There are now six cine-film IMAX theaters scattered among Beijing, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Chongqing and Taipei, and 33 digital IMAX theaters throughout the country. Statistics show that 3,030 cinemas installed these specialized movie screens in 2011, bringing the total to 9,200. The prospect of brisk business generated by U.S. imports will undoubtedly encourage more theaters to follow suit.
Chinese theaters are happy with the agreement. The expanded quota allows for the inclusion of more literary films and independent productions in addition to the inevitable blockbusters. “Up to now, managers of Chinese cinemas have been wary of importing films such as The King’s Speech and War Horse because they need their quota for more sure-fire commercial movies like 2012 and Trans -formers III ,” film reviewer Zhou Liming said.
The agreement is also fine by Chinese audiences, because they can now enjoy more genres of imported film. But more big-budget, high-tech Hollywood imports pose great challenges to the Chinese film industry, and an imminent rough ride.
Tough Road Ahead
Rong Chao, strategic planning director of the Bona Film Group, is worried about the full implications of the agreement: “Importing 34 movies a year means that domestic films will have to compete with three from abroad each month.”
Director Feng Xiaogang takes a more optimistic view. He says on his blog, “This keen competition will stimulate the creation and production of better Chinese films. As the best will win through, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Fellow director Gao Qunshu is similarly upbeat: “Opening up China’s market signals the demise of shoddy domestic movies and Chinese filmmakers’ reliance on big-name actors and ‘black hand’ market manipulation. The agreement is good news for those who want to improve the quality of Chinese cinema. Although the road ahead will be tough to begin with, it’s bound to get on the right track in the long run.”
The fact is, domestic films made paltry profits in 2011. Many earned RMB 100 million or more in box office receipts, but still showed a loss due to their high investments. For instance, although Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War grossed a gratifying RMB 580 million, the figure was appreciably short of its RMB 600 million investment.
Opening up the Chinese market to American film studios is not the root cause of the present crisis in China’s film industry. While talking about the current situation and prospects for China’s film industry, President of the Beijing Film Academy Zhang Huijun said, “The industry faces certain problems. First, we don’t have enough cinemas. Many films have not appeared on the big screen simply be-cause too few movie theaters are equipped to show them. Consequently they earn no revenues. Second, existing laws are inadequate. Strict measures should be formulated to protect films’ intellectual property rights. Various types of insurance applicable during the film production process should also be improved. Third, movie tickets are too ex-pensive. Fourth, access threshold for personnel to enter the industry have yet to be defined.”
Print
Save