The Hollywood war epic Dunkirk is being screened in cinemas around the world. It has become a blockbuster and harvested big box office profits globally. However, neither the new actors nor famed stars in the film took high rates of remuneration within the budget. As the director and scriptwriter of the movie, Christopher Nolan enjoys the biggest share of the remuneration.

Undoubtedly, popular stars can increase the fame of a movie. But a good story and a good director are the major elements to ensure the quality of a movie.

China's film and TV industry is affected by a bad atmosphere in which stars bid for a sky-high price to perform in TV series, mini dramas and films. The huge remuneration for leading roles brings an unbalanced ratio in production budgets. Companies have to cut the cost of other parts including scriptwriting, props, music and special effects, which leads to a large number of potboilers in the market. According to China Central Television, the lowest payment for movie stars stands at 25 million yuan ($3.83 million), while the highest hits 100 million yuan ($15.3 million), accounting for over 50 percent of a movie's total cost. In some idol dramas, stars' remuneration accounted for 75 percent of the production cost.

Currently, the unreasonable and unbalanced budgets in film making reflect that producers seek quick success and instant benefits. This atmosphere not only undermines the quality of films and dramas but also brings the industry into a vicious circle. Especially, slender payments for scriptwriters lead to good stories diminishing.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article published in Nanfang Daily on September 5)