China’s Wanda to Create Movie Fund to Attract Hollywood Productions
Wanda's billionaire chairman, Wang Jianlin, said the planned fund would work with the private sector to recreate Hollywood in China.
Chinese Studio Huayi Brothers to Invest $130 Million in New U.S. Branch
The leading Beijing based independent film production house didn’t say where its U.S. office might be or hint at the number of employees it expects to staff its operation. The plan still needs official Chinese approval.
21st Century Fox to Sell Its Stake in China’s Bona Film Group
Investment group Fosun raises its stake as Bona CEO Yu Dong buys the Fox stake, saying the move would not affect ongoing co-productions, including "Bride Wars."
Paramount Rushes for Beijing ‘Transformers’ Premiere Amid Dispute
The studio was hit by claims of a product-placement deal gone sour.
China’s Alibaba Launches Crowdfunding-Like Service for Film Investment
China's largest e-commerce company, Alibaba, launched a micro-finance service for movies.
Media
03.28.14
Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou Talk Movies
Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning American film director with Taiwan roots, and Zhang Yimou, the storied veteran of mainland Chinese moviemaking, joined together on...
Media
03.01.14
China’s Oscar Challenge
On January 3, the film critics of The New York Times published their Oscar nominations wish list. Many of...
China’s Richest Man Eyes Hollywood, Backs Animated Pic ‘Kong’
Robin Li -- chairman of Chinese search engine Baidu and president of the Chinese Cultural Chamber of Commerce of the Private Sector -- is backing a new film production venture that intends to release as its first project a Hollywood 3D...
China Crushes Puny US Super Bowl Audience: 704 Million Watch New Year Gala
Some 814 million watched the Lunar New Year TV extravaganza from China Central Television—way more than the 112 million viewers for the 2014 Super Bowl on Fox in the U.S.
China Teams Up with Hollywood for Terracotta Army Superhero Movie
"Super Terracotta Warriors" is China's response to the recent slew of Hollywood films based on comic books.
China 2013 Box Office Surges 27 Percent to $3.6 Billion
Chinese box office revenue rose $760 million to $3.57 billion, an increase of 27 percent over last year's $2.8 billion (17 billion yuan), data from China's biggest online film review site, Mtime, showed.
Imax, China’s T.C.L. Unveil Home Theater Joint Venture
Imax C.E.O. Richard Gelfond told the New York Times that he chose to partner with the Shenzhen-based electronics giant because he expects China will be the largest market for the pricey home theater systems.
Hollywood Must Think Bigger About China
In the period from January to June, domestic films in China outperformed imported ones by 65 percent. That was a major reversal from the same period last year, when proceeds from imported films almost doubled those of domestic productions...
China Box Office Worth $5 Billion to Film Studios by 2017
BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research estimates the Chinese box office could yield $5 billion in value potential for Hollywood studios by 2017 including imported and local productions (with this figure potentially doubling under further...
Will Wanda Buy Its Way Into Hollywood?
Chinese companies have an unfortunate habit of announcing deals before they are signed, or even agreed on, but Wang’s past dealings and current success give him the credibility that some other wannabe film moguls do not have....
Christopher Dodd, Li Bingbing to Be Honored at U.S.-China Film Summit
As Hollywood and the booming Chinese film business have worked with increasing urgency to forge deeper ties and more mutual understanding over recent years, the Asia Society’s annual summit has emerged as a noteworthy networking occasion on...
China’s Dalian Wanda Group Gives $20 Million to Academy Museum
The gift, the second-largest commitment received to date, was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million campaign. The Academy will name the museum’s film history gallery The Wanda Gallery.
Is China Outgrowing Hollywood Film, TV Industry?
While Western media loves to trumpet its successes in China, with the strong showing of Hollywood blockbusters, it’s clear that China audiences aren’t just sitting and waiting for the next Hollywood blockbuster.
Steven Spielberg Aiming to Make a Film with Zhang Yimou in China
Renowned American director seeks collaboration with respected Chinese director on “international film”—their first possible contact since his withdrawal as consultant to Bejing Olympics in protest.
M.P.A.A. Chief Christopher Dodd Announces End to China Standoff
M.P.A.A. chairman and C.E.O. Christopher Dodd announced late on Tuesday that the China Film Group will pay Hollywood studios in full for money owed to them from box office revenue for over a year.
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China’s Overdue Payments to Hollywood Could Happen This Week
Hollywood studios expect to be paid every penny of revenue that has bee earned in China, which is currently held up by a payment dispute. Studio sources suggest that an announcement will be made within a week.
China Box-Office Standoff: Cabinet to Discuss Tax Issue
China’s State Council, or cabinet, will discuss ways to resolve a tax standoff that has delayed box-office payments to Hollywood for months and jangled the nerves of overseas producers keen to access the world’s second-biggest film territory....
Hollywood Studios Denied Payments from China
Sony is up against an issue that has plagued the studios since at least January: The Chinese government wants to impose a value-added tax that cuts into what the studios expected to be their 25% revenue share of the Chinese box office.
