The Changing World of Blockbuster Films

Since the inception of film Hollywood as served to pander to one particular audience, The United States of America, however changing global cultures has since seen the American film market fall when compared to international markets, no longer is a films success defined by box office buys in the states, but rather its buys in markets globally with China leading the way.

The growth of the Chinese box office over the last five years has been phenomenal, with the market expected to overtake the US as the biggest box office market in the world in the coming years, something that Hollywood is looking to take advantage of. If there is one things that Hollywood cinema is good at it’s making money, so it’s no surprise to see films that had performed badly in the US but had performed extremely well in China set for sequels. A prime example being Warcraft which dominated Chinese box office sales but failed in comparison to its release in the states.

Similarly, more and more films are now being made with the Chinese market inn mind rather than the US, with films such as transformers and now you see me 2 all taking place in China for a large portion of the movie or featuring exclusively Chinese product placement. While at first this may seem harmless to the film industry it does have undesirable effects such as films being made to appeal to multiple cultures and languages, but failing to truly satisfy either. This is a concept that can easily be observed in may blockbuster films and the kind of humour they employ. Often toilet humour is used simply as it translates the easiest as there is no need to translate complicated nuances of English language that would otherwise have no meaning when heard in another language.

Another issue that has arisen from this is lazy sequels made by production companies in order to cash in on the Chinese market. Recently sequels for popular movies such as Independence Day, Jurassic World and Ghostbusters all disappointed western markets for their unoriginal storytelling and receptiveness, yet have delighted Chinese markets as they are seen as fresh as they were never exposed to the originals that western audiences enjoyed in the 80’s and 90’s.

While there is huge potential for Hollywood to work with the Chinese market it must be weary of how quickly these markets catch on to the same lazy writing and visuals that the Western market has become immune to, otherwise a lack of creativity will spell the end of major blockbuster films.

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