The story of China and Hollywood's big-screen romance

Summary

Summary of "The Indicator from Planet Money" Episode: "The Story of China and Hollywood's Big-Screen Romance"

Release Date: July 16, 2025

Introduction

In this episode of The Indicator from Planet Money, host Adrian Ma delves into the intricate and evolving relationship between Hollywood and the Chinese film industry. Spanning over a century, this partnership intertwines art, commerce, and geopolitics, revealing a saga marked by collaboration, conflict, and eventual decoupling.

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Act 1: China Goes to the Movies [00:54 – 03:17]

Adrian Ma begins by tracing the origins of the Hollywood-China relationship back to the early 1900s during the silent movie era. Ying Zhu, a Columbia University professor and author of Hollywood in China, explains that the nascent Chinese film industry modeled itself after the American studio system:

"Early Chinese film industry was actually built by emulating the American style studio model." [02:11]

Despite local film productions in Shanghai, American imports captivated Chinese audiences with their flashiness and sophistication. However, this budding romance ended abruptly in 1950, shortly after Mao Zedong's Communist Party took power. A massive campaign was launched to discredit Hollywood films, branding them unpatriotic and leading to government control over the film industry:

"The government took over the movie industry and for decades the only films being made were ones that served the Communist Party's interests." [02:46]

During this period, cinema became a tool for political indoctrination, and entertainment took a backseat as millions of Chinese youths were sent to the countryside for re-education. It wasn't until the 1980s, with China's economic reforms and opening to the world, that efforts began to revive the film market by rekindling ties with Hollywood.

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Act 2: Reunited [03:27 – 06:25]

The early 1990s marked a significant turning point as China embarked on major economic reforms, expanding trade relations with the United States, including in the film sector. Eric Schwartzel, film industry correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and author of Red Carpet, highlights the pivotal moment when Hollywood films re-entered Chinese theaters:

"The first movie that was kind of formally accepted into Chinese theaters was The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford." [03:46]

The Fugitive became a hit, signaling the beginning of a lucrative relationship. Initially, Hollywood films struggled to generate significant revenue in China, but this changed rapidly with China's urbanization and the rise of a middle class eager for big-screen entertainment:

"You're seeing 20, 30, 40% year over year growth in how much money the Chinese box office is pulling in." [04:22]

Simultaneously, the U.S. box office was experiencing stagnation, with declining DVD sales prompting Hollywood studios to look east for growth opportunities. This shift necessitated that films conform to Chinese government censorship and cater to local tastes. Schwartzel cites Age of Extinction (2014) as a prime example of Hollywood tailoring its content for China:

"Mark Wahlberg uses Chinese protein powder. At one point, he goes to an ATM in the middle of Texas and it's a Chinese bank... the Chinese fighter jets arrive before the Americans to save the day." [05:33]

Despite criticisms of pandering and compromising artistic integrity, studios continued to embrace the Chinese market due to the substantial financial rewards, which revitalized both Hollywood revenues and China's movie industry.

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Act 3: The Decoupling [06:25 – 10:05]

The harmony between Hollywood and China began to show cracks in 2008 with the release of Kung Fu Panda. Chinese authorities grew uneasy over the portrayal of national mascots and cultural heritage by a foreign studio, prompting legislative support for domestic animation:

"They actually convened political summits to discuss Kung Fu Panda and ask the question, why didn't we make this ourselves?" [06:42]

This initiative was part of a broader strategy to enhance China's soft power and establish a self-sufficient film industry through incentives like tax breaks and support for co-productions. Adrian Ma introduces Dayan Ng, a filmmaker who provides firsthand insight into China's film renaissance:

"Around 2015ish, you could almost throw anything in the theaters and it would make over 100 million RMB at the box office." [07:49]

Dayan Ng, originally from Taiwan and educated at the Beijing Film Academy, witnessed the surge of domestic films that resonated more deeply with Chinese audiences. As local productions improved in quality and storytelling, Chinese audiences grew weary of repetitive American superhero films:

"Domestic films are starting to tell stories that are more interesting to local audiences." [08:40]

Consequently, Hollywood's revenue from Chinese box offices began a steady decline. China started producing its own blockbusters, such as Ne Zha 2, which grossed over $2 billion, becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever even before its English release:

