US media: China has built its own film empire

The Article of the American Axios News Network on January 18, originally titled "China is building its own film empire". Last year, none of Disney Pictures' four new Marvel films were allowed to be screened in theaters Chinese mainland. For the U.S. film giants, it's a sign of a bad outlook, and they're being excluded from the world's fastest-growing box office market.

For Western companies operating in China, the COVID-19 pandemic heralds the dawn of a new era of cinema. "The pandemic has put China in a position where it is easier to control the screening of films," said Degaraby Dean, a senior media analyst at Internet information service provider Comscore. Robbins, chief analyst at the film magazine Boxoffice Pro, said Marvel movies are usually profitable in China, but the Chinese government prioritizes political influence over box office economics.

The impact is not limited to Marvel movies. According to the US "Variety" magazine, the proportion of American films in foreign films screened in China has also declined year by year, from 46% in 2020 to 39% in 2021. While the Chinese box office of American films has declined across the board, Chinese domestic films have dominated the domestic box office market. Of the foreign films released in Chinese mainland last year, only 28% were new in 2021.

Kokas, an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, said the Chinese government has set a goal of becoming a "film powerhouse" by 2035. China surpassed the United States to become the world's largest film market for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021, and this transcendence mainly relies on domestic films.

DeGarabidian said China's huge market meant its domestic films did not have to go global. Analysis by Axios News shows that of the top 200 highest-grossing films in the world in 2021, 44 are from China, 80 are from North America and 76 are from other regions. Most of these 44 Chinese films have very limited overseas box office.

Even so, Chinese audiences' interest in Hollywood films may not have waned. "There is a state of uncertainty right now that could change Hollywood's near-term global strategy and the way China drives the long-term growth of its domestic film market," Robbins said. (By Sarah Fisher et al., translated by Wang Huicong)