Hollywood's soft power hard to copy
Updated: 2016-01-26 08:16
By Philip Cunningham(China Daily)
|
||||||||
Exhibiting films is both simple and utterly opaque. Theaters thrive selling tickets and popcorn, but what makes people want to go to a movie?
Hollywood is so ruthless in rewarding success and punishing failure that even the best directors are only as good as their last film. Today's toast-of-the-town is only a flop away from losing all cachet.
Theater ownership is certainly no guarantee of box office success and quotas are no guarantee of quality. Yet Wang Jianlin is a savvy businessman, so it would be premature to suggest that he has bitten off a bit more than he can chew. Inasmuch as the Wanda empire of screens and its vast studio-project are basically real estate ventures, it still lacks the creative spark that animates all good art.
It is the rare film, such as Star Wars, or Titanic or Avatar that soars in every available market. But it is also worth noting that the above films-the three best selling films of all time-reflect the creative stamp of stubborn, rugged individualists.
Such films are the box-office standards to beat, but hard to emulate. If Wanda can crack the code and produce mass-market films worthy of solitary genius, China would indeed gain prestige and be a force to be reckoned with in global cinema.
The author is a visiting research fellow, Cornell University, New York
Courtesy: chinausfocus.com
- Global health entering new era: WHO chief
- Brazil's planning minister steps aside after recordings revelation
- Vietnam, US adopt joint statement on advancing comprehensive partnership
- European border closures 'inhumane': UN refugee agency
- Japan's foreign minister calls A-bombings extremely regrettable
- Fukushima impact unprecedented for oceans: US expert
- Stars of Lijiang River: Elderly brothers with white beards
- Wealthy Chinese children paying money to learn British manners
- Military-style wedding: Fighter jets, grooms in dashing uniforms
- Striking photos around the world: May 16 - May 22
- Robots help elderly in nursing home in east China
- Hanging in the air: Chongqing holds rescue drill
- 2.1-ton tofu finishes in two hours in central China
- Six things you may not know about Grain Buds
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Anti-graft campaign targets poverty relief |
Cherry blossom signal arrival of spring |
In pictures: Destroying fake and shoddy products |
China's southernmost city to plant 500,000 trees |
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Today's Top News
Liang avoids jail in shooting death
China's finance minister addresses ratings downgrade
Duke alumni visit Chinese Embassy
Marriott unlikely to top Anbang offer for Starwood: Observers
Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |