From The International Herald Tribune:
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's global business strategy, which counts on huge ticket sales in China for high-budget fantasies in 3-D and large-screen Imax formats, is coming unhinged.
Last year, helped by a high-level deal that expanded the number of foreign films for release there, American blockbusters like "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol- led the Chinese box office for 23 straight weeks, and received a disproportionately large share of their ticket sales from China.
More big releases were on the way, and the floodgates in the world's second-largest film market appeared ready to swing open.
But something unexpected happened on the way to the bank: demand tapered off sharply.
In the first quarter this year, ticket sales for American movies in China - including films as prominent as "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- and "Skyfall- - fell 65 percent, to about $200 million, while sales for Chinese-language films rose 128 percent, to well over $500 million, according to the online publication Chinafilmbiz.com.
The weekend brought one sign of a rebound for Hollywood: "G.I. Joe: Retaliation- from Paramount Pictures, took in a respectable $33 million at the Chinese box office, matching roughly 75 percent of its ticket sales when it opened in the North American market on March 28.
But if the preferences of Chinese moviegoers continue to shift to domestic releases, China will maintain control of its own film market just as Hollywood was ready to seize it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/bu...-in-china.html
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's global business strategy, which counts on huge ticket sales in China for high-budget fantasies in 3-D and large-screen Imax formats, is coming unhinged.
Last year, helped by a high-level deal that expanded the number of foreign films for release there, American blockbusters like "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol- led the Chinese box office for 23 straight weeks, and received a disproportionately large share of their ticket sales from China.
More big releases were on the way, and the floodgates in the world's second-largest film market appeared ready to swing open.
But something unexpected happened on the way to the bank: demand tapered off sharply.
In the first quarter this year, ticket sales for American movies in China - including films as prominent as "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- and "Skyfall- - fell 65 percent, to about $200 million, while sales for Chinese-language films rose 128 percent, to well over $500 million, according to the online publication Chinafilmbiz.com.
The weekend brought one sign of a rebound for Hollywood: "G.I. Joe: Retaliation- from Paramount Pictures, took in a respectable $33 million at the Chinese box office, matching roughly 75 percent of its ticket sales when it opened in the North American market on March 28.
But if the preferences of Chinese moviegoers continue to shift to domestic releases, China will maintain control of its own film market just as Hollywood was ready to seize it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/bu...-in-china.html
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