[via NBC] was safe. It seems like a hastily made, rather bizarre videotaped confession, but it actually was trying to hold the glue together on much larger corporate interests.They have reason to be paranoid. Over the past two years we’ve seen an incredible amount of scrutiny toward comments made or turns of phrases the [Communist] Party has deemed problematic resulting in real retribution.
Netflix doesn’t do business in China, yet it seems profitable. Why don’t the studios follow its example? The studios have become, over the past decade, almost entirely reliant on these big-budget theatrical releases. The priority at the studios are movies that can cost $200 million and require a global release to turn a profit. When you’re greenlighting another movie that’s going to run you $200 million, to justify that expense in a greenlight meeting, an executive should say we’re expecting X amount of dollars out of China.
Director Renny Harlin saw his U.S. career collapse with the flop “Cutthroat Island.” Years later, he found a second act on China’s A-list. Here, he congratulates two actors who had finished filming on his 2019 Chinese action thriller “Bodies at Rest.”It’s the end of what you knew it to be. The idea that it would remain this cutting-edge, globally recognized creative and often provocative force isn’t the case anymore.
that has complemented the steady absorption of Hong Kong itself. A lot of Hong Kong directors are being hired to make much bigger films on the mainland.Beijing is following a very similar playbook