Hollywood is not immune to the roiling economic tensions between the United State and China. The Chinese government confirmed this week that it was taking steps to further limit the number of new Hollywood movies allowed to be shown in China.
This move is a step in retaliation against the escalating tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on Chinese imports. This decision will impact Hollywood blockbusters such as A MINECRAFT MOVIE, which saw a sizeable portion of its international box office come from China.
Over the 2010s, Hollywood achieved tremendous success by releasing many of its movies in China. Films such as AVATAR, ZOOTOPIA, and JURASSIC WORLD all had strong returns in the Chinese market, which allowed each of those movies to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
However, the pandemic-era shutdowns led the Chinese government to invest heavily in its domestic film industry, leading to $1 billion+ grosses from Chinese films such as BATTLE OF LAKE CHANGJIN, HI, MOM, and most recently NE ZHA 2, which has grossed more than $2 billion.
With a robust domestic industry, the Chinese government had been choosy about which Hollywood films were allowed to have a theatrical run in the country. This allows government censors to exert control over the distribution of foreign speech and messages, and promotes local Chinese films over Hollywood’s.
However, in recent years, China has seen a significant decline in box office grosses. The Chinese box office fell by 22% in 2024, with many in the Chinese film industry nervous that it could prove difficult to lure audiences back to theatres. Meanwhile, Hollywood has become accustomed to not counting on the Chinese market for its grosses, limiting their reliance on Chinese audiences.
While NE ZHA 2 has provided some relief, many Chinese theatre owners were hoping to benefit from upcoming sequels to AVATAR, ZOOTOPIA, and JURASSIC PARK. To boost the economy, we hope to see the Chinese government allow the theatrical release of at least these three major sequels.
