Chinese Cinema , When will a big Chinese film become hit in NA?

[Blackhawkswincup]

In recent years Chinese Box Office has generated several huge hits at Chinese Cinema

Mei ren yu (2016) = $553.8M
Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) = $854.2M
Detective Chinatown 2 (2018) = $541.4M
Operation Red Sea (2018) = $575.8M
Ne Zha (2019) = $703.4M
The Wandering Earth (2019) = $690.9M

The Chinese BO has propelled them into top 15 films worldwide during recent years. But none have made much of an impact in NA or elsewhere beyond China

How long until we have breakout NA hit of a Chinese blockbuster? Its bound to happen and I am honestly expecting it to be something Scifi or Mindless action film

I expect with more deals to bring Chinese films to audiences in US and what will be natural attempt to market a blockbuster from there at some point on large scale here that we will see a big China film in NA within next 5 years

--- I have yet to get around to watching it but Netflix does have The Wandering Earth for those interested ---

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[Unholy Diver]

I can't see a foreign language film ever making a large impact here, too many "Speak the language, or get out!" people for that to happen.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Whenever enough people know the Chinese language in North America or the movie is just so damn good that it breaks any language barrier.

 

[beowulf]

In a way they have already started to make an impact and money here. If you watch the opening and closing credits, increasingly movies, especially big blockbuster wanna-be movies, have Chinese investment and content. China is also have an impact due to censorship as movies are being modified or written from the start as not to not contain content that would piss the Chinese Commie Party so the movie can be shown in China.

Right now only 34 foreign films are allowed to be released in China per year, might have gone up a little not sure.

 

[RobBrown4PM]

I'm waiting for the Three Body Problem movie to come out, unfortunately it seems it will be stuck in development hell forever. I can understand why they're having problems with it though. The first book is so esoteric, and such a slow burn, that it rivals Evangelion. The second third books are either some of the best hard sci-fi you will ever read, or, the best sadist material ever written.

I'm hoping the anime that is coming out by Bilibili will have better luck.

Original proof of concept trailer


More recent trailer

 

[RandV]

Last one was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon wasn't it? Followed up by Hero which maybe counts as well... I'm a bit biased because I was really disappointed with that, but either way that seemed to be the last of it.

Probably have some potential in science fiction, but I'm skeptical this will happen anytime soon, just think there's too much of a cultural and political barrier for anything to really stick with the big Western markets. Same way what movies Hollywood releases over there can have a wildly different response, like for example Star Wars.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Never-or close to it. I just don't see Chinese culture having mass market appeal. Too many barriers.

 

[Stylizer1]

In recent years Chinese Box Office has generated several huge hits at Chinese Cinema

Mei ren yu (2016) = $553.8M
Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) = $854.2M
Detective Chinatown 2 (2018) = $541.4M
Operation Red Sea (2018) = $575.8M
Ne Zha (2019) = $703.4M
The Wandering Earth (2019) = $690.9M

The Chinese BO has propelled them into top 15 films worldwide during recent years. But none have made much of an impact in NA or elsewhere beyond China

How long until we have breakout NA hit of a Chinese blockbuster? Its bound to happen and I am honestly expecting it to be something Scifi or Mindless action film

I expect with more deals to bring Chinese films to audiences in US and what will be natural attempt to market a blockbuster from there at some point on large scale here that we will see a big China film in NA within next 5 years

--- I have yet to get around to watching it but Netflix does have The Wandering Earth for those interested ---

Propaganda can't work if you humanize your adversary.

 

[Eisen]

I'm waiting for the Three Body Problem movie to come out, unfortunately it seems it will be stuck in development hell forever. I can understand why they're having problems with it though. The first book is so esoteric, and such a slow burn, that it rivals Evangelion. The second third books are either some of the best hard sci-fi you will ever read, or, the best sadist material ever written.

I'm hoping the anime that is coming out by Bilibili will have better luck.

