Money alone can’t build China a thriving movie industry

Audrey Li says as long as China continues to deny its filmmakers the freedom to create, the country will never have the kind of cultural influence it seeks, whatever the ambitions of tycoons like Wang Jianlin

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There is no sign of a loosening of the heavy-handed ideological control in the film industry. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 5:22pm, 7 Aug 2017Updated: 7:06pm, 7 Aug 2017

Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda, has sold off 70 billion yuan’s (HK$81 billion) worth of assets since the real estate and entertainment conglomerate’s loan records came under strict scrutiny from China’s banking regulator. Among the properties sold, a yet-to-be-completed massive film studio complex in the port city of Qingdao (青島) was let go cheaply.

Just four years ago, Wang had announced his plans for a “Hollywood of the East” at a red-carpet event attended by Hollywood superstars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Media around the world took notice: China’s richest man is going to build “Chollywood”, or China’s Hollywood.

Wang has never been shy about his ambition. In a few short years, he has acquired a global entertainment business with the US$2.6 billion purchase in 2012 of AMC, the US-based cinema chain, and the US$3.5 billion acquisition last year of the US film studio Legendary Entertainment.

Things did not always go his way, however. After announcing his ambition to buy stakes in the top six Hollywood studios, his attempt to invest in Paramount was spurned by the studio. Then in March, his planned US$1 billion purchase of Dick Clark Productions, the production company behind the Golden Globe Awards, also fell through amid China’s concerns over outbound investment draining the country’s foreign currency reserves.

What happened to Wanda tycoon’s dream of a Chinese Hollywood?

Regardless of Wanda’s setbacks, the “money talks” strategy works, in a way. Hollywood is increasingly reliant on Chinese money, whether in terms of financing or box office receipts. From Warcraft to The Fast and the Furious 8 , from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter to xXx: Return of Xander Cage , China’s box office has time and again outperformed North America’s.