The Chinese film industry has expanded production and viewing, to progress to second place behind the United States in terms of movie revenues, although it is progressing in the number of cinemas.

This new reality raises the saliva of American film producers in order to seize the opportunity to expand in China and show their films there, and to reap millions of additional dollars;

However, entering the Chinese market is not the same as entering other markets that are flooded with American films, as the Beijing government decides a limited quota for foreign films, and it imposes strict control on the contents of the selected films.

A giant movie market

China has traditionally been a major market for American films, but it has also grown increasingly self-reliant in recent years, with the increasing number of high-quality domestic films competing with imported foreign films.

Film consumption in China has increased dramatically with the growth of the middle class and the pursuit of capitalist economic policies during the last two decades.

According to specialized reports, movie tickets sold in China have increased three-fold since 2011, compared to the United States, where the level of ticket sales has not changed during the same period.

The Chinese cinema market expanded to reach 9.2 billion dollars in 2019, after it was only 800 million dollars in 2009, and at the same time the size of the American cinema market reached 11.1 billion dollars;

In other words, it outperforms China by only two billion dollars, and with the continuation of current rates, the Chinese market will soon surpass the US counterpart.

Adam Goodman, former director of Paramount Pictures, says in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, "10 years ago we never thought of China, but now it seems we cannot live without China."

Adam Goodman, former director of "Paramount Pictures": We cannot live without China (networking sites)

China influences what Americans watch

In a speech by former Attorney General William Barr on China's escalating risks, which represent an unprecedented challenge to the United States, Barr attacked Hollywood companies;

Because of the nature of their relationship with China, accusing it of submitting to the Chinese government for profits, Barr presented Washington's reaction to Beijing's global ambitions, and described the Chinese challenge as "a generational struggle that will determine the political future of the world."

Barr considered that Hollywood (American film makers) are abandoning American values ​​in order to exist in the lucrative Chinese market, and he has also attacked actors, producers and directors, who "pride themselves on freedom and the human spirit every year at the Oscars ... but now Hollywood regularly watches its own films To appease the Chinese Communist Party, the most powerful violator of human rights in the world, "he said.

Barr emphasized that "this self-censorship is not only related to film releases, which are shown in China; but also many films that are shown in American theaters to American audiences."

Barr cited a number of films, in which parts, footage, or photos have been changed to avoid offending the Chinese government, and to avoid losing access to the movie market in the world's most populous country.

In recent years, American filmmakers have not provoked the Communist Party. For example, in a new version of "Red Dawn", Chinese soldiers who invade an American town have been replaced by North Korean soldiers in a preemptive action. To avoid angering the Chinese authorities.

The Red Dawn movie has a different version in order not to provoke China (communication sites)

Dual control mechanism

The Chinese authorities adopt a dual strategy in line with their political orientations, working to improve the quality of the local film product on the one hand, and on the other hand impose their conditions on those who want to display their films within the vast Chinese market, and penalize anyone who negatively affects Chinese policies.

The Chinese authorities impose a limited quota for foreign films, which are allowed to be shown in local theaters, not exceeding 34 films annually.

China has built giant studios in (Tinsel Town), which attracted filmmakers from inside and outside China.

The expansion of local cinema production in China is bad news for Hollywood, which for years has sought more access to the huge and lucrative China market, and China no longer depends on the American films that fill cinemas around the world, but Hollywood needs the Chinese market to make its films financially successful.

This approach is in line with what the Chinese Communist Party has been aiming for at least a decade. In a statement issued by the party in October 2011, it spoke of the urgent need to promote soft power and international influence in Chinese culture.

Professor Ying Zhou, professor of media culture at Staten Island College at the City University of New York, is concerned about the power of the growing market in China, which is giving the Communist Party too much influence over Hollywood.

"Chinese censorship can act as a global cinematographic police on how China is portrayed, and how the Chinese government can be portrayed in Hollywood movies, so films that criticize the Chinese government will be completely taboo," Zhu says.

For many years, the Chinese citizen preferred to go to theaters to watch American films, in 2007 there were 14 American films among the top 25 films in terms of revenue in Chinese theaters, and in 2019 there were 17 Chinese films among the top 25 films in terms of revenue in China, including It represents a clear decline in the demand for the American film, in exchange for a significant increase in the demand for the Chinese film.

Richard is a model

The famous actor Richard Gere has not appeared in any important film since 2008, due to the great and hidden influence of China, and the change that the world has known through a number of famous films and roles such as "A Beautiful Woman" 1994 and "Chicago" in 2002. Favorite Film Makers Actors in Hollywood.

During the 2003 Academy Awards ceremony, he changed the text, denouncing the human rights situation in Tibet, and then led a campaign to boycott the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing in 2008;

Because of the Chinese government's poor human rights record.

Richard Gere's anti-Chinese attitudes cost many cinematic roles, and after Hollywood moved away from him, he was forced to work in television series or independent films with limited budgets.

Richard Gere says that he is paying a high professional price for his long-term activity in Tibet, and he said in a press interview that "there are definitely films that I cannot act in because the Chinese will say they cannot be shown, and a film producer has stated frankly that he cannot finance a film in which I participate, because that is." It will upset the Chinese. "