Chinese Box Office, Now Dominated by U.S. Films, at a Crossroads
June, 05, 2012 12:15 pm | Comments On #box office, china, chinese, chinese box office, Movies"Men in Black 3" opened two weeks ago in China to a stellar $25 million box office tally over three days, marking the second biggest opening weekend in China this year after the massive $58 million April debut of "Titanic 3D."
The No. 1 showing of "Men in Black 3" also marked the 19th week in a row that a Hollywood film placed first at the Chinese box office, and the fourth week in a row in which at least the top three films were American. 
The last time a Chinese movie topped the charts was the second week of January, when "The Great Magician" (actually a Hong Kong-China co-production) had no foreign competition, as there weren’t any Hollywood films at all in wide release at the time.
In fact, the last time a newly released Chinese film opened in first place in China was when "The Flowers of War...
Read MoreDalian Wanda's AMC Purchase: The Real Reasons Behind the Deal
May, 28, 2012 1:37 pm | Comments On #MoviesDalian Wanda, the $16 billion private Chinese conglomerate that operates in the commercial real estate, culture and entertainment, and retail industries, has signed an agreement to purchase AMC Entertainment and its 5,048 screen North American theater chain for the sum of $2.6 billion.
Wanda has indicated that it will also spend an additional $500 million on theater renovations and technology upgrades.
To me, the acquisition just doesn’t appear to make much sense for Wanda. The rationales offered by Wanda’s billionaire chairman Wang Jianlin have so far been unconvincing, the following being representative of his statements:
“We want to be a big company, not just in China but in the world.”
“This transaction will help make Wanda a truly global cinema owner.”
If there were competitive advantages to becoming a...
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Description
Robert Cain is a partner in film co-production company Pacific Bridge Pictures. He has worked for more than 20 years in Hollywood and the global entertainment industry, primarily as a production, finance, strategy and creative development expert. He has been doing business in China since 1987, where his producing and entertainment management experience includes production of several film and TV programs, and consulting for numerous American and Chinese studios, production, and distribution companies. He also blogs for China Film Biz.
