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China’s TikTok is turning into a movie streaming platform
ByteDance’s Douyin now offers dozens of free films, including The Last Emperor, Farewell My Concubine and The Great Wall
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
TikTok is best known for short videos of lip-syncing teens and silly stunts. But it’s been trying to expand its offerings, which now include full-length feature films.
TikTok, the viral short video sensation, has its roots in China
TikTok owner ByteDance is letting Chinese users stream dozens of films in the local version of the popular video app, known as Douyin.
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Among the films being offered are international titles like the Academy Award-winning The Last Emperor, acclaimed Cannes Film Festival darling Farewell My Concubine and the not-so-acclaimed 2016 action monster flick The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon.
The reason behind this move can be traced back to the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in China. When cinemas were forced to shut down in late January, one studio made the unusual move of skipping the theatrical release for its highly anticipated holiday film Lost in Russia. Instead, the film premiered on Douyin and other ByteDance platforms after the company paid Huanxi Media at least 630 million yuan (US$90.8 million) to stream the Lunar New Year family flick. The deal also included other films and TV dramas.
China’s viral king ByteDance is the first major Chinese tech player that made a mark on the world
China has been having a tough time getting cinemas back on track despite announcing the re-release of hit movies like Avatar and all four of Marvel’s Avengers films. The re-releases were supposed to help boost box office revenue as cinemas reopened thanks to declining Covid-19 cases. But just one week after reopening, a new locally transmitted case of the disease resulted in the government telling theaters to shut down again last week.
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