Hollywood's second chance

"After a round of fierce debate, people start to realize they can have better choices," he says.

China Daily film critic Raymond Zhou likens the current phenomenon to the boom of the 1980s, when most Chinese only trusted foreign household appliance brands. Zhou also predicts the number of "undiscriminating" audiences will shrink in the years to come, when they grow tired of commercial titles with mediocre plots.

Cultural differences can also go some way in explaining the phenomenon.

"Science fiction movies are a hit genre in North America. Take Transformers 4 as an example, many American fans are familiar with the original version and are familiar with the robots through comic books, the TV show and movies. They find it difficult to tolerate their beloved characters and classic plots in a new movie," says Er Ku, a Beijing-based film critic.

"But for the developing Chinese market, which is lacking a mature franchise, people are happy just to see their animated childhood favorites on the big screen, regardless if it's a good adaptation or not."