Hollywood is losing ground in China

WESTERN AUDIENCES will be familiar with at least some of China’s favourite films of 2019. Superhero flicks “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: Far from Home” make appearances, as does the latest installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. Other titles may be less recognisable. “Ne Zha”, an animated fantasy-adventure, made more than $700m at the box office. “The Wandering Earth”, a sci-fi thriller, brought in $690m. Of the ten highest-grossing films in China last year, only three came from Hollywood. The rest were made locally.

The bounty of home-grown blockbusters in Chinese cinemas is relatively new. For years, moviegoers preferred Hollywood features. In 2007 14 of the 25 highest-grossing films in China were made in America. Yet as China’s box office has grown—receipts reached $9.2bn last year, up from just $800m a decade ago—mainland studios have captured a bigger share. In 2019, 17 of the top 25 films in China were Chinese. Only eight were American (see chart).

Tinseltown is not taking this lying down. With China on track to become the biggest film market in the world, Hollywood studios are tailoring their films to suit Chinese tastes. Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan, released today, is one example. In an early version of the script, the title character shares a kiss with her love interest, but Disney cut the scene after Chinese executives deemed it inappropriate for local audiences. Such censorship is likely to continue. Western audiences may prefer American films to Chinese ones, for now. Soon this distinction may have little meaning.