Original proof of concept trailer


More recent trailer

After having seen "The Wandering Earth" I'm not so sure anymore. It's not a bad movie but the story is almost unrecognisable compared to Liu's shortstory. I'll still watch it. Best sci-fi I read in ages. Especially the third part.

 

[nameless1]

The main thing is probably a deep cultural divide. There are a lot of aspects that gets lost in translation, and I know a lot of my friends get confused by a Chinese movie. There are many things that they just do not understand.

Now, even if everything is explained to them, they still get confused. The question I most often get is, "How is this a box office hit in China?" Quite frankly, mainstream Chinese movies are just plain bad. The filmmakers there seems to think it is just "Bigger is better", so they pour a bunch of money into special effects and star power, at the expense of everything else. Some of them are so dumb, that it feels like torture to sit through the whole thing. A lot of them are also rip-offs from Hollywood scripts, and not good ones too. Who needs to see a remake of The Woman in Red from 1984, in 2016 no less? It is also already a remake of a French movie itself. Personally, I have never rated a Chinese mainstream film more than a 6/10 myself, and as far as I can remember, I may have only done it for one or two movies.

Also, those box office numbers do not tell the whole story. In a lot of the major cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, a lot of these mainstream screenings can be empty, because they recognize what is good or not. Those box office numbers are actually propped up by the smaller cities in the rural areas, called third or fourth line cities, where audience still does not have that many choices, and "bigger is better" is still admired.

Now, to be fair, there are great Chinese films, but I only see them at film festivals, and they never get enough enough distribution to break into the mainstream. That is why I do not think a Chinese film will break into the North American mainstream. Every mainstream director is Michael Bay there, and even the mainstream audience hated the majority of the Transformer movies that he directed.

 

[nameless1]

Last one was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon wasn't it? Followed up by Hero which maybe counts as well... I'm a bit biased because I was really disappointed with that, but either way that seemed to be the last of it.

Probably have some potential in science fiction, but I'm skeptical this will happen anytime soon, just think there's too much of a cultural and political barrier for anything to really stick with the big Western markets. Same way what movies Hollywood releases over there can have a wildly different response, like for example Star Wars.

Most people see those Wuxia films more as curiosities though, and I do not think they actually made a complete mainstream breakthrough, per say. To this day, very few people talk about Crouching Tiger outside of movie buffs, and maybe bar trivia questions, and I honestly doubt most people even remember Hero. The North American box office number also needs to be taken with a grain of salt too. I went to see Hero here in Canada, and almost the whole theatre is Chinese.

I am surprised to learn about Star Wars too, but since it was banned in China until the prequels, it is easy to understand why. The market there is saturated by big special effects movies at that point, so people there no longer care.

 

[discostu]

I have not watched any of the recent big box office Chinese films, but I've admired how the industry has managed to find so much success just focusing on its own market. There seems to be zero interest to make these films appeal to western audiences.

 

[hypereconomist]

The main thing is probably a deep cultural divide. There are a lot of aspects that gets lost in translation, and I know a lot of my friends get confused by a Chinese movie. There are many things that they just do not understand.

Now, even if everything is explained to them, they still get confused. The question I most often get is, "How is this a box office hit in China?" Quite frankly, mainstream Chinese movies are just plain bad. The filmmakers there seems to think it is just "Bigger is better", so they pour a bunch of money into special effects and star power, at the expense of everything else. Some of them are so dumb, that it feels like torture to sit through the whole thing. A lot of them are also rip-offs from Hollywood scripts, and not good ones too. Who needs to see a remake of The Woman in Red from 1984, in 2016 no less? It is also already a remake of a French movie itself. Personally, I have never rated a Chinese mainstream film more than a 6/10 myself, and as far as I can remember, I may have only done it for one or two movies.

[snip]

Came to post. If the plot isn't derivative or an outright copy of everything that we already get in North American cinemas, it's way too niche or cultural to break into our mainstream. I tried to watch a couple of recent mainland Chinese hits, such as Monster Hunt and Journey to the West, but just couldn't get into it for similar reasons as your friends.


