World-wide box office hits such as Bobby and Oppenheimer are also struggling.
There are zero Hollywood works in the top 10 box office hits in China.
Chinese audiences, who were once enthusiastic about American blockbusters, are recently turning away from Hollywood movies.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 23rd (local time), none of the 10 highest-grossing films in China last year were Hollywood films.
The sequel to the Hollywood movie ‘Aquaman’, which was released in China last December, was expected to be a huge hit in the Chinese market. As the previous film was a huge hit in China, the sequel was released two days before the US.
Aquaman production company Warner Bros. also put all its efforts into promotion. He posted various movie clips and behind-the-scenes videos on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, and set up an Aquaman ice sculpture at the Harbin Winter Festival.
However, the Aquaman sequel only grossed $60 million (about 80.4 billion won) even a few weeks after its release. This is less than the $90 million (approximately KRW 120.6 billion) that the first film, released in 2018, earned on its first weekend. This is a very small figure compared to the film’s profit of $293 million (approximately 388.5 billion won) in China, which is one quarter of the film’s total box office revenue of $1.2 billion (approximately 1.6 trillion won).
Aquaman is not the only story of box office failure. Last year, major Hollywood films such as ‘Mission Impossible’, ‘Fast and Furious’, and ‘Spider-Man’ were released in China. However, none of the 10 highest-grossing films in China last year were American.
According to Maoyan, a Chinese movie data provider, both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, which were huge hits worldwide last year, did not make the top 30 in the Chinese box office.
This is the effect of the deterioration of diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and China. With tensions recently rising with the United States, Hollywood films had to undergo thorough censorship in order to be released in China.
China also revealed its ambition to further increase its cultural influence. Chinese authorities have also encouraged local filmmakers to make films that conform to the ruling Communist Party’s doctrines. Many of China’s highest-grossing films in recent years, including “The Battle of Chosin Reservoir” and “Wolf Warrior 2,” have taken on the theme of a stronger, bolder China.
“Many American film production companies have always viewed China as a profitable market, but that is no longer the case,” said Shi Chuan, vice president of the Shanghai Film Association. Recently, Chinese people have been reducing their consumption, which means that Chinese film industry sales will not return to where they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese film officials unanimously said, “The days when a single Hollywood movie made hundreds of millions of dollars in China are over,” and that Hollywood production companies “need to study to understand the Chinese market, audiences, marketing methods, and Chinese pop culture.” .
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.