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Thread: Chollywood rising

  1. #256
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    Blame the media...

    ...Why not? If it works for the U.S., why not the PRC?
    Or do I have that backwards?

    State media rails against film review websites for giving new Chinese movies poor marks
    29 December 2016 14:00 AFP 3 min read

    Chinese state media have taken popular online movie review sites to task for giving three new domestic blockbusters failing marks, accusing them of trying to undermine the domestic cinema industry by manipulating ratings.

    Foreign films are in high demand at the world’s second-biggest box office, a fact that has long annoyed Beijing, which both covets Hollywood’s global reach and economic power and fears that it is exposing domestic audiences to pernicious “Western” thinking.


    The three Chinese blockbusters.

    The number of overseas movies given releases each year is strictly limited, and an opinion piece on the smartphone app of the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said some influential commentators had made “malicious and irresponsible comments that seriously damaged” domestic films.

    The piece, published Tuesday, questioned whether two Chinese film review websites — Douban and Maoyan — were manipulating domestic film ratings by giving them exceptionally low scores.

    “Five-star” comments were deleted, while domestic films received thousands of “one-star” ratings even before their midnight premieres ended, state broadcaster CCTV alleged separately.



    Following the remarks, Maoyan cancelled part of its film ranking function.

    Internet users, however, took the opportunity to write some reviews of their own, bombarding state media with snide remarks about the government’s terrible taste in movies and restrictive attitudes towards free speech.

    “You won’t even let us say a movie is terrible,” one commenter said.



    Douban’s CEO, too, objected to the characterisation of the site, saying the reviews accurately effect audience opinion.

    In response, the People’s Daily seemed to walk back its remarks Wednesday, saying the real reason for the bad ratings might simply be bad movies.

    “Can films really be ruined by ‘one-star’ scores? Can the ecological environment of films really be affected by ‘negative comments’?” it asked.

    The second article, not the first, reflects the official line, the paper added.

    China’s annual box office reached 44.1 billion yuan ($6.34 billion) in 2015, with domestic films securing 61.9 percent of sales, according to China Movie Data Information Network.

    In December, three domestic films battled for the country’s box office: “The Great Wall” directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, “Railroad Tigers” starring Jackie Chan, and “See You Tomorrow” produced by Wong Kar-wai.


    File photo: Apple Daily.

    Ticket sales have been brisk, but audiences panned their poor acting and thin stories.

    One common complaint is Chinese censors’ heavy-handed management of the creative process from script to theatre.

    In November, the country passed legislation saying films should promote “socialist core values”, while avoiding the kind of themes — sex, violence and politics — that are a large part of Hollywood’s appeal.

    Chinese companies have been ramping up investment in the foreign movie industry, but they often have to walk a thin line between balancing strict censorship at home and appealing to global audiences.

    In January, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group signed a $3.5 billion deal to buy Hollywood studio Legendary Entertainment, the company behind the “Batman” trilogy and “Jurassic World”, as well as “The Great Wall”.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #257
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    End of year recap - Hong Kong

    2016 Hong Kong Box Office: Asian Cinema Cheered Despite 2% Drop
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    Hong Kong Box Office: Asian Cinema
    JANUARY 3, 2017 | 04:32AM PT

    Theatrical box office in Hong Kong shrank a modest 2% in 2016. But with two local films and a runaway Korean hit in the top ten, there was reason for Asian film makers to cheer the performance.

    Data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd showed gross box office of US$252 million (HK$1.95 billion) compared with US$257 million (HK$1.99 billion) in 2015. The decrease came despite larger numbers of local and imported titles finding theatrical outings, a total of 348, compared with 332 in 2015. The number of Hong Kong films released last year grew to 61, up from 59 in 2015. The imports total rose from 273 in 2015 to 287 in 2016.

    The record breaking winner was “Captain America: Civil War” with US$14.6 million (HK$113 million.) In second place, and breaking records for an Asian film in Hong Kong theaters was Korean zombie horror “Train to Busan” with a sensational US$8.77 million (HK$68.0 million.)

    Breaking records for the top scoring local film, “Cold War 2” placed third on the overall chart with US$8.54 million (HK$66.2 million.) Also considered as a local title, Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid” placed seventh with US$7.12 million (HK$55.2 million.)

    The differences between the Hong Kong scores and the box office results for mainland China are as wide as ever. “The Mermaid” and “Zootopia” ranked first and second this year in China, but only seventh and eighth in Hong Kong. “Train to Busan” and “Deadpool,” which came sixth in Hong Kong, have not been allowed releases in the mainland.

    China’s top ten included three other China-Hong Kong productions that did not feature in the Hong Kong top ten: “The Monkey King 2,” “The Man From Macau 3,” and “Operation Mekong.” Such scores are likely to fuel claims that the Hong Kong production industry is these days increasingly driven by mainland Chinese tastes, while Hong Kong audiences still generally favor Hollywood or local Hong Kong titles.
    This is in contrast to the rest of China...
    Gene Ching
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  3. #258
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    ...the rest of China

    China Box-Office Growth Slowed to 3.7 Percent in 2016, Official Data Shows
    7:11 PM PST 1/1/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Courtesy Filmko Pictures Co., Ltd
    'The Monkey King 2'

    Hollywood fared considerably better than the local industry, with revenue for imported films up 10.9 percent for the year.
    China's once booming box office ended 2016 with a whimper.

    After averaging yearly growth of 35 percent for more than a decade, China's movie ticket revenue expanded just 3.7 percent in 2016, clocking in at Ұ45.7 billion for the year, according to official data from China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

    The Chinese currency weakened against the dollar throughout the year, meaning that 2016's total actually amounted to a decline in U.S. dollar terms. Total box-office revenue this year was $6.58 billion compared to $6.78 billion (Ұ44 billion) last year.

    Growth of 3.7 percent would be considered a healthy number in many mature markets around the world — North America's box office grew 2.1 percent to hit $11.36 billion in 2016 — but for China, it represents a drastic deceleration from last year's 48 percent expansion rate.

    The boom times continued at the start of 2016, with local blockbusters like Stephen Chow's The Mermaid, which earned $528 million in China alone, driving growth of over 50 percent in the first quarter. Many analysts then predicted that China would surpass North America to become the world's biggest theatrical market as early as 2017. But growth fell off a cliff in the second quarter — a 4.6 percent year-on-year decline, the territory's first such fall in half a decade — and it has yet to bounce back.

