15/04/2025

LYFE TUESDAY | APR 15, 2025

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C HINA said last week it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s escalation of US tariffs on imported Chinese goods, targeting one of the most high-profile American exports. However, industry analysts said the financial impact was likely to be minimal because Hollywood’s box office returns in China have declined significantly in recent years. After three decades during which China imported 10 Hollywood movies per year, Beijing’s National Film Administration (NFA) said Trump’s tariff actions would further sour domestic demand for US cinema in China. “We will follow market rules, respect the audience’s choices and moderately reduce the number of American films imported,” the NFA said.

China curbs Hollywood film imports amid US tariffs

statement of retaliation with almost zero downside for China. Hollywood films account for only 5% of overall box office receipts in China’s market and Hollywood studios receive only 25% of ticket sales in China, compared with double that in other markets, Fenton said. “Such a high-profile punishment of Hollywood is an all-win motion of strength by Beijing that will surely be noticed by Washington,” Fenton added. Trump, however, did not jump to Hollywood’s defense. “I think I have heard of worse things,” the president said when asked about China’s restrictions. Many Hollywood celebrities supported Trump’s Democratic opponent in last year’s election. One entertainment industry source predicted big Hollywood blockbusters, which continue to attract moviegoers in China, may still reach the big screen. Walt Disney’s Marvel superhero movie Thunderbolts , which kicks off the summer blockbuster season, recently received permission to debut in China on April 30. It was not clear if China would approve the entry of other major releases this summer, such as Paramount’s Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning , which may mark Tom Cruise’s last appearance in the long-running franchise, Warner Bros’s new Superman movie from Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn and Marvel’s new take on The Fantastic Four . Limited impact Imax said it expects the slate for its large-format screens, which includes Hollywood, Chinese and 0 Nouvelle Vague by Richard Linklater (US) A film set in 1960 Paris about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s cinema classic Breathless. 0 Sirat by Oliver Laxe (Spain) A “road movie of misfits, of people outside society,” according to Fremaux. 0 The Last One by Hafsia Herzi (France) The French actor and director adapts Fatima Daas’s eponymous novel, telling the story of the youngest member of an Algerian immigrant family who gradually frees herself from her family and traditions. 0 The History of Sound by Oliver Hermanus (South Africa) During World War I, two young men decide to record the lives, voices and music of their American compatriots. 0 Renoir by Chie Hayakawa (Japan) A drama about coming of age, resilience, healing power of imagination and a traumatised family struggling to reconnect. 0 Eddington by Ari Aster (US) A film about contemporary America, starring Joaquin Phoenix. – AFP

international films, would not be materially impacted by the restrictions. “We continue to expect a strong year for Imax in China, coming off our highest-grossing first quarter ever in the country,” an Imax spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan principal analyst Seth Shafer predicted the restrictions would have limited impact. “Only roughly 25% of domestic wide-release films are now released in China and that percentage has dropped steadily over time due to increasing competition from China’s local film production industry. For domestic films that do get a release in China, typically less than 10% of the film’s global gross box office revenue comes from China,” Shafer said. Captain America: Brave New World , a Marvel film released in February, took in US$14.4 million (RM63.6 million) in China out of its US$413 million in global receipts. In the past, imports including Titanic and Avatar became box office smashes in the Chinese market, making actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and directors such as James Cameron household names among Chinese film lovers across generations. Since 2020, Chinese-made films have consistently accounted for around 80% of annual box office revenue, up from around 60% previously. On China’s all-time box office list, only one imported film ranks in the top 20 Avengers: Endgame , with revenue of 4.25 billion yuan (RM2.72 billion). The remaining films in the top 20 are all domestic productions. – Reuters

o Domestic flicks dominate local box office, accounting for 80% of revenue

Hollywood studios once looked to China, the world’s second-largest film market, to help boost box office performance of movies. But domestic movies have increasingly outperformed Hollywood’s fare in China, with Ne Zha 2 this year eclipsing Pixar’s Inside Out 2 to

become

the

highest-grossing

animated film of all time. Chris Fenton, author of Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA and American Business , said limiting US-made films was a high-profile way to make a

People walk and ride bikes in front of a movie theatre in Shanghai, China. – REUTERSPIC

Cannes Festival: Movies in line for Palm d’Or ABOUT 19 films have been

0 Alpha by Julia Ducournau (France) Four years after winning the Palme d’Or with Titane , the French director presents a new film starring Iranian French Golshifteh Farahani and Tahar Rahim about a young girl confronted with the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. 0 Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier ( Norway) A comedy drama featuring a filmmaker trying to reconnect with his daughters from a director whose last feature The Worst Person in the World also premiered in competition at Cannes in 2021. 0 Romeria by Carla Simon (Spain) The Spanish director returns to her traumatic childhood with a family journey of a young Catalan girl in Galicia who has lost her parents to AIDS. 0 Sound of Falling by Mascha Schilinski (Germany) A drama that brings together four women from four different generations living on the same farm. 0 Eagles of the Republic by Tarik Saleh (Sweden/Egypt) On the brink of losing everything, Egypt’s most adored actor accepts

a role he cannot refuse under pressure from the country’s authorities. 0 The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt (US) The story of an art heist set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the nascent women’s liberation movement. 0 Dossier 137 by Dominik Moll (France) An investigator at France’s IGPN agency, which investigates police abuses, probes an incident in which a police officer injures a young man during a protest. 0 The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonca Filho (Brazil) A political thriller set in the late 1970s, during the final years of Brazil’s mili tary dictatorship. 0 Fuori by Mario Martone (Italy) A biopic about Italian actor and writer Goliarda Sapienza. 0 Two Prosecutors by Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine) A film by a Ukrainian director, whose documentary about the “madness of war” screened at Cannes last year, which is set in the 1930s USSR during Stalin’s purges.

announced at the Cannes Film Festival with another handful to be added in the coming weeks, festival director Thierry Fremaux told reporters in Paris. The prestigious festival kicks off on the French Riviera on May 13. Here are the confirmed movies so far: 0 A Simple Accident by Jafar Panahi (Iran) The repeatedly detained Iranian director “asked us not say anything about his movie”, Fremaux said, alluding to the pressures on him in his homeland. 0 The Phoenician Scheme by Wes Anderson (US) A spy comedy starring Benicio Del Toro, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Mia Threapleton, Kate Winslet’s daughter. 0 Young Mothers by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium) The Belgian brothers, who have already won the Palme d’Or for best film twice ( Rosetta in 1999 and The Child in 2005), tell the story of five young mothers staying in a maternity home in their native Belgium.

Eddington, a film about contemporary America starring Phoenix, is among those nominated for a Palm d’Or. – PIC FROM FACEBOOK @JOAQUINPHOENIX