Still from Black Coal, Thin Ice
China is big and its film industry is enormous. It is now the second largest film industry in the world with a $3.6 billion dollar box office in 2013 – an impressive leap forward of 26.8% on 2012 figures.
Moreover audiences are displaying a preference for domestic product with only three of the top-grossing films coming out of Hollywood. This is thanks in part to a quota system that allows around 35 foreign films per year. In 2012 Hollywood blockbusters captured more than 50% of all ticket sales and only three Chinese films made it into the Top Ten. The 2013 figures present a pleasing reversal of fortune with local films taking something like 58% of the box office or 71% according to the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.