    Hollywood studios fared slightly better in China in 2016. Imported international films — the vast majority of which are U.S. studio titles — accounted for 41.7 percent of total box office in 2016, compared to 38.4 percent revenue share in 2015. Overall, international movies earned $2.7 billion (Ұ19.06 billion) in China, compared to $2.6 billion (Ұ16.99 billion) last year, despite the less favorable exchange rates. Revenue was up 10.9 percent for the year.

    The forces behind China's slowdown were a regular subject of debate — and hand-wringing — throughout the year. Most industry observers converge around a combination of factors: weaker local films, a crackdown on box-office fraud, cutbacks in last year's generous ticket subsidies from fast-growing online platforms, overall weakness in the Chinese economy and increased consumer discernment among China's new moviegoers (for a more detailed look at the causes of the slowdown, see here).

    China's state-backed international radio station tried to put a positive spin on the slowdown in its English-language coverage of the SAPPRFT figures, saying, "the film industry in China kept a steady development momentum in 2016 amid the 'new normal' of the country's economic development" — a reference to China's slowing overall economy. The news source also said that China's film sector faced "multiple challenges, including the rapid development of the internet."

    The SAPPRFT data shows that the number of movie tickets sold in China in 2016 was up slightly to 1.37 billion, an increase of about 8.9 percent year-on-year. The average ticket price was down, however, reflecting the expansion of cinema construction into provincial markets that are less economically developed.

    China built 1,612 new cinemas this year, bringing its total to 41,179 screens. That was enough to top the U.S. total — 40,759 screens, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners — making China the country with the most cinemas in the world.
    Anticipating a box office bump this month with CNY.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #259
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    $1 billion to Paramount

    $1B. That's what Rogue One made as of last weekend.

    Thu Jan 19, 2017 | 11:41pm EST
    China extends Hollywood push with $1 billion Paramount investment


    A security guard speaks into a microphone in his sleeve as he stands outside the Viacom Inc. headquarters in New York April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
    By Jessica Toonkel | NEW YORK

    Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures will receive a $1 billion cash investment from two Chinese film companies, Shanghai Film Group (SFG) and Huahua Media, giving the U.S. studio much-needed cash and support as it attempts to grow.

    As part of the agreement, SFG and Huahua Media will finance a combined 25 percent of all of Paramount's films for the next three years, with the option to extend to a fourth year, a source familiar with the situation said.

    The deal comes as parent company Viacom focuses on a turnaround plan under new Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish.

    It also follows a spate of tie-ups between China and U.S. producers, with Chinese investors increasingly keen to lend their financial muscle to boost their stake in Hollywood.

    U.S. studios such as Warner Bros, Walt Disney Co, Dreamworks, Lionsgate and STX Entertainment have all made tie-ups with Chinese firms to fund productions or help boost their presence in China's fast-growing film market.

    Last year, Chinese real estate conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group spent $3.5 billion to buy a controlling stake in U.S. film studio Legendary Entertainment, while Paramount worked with Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd in 2015 to promote "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" in China.

    The studio could now use the latest partnership as an entry point into China, Paramount CEO Brad Grey told Reuters in an interview, adding that the studio would someday be interested in producing films in the country.

    "Certainly Paramount would love to produce films (in China) and we think that should be a win for us," Grey said.

    The agreement marks the first major move by Grey since Viacom's former CEO, Philippe Dauman, tried to sell a 49 percent stake in the movie studio to Dalian Wanda last year.

    "This will give Paramount the wherewithal to build the slate and produce, as a major studio should, 15-17 movies a year," Grey said. Over the past few years, under Dauman, Paramount's production fell as low as eight films in a given year.

    "You really can't operate a major studio with that," Grey said, referring to the lower figure.

    Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media said in a joint statement with Paramount that they were keen to deepen their cooperation on film projects through the deal. Both firms declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters on Friday.

    Huahua has partnered with Paramount on several films, including "Transformers: the Age of Extinction" and "Star Trek Beyond". State-linked Shanghai Film Group was an investor in "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back".

    Viacom shares moved higher in Thursday afternoon trading but pared gains to close at $39.80.

    (Reporting by Jessica Toonkel; Additional reporting by Tim Baysinger and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Bernard Orr and Christopher Cushing)
    Gene Ching
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  5. #260
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    Global totals down

    It's all about the world market now. We'll see how the populist attack on global trade affects the film industry and all other industries.

    Sluggish China Box Office Brings Down 2016’s Global Totals
    Brent Lang
    Senior Film and Media Editor
    @BrentALang


    COURTESY OF DISNEY
    JANUARY 25, 2017 | 10:00AM PT
    Publicly, studio executives tend to be a rosy bunch, predicting that each year’s crop of movies will be better than that which preceded it. But behind closed doors, few in the business were expecting much from 2016.

    This story first appeared in the January 24, 2017 issue of Variety. Subscribe today.

    When the final numbers are tallied, the global box office will probably fall short of last year’s record-breaking $38.9 billion. Most observers expect ticket sales to fall roughly 2% to just over $38 billion. That decline is reason for some alarm, particularly as the shortfall is largely attributable to a slowdown in China. After years of explosive growth, in which returns were expanding at a 40% clip annually, revenue in China was essentially flat in 2016 — a disappointment for the world’s second-largest film market, which had been expected to surpass the U.S. in terms of revenue in a matter of months.

    “As China goes, so goes the international marketplace,” notes Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore.

    There are worries that Donald Trump’s presidency could have a further chilling effect. Trump has been a proponent of stricter tariffs on foreign goods and has often cast China as an adversary.

    “Who knows what our trade policies will be like in a year?” Dergarabedian asks.

    If Trump is true to his word, there could be some type of retaliation from China at a time when Hollywood is increasingly reliant on Chinese financing and viewership. In particular, there are concerns about a move toward tighter restrictions on the number of U.S. films that are allowed to screen in the country.

    But many studio executives remain bullish on the long-term prospects of Sino-Tinseltown relations.

    “In China, there has been a slowdown off a base of massive growth, but it’s still the biggest of the markets where we or any studio does business, and it will still be on pace to displace the U.S. in box office, though maybe not as quickly as people thought,” says Dave Hollis, Disney’s global distribution chief.

    China aside, there is a sense that 2016 could have been worse. “Deadpool” and “Zootopia” were blockbusters that few saw coming. And while “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Finding Dory” weren’t hits on the level of 2015 smashes such as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World,” they resonated with global audiences.

    “If you look at the slate last year, it played pretty well,” says Eric Handler, an analyst with MKM Partners. “The numbers would suggest there might be a modest decline in attendance, but the movie business is still holding in quite well.”

    Across the globe, the story was one of slowdowns, stall-outs, and surges. Spain began to rebound after tough economic times, with ticket sales rising 5%, and France had its second-best performance in 50 years. Yet other major markets had problems: Revenue fell by double digits in Germany, and growth stalled in South Korea.