"China just doesn't need US Films as much as it used to." [08:48]

Geopolitical tensions further strained the relationship. Following President Trump's trade war with China, one form of retaliation was the increased restriction of US film imports:

"After President Trump launched a trade war with China this year, one of the ways China retaliated was by further restricting the import of US Films." [09:00]

For filmmakers like Dayan Ng, these developments are disheartening, yet he remains optimistic about the enduring appeal of the theatrical experience:

"I'm optimistic in the sense that I feel like the theatrical experience will always be needed." [10:00]

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Conclusion

The century-long relationship between Hollywood and China's film industry has undergone significant transformations, from early admiration to political estrangement, followed by a profitable reunification, and ultimately, a gradual decoupling driven by economic self-sufficiency and geopolitical tensions. While the partnership is not entirely severed, the dynamics have shifted, highlighting China's emergence as a formidable force in global cinema independent of Hollywood's influence.

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This summary captures the key discussions and insights from the episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who have not listened.

Transcript

[NPR Host]

NPR.

[Adrian Ma]

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrian Ma. Americans love their movies. Historically, no country can even approach the amount Americans spend at the box office each year. That is until China came along. The US And Chinese film industries actually have a long intertwined history. Today on the show, we continue our week long look at the movie biz with a tale that melds art, commerce and geopolitics. A three act saga about the symbiotic and at times tumultuous relationship between Hollywood and China.

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[Adrian Ma]

Act 1 China goes to the Movies the romance between Hollywood and China begins way back in the early 1900s. The silent movie era, the foundation of.

[NPR Host]

Early Chinese film industry, was actually built by emulating the American style studio model.

[Adrian Ma]

That's Ying Zhu, a professor at Columbia University and author of the book Hollywood in China. Although movies were being made in Shanghai, Ying says audiences were most drawn to the American imports, which tended to be flashier and more sophisticated. But this early romance with Hollywood came to an abrupt end in 1950. That's the year after Mao Zedong's Communist Party came into power in China.

[NPR Host]

A massive campaign was launched to discredit Hollywood films, and watching American films was then deemed unpatriotic.

[Adrian Ma]

The government took over the movie industry and for decades the only films being made were ones that served the Communist Party's interests. In response to Chairman Mao's call, millions of Chinese young people are going to.

[NPR Host]

The countryside to receive re education from.

[Adrian Ma]

The workers and peasants. Not exactly popcorn entertainment. Eventually, though, the Mao era came to an end and in the 1980s, China was opening up to the world. Its movie industry, though, had basically withered under government Control.

[NPR Host]

So the policymakers look around. They decided that we had to really build up a Chinese film market. And what did they do? They went to Hollywood.

[Adrian Ma]

Act two reunited. In the early 1990s, China was going through major economic reforms. It was expanding trade with the US and other countries. And one part of that trade relationship was movies. Eric Schwartzel covers the film industry for the Wall Street Journal and wrote about this period in his book Red Carpet.

[Eric Schwartzel]

The first movie that was kind of formally accepted into Chinese theaters was the the Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford. I'm not going to turn myself in. I need help. I need money.

[Adrian Ma]

Richard is innocent. You'll never find him. He's too smart. The Fugitive was a hit, though at first, Eric says these Hollywood flicks trickling into China didn't make much money. That would soon change, though, as millions of people moved from rural areas of China into the cities and the country's growing middle class developed an appetite for big screen entertainment. And by the 2000s, Hollywood saw their revenue from China soar.

[Eric Schwartzel]

You're seeing 20, 30, 40% year over year growth in how much money the Chinese box office is pulling in. Very important to point out that at the same time in the US box office is flatlining and DVD sales are cratering. And so suddenly, if you're running a Hollywood studio around 2009, you have one column of revenue disappearing and and another one appearing out of nowhere. So if you can add 100, 200, $300 million to the global gross by getting it into China, you absolutely will. But there were considerations large and small that had to be made to make sure that they could get into the Chinese market.

[Adrian Ma]

Yeah, one big consideration. Films had to make it past government censors.

[Eric Schwartzel]

Anything that might have been seen as, like, politically problematic or a little too R rated or maybe even too PG13 rated, be cut from the film before it would be shown in theaters.