Hollywood's Trouble With China? It Has All the Leverage
New data from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television indicates that for the first time in recent history, Hollywood could experience negative growth in China. "The leverage is always on China's side," noted one financier. "In...
China Relaxes Some Film Censorship Requirements
The media regulator will now only require film summaries to be submitted for censorship approval before production, rather than full scripts, for select film categories.
China Box Office Up 36% to $1.79 Billion in First Half of 2013
Buoyed by a surge in ticket sales for homegrown domestic films, China’s box office continued its rapid expansion in the first half of 2013, according to figures released by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and...
Hollywood, the Nazis, and the Chi-Coms
A forthcoming book presents a strong case that pre–World War II Hollywood was in bed with Nazi Germany, in catering to its censorship demands. Is it happening again today, regarding show-business relations with the authoritarian regime in...
Belay for Hollywood
In summer 2012, when foreign productions were moved out of China’s multiplexes, a widely observed phenomenon unofficially called “domestic movie protection month” was implemented. It seems this measure is going to be repeated this year....
The China Clusterf--k: Is Hollywood Fed Up?
Even if studios expect only the chance to play a movie in Chinese theaters and believe all hurdles have been cleared, sudden obstacles can arise. Such was Sony's experience with Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, pulled literally moments...
Hollywood Descends On China For Beijing International Film Festival
At this year’s festival Keanu Reeves debuts his upcoming movie, LucasArts’ Kathleen Kennedy delivers a keynote speech on modern storytelling, and many other Hollywood bigwigs come to town for business, screenings, signings, and more.
What China’s New President Means For The Entertainment Industry
Although China's annual foreign movie quota was recently increased, there’s much uncertainty surrounding how Xi’s rise to power will impact the entertainment industry.
Hollywood And China: Revenue And Responsibility
Until recently, Hollywood looked upon China with a mix of dread and desperation, but Hollywood’s view on Beijing has—in Washington parlance—evolved, because China is now where the money is.
S.E.C. Inquiry Into China Film Trade Unnerves Hollywood
Hunkered down. Lawyered up. Looking over your shoulder for the prosecutors. That is a not a comfortable way to do business. But it may become business as usual for
...Will China Buy a Hollywood Studio?
All of China's recent investment in Hollywood raises the question: Is China positioning itself to buy a major studio? Three reasons why it will, and one why it won't.
“Cloud Atlas” Cut by 38 Minutes for China Audience
Nearly 40 minutes were cut from the Hollywood film “Cloud Atlas” for Chinese audiences, deleting both gay and straight love scenes to satisfy local censors.
An Overture from China Has Yet to Win Hollywood
In September, China’s Dalian Wanda Group chairman and president said he would invest $10 billion in the U.S. To judge from the deal-making pace, it may take a while.
To Get Movies Into China, Hollywood Gives Censors a Preview
The more closely a Hollywood film examines China, the more likely it is to collide with shifting standards, unwritten rules and unfamiliar political powers.
China Firm Buys Naming Rights to Landmark Hollywood Theater
Chinese TV maker TCL paid $5 million to rename Grauman's Chinese Theatre
CCTV Airs “V for Vendetta”
When CCTV aired, uncut V for Vendetta about an anti-totalitarian masked crusader, viewers couldn’t believe their eyes.
China Will Top U.S. as Biggest Film Market in the World by 2020: Study
Box office haul in China, which now stands as the second-largest film market in the world after Japan, will surpass that in the U.S. by 2020, according to Ernst & Young.
Media
11.02.12
Chinese Movie Mogul Promises New Party Leaders Will Open Market to Hollywood
A wise old cartoon turtle in Kung Fu Panda advises Po, the portly black and white star of the 2004 DreamWorks Animation blockbuster film, not to fret about honing his fighting skills, but rather to focus on the moment and do...
Viewpoint
10.29.12
Hollywood Film Summit Draws Chinese Movie Moguls
LOS ANGELES—Hollywood and Chinese movie makers and industry hangers-on will gather Tuesday at the third annual Asia Society U.S.-China Film Summit on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
At a gala dinner Tuesday night,...
'Iron Man 3': First Footage Reveals New Villian, No China
Much touted Disney-Marvel film co-production with Beijing-based studio DMG may ring hollow.
China in Hollywood, Hailed and Investigated
Movie mogul Han Sanping soon will receive an Asia Society award even as U.S. investigators' continue to question Hollywood studios' dealings with Han's company.
DreamWorks to Make 2-3 Films a Year in China, Eventually
"Kung Fu Panda" creators will ramp up a partnership with Chinese state-run media funds, slowly.
Sinica Podcast
09.14.12
Hollywood Comes to China
from Sinica PodcastWhen Xi Jinping headed to the United States earlier this year in what everyone assumed was a pre-coronation victory lap, one of the more surprising outcomes of his visit ended up being a stopover in Los Angeles, where China agreed to increase the...