    In some cases, the declines can be chalked up to weaker local product. In others, the studio blockbusters didn’t excite as they had in previous years. (Studios point to parts of Asia and Latin America as regions in which Hollywood products are still finding a warm reception.) There were also currency headaches; a strong U.S. dollar meant that Europe and Russia failed to contribute as much to the returns of major blockbusters as they once did.

    Still, there is optimism, fueled by a look at the slate for 2017, which will see sequels to “Star Wars,” “Transformers,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “Despicable Me,” “Spider-Man,” and “Cars.” This Murderers’ Row has left analysts like Dergarabedian reaching for the perfect metaphor to encapsulate the moneymaking on the horizon.

    “I call it the 100-year flood of movies,” he says.
    Gene Ching
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  6. #261
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    And we're back!

    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    Anticipating a box office bump this month with CNY.
    Freakin' genius, right? Now if only I could predict something useful, like lottery numbers...

    China Box Office Roars Back to Life as New Year Holiday Kicks Off
    7:56 PM PST 1/29/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Screengrab
    'Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back'

    As China's biggest moviegoing week of the year got underway, Stephen Chow's 'Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back' earned a massive $83.4 million in two days.

    The Chinese New Year holiday brought the world's No. 2 box office roaring back to life over the weekend, as Stephen Chow's Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back pulled in $83.4 million over two days.

    The seven-day holiday, kicking off Saturday, is usually China's hottest box-office stretch of the year. Demons Strike Back opened to $52.5 million Saturday, overtaking last year's Chinese New Year champion The Mermaid to set a new single-day record for a local film. Only Universal's Furious 7 — $68.8 million in 2015 — has earned more in one day in China.

    Demons Strike Back is the sequel to Chow's 2013 hit Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. Chow wrote and produced the follow-up but fellow Hong Kong hitmaker Tsui Hark took over as director. The fantasy-comedy franchise is based on a beloved work of classic Chinese literature. The film also made a muscular debut on Imax, taking $4.5 million from 390 screens Saturday, another single-day record for a Chinese release.

    Two India-themed action-comedies also opened big, but a notch below Demons, as the holiday was getting underway. Buddies in India, directed by and starring comedy favorite Wang Baoqiang, debuted to $44 million, while Jackie Chan's China-India co-production Kung Fu Yoga kicked off with $38.5 million, according to weekend estimates from Beijing box-office tracker Ent Group. By Sunday, Chan's picture appeared to be pulling ahead, however, as better reviews and word of mouth spread. Buddies earned $27.6 million Saturday and $16.6 million Sunday, while Yoga took $20.2 million and $18.4, respectively. (All of the new releases opened Saturday, rather than the usual Friday, which fell on the eve of the holiday, when Chinese stay home to share traditional meals with their families, leaving cinemas all but empty.)

    Coming in fourth place, 35-year-old blogger-turned-director Han Han brought some diversity to the frame with Duckweed, an adaptation of his novel about coming-of-age and father-son relationships in 1990s small-town China. The film stars Deng Chao as a Chinese youth who travels back in time — Back to the Future style — to experience interesting episodes from the life of his father, played by Eddie Peng, resolving some generational misunderstandings.

    Boonie Bears: Entangled Worlds, the fourth installment in the hit local animation franchise, played to the family-with-little-kids crowd, opening to $17.4 million over Saturday and Sunday.

    In 2016, China's box office raked in $548 million (3.56 billion yuan) over the CNY holiday — the highest one-week total ever achieved by a single territory. The huge start to the year had analysts predicting that China might surpass North America as the world's biggest movie market within a matter of months rather than years. But then a prolonged chill set in, resulting in average box- office growth of just 3.7 percent for the full year.

    The big holiday bounce comes as considerable encouragement then. After two days, more than $200 million is in the till. By midweek, we should know whether a new one-week record is within reach.
    Journey to the West 2
    Buddies In India
    Kung Fu Yoga
    Gene Ching
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  7. #262
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    Up 13%

    I saw
    Kung Fu Yoga last night. I'll review it on that thread soon.

    China Box Office: Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan Revive Growth for Record Holiday Haul
    9:03 PM PST 2/2/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Courtesy of Edko Films
    'Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back'

    Total ticket sales over China's vital New Year holiday period are up 13 percent, with blockbusters from Chow and Chan leading the pack.
    Veteran Hong Kong hitmakers Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan are the heroes of China's box office yet again.

    The latest blockbuster releases from the two icons helped fuel 13 percent growth in ticket sales over China's week-long New Year holiday period. China's box office also recorded a 25 percent year-on-year gain in January — the market's first increase since August.

    Chow's Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back set a single-day record of $52.5 million (354 million yuan) on Jan. 28, the first day of Chinese New Year. Over the following six days ending Feb. 2, total ticket revenue in China hit $485 million (3.34 billion yuan), compared to 2.96 billion yuan over the equivalent six-day holiday period last year, according to Beijing-based box office monitor EntGroup.

    The strong numbers will come as welcome news to Hollywood and the Chinese industry alike, after months of downbeat indicators from the Middle Kingdom. Following years of double-digit expansion, China's theatrical market experienced a major correction last year, with revenue growth dropping to its slowest pace since 2008.

    The uptick should probably come with an asterisk, however. On Jan. 28, China's regulators began including online service fees as part of box office grosses. Such fees are usually just 3-5 yuan per ticket ($.44 to $.73), but given that an estimated 70 percent of all movie tickets are now bought online in China, the adjustment amounts to a sizable accounting tweak. Regulators say the adjustment was necessary to reflect changes in consumer behavior, but the timing is conspicuous.

    Analysts are mostly embracing the upswing though. "The strong holiday box office performance beat market expectations, and we believe it serves as a strong signal that box office revenue has bottomed,” HSBC's John Liu wrote in a note to clients Thursday, according to Bloomberg.

    Demons Strike Back is the sequel to Chow's 2013 hit Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. Chow wrote and produced the follow-up but fellow Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark took over as director. After six days, the film has earned $167.6 million.

    Jackie Chan's latest action-comedy vehicle, Kung Fu Yoga, opened in third place on Jan. 28 with $38.5 million. But a big embrace by both fans and critics has helped the film make a late-stage climb to the top of the charts. It pulled in $23.3 million on Wednesday and $22.1 million on Thursday, over Demons' $18.9 million and $17 million respective numbers. A big-budget India-China co-production, the film was directed by veteran Chan collaborator Stanley Tong. Its total now stands at $126.6 million.

