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The robot blockbuster "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is being filmed. [CNS file photo]
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As "Transformers 4" surpassed the 1.5 billion-yuan (US$240 million) mark at the box office, the Chinese film market once again shows its potential and challenges.
Observers in the film industry said alien robot blockbuster "Transformers: Age of Extinction," directed by Michael Bay, is already the biggest grossing film ever in China and is on its way to pull in a haul of 2 billion yuan (US$320 million) in the country, which will raise the bar to the maximum.
Zhang Hongsen, director of the film bureau under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said the Chinese film market has been growing at a 34.57 percent annual increase since 2003.
"From the nation's total box office grossing of 1 billion yuan in 2003 to the total of 21.7 billion yuan in 2013, it’s taken ten years. But this is only the beginning instead of a later stage," he said at a recent seminar.
"We are in a furious race with American films," he added. "Six big American studios are planning their shares in China's market, and they’ve added more Chinese elements in their films and strengthened their China marketing strategy. They’ve also talked to distribution and theater chains."
"'Transformers 4 set up a new benchmark for China, but what I mean by 'benchmark' is not about the fact that it created a new box office record in China, " said Gao Jun, a film industry veteran. "It means Hollywood super blockbusters started getting into 'China time.'" He explained that Hollywood giants didn't pay much attention to the Chinese market in the past, but now things have changed.
Wang Yunian, a veteran entertainment journalist, also acknowledged the change from a different perspective.
"Five or six years ago, if Chinese reporters wanted to do interviews with Hollywood big names like directors and stars, it was an impossible mission. Now, A-list movie stars like Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise all come to China, waiting to be interviewed."
The rapidly growing China market is considered to be profitable. In 2014, China's annual box office earnings is expected to total 31 billion yuan (US$4.963 billion). There will also be nearly 25,000 screens, half of those of the United States. At this rate, the Chinese market will be as big as the U.S. market in 2018 and will surpass the U.S. market by 2020 to become the biggest world film market. Gao said it was the success of "Avatar" in 2011 that changed Hollywood's mind and had them realize China's potential. "Transformers 4" is an example of deep collaborative pattern since the early stages.
At the same time, Lu Hongshi, the deputy director of China Movie Channel, said recently that China's film import quota will be furthered during 2017 and 2018. Currently, China only imports 34 foreign films a year, but change will soon come and more foreign films will enter the China market.
"If the quota is to be fully open, the result will be disastrous," Lu said. He used the Taiwanese film market as an example.
"After Taiwan’s market fully opened in 2002, Taiwan's domestic films almost died with only a 0.5 percent share in the whole market. In recent years, Taiwan has had some domestic blockbusters, but they still only cover 15 percent of all pictures, and their domestic pictures are still in an extremely bad position."
Film bureau director Zhang Hongsen agreed that if American films poured into China, there will be serious effects.
"The policies will be changed and China cannot guarantee the best conditions for the Chinese film industry. A film's bargain will be controlled by American studios and even our internal bargain will be an international issue. And the distribution mechanism will be replaced to fit American film interests," he said, adding that it's a big fight on the level of cultural and economic territories.
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