“It says something about this new global economy that USA Today now reports every morning on the day's events in Asian markets.”
-- Larry Summers
-- Larry Summers
What you're looking at above is a mosaic of the largest grossing movies in South Korea, Russia, China, Japan, and India. Notice anything? There isn't a Hollywood entry among them. While American fare still holds the lion's share in Russia, it registered less than half of the gross in China and hit its lowest point in four decades in Japan. For obvious reasons, the income provided to Hollywood studios being chief among them, this is a big deal that has to have studio execs pondering.
The influence at times can be subtle, with Iron Man 3 featuring many Chinese elements, and although it failed to attain a full-fledged co-production deal, was partly financed by Chinese film company DMG Entertainment. At times, they can be overt with Red Dawn (2012) needing the villains to be digitally altered to North Koreans (a state-controlled market Hollywood can't crack) instead of Chinese as originally filmed. The point is, with over half of most film's incomes coming from overseas (occasionally, movies with mass appeal like The Hobbit cross 70% for their international gross), the effect of this global market is being felt in the movies you watch, whether you're conscious of it or not.
To see how fast this change has occurred, you need only look at the Hunger Games franchise. Although an extreme example, the original (2012) did 59% of its gross in the U.S., compared to the sequel (2013), which has made over half its money internationally (and growing, as worldwide day-and-date releases are still rare). This growing split shows that any doom-and-gloom predictions are a little misguided as virtually every country set total attendance box office records this year while the economy continues to rebound. However, what it does mean is an even greater focus on movies with broad appeal, either through non-descript locations (futuristic, with no existing countries like Hunger Games, or complete fantasy like The Hobbit), or broad themes like comedies and superheroes.
Hollywood's early attempts to appeal to both the domestic and global market (obviously Hollywood always loves broad appeal, but I'm speaking of having both markets explicitly in mind) have been uneven to say the least. The Wolverine attempted to use a superhero and actor Americans love with a storyline meant to appeal to Japan and the east in general. It wound up grossing just $8 million in Japan, with Pacific Rim meeting a similar fate. By and large, it would appear foreign audiences can smell the pandering, and aren't falling for it.
After seeing The Wolf of Wall Street (review coming soon!), I can't help but worry about the future of such an American-centric, big budget production, with the only international element in this case being the politically neutral Swiss banks. Will Hollywood turn away from such a gamble, only able to bank on the domestic box office instead of recouping their money worldwide, thus making that sort of movie only possible as a passion project of the most powerful in the industry? Or is it possible that global trends will continue to shift towards local fare, meaning Hollywood has no choice but to court the domestic market? The answer to that will impact almost every part of the movie industry in the years to come.
The influence at times can be subtle, with Iron Man 3 featuring many Chinese elements, and although it failed to attain a full-fledged co-production deal, was partly financed by Chinese film company DMG Entertainment. At times, they can be overt with Red Dawn (2012) needing the villains to be digitally altered to North Koreans (a state-controlled market Hollywood can't crack) instead of Chinese as originally filmed. The point is, with over half of most film's incomes coming from overseas (occasionally, movies with mass appeal like The Hobbit cross 70% for their international gross), the effect of this global market is being felt in the movies you watch, whether you're conscious of it or not.
To see how fast this change has occurred, you need only look at the Hunger Games franchise. Although an extreme example, the original (2012) did 59% of its gross in the U.S., compared to the sequel (2013), which has made over half its money internationally (and growing, as worldwide day-and-date releases are still rare). This growing split shows that any doom-and-gloom predictions are a little misguided as virtually every country set total attendance box office records this year while the economy continues to rebound. However, what it does mean is an even greater focus on movies with broad appeal, either through non-descript locations (futuristic, with no existing countries like Hunger Games, or complete fantasy like The Hobbit), or broad themes like comedies and superheroes.
Hollywood's early attempts to appeal to both the domestic and global market (obviously Hollywood always loves broad appeal, but I'm speaking of having both markets explicitly in mind) have been uneven to say the least. The Wolverine attempted to use a superhero and actor Americans love with a storyline meant to appeal to Japan and the east in general. It wound up grossing just $8 million in Japan, with Pacific Rim meeting a similar fate. By and large, it would appear foreign audiences can smell the pandering, and aren't falling for it.
After seeing The Wolf of Wall Street (review coming soon!), I can't help but worry about the future of such an American-centric, big budget production, with the only international element in this case being the politically neutral Swiss banks. Will Hollywood turn away from such a gamble, only able to bank on the domestic box office instead of recouping their money worldwide, thus making that sort of movie only possible as a passion project of the most powerful in the industry? Or is it possible that global trends will continue to shift towards local fare, meaning Hollywood has no choice but to court the domestic market? The answer to that will impact almost every part of the movie industry in the years to come.
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