    China's film regulators block Hollywood imports during the lucrative CNY holiday stretch. Imported fare won't be back on Chinese screens until xXx: The Return of Xander Cage opens Feb. 10, followed by La La Land on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.
    Looking forward to seeing Journey to the West 2 - it opens today in 3D IMAX.
    Gene Ching
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  8. #263
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    A three-fer today

    China's Quota on Hollywood Film Imports Set to Expand, State Media Says
    11:30 PM PST 2/9/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


    Illustration by: Kevin Hong

    After an "extremely cordial" call between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a government-backed news outlet projected an expansion to China's film quota and a greater share of box-office revenue for Hollywood studios.
    China is expected to expand its quota on foreign film imports and allow Hollywood a greater share of box office revenue after government officials and industry representatives from China and the U.S. meet to renegotiate trade terms later this month, China's state media reported Friday.

    The Global Times, an influential state-backed newspaper, predicted that a dozen more films will be added to the quota, citing local industry experts. The outlet also forecast that the share of box-office revenue that U.S. distributors are entitled to take will move from the current 25 percent towards the international average of 40 percent.

    "Although it might not be as large as the previous 12 percentage points increase," Huang Guofeng, an analyst from Beijing-based consultancy Analysys International, allowed.

    Known for its populist tone and pro-government slant, the Global Times occasionally is viewed as a bellwether for policy direction. The article also was carried in the English edition of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

    The timing of the state-affiliated analysis could be significant, given that President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Thursday. According to the White House, Trump offered Xi an affirmation of the "One China" policy, which has served as the basis of Sino-U.S. relations for a generation. Trump rattled the U.S.-China relationship in January by publicly questioning whether it was necessary to honor the policy. The call is believed to have smoothed relations considerably — at least temporarily. The White House described the conversation as "extremely cordial," and Xi is understood to have told Trump that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. in several areas, including trade and investment.

    China employs various means to protect its growing domestic film industry from Hollywood domination. The most notorious measure is the strict quota limiting the number of foreign movies allowed into the local market on revenue-sharing terms.

    Under the current five-year deal, which was signed by former vice president Joe Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping in February, 2012, China accepts 34 overseas films per year, with 14 of the titles required to be 3D or large-format movies.

    The landmark 2012 agreement temporarily resolved a bitter trade dispute, which had involved Washington filing an official complaint with the World Trade Organization alleging that China unfairly restricted access to its market. Previously, China had allowed just 20 imported films and foreign distributors got only 13 percent of revenue.

    Industry figures on both sides of the Pacific have been expecting liberalization to continue when the existing accord expires. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, consummate insider Li Ruigang, head of powerhouse investment firm China Media Capital, said he could see the quota jumping to as high as "50, 60 or even 70 U.S. films."

    China's film regulators offered some encouraging hints of relaxation in late 2016. In an effort to counteract a downturn at the local box office, regulators packed the December release schedule with additional Hollywood films, bringing the year's total to 39 imported titles instead of 34. Regulators classified the extra releases as special "cultural exchange projects," denying that the usual limit had been breached — but most analysts viewed the move as a modest de facto expansion of the quota.
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    It's all about the world market now. We'll see how the populist attack on global trade affects the film industry and all other industries.
    Once again, we could all see this coming to some degree. And I'm still wishing these predictive skills would've been lottery numbers.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #264
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    2nd THR report

    Can China Save the Struggling European Art House?
    10:00 PM PST 2/9/2017 by Patrick Brzeski , Scott Roxborough


    Courtesy of Fortissimo
    'Black Coal, Thin Ice'

    As the global market for specialty titles shrinks, Euro producers are increasingly eyeing access to the Middle Kingdom. Says one insider: "It will be the biggest market anywhere."
    When Chinese neo-noir Black Coal, Thin Ice won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear in 2014, the global art house community got a glimpse of a tantalizing future soon to come. The gritty indie, directed by Diao Yinan, grossed $16.5 million upon its release in mainland China following the festival — a total previously inconceivable for an art house title in the Middle Kingdom’s unabashedly commercial theatrical market.

    Since then, the development of the Chinese indie sector has only accelerated, as emerging Chinese talents and European art house veterans have come to view cross-border collaboration as the key to a vibrant shared future.

    "The population in China is so huge, even if we get a very small slice, it will be the biggest art house market anywhere," says Yang Cheng, producer of two Chinese films showing in Berlin this year, competition title Have a Nice Day and Ghost in the Mountains, screening in the Panorama sidebar.

    The global art house sector has seen its share of struggles recently. Just before the Toronto Film Festival, the twin bankruptcy filings of Fortissimo Films and U.K. distributor Metrodome Group cast a shadow over the indie film industry. The rise of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have decimated the DVD sales that were the backbone of their business. But the ascension of the Chinese market could present a lifeline.

    In November, the Chinese government threw support behind art cinema with the establishment of the National Arthouse Film Alliance, an indie film circuit managed by the China Film Archive, with support from commercial cinema chains. Eventually, the circuit plans to show a mix of low-budget Chinese films and imported art house fare. Once government film import arrangements have been ironed out, the organization should offer international art house auteurs an avenue for participating in the historic rise of the Chinese film market, which until now mostly has benefited Chinese and Hollywood blockbusters.

    “There are just 100 screens in the project so far, so there’s not that much money in it yet — but it’s a very promising start,” says Gao Yitian, producer of The Villain, an edgy indie mystery directed by Xin Youku.

    China’s streaming giants also are beginning to show an appetite for indie fare. Zhang Dalei’s The Summer Is Gone, which won the best picture award at the Taipei Golden Horse awards late last year, recently was acquired by SVOD powerhouse iQiyi for a healthy $400,000.

    While censorship remains a challenge, the government covets the cultural cache of awards overseas — which makes recognition from Europe’s historic film festivals vital to directors hoping to break through.

    “Participation in festivals is very important to getting attention,” says Gao. “If you win an award, your film will be everywhere in the Chinese media.”

    Hollywood and European film veterans increasingly are investing in Sino-European ties. Last August, international film and TV studio IM Global launched a new venture designed to help Chinese producers and financiers gain international exposure for their projects at overseas festivals. Named Go Global, the business also is shopping its services from the opposite direction, offering representation to Western festival directors who would like to gain a foothold in China's diversifying market. European association Bridging the Dragon also is developing projects suitable for co-production with China, while cultivating a community of Sino-European film producers. The group will hold its third annual panel discussion series in Berlin on Feb. 15.

    The Chinese-European future of the art house is perhaps nowhere so striking as in the fate of Dutch sales outfit Fortissimo Films. A pioneer in bridging the European and Asian markets, the company was renowned for introducing the work of Asian auteurs such as Wong Kar Wai and Park Chan-wook to European audiences.

