Although China has become the world’s second-largest film market, recent restrictions could limit opportunities to foreign movie producers.
For instance, foreign movies and TV shows that online video portals had been limited to 30 percent of their content. Broadcasters are not encouraged to use formats of imported TV show as was the recent experience of “The Voice of China.” In spring, Apple’s and Walt Disney’s movie streaming services were shuttered by Chinese authorities.
But HBO is not discouraged by these measures and instead even produced two kung fu films made for television. These are “Master of the Drunken: Beggar So” and “Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-ying,” LA Times reported.
It co-produced the two Mandarin-language movies with China Movie Channel, a division of China Central Television, the state broadcaster. The distribution of the two kung fu films would be handled by CCTV6, or the China Movie Channel, while across Asia, it would be in the hands of HBO.
Explaining the experiment, Jonathan Spink, chief executive of HBO Asia, said that they do not want HBO to be seen as another American company seeking its way into the Chinese movie market. “This is about taking great content out of China,” he explained.
Another change initiated by HBO in 2014 to reach a wider Chinese audience was for HBO programming to go beyond high-end hotels in China. It inked a content licensing agreement with Tencent, the internet giant of China, to offer popular foreign HBO TV shows to Chinese viewers such as “Game of Thrones,” “True Detective” and “Sex and the City.”
The two kung fu movies are directed by Guo Jian-yong, a veteran action choreographer whose credits include John Woo’s “Red Cliff” and Jason Statham’s “The Transporter” series. The two movies are being filmed at the Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang Province. It is both based on 18th century martial artists, reported Variety.