'Film-making in China is the new way'

The appeal of large Asian audiences is rapidly changing the way Hollywood approaches film-making. Emma Jones reports in this video for Talking Movies.

“Chinese cinema, and the industry of film-making in China is the new way.”

That’s the opinion of Nicolas Cage, who was speaking to Talking Movies from the Macau International Film Festival in December 2018, while promoting his latest film, Mandy.

At one time, it was only Tom Cruise who could bring an Asian audience to a film; now Hollywood is actively courting the East.

China’s huge audiences have added millions to the box-office takings of recent films like Avengers: Infinity War, Venom and Aquaman, which was released in China before the US. But the Hollywood-backed 2018 hit, Crazy Rich Asians, failed to find audiences in China.

The international film market has grown dramatically in the last 20 years, with around 70% of Hollywood studios’ revenue being generated overseas today – compared with around 30% two decades ago.

Watch the video above to find out more.

This video is part of the Talking Movies 20th anniversary series, which airs on BBC World News on Sat 19 Jan at 12:30; Sun 20 Jan at 00:30, 07:30, 19:30 (23:30 Latin and North America);

Mon 21 Jan (01:30 Latin and North America) and Tue 22 Jan at 09:00.

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