Although some of the films from the "golden age" of Hong Kong cinema (90s and early 00s) are really good and have western appeal (e.g. Stephen Chow, Chungking Express). It's too bad those days are long gone

 

[RobBrown4PM]

I have not watched any of the recent big box office Chinese films, but I've admired how the industry has managed to find so much success just focusing on its own market. There seems to be zero interest to make these films appeal to western audiences.

You don't need to make them appeal to an audience that your own audience eclipses.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Probably never. While the numbers for those films in the OP look good, remember the size of China compared to even the US. A good China blockbuster should have huge numbers just because they are a country of ~1.5 billion.

 

[KingBran]

I can't see a foreign language film ever making a large impact here, too many "Speak the language, or get out!" people for that to happen.

And no other place on the planet is like that.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Kung Fu Hustle made 100mil back in 2004. And yeah Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon made 200mil when it came out here. Successful Chinese movies can happen. It just really depends on what the movie is. Obviously, Americans aren't going to be as familiar with Chinese culture and yeah, subtitle tend to be a barrier.

 

[kihei]

Propaganda can't work if you humanize your adversary.

This suggests a very jaded and inaccurate view of Chinese cinema. Most Chinese cinema is no more political than US cinema or Canadian cinema. Infernal Affairs, Kung Fu Hustle, The Ip Man series, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, John Woo's gangster movies; Zhang Yimou's historical martial arts movies and movies like A Simple Life and A Touch of Skin could all have broad appeal for any audience with an open mind willing to give them a chance.

 

[Stylizer1]

This suggests a very jaded and inaccurate view of Chinese cinema. Most Chinese cinema is no more political than US cinema or Canadian cinema. Infernal Affairs, Kung Fu Hustle, The Ip Man series, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, John Woo's gangster movies; Zhang Yimou's historical martial arts movies and movies like A Simple Life and A Touch of Skin could all have broad appeal for any audience with an open mind willing to give them a chance.

I was referring to North America.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Probably never. While the numbers for those films in the OP look good, remember the size of China compared to even the US. A good China blockbuster should have huge numbers just because they are a country of ~1.5 billion.

How many of them can afford to go to the movies though?

 

[Stylizer1]

How many of them can afford to go to the movies though?

China has many wealthy people.

 

[member 51464]

Does everyone consider Hong Kong cinema a part of Chinese cinema in this thread? I'd see them as distinct entities, but it sort of changes the perspective of the question if you seem them as one in the same.

 

[nameless1]

Does everyone consider Hong Kong cinema a part of Chinese cinema in this thread? I'd see them as distinct entities, but it sort of changes the perspective of the question if you seem them as one in the same.

I view them as different, but it gets harder by the day when it comes to mainstream movies. After 1997, mainland Chinese money is the only thing that keeps the whole Hong Kong film industry afloat. That is why there are so many co-productions, and why mainland Chinese actors always appear in Hong Kong big budget movies nowadays. In fact, they do not even try to speak Cantonese. They will speak Mandarin, while the Hong Kong actors continue to speak Cantonese, and they are supposed to be able to completely understand one another. It always bugs me to no end, because that is not how the real world works.

 

[alko]

Politics. And i will maybe cross the line - racism.

You know, the great white man should rule the world. No one will say it loud, but unfortunately, that is how it works.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Politics. And i will maybe cross the line - racism.

You know, the great white man should rule the world. No one will say it loud, but unfortunately, that is how it works.

Cultural and language are barriers to why movies from China aren't a big hit in North America just like why they aren't a big hit in any other county outside of China.

Racism shouldn't be listed IMO because that has very little if anything to do with it. Also it shows a sign of racism in itself by saying certain groups of people are racist people just because they don't like movies made from China or any other country with language and cultural differences. Racism as a excuse for things is too easy and too lazy as a excuse for things especially nowadays.