    Sources in Berlin tell THR that China's Hehe Pictures Corporation, which co-financed and released Chinese mega hit The Mermaid, is now circling the insolvent sales group. Pending Chinese government approval, Hehe hopes to acquire and relaunch Fortissimo ahead of Cannes this year. The new Fortissimo is understood to already be scouting for senior sales and acquisitions executives and will be looking to expand into production. If the deal goes through, it will be the first direct investment by a Chinese media company into the European arthouse business.

    ***

    5 Standout Chinese Art House Titles in the Berlin Lineup


    Courtesy of Berlinale
    Have a Nice Day, Ghost in the Mountains, Ciao Ciao, Inmates and The Foolish Bird
    Have a Nice Day

    Liu Jian’s story about a bag of money and the conflict it causes is China’s first animated Berlin competition title.

    Ghost in the Mountains
    The Panorama section film, by Yang Heng, sees a man return to his rural hometown.

    Ciao Ciao
    A woman goes from a big city to visit her parents in a small town in this Panorama entry from Song Chuan.

    Inmates
    Ma Li’s doc about a psychiatric clinic in Northern China will unspool in the festival’s Forum sidebar.

    The Foolish Bird
    Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka’s Generation 14+ film focuses on the challenges of a teenage girl in today’s China.
    Okay, this one I didn't see coming. But I should have. It makes sense given the elements in play now.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #265
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    Variety

    U.S. and China Struggle Over Film Quotas
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief


    DENIS BALIBOUSE/POOL/EPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
    FEBRUARY 9, 2017 | 10:00PM PT

    The renegotiation of the trade agreement could not come at a more sensitive time

    As the U.S. and China begin to renegotiate the formal agreement that will determine relations between the two countries’ film industries, the talks couldn’t come at a more sensitive time.

    Xi Jinping, party chairman and president of the People’s Republic of China, now leads a confident and expansionist country, while newly seated U.S. President Trump is looking inward and questioning many aspects of legacy trade policy.

    Just before Trump killed off predecessor Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, Xi was stealing the limelight at the Davos conference in Switzerland and extolling the benefits of globalization.

    The film renegotiations take place once every five years, and are scheduled to begin this month just after the expiration of the present bilateral agreement. They will certainly be different this time around, and their outcome will shape relations between the two superpowers’ film industries.

    And while the movie industry’s cross-border financial flows are small compared with those of other business sectors, movies are highly visible, symbolic, and politicized.

    The last round reached agreement in 2012 when the two countries’ (then) vice presidents, Xi and Joe Biden, crunched out a handshake deal before a basketball game. It then took lawyers fully three years to turn that into a contract, which had less than two years left to run.

    That bilateral agreement expires imminently — in mid-February. Negotiations can begin after that. The only certainty is that they will be different from last time.

    “A few months ago we might have assumed a continuation of the Biden approach, but now the process is full of uncertainties,” says Tom Ara, partner at U.S. law firm Greenberg Traurig and board member of the U.S.-Asia Institute.

    Moreover, China’s history-making box office growth since 2012 requires a recalibration of the calculations. From $2 billion in 2011, the market had more than tripled to $6.4 billion in 2015. That has the effect of making the two industries far more co-dependent.

    China is now by far the biggest single export market for U.S. films, while Hollywood blockbusters underpin the massive expansion of Chinese multiplexes (and the share price of recently listed China Film Co.).

    Also, after a period of aggressive deal-making, Chinese capital is involved at multiple stages of the Hollywood studio system — corporate equity, slate finance, and marketing alliances.

    Yet for all its growth, China’s film industry is still less developed than the mature markets of Europe or some others in Asia. China’s ancillary markets are growing, but their value is a small part of global entertainment trade. And the degree of state involvement in Chinese film remains unusually high. It includes state-owned operating companies, censorship, and government controls over the release dates of imported movies.

    “We hope that the result of the U.S.-China trade talks will be reciprocally beneficial.”
    JAMES WANG

    The U.S. trade representative will be responsible for articulating the American position. Uncertainties here include the strategy of incoming USTR head Robert Lighthizer, a vehement China critic from the Reagan era, and Peter Navarro, Trump’s pick to head a new National Trade Council, who has authored “Death by China.”

    The USTR is advised by the Motion Picture Assn. of America and the Independent Film and Television Alliance, which in turn have different agendas.

    MPAA’s six Hollywood studios want more of three things.

    The first is for more revenue-sharing movies to be allowed to enter China. There are 34, comprising 20 regular titles and 14 in the Imax or 3D format.

    The second is that the share of revenue payable to foreign-rights holders increase from the current 25% of gross box office, which is very low by world standards. This would significantly boost what the U.S. studios earn from China.

    The third is better access to China’s market.

    IFTA, for its part, wants any increase in revenue-sharing quota films not to lead to an equivalent reduction of flat-fee import payments, which are what IFTA members’ films mostly obtain when they sell to China.

    It also wants more players in the distribution sector — China Film Co. controls digital print keys even when a film is released by a private-sector distributor — and it wants far greater access for independent films to China’s streaming, TV, and other developing market segments.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  11. #266
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    Continued from previous post

    Where the two lobby groups most closely overlap is in their desire to see China move closer to becoming a normal market.

    Yet that is where they confront a Chinese negotiator who is likely to argue that the market is still immature and needs protection. While Zhang Hongsen, a senior spokesman at SARFT — the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television — has already told the local industry to get ready for more “intensive and fair competition” from 2018 onward, the Chinese government is unlikely to give much ground on film ratings and classification, or regulators having final say over import choices and release dates.

    It seems equally unlikely that Chinese regulators will want to relax their unwritten and unofficial policy of market manipulation that ensures Chinese-qualifying films (including co-productions from Hong Kong, or those with American partners, such as “Kung Fu Panda 3”) account for 60% box office share. They managed 58.3% in 2016.

    “[China] could easily expand the quotas, but then use other methods such as censorship, or unfavorable release dates, to ensure that there is no change to market share,” a source close to the U.S. delegation says.

    One area of possible change could be the path to market access. While China is unlikely to allow Hollywood studios to own their own Chinese distribution companies, it could allow more local entities to handle the imported titles.

    If the Hollywood studios could choose their own local distributor, rather than be obliged to sub-contract through the state duopoly of CFC and Huaxia, they would see that as an opportunity to introduce competition and develop expertise. Potential distributors exist in both the public and private sectors.

    To some extent this reflects the successful development of the Chinese industry behind its trade barriers. China now has home-grown corporate champions, including Wanda, Alibaba, and Huayi Bros. They are eminently capable of releasing foreign titles, and are lobbying the Chinese government to be allowed to do so.

