Reaching out

Youku is only one of the Chinese Internet giants accelerating their march toward cinemas recently. Alibaba Pictures just announced its plan to move the popular online fantasy novel Sansheng Sanshi Shili Taohua (Ten-Mile Peach Blossom of Three Lifetimes) to the big screen two weeks ago. Jianbing Man, a superhero film adapted from a miniseries on Sohu, will be released in July.

"The Internet's influence now can be seen not only in the art form but also in the shooting techniques of many productions," says Yin Hong, a media professor at Tsinghua University. "It can help a movie gain quick recognition among younger audiences and bring a 'grassroots feel' to films."

However, at the annual Film Critics' Choice Awards ceremony in May, Beijing Film Academy's senior professor Huang Shixian said that the industry's belief in the Internet as a guarantee of their products' popularity is so obsessive that it leaves less room for creating products with abundant cultural meaning.

After a large segment of Chinese cinema is given over to such adaptions of online products in the near future, will filmgoers still feel the results are fresh enough to pay for the ticket?

Well, maybe the filmmakers still need surprises.