[Adrian Ma]

And in some cases, studios bent over backwards to appeal to Chinese moviegoers. Eric says one of the best examples is Age of Extinction, which was released in 2014.

[Eric Schwartzel]

Mark Wahlberg uses Chinese protein powder. At one point, he goes to an ATM in the middle of Texas and it's a Chinese bank. The entire third act of the film takes place in Hong Kong and. And when the giant robots are destroying the city, we gotta call the central government for help. The Chinese fighter jets arrive before the Americans to save the day.

[Adrian Ma]

Now, did studios get criticized for bowing to government censorship and pandering to Chinese audiences? Sure, but what did they care? They were raking in the rmbs Baby Hollywood blockbusters put butts in the seats of Chinese multiplexes. And it helped resuscitate China's movie industry. And it also made bank for American studios.

[Eric Schwartzel]

It seemed at the time like it would be that way forever.

[Adrian Ma]

Act three, the decoupling. An early sign the romance between Hollywood and China might not be Forever came in 2008. That year, DreamWorks released an animated film called Kung Fu Panda, whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend.

[Eric Schwartzel]

And the authorities in China saw it and they actually grew quite concerned because here they saw basically their national mascot and some of their cultural heritage being used by a Hollywood studio to create a blockbuster. And they actually convened political summits to discuss Kung Fu Panda and ask the question, why didn't we make this ourselves?

[Adrian Ma]

And so they put into legislation that the government would increase support for China's homegrown animation industry. This was just one of many government policies that helped propel China's movie industry into a new phase. And why not? The geopolitical respect, the soft power potential of a global hit was obvious. So the government offered tax breaks to film production companies. It encouraged co productions between American and Chinese studios. Chinese officials even made trips to Los Angeles to learn the economics of the movie business from American studio execs. During these years, China's film industry blossomed. And one person with a front row seat to it all was Dayan Ng.

[Dayan Ng]

I'd say around 2015ish. You could almost throw anything, okay, anything in the theaters and it would make, you know, over 100 mil R&B at the box office.

[Adrian Ma]

Dayon was born in Taiwan but grew up in the US and around 1995 he moved to China to study at the Beijing Film Academy. When he graduated, he thought about returning to the US but then I got.

[Dayan Ng]

A phone call from someone who'd seen my student short film and they're like, hey, do you, do you direct TV commercials? And I'm like, yes, I do. I will now.

[Adrian Ma]

Dayon stayed in China, building up his film credits. And by the 2000s, he made the move into feature films, directing dramas and comedies. Over the years, he says he's seen Chinese audiences tastes evolve and says eventually they got kind of bored with the same old American superhero flicks.

[Dayan Ng]

Then at the same time you also have domestic films getting better budgets and they're starting to tell stories that are more interesting to local audiences.

[Adrian Ma]

As a result, Hollywood's revenue from Chinese box offices began a years long slide. And it's got to the point where US studios considering whether to greenlight a new movie will basically assume that they'll make zero money there. Meanwhile, China has made its own blockbusters. A recent prime example is Ne Zha 2, this animated movie based on a Chinese folk tale that hit theaters in January. So far, it's brought in over $2 billion, making it the highest grossing animated film ever. And that's even before you account for the fact that an English language version is going to be released in the US later this year. Yet more evidence that Hollywood and China have not exactly divorced, but certainly have decoupled and China just doesn't need US Films as much as it used to. And all this, of course, is not helped by the geopolitics of it all. After President Trump launched a trade war with China this year, one of the ways China retaliated was by further restricting the import of US Films. For Dayan, it's all a bit of a bummer because he says a lot of this stuff just does not matter to filmmakers or audiences.

[Dayan Ng]

I'm optimistic in the sense that I feel like the theatrical experience will always be needed.

[Adrian Ma]

Or to put it another way, the multi part saga that is Hollywood and China may have had its twists and turns, but it's not over yet. Tomorrow in our movie series Cosplay, we explore the symbiotic relationship between movie studios and their costumed superfans. This episode of the Indicator was produced by Angel Carreras and engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Robert Rodriguez. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Cait Concannon is our editor and the indicators of production of npr.

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