    “China’s film market is getting more open to foreign players. … We hope that the result of the U.S.-China trade talks will be reciprocally beneficial,” says James Wang, co-chief of Huayi Bros. Media, which is a partner of budding Hollywood studio STX Entertainment.

    “In recent years, Chinese firms are proactively going out, seeking multiple ways of cooperation with U.S. counterparts. We take globalization as an important way of learning and growing. Our vision is to tell Chinese stories to the global audience.”

    Attitudes such as Wang’s point to the two industries finding common ground, but two huge unknowns now haunt the film trade talks: the implications of 2016’s abrupt slowdown in the Chinese box office, and the arrival of an unpredictable U.S. president.

    After a record-breaking Chinese New Year season in 2016, China’s box office hit the skids in May, and the succeeding weak months meant that annual revenues grew by only 4%, proving wrong those who had predicted China grosses would imminently overtake those in North America. Where China did catch up was by opening nearly 10,000 screens to hit a 40,000 total.

    The ostensible cause of the box office drop was a reduction in subsidies by online ticketing firms, but other factors, including a weak crop of Chinese films, may have been at play. Many in the industry promised to heed the lessons.

    But in the meantime, government regulators quietly shortened “blackout periods” and allowed the import of some 40 Hollywood titles on revenue terms, without acknowledging that they had deviated from past practice. “Perhaps that is the best way forward for both sides. Let China open up on its own terms, but don’t highlight it. Don’t be seen to antagonize,” say Asian public affairs sources at one of the Hollywood majors.

    The question as to whether the Trump administration is capable of or interested in such subtlety is now keeping several industry observers awake at night.

    “Logically, we don’t expect the quotas to shrink. Trump would surely prefer a free market in movies in China. From an American point of view the more exports the better,” says the public affairs exec. “Trump is more concerned by imports into the U.S. [which in film are negligible], and there is congressional concern over Chinese buying companies in the States.”

    But like many others, he fears that film industry negotiations could be contaminated by other areas of contention in the U.S.-China relationship. “If Trump does something silly, China would not hesitate to put politics over commerce,” says the lobbyist.

    Such “silly” measures could include the imposition of tariffs on other industries such as steel, the stirring up of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, or — one of Trump’s campaign promises — to label China a currency manipulator.

    With Xi seeking to further centralize the reins of power around himself in a year when the Communist Party renews its leadership, this is a particularly sensitive time.
    There's also an interesting WSJ report but it's copy protected at the moment.
    Gene Ching
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  12. #267
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    Made for China

    Woah, I didn't know this is what the Iron Man experience is about.

    Hollywood's obsession with China is just getting started — here's why
    Aynne Kokas


    The Iron Man Experience opened at Hong Kong Disney in January, 2017. Getty Images

    With China’s box office on track to overtake America’s any year now, Hollywood is increasingly focused on Chinese audiences and Beijing censors. Aynne Kokas, author of "Hollywood in China," explains what we have in store.

    As China’s media market grows, foreign media companies will increasingly need to consider the Chinese market first when developing content.

    The power of the Chinese market is such that Hollywood producers will ignore the interests of Chinese audiences and regulators at great financial risk. “Made in China” will be a marketing strategy rather than a way to cut costs. If the market continues to grow, rather than simply being made in China, new productions will increasingly be made for China.

    Greater focus on the Chinese market in the development process will likely mean more China-related content for global audiences. The upside of Hollywood producing content for China is that it may diversify the type of stories that Hollywood studios produce, as well as the types of people represented on the screen. Yet greater focus on the Chinese market also may privilege content that is more likely to be accepted by Chinese regulators. As a result, Hollywood’s accommodation of the Chinese market could substantially shift the type of media produced—not only for China, but also for other global markets.

    Compounding this trend, Chinese outbound capital has begun to have substantial influence in Hollywood. Hollywood is increasingly a destination for media investment by Chinese companies in individual projects, in US-based offices, and even entire studios.

    Alibaba reportedly invested in the 2015 Hollywood film "Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation." The China Film Group has been linked as an investor to the record-breaking "Furious 7" movie. Chinese entertainment and technology firm LeTV established its US offices in Los Angeles in 2015. In April 2015, Chinese film studio Huayi Bros. made an agreement with American motion picture company STX entertainment to co-produce and co-distribute 12 to 15 films. In January 2016, the Dalian Wanda Group acquired American studio Legendary Pictures, making it the first Chinese firm to own a Hollywood studio.

    Rather than made in China, Hollywood studio productions will also increasingly be made by China—or rather, by Chinese companies investing in Hollywood.


    "The Great Wall" (2017) starring Matt Damon was the biggest Hollywood-China coproduction ever. Universal

    If China’s outbound investment in Hollywood increases, the Chinese government will have less need to accommodate Hollywood capital and technical investment in China. As more distribution moves to networked digital platforms, the incentive structure for Chinese collaborations with Hollywood is likely to shift from collaboration to competition. The increasing role of digital platforms in media distribution is poised to diminish the potential impact American companies can have within Chinese media markets.

    Chinese media investment in the United States, by contrast, shows no signs of slowing down.

    Depending on its scope, Chinese FDI could reshape our understanding of the global cultural dominance of the US motion picture industry, radically expanding what cultural critic Rey Chow termed Chinese cinema’s “becoming-visible” to global audiences.

    As I have argued, Hollywood’s relationship with China has already begun to leave a substantial global footprint as the result of collaborations on big-budget film releases and record-breaking shared theme park and studio investment. The Chinese Dream and the Hollywood dream factory are becoming ever-more entwined as Chinese media firms expand outward into the United States, and as the media and technology sectors continue to converge. But China and Hollywood remain in competition for global dominance—much as the United States and the PRC compete in the diplomatic realm.

    In parallel, as Chinese content regulations become more significant to international media production, global commercial media culture may become subject to more demanding content restrictions to which foreign producers may voluntarily agree because of their desire for access to the Chinese market.

    Collaborations advancing the Hollywood dream factory and the China dream may also crowd out content from other locales or in less commercial forms, thereby limiting rather than expanding the types of entertainment available to the global public.

