An article published in the LA Times today is signalling that the affair between the Hollywood film industry and China is on the rocks. A little over six months ago, An agreement was reached between China and American leaders that would allow more foreign movies into China. Hollywood studios were quick to jump on the bandwagon in hopes of cornering a chunk of the China box office.
The China Film Group, which was also involved in the Man of Tai Chi production and lost no time capitalizing on the publicity that resulted from the Keanu Reeves film being shot there, appears to be going out of their way to torpedo some of Hollywood’s summer tentpoles. Hollywood studios select release dates for their films very carefully and far in advance making sure not to schedule competing genres. The China Film Group is purposefully scheduling similar genre films on the same day to limit box office revenue.
It looks like the only recourse that American studios have would be to withhold future released from China and cutting off their revenue stream. Read the entire article here to get the full gist of all the issues, many political, that are souring the relationship.