Will the Chinese Market Reopen its Doors to Western Movies?

Beijing regulators finally seem ready to relax their grip on the local Chinese film industry. Is that good news for Hollywood, or just more of the same old, same old? Entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, unpacks yet another shift in the global movie market for us. 

Brandon Blake

Post-Pandemic Reopening

As the pandemic climate of protectionism finally wanes even for China, Beijing film execs finally seem to be feeling some cautious optimism. Their local cinema industry is in an upturn, regulators are relaxing their death grip (a little), and we’re finally seeing pros from the local film industry re-engaging with international markets and festivals. 

Naturally, we can expect to see any renewed interest in Western film fare impact tentpole movies and China’s own big commercial releases first. It may take a while for it to filter down into the indie market.

Berlin Film Festival

With six Chinese features on offer at the first major film festival of the year, including two on the competition circuit, that recovery could come fast, however. It’s believed to be one of the largest Chinese selections for Berlin to date. With the draconian ‘Zero COVID’ pandemic measures now a thing of the past, turnout at cinemas is in full recovery too, with the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations netting the second-biggest haul on record for the holiday, 12% higher than 2022. While both are domestically produced, the top two holiday releases are well set to earn over half a billion dollars each. And with the 20th anniversary of the Communist Party now passed, hopefully we will see the strong nationalist sentiment it caused die down now too.

Coupled with some softening in general economic areas, and a relaxation of the hyper-regulation in local release dates that hamper marketing efforts, we can expect to see a lot more on the Chinese front this year. So far, so good indeed.