    Although seemingly awash with an air of inevitability, Hollywood-China collaboration remains unpredictable. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, visual spectacles in the form of red-carpet events, theme parks, and blockbusters are poised to become only more dramatic as Hollywood and China negotiate their global media brands.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #268
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    Hollywood Made in China by Aynne Kokas

    FROM ‘IRON MAN’ TO ‘STAR WARS,’ HOW HOLLYWOOD CASHES IN ON CHINA’S BOX OFFICE


    Aynne Kokas is an assistant professor of media studies. She has a new book that explains how Hollywood works in China. (Photo: Dan Addison, University Communications)

    February 15, 2017 Jane Kelly, jak4g@virginia.edu

    In 1999, Aynne Kokas was an undergraduate student living in a film studio in Beijing that housed not only the studio, but a film academy and student dorms. There, she witnessed some early Sino-U.S. movie collaborations – an experience that eventually led her to become a leading expert in the field of Hollywood’s relations with China.

    Now an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, Kokas has written a new book, “Hollywood Made in China,” an examination of that growing relationship and what it means for media in both countries.

    On Wednesday, Kokas joined UVA Today on Facebook Live to discuss the inner workings of China’s film quota system and how Hollywood is trying to gain entry to the country, whose film market is the second-largest in the world and rapidly gaining on the country in first place, the United States.

    Q. “The Great Wall,” starring Matt Damon, just came out. With a budget of more than $150 million, the film is the largest-ever U.S.-China co-production and the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China. How do films like that get created and brought to market?

    A. One of the things that’s really interesting is the incentive structure. There is currently a 34-film export quota to China. So only 34 foreign films can be exported to the market. This number sometimes shifts, but what this essentially means is that Hollywood studios have a limited number of chances to get their films into the Chinese market.

    This is important because China’s market is the second-largest in the world. It was valued at $6.8 billion last year, and from 2011 to 2015 the market grew at 30 percent per year. Some estimates had China’s market overtaking the U.S. in 2017. China’s market actually grew a lot more slowly last year, but we are still seeing the possibility that it will catch up within the next five years.

    Making a co-production [like “The Great Wall”] is actually a way to circumvent that 34-film quota. It gives Hollywood studios or big investors in the U.S. a chance to actually enter the Chinese market beyond the quota. So it’s treated like a local film in China and a local film in the U.S.

    Q. How does Hollywood tailor movies to meet the requirements of China’s quota system?

    A. There is an interesting path through which Hollywood studio films have to walk in order to enter the Chinese market. First of all, they have to be approved by [China’s] State Administration of the Press Publication, Radio, Film and Television. They are extremely powerful. Unlike in the U.S., where it is typically the production company or the producer or the director that has final cut approval, in this case, the Chinese regulatory agency has final approval over what can actually be distributed in the Chinese market. So it is a huge shift in the balance of power.

    We also see some changes in content, so Hollywood studios are taking deliberate action to make their films more appealing for the Chinese market. So a film like “Iron Man 3” cast Chinese actors. We also saw the most recent “Star Wars” film, “Rogue One,” also cast major Chinese actors in order to act as a lure for the Chinese market. “Transformers 4” was shot in Hong Kong, and the Chinese minster of defense [character] was the only major competent government official in the entire film. [Director] Michael Bay’s next film after “Transformers 4” is actually a near-future dystopia in which China calls in the U.S. treasury debt and takes over the U.S.

    So there are some interesting ways in which these narratives are starting to shift in such a way that it more favorably or more powerfully portrays the Chinese government.

    Q. Are there sometimes two versions of a film, one for the United States market and another for China’s?

    A. Absolutely. Some films have historically had 10 or 15 additional minutes. For example, “Iron Man 3” had 10 additional minutes of footage that was shown in the Chinese version that included more of the Chinese actors.

    However, that model has been relatively ineffective because Chinese “Netizens,” or the very active Internet population in China, are kind of offended by that level of pandering. So in some ways it actually negatively affects the box office of the film.

    Q. How is movie consumption in the United States different from that in China?

    A. It’s a centerpiece of the weekend experience [in China], so people frequently take their families. Movie-going in the U.S. has become slightly less popular than China, especially up through 2016, when it was growing as a social activity for [Chinese] families.

    The new theaters in China are equivalent to the highest of the high-end movie theaters in the U.S. There are extremely high ticket prices, $20, $25 or $30. There is a lot of digital capacity for IMAX or 3-D because these are really new theaters. China actually has more theatrical capacity, so more seats that people can sit in and watch a movie, than the U.S. does, which is a radical change from seven years ago. They have been increasing their theatrical distribution capacity year-over-year.

    Q. Can you describe your new book, “Hollywood Made in China?”

    A. I look at what it means that there is this new age of collaboration between China and Hollywood. We have never seen anything like this before.

    Typically, when Hollywood studios went abroad, it would be to film something and then get out – this idea of run-away production. Maybe you shoot something in France or maybe you shoot something in Italy or maybe you shoot something in Vietnam or in Canada. But it’s really just a way to have a cost benefit and maybe get some local color.

    But given the regulatory structure of the Chinese film market, it’s impossible to do that. So the level of engagement that Hollywood studios have to have with Chinese government entities is extremely high.

    The part that’s even more interesting about this is that this is actually part of several, larger Chinese government policies. One is the “going out policy,” which is this idea of enhancing China’s profile abroad. The other is this idea of “soft power,” or cultural security; essentially using culture as a way to enhance China’s global power.

    The final way is this idea of telling Chinese stories to enhance and improve sympathy for the Chinese government abroad. So, in order to access the Chinese market, a lot of Hollywood studios are actually advancing Chinese policy goals.
    Looks like a good read, although I might have been able to write this book by just cobbling together the facts from this thread.
    Gene Ching
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    China's Recon Group Acquires 51 Percent of Millennium Films

    It's Official: China's Recon Group Acquires 51 Percent of Millennium Films for $100M
    7:20 AM PST 2/23/2017 by Ashley Lee


    Getty Images
    Avi Lerner and Gerard Butler

    The Chinese conglomerate takes a majority stake in Avi Lerner and Trevor Short's production company.

    Recon Group is officially in business with Avi Lerner's Millennium Films.

    The Chinese conglomerate unveiled Thursday an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Lerner's independent film production company, which is behind the Expendables franchise and genre flicks such as Rambo and London Has Fallen. The 51 percent stake is valued at $100 million, and the deal is set to close in the second quarter of the year.

    Founded in 1996 by Lerner and Trevor Short, Los Angeles-based Millennium Films has been courting potential Chinese buyers for the past year, sources in Beijing have told THR. The company’s upcoming film slate includes The Hitman’s Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson; Escobar, starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz; and Hunter Killer, starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman.

    Under the terms of the deal, Recon Holding will acquire a majority interest in Millennium Films, including its nearly 300-film library. Lerner will act as CEO of Millennium Films, while Trevor Short will serve as COO. Xia, chairman of Recon Group and English soccer club Aston Villa, will serve as chairman of Millennium Films. Recon Holding will have the opportunity to acquire the remaining 49 percent stake in the future.

