{"id":10141,"date":"2022-05-10T07:30:56","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T07:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:41:36","slug":"can-british-movies-compete-with-hollywood-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/can-british-movies-compete-with-hollywood-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Can British movies compete with Hollywood in China?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can James Bond and Paddington beat out Marvel et al? Might Hollywood\u2019s current fractious relationship with China be a chance for British movies to grab more screen time? And if it is, how can other industries cash in? Paul French<\/strong> speaks to author Erich Schwartzel to find out<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Hollywood\u2019s romance with China is over. Despite trying to find the Secret Sauce recipe for success at the Chinese box office \u2013 more Chinese characters, co-productions, animation of Chinese classics \u2013 nothing has worked. Quotas, censors, ever-outraged nationalistic social media, actor gaffs and a collapse in the US-China trading relationship. Hollywood doesn\u2019t know where to go next with China, so, Wall Street Journal Los Angeles bureau correspondent Erich Schwartzel\u2019s new book, Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy<\/em> (Penguin) has been this year\u2019s must-read book in Tinseltown.<\/p>\n

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But what about the rest of us? Are there any lessons to be learnt from Hollywood\u2019s crash-and-burn in China? How have UK and European movies fared by comparison? Do we have franchises that can compete with Marvel and The Fast and the Furious<\/em>? Can we beat US animation supported by their Mainland theme parks? And, perhaps, is China\u2019s problem with Hollywood in fact our opportunity to grab more screen time? Paul French spoke with Erich Schwartzel in LA and asked him to briefly turn his focus from the US to the UK\u2026<\/p>\n

Your book focuses on Hollywood\u2019s chasing and courting of China, but UK and European movie producers and studios also constantly talk China. Would you say the UK\/European approach has been less \u201cfull throttle\u201d and maybe met with a different reception in Beijing?<\/h4>\n

American movies have been the dominant force when it comes to films imported into China, but I think that has more to do with the kinds of films Hollywood makes than the country behind them. As China\u2019s box office grew, its audiences wanted to see the types of movies they couldn\u2019t find anywhere else, and to a large extent, the big-budget blockbusters are still the domain of Hollywood. So, while there is the occasional European import that gains popularity in China, I would suspect that many of the themes and approaches of those films scratch an itch that Chinese viewers see in their domestic films and TV shows. Hollywood also has a decades-old tradition of shipping its movies overseas, one rooted in the days of World War II, when the bombing in Europe allowed America to catch up to the European film capitals and establish a global footprint they were denied.<\/p>\n