Some movies like The Promise also benefit from the sale of linked products.

It should be pointed out that at present, a market system that fits the movie industry in China has not taken shape. The Chinese blockbuster has become a project propelled by individuals, and is not part of a broad and effective industry production and distribution mode. “The Chinese movie industry is still in a transitional period from the planned economy to the market economy, and it takes time to respond,” said Liu Fan, a critic at The Beijing News. He also added that in China very few people have box office appeal as well as creative resources. Moreover, only a few movie studios can deploy a large-scale investment.

For those who meet the above-mentioned criteria, expensive movies can make only a limited profit domestically, because the box office is shared by three parties--the investor, distributor and cinemas. As a result, they rely heavily on the revenue from the sale of overseas distribution rights. “For expensive movies, it is hard for them to cover their cost and other expenses in the domestic market,” said Wang. “We have to participate in global distribution to make a real profit.”

Wang is the first Chinese mainland producer to seek participation in an overseas distribution system. Wang entered joint movie production with foreign capital, with the Chinese taking the leading role and sharing the film’s international revenue with the foreign participant. He and his team realized that a key issue in internationalized movie production is to make a film that appeals to overseas audiences.

Meanwhile, the differing requirements of the two markets have raised the standards for the filmmakers. But this is a thorny problem for China, which has just discovered the importance of blockbusters. Currently in the mainland movie industry it is hard to find someone like Ang Lee, who possesses a profound American movie background and deep insight into Hollywood.

Many industry insiders claim, however, that blockbusters cannot save the Chinese industry, saying that an overall improvement in Chinese movies is needed to revitalize the industry. If filmmakers only focus on the production and distribution of a single movie, “It may do harm to the existence of each domestic movie,” one insider said.

Zhang Xianliang, a well-known writer, said the production rule for other industries is more input, more output and better quality. However, he added that the quality of art and cultural works might not be improved even if the cost increases. He cited the 100 classic movies of the 20th century chosen by Americans as an example. “Few of those movies are blockbusters,” he said, pointing out that while the box office for less-expensive movies may not be as high, the input-output ratio is usually higher than that for blockbusters. “From this angle, it is profitable to make non-blockbusters,” said Zhang.

In 1981, The Wrangler, adapted from Zhang’s novel, had a total cost of over 1 million yuan, but created a box office “miracle.” Another movie, Hibiscus Town, by the same director Xie Jin, had an investment of less than 4 million yuan in 1986, but its box office hit 100 million when tickets were sold for less than 1 yuan, meaning that more than 100 million people saw the movie. The reason is that the two movies tapped into the chief concerns of the people at that time, capturing the feelings of ordinary citizens. Therefore, experts stated that no matter how much a movie costs, the key to a good box office and favorable comment is to reflect what is deep in people’s hearts.