Hollywood studio Warner Bros is set to move into China in a big way, as reports emerge of talks between the US film producers and China Media Capital, a state-backed investment fund, to create a joint venture that will make Chinese-language films aimed at the Chinese domestic market.
This comes in the wake of rapidly increasing takings at the Chinese box office – according to the Wall Street Journal, the total for 2015 is up 43% on the year before, at $4.3bn (£2.75bn). Four out of the top 10 films in China in 2015 are Hollywood imports – led by Fast and Furious 7 ($379.1m/£243m) – but the remaining six are Chinese in origin, with titles including Monster Hunt, Jian Bing Man and The Man From Macau 2.
It would appear to be this latter category of film that Warner Bros is targeting, and with a rigid quota of 34 films per year that Hollywood is allowed to export to China and earn receipts from, the joint venture may prove a way to circumvent the tough government rules.
The Warner Bros deal does not represent Hollywood’s first move in this area: in 2012, DreamWorks unveiled a joint venture to produce Chinese-language films in Shanghai and “co-operate” on the production of Kung Fu Panda 3, due for release in 2016. Reports suggest that Warner Bros will contribute $50m (£32m) to the new joint venture. However, it is not known how the current turmoil in China’s financial markets may affect its progress.
