollywood exports such as Disney’s “Zootopia” and Legendary Entertainment’s “Warcraft” continue to generate a considerable portion of the overall theatrical revenue. Success in the Chinese box office can determine whether a movie is profitable.

    Better Chinese movies would be welcome news for 20-year-old Wang Yi, who had just exited a showing of the computer animated “L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties” at the Beijing Central Business District theater.

    Wang said she used to go to the movies twice a week, whenever there was a new release. Now she comes half as often.

    “There are fewer good Chinese movies,” she said. “American blockbusters, especially superhero movies, are more fast-paced and exciting."
    If China ever succeeds in making that global blockbuster, we'll never hear the end of it.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #238
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    Well, if Ang Lee says it...

    ...but wait, there's more. See the next post.

    Ang Lee says China box office will soon dwarf Hollywood
    Saturday October 29, 2016
    01:48 PM GMT+8


    Director Ang Lee accepts the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) Los Angeles’ Britannia Awards in Beverly Hills, California, October 29, 2016. — Reuters pic

    LOS ANGELES, Oct 29 — Taiwanese-born filmmaker Ang Lee predicted yesterday that the Chinese film market was about to explode, not only overtaking but dwarfing the American box office in a matter of years.

    The two-time Oscar winner said executives in the world’s second economy used to rely on him as a bridge to Hollywood, but the newly-confident Chinese film industry no longer finds it necessary.

    “It’s huge, it’s going to be bigger in a few years,” the 62-year-old told reporters on the red carpet at the glitzy Bafta Britannia Awards in Beverly Hills.

    “In a few years it’s probably going to be bigger (than the US) and then in the years to come a lot bigger. They’ve got many people and, most importantly, film has been lacking in the past in the culture so it’s still fresh.”

    “People still want to see movies — they are not jaded yet.”

    China’s movie market has exploded and PricewaterhouseCoopers projects its box office will rise from US$4.3 billion (RM18 billion) in 2014 to US$8.9 billion in 2019, outstripping the US.

    Hollywood studios have been looking to capitalise on the burgeoning market through partnerships with Chinese companies.

    Meanwhile, Beijing has ambitions to increase China’s “soft power”, unleashing a wave of Chinese money into Hollywood.

    Chinese internet billionaire Jack Ma announced earlier this month that he has purchased a stake in cinema legend Steven Spielberg’s company.

    Meanwhile real estate developer turned media conglomerate Wanda bought Jurassic World creator Legendary Entertainment for US$3.5 billion earlier this year.

    Last month Wanda — which snapped up US movie theatre chain AMC in 2012 for US$2.6 billion — announced it would invest in movies produced by Sony Pictures, its first deal with one of Hollywood’s so-called “Big Six” studios.

    Lee was the first Asian ever to win an Oscar for directing, in 2006 for gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain. He went on to win again for 2012’s Life of Pi.

    He was at the Bafta LA ceremony — which celebrates the contribution of Hollywood talent and British entertainers — to receive the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for excellence in directing.

    His war drama Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, starring Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel and Steve Martin, will be released in the US on November 11.

    Lee described the film as a “social satire” and a “coming-of-age story of a young soldier realising who he really is.” — AFP
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  14. #239
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    2019

    Well, at least I can keep my "Chollywood Rising" title for a few more years now. I was stressing because I couldn't think up a better one. And I'm not really that fond of the present one either.

    China’s Ascent to No. 1 Film Market Now Stalled Until 2019
    James Rainey
    Senior Film Reporter
    @RaineyTime


    YANG WEI CHEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
    NOVEMBER 1, 2016 | 10:22AM PT

    China is still poised to overtake the United States as the world’s largest film market, but a slowing of audience growth means the handover of market supremacy will likely now occur in 2019, not 2017, as previously predicted, a top trade association executive said Tuesday.

    Audience growth in China had been projected at 30% but now appears to be at 20% or less, said Michael Ellis, Asia-Pacific president for the Motion Picture Association of America. “It’s going to happen, it’s just not quite sure when,” said Ellis, speaking at the U.S.-China Film Summit at UCLA.

    Ellis said the audience in China skews younger than in the U.S., with viewers in the 25 to 30 age bracket visiting the cinema a dozen times or more a year — representing more than 40% of that nation’s market.

    In a snapshot of the Chinese market for the seventh annual conference — sponsored by the Asia Society Southern California — Ellis reported that the average ticket price now stands at $5.65, compared to the $8.61-a-seat average in the United States.

    Despite estimates that the Chinese exhibition industry is expanding by 20 screens a day, the nation remains under-resourced compared to the United States. China has an estimated 35,000 theater screens, or 25.7 per million of population, compared to 40,174 screens in the U.S., 123.7 per million population.

    Ellis discussed the continuing speculation over whether China will increase its annual quota — most recently set at 34 films a year — on the number of foreign movie imports allowed into the country for screening. He said it was hard to predict whether that number will change, but said the quota has always been a floor, not a ceiling, for foreign films in China.

    “China can and will exceed that quota when there are market reasons to do so,” Ellis said.
    But wait...there's more.
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  15. #240
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    No ban on Chinese villains

    This is a little ironic when you consider that there are dozens of Chinese-made films with entirely Chinese casts and they have Chinese villains.

    China Film Official Insists There’s No Ban on Hollywood Movies With Chinese Villains
    It’s been difficult to spot a Chinese bad guy in a recent Hollywood blockbuster
    Matt Pressberg | November 1, 2016 @ 3:10 PM



    A top Chinese film official said Tuesday that there’s no official policy to bar Hollywood movies featuring Chinese bad guys from playing in the country — which is expected to surpass the U.S. as the world’s biggest box office market in the next few years.

    “As for villains or heroes, I don’t think there is any restriction,” Miao Xiaotian, the president of the China Film Co-Production Corporation, a state-run body that oversees co-productions, said at the Asia Society’s U.S.-China Film Summit at the University of California Los Angeles. “I cannot say that the villain cannot be played by Chinese actors. I don’t think there’s any restriction on that.”

    The 2012 film “Red Dawn” famously swapped out its Chinese villains for North Koreans during postproduction to ensure it would get a theatrical run in China’s multiplexes. And since then, the number of big-screen bad guys from the Middle Kingdom has dwindled to basically zero, while the Chinese box office has become an increasingly important source of revenue for Hollywood.

    Miao also shed light on China’s motives behind its policy of pursuing co-productions between U.S and Chinese firms. Official Chinese co-productions require a minimum 15 percent financial investment from Chinese partners — more with certain countries that have signed official treaties, and also substantial local representation in the cast.

    “For casting, we request that there will be Chinese actors for main characters,” he said. “Our requirement is that there should not be less than one-third.”

    Miao also reassured Hollywood execs about the content of films they hope to import into his country. “Don’t worry,” he said noting that most significant Hollywood films end up winning approval from China’s state censors.

    This year, “Suicide Squad” and “Ghostbusters” failed to win approval — and Miao noted the war movie “300” as another example.

    “I think that film didn’t go to China because of violence,” he said.

    Currently, China allows 34 imported films per year on a revenue-sharing basis. Miao wouldn’t speculate on whether that quota might be raised, although there have been a flurry of Hollywood films that have recently landed China release dates, including Paramount’s “Allied,” Lionsgate’s “Deepwater Horizon” and Disney-Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” — as China’s box office has had an uncharacteristically sluggish run.

    “In the future if the quota will increase or not, I’m not sure about that,” he said. “It’s hard to speculate. But I think co-production is a very good way to make it up.”
    Gene Ching
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