China to the Rescue

By Bai Shi

In Hollywood， saving the world is an American specialty， with U.S movie heroes often portrayed as clutching the human race from the arms of natural disasters， unexpected terrorist attacks or powerful aliens.

However， in recent years， Hollywood has started sharing the honor of world savior with other countries. For example， China is increasingly catching attention of American movie makers due to its rising economic status.

Soaring at box office

Currently， Hollywood space adventure Gravity is achieving a lot of success in China. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón， and staring Sandra Bullock alongside George Clooney， the sci-fi epic earned$4.7 million in China on November 19， marking the biggest non-holiday opening day of all time for a Warner title. In the following two weeks， the 3D film has earned over 350 million yuan （$57.4 million） and a dominating 68 percent share of the Chinese market， according to EntGroup， a leading entertainment research service provider in the country. Up to the end of November， the Chinese mainland accounts for one sixth of the movies earnings abroad.

Gravity highlights an unprecedented visual experience of outer space. It depicts grand scenes of the universe and earth from an orbital angle， with close to real-life visual effects associated with space vacuums and zero gravity.

The Chinese space station Tiangong and a Shenzhou spacecraft are also featured in the story. In particular， U.S. astronaut Ryan Stone， played by Bullock， takes refuge in the space station while making her escape to earth aboard the spacecraft. Without Chinas presence in space， the U.S. astronaut would not have survived her ordeal.

But why did Gravity include a Chinese space station？ Director Cuarón told local press in Beijing that， since Gravity first hit U.S. screens in October， cinema-goers have viewed the space stations inclusion as a clever marketing tactic to achieve distribution rights in the worlds second largest movie market， with Chinas box office having scored $2.7 billion in the first nine months of 2013 alone.

However， Cuarón has denied deliberately pandering to the Chinese market， saying his storyline had nothing to do with winning over the countrys film regulators and fans.

“When we were mapping out the story， we had to base it upon current elements in space，”the director told Peoples Daily.

According to Cuarón， Gravity centers on the near future， most likely 2016. At that time， the Tiangong space station is likely to already exist.

“We had the Hubble Space Telescope， the International Space Station， Tiangong station and a Shenzhou escape pod. Thats what was in space； and this is way before China became sexy for the Hollywood box office，” Cuarón added.

Cuarón said he started drafting the outline for Gravity in 2008， when Chinas annual box office made only $680 million， with its Tiangong-1 space station still to blast off in September 2011.

“I know films that incorporate Chinese elements just for the market，” but the original storyline for astronaut Stone to flee from the Hubble Space Telescope to the International Space Station， to the Tiangong， makes sense， Cuarón explained.

Furthermore， Chinese scientists said the Tiangong-1 experimental space vessel would automatically leave orbit and crash into the South Pacific Ocean at the end of its service around 2016， which also complies with the films plot.

Despite such controversy， Gravity has won much praise from Chinese film lovers. On Douban.com， a major local Internet community for film and book reviews， Gravity received an average of eight points out of 10， with over 90，000 netizens having commented on the space epic. On another film-rating website， Mtime， it received 8.5 points.

Some Chinese expressed joy at seeing elements such as spring onions， ping pong paddles and a Buddha statuette on the Tiangong， and are proud of Chinas achievements as depicted by the Hollywood director. Today， only the United States， Russia and China are capable of building space stations independently， which Cuarón has highlighted.

Yan Yu， a postgraduate student at Tstinghua University， said she was curious about space science. Recently， Chinas successful launch of its lunar probe Change-3 aroused her interests in Gravity.

Zhang Huijun， President of the Beijing Film Academy， told Xinhua News Agency that he attributes the success of Gravity at the Chinese box office to its spectacular visual display of space and smart integration of Chinese elements.

Huang Qunfei， General Manager of Beijing New Film Association， a major theater chain in China， said， “What surprises me is that the film has done so well with such a simple story line.”

“Gravity occupies a high market share at Chinese cinemas. I believe that when China launched its lunar probe and rover on December 2， it will arouse more attention and further boost box office sales here，” Huang added.

Growing local elements

In the past， Chinese characters appearing in Hollywood movies such as The Lone Ranger， were mostly depicted as poor railway workers and housemaids. However， with Chinas stellar economic rise， this image is fast changing. Modern elements are increasingly incorporated into Hollywood productions.

In fact， Gravity is not the first Hollywood blockbuster to include Chinese elements. The disaster film 2012 depicts how China helping save the world from collapse by building an exclusive ark. This helped the movie increase its opportunities at Chinese cinemas.

This year， Iron Man 3 included Chinese stars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing， but critics questioned the movies sincerity for its forced inclusion of a China scene， which was dropped from the international version. In spite of that， it had still earned 748.7 million yuan （$122.9 million） as of June 9.

For 2013， other Hollywood productions distributed in the Chinese market that contain local elements have also been prominent at the countrys box office.

Pacific Rim， premiered on July 31， earned 689.8 million yuan （$113.2 million） up to September 1. The sci-fi uses Hong Kong as a setting and includes a huge red Chinese battle robot that， alongside its U.S. and Russian counterparts， fights horrible monsters threatening the human race. Pacific Rim includes many Chinese elements， which helped it do well in China this summer.

Another Hollywood sci-fi action movie， Resident Evil： Retribution， includes Chinese actress Li Bingbing who plays Ada Wong. It earned 108.2 million yuan （$17.75 million） from March 17 to April 7.

With the global movie industry holding vast potential for cooperation， foreign productions that incorporate Chinese elements stand to gain an increasing share in the booming China market.