In 2016, the market share of domestic films in China – one of the four countries where local movies account for more than 50 percent of box-office share – hit 58.33 percent. Although that was the year when growth of the movie market in China slowed during the second half, 14 Chinese movies were in the top 25 highest earning movies, including “The Mermaid” which broke box-office records with 3.39 billion yuan receipt.
Strong Domestic Share
Global Times noted that in the past 12 years from 2005 through 2016, the only time that share of domestic movies fell below 50 percent was in 2012 at 48.46 percent. The strong performance of local cinema against Hollywood movies is because of the distinctive national cultures and strong local movie industry in China, partly boosted by the quota system limiting the number of foreign movies that could be shown in a year.
With the Film Industry Promotion Law taking into effect in China on March 1, which regulates the country’s movie industry, experts see the Chinese movie industry continuing to prosper. However, insiders such as actor Jackie Chan, said pressure from Hollywood movies would help local movie producers further improve the quality of their movies.
Focusing Too Much on New Idols
Global Times pointed out that because Chinese studios have been running after popular intellectual properties, it tends to concentrate on new idols and romantic movies catering to a youthful audience rather than focusing on telling a good Chinese story and boosting their technical skills.
While Chinese conglomerates are now into investing in entertainment assets overseas, primarily acquiring foreign production house, The Hollywood Reporter said the Hollywood-China relationship is doomed to fail. It cites the deals that went sour, such as the planned Dalian Wanda Group acquisition of Dick Clark Productions, and the hostility of the Trump administration to Chinese investments as the reasons behind the unsuccessful relationship between the two.