    “We are excited about our new partnership with Recon Holding, led by Tony,” said Lerner and Short in a statement. “China is emerging as the world’s largest market for premium filmed entertainment, and we see enormous value in placing the Chinese market at the forefront of our global strategy. Our films have experienced considerable success in China and in other markets around the world, and we feel there is significant value in partnering with an astute, experienced and well-connected partner to help us execute our long-term strategy of making commercial movies for the global marketplace.”

    “Since Avi and his partners founded the company, the Millennium Films organization has created a dynamic film brand and a deep library of intellectual property that resonates with audiences on a global scale,” said Xia in a statement. “We believe Millennium’s unparalleled portfolio of motion picture franchises and intellectual property provides significant opportunities for long-term growth as the company continues to maximize the value of its creative properties across multiple platforms and in multiple territories. This is an incredible opportunity for us to build upon Millennium’s premium brand by accessing a film market in China that continues to experience a period of unprecedented growth.”

    Millennium Films was advised by The Raine Group and Latham & Watkins LLP. Amir Malin of Qualia Capital also provided advice and counsel. Recon Holding was advised by China International Capital Corporation and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
    Maybe Expendables 4 needs Donnie Yen like xXx.
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  15. #270
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    Bummer

    Hollywood is getting a lot of unexpected twists lately.

    Hollywood is left hanging as China reins in investments
    Deals stall amid capital curbs, including one that would have put MGM under Chinese control
    Alistair Barr & Mark Bergen | WSJ
    February 27, 2017 Last Updated at 02:51 IST


    Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Wanda Group

    China’s crackdown on overseas investment is hitting Hollywood, torpedoing a deal that would have put Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios under Chinese control and placing other high-profile acquisitions in limbo.

    Talks broke down between MGM and several Chinese companies late last year, an apparent casualty of China’s move to stanch capital outflows that has stalled the country’s shopping spree in Hollywood, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The change comes after years of Chinese companies striking large deals, including the $3.5 billion acquisition of Legendary Entertainment in 2016 and a $1 billion film-financing infusion for Paramount Pictures last month.

    An MGM sale would have been among the biggest-ticket and highest-profile such acquisitions, but its failure to materialize is evidence of a twist ending that few in Hollywood expected.

    Beijing’s capital-control policy, which began in November, has kept deals such as the $1 billion acquisition of Dick Clark Productions by real-estate conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co. from closing, according to people familiar with the matter, and scuttled the takeover of smaller production companies.

    The new dynamic highlights Hollywood’s dependence on China, where the slightest change in state policy has ripple effects across the entertainment industry. China’s deep pockets have become a frequent topic of speculation and intrigue among entertainment executives, some of whom see the country as full of prospective buyers willing to pay high premiums for flashy Hollywood holdings.

    The economic-policy changes in China come amid mounting protectionist rhetoric in the U.S. from the administration of President Donald Trump.“We’ve heard from both [private-equity] firms and investment banks that China investment activity around [Hollywood] assets started to wane just prior to the election and is almost nonexistent now,” said Chris Fenton, a trustee of the U.S.-Asia Institute, which organizes congressional delegations to China, and president of DMG Entertainment, a media company headquartered in Beverly Hills and Beijing. “No China entity wants to be the first to test” the heated rhetoric on the U.S. side and the capital controls on the Chinese side, he added.

    An MGM spokeswoman said: “MGM is in the strongest position ever and is not for sale.”Once known for producing classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Singin’ in the Rain,” MGM is now much smaller, owned by private-equity firms and long considered a likely takeover target. The studio’s most valuable asset is its film library, which includes several thousand titles, including co-ownership of numerous James Bond films.

    Interest in MGM from China heated up last year when Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures considered a rich acquisition offer from Wanda, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    MGM wasn’t the subject of a formal auction process, according to a different person familiar with the matter, and has indicated to potential business partners that it may pursue a public stock offering in the next couple of years.

    Chinese companies last year announced a record $225 billion in international purchases. Beijing keeps tight controls on money flowing out of the nation, concerned such capital flight could shake confidence in its economy and potentially weaken the yuan. That has led to greater scrutiny of overseas acquisitions to ensure they aren’t being made to evade capital controls.

    Chinese companies that want to invest internationally typically submit applications to at least two regulators: the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner. Once those applications are approved, the decision moves to a third regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Regulators are still accepting applications, a person involved in Chinese outbound media deals said, but some applications appear to be in limbo and haven’t received a formal response, which has ground deals to a virtual halt.

    In recent years, China has become a go-to source of capital for Hollywood. Studios have co-financed productions with Chinese firms and raked in billions in ticket sales in the country, now the world’s No. 2 box-office market.

    But to some extent any deal with China represents a roll of the dice, said one longtime Hollywood executive. In the U.S., it is relatively easy to predict what might trip up government regulators, but in China there is little transparency about the state’s concerns.

    “You have no way to assess what they might say about a deal,” the executive said.

    In December, Chinese metals manufacturer Anhui Xinke New Materials Co. said it was canceling its roughly $350 million acquisition of Voltage Pictures LLC, a Los Angeles film financing and production company best known for “The Hurt Locker” and “Dallas Buyers Club.”

    “They were really close to the end of the deal,” said a person close to Voltage. “Suddenly, the deal’s off and they never really got any clear communication from Xinke as to why.”

    Voltage is suing Xinke and the Chinese company’s law firm for breach of contract, seeking more than $300 million in damages. Xinke has said in regulatory filings to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that Voltage didn’t provide additional information requested by that regulator. Xinke didn’t return calls or an email seeking comment.

    On Thursday, China-based Recon Holding announced it would pay $100 million for a 51% stake in Millennium Films of Los Angeles, which produces “The Expendables” and “Olympus Has Fallen” franchises, and has a library of nearly 300 films. A person close to the deal said the crackdown made Recon more sensitive to regulatory concerns, adding that Chinese support for the transaction was helped by the fact that Millennium films have performed well in Chinese theaters. Wanda’s purchase of Dick Clark Productions, producer of the Golden Globes and other awards shows, was announced in November, but it is in limbo, according to people familiar with the matter. Dick Clark’s current owner, Eldridge Industries, still expects the deal to close, according to a person close to the company.

    Wanda has had little trouble in the past getting money out of China for such deals. It paid $3.5 billion in early 2016 for Legendary Entertainment, which produced “The Great Wall,” and its AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. theatrical chain has acquired several other exhibitors around the world in recent years. Wang Jianlin, Wanda’s chairman and China’s richest man, has repeatedly said he wants to own a major Hollywood studio.
    Gene Ching
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