Editing Cinema of China (section)

==New models and the new Chinese cinema==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Chinese national film museum painting.jpg|thumb|A painting from the [[China National Film Museum]]]] -->

===Commercial successes===
With China's liberalization in the late 1970s and its opening up to foreign markets, commercial considerations have made its impact in post-1980s filmmaking. Traditionally arthouse movies screened seldom make enough to break even. An example is Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's ''[[The Horse Thief]]'' (1986), a narrative film with minimal dialog on a [[Tibet]]an horse thief. The film, showcasing exotic landscapes, was well received by Chinese and some Western arthouse audiences, but did poorly at the box office.<ref>''Celluloid China: cinematic encounters with culture and society'', Harry H. Kuoshu, Southern Illinois University Press (2002), p 202</ref> Tian's later ''[[The Warrior and the Wolf]]'' (2010) was a similar commercial failure.<ref>[http://zx.dy.com.cn/content/2009-10-12/20091012185758575,1.shtml 《狼灾记》票房低迷出乎意料 导演的兽性情挑_第一电影网<!-- Bot generated title -->]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905133933/http://zx.dy.com.cn/content/2009-10-12/20091012185758575%2C1.shtml |date=5 September 2013 }}</ref> 

Prior to these, there were examples of successful commercial films in the post-liberalization period. One was the romance film ''[[Romance on Lushan Mountain|Romance on the Lu Mountain]]'' (1980), which was a success with older Chinese. The film broke the [[Guinness Book of Records]] as the longest-running film on a [[first run (film)|first run]]. [[Jet Li]]'s cinematic debut ''[[Shaolin Temple (1982 film)|Shaolin Temple]]'' (1982) was an instant hit at home and abroad (in [[Japan]] and the [[Southeast Asia]], for example).<ref>{{cite book |title=Celebrity in China |author=Louise Edwards |author2=Elaine Jeffreys |publisher= Hong Kong University Press |year=2010 |page=456}}</ref> Another successful commercial film was {{ill|Murder in 405|zh|405谋杀案|italic=yes}} (405谋杀案, 1980), a murder thriller.<ref>{{cite web |title=CCTV-电影频道-相聚——《流金岁月》 |trans-title=CCTV - Movie Channel - Reunion — "The Golden Years" |url=http://www.cctv.com/program/ljsy_new/14/56/index.shtml |access-date=27 July 2018 |website=Cctv.com}}</ref> [[Feng Xiaogang]]'s ''[[The Dream Factory (film)|The Dream Factory]]'' (1997) was heralded as a turning point in Chinese movie industry, a ''[[hesui pian]]'' ([[Chinese New Year]]-screened film) which demonstrated the viability of the commercial model in China's [[socialist market economy|socialist market]] economy. Feng has become one of the most successful commercial director in the post-1997 era. Almost all his films made high returns domestically<ref>{{cite web |author=Walsh Megan |date=20 February 2014 |title=review phim |url=https://wowhay.com/ |access-date=3 April 2015 |work=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> while he used ethnic Chinese co-stars like [[Rosamund Kwan]], [[Jacqueline Wu]], [[Rene Liu]] and [[Shu Qi]] to boost his films' appeal. In the decade following 2010, owing to the influx of Hollywood films (though the number screened each year is curtailed), Chinese domestic cinema faces mounting challenges. The industry is growing and domestic films are starting to achieve the box office impact of major Hollywood blockbusters. However, not all domestic films are successful financially. In January 2010 [[James Cameron]]'s ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]'' was pulled out from non-3D theaters for Hu Mei's biopic ''[[Confucius (2010 film)|Confucius]]'', but this move led to a backlash on Hu's film.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-01/29/content_9396402.htm |title=Confucius loses his way |author= Raymond Zhou|date=29 January 2010|access-date= 3 April 2015|work=[[China Daily]]}}</ref> [[Zhang Yang (director)|Zhang Yang]]'s 2005 ''[[Sunflower (2005 film)|Sunflower]]'' also made little money, but his earlier, low-budget ''[[Spicy Love Soup]]'' (1997) grossed ten times its budget of ¥3 million.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Companion to Chinese Cinema |editor= Yingjin Zhang  |publisher= Blackwell Publishing |year=2012 |page=357}}</ref> Likewise, the 2006 ''[[Crazy Stone (film)|Crazy Stone]]'', a [[sleeper hit]], was made for just 3 million HKD/US$400,000. In 2009–11, Feng's ''[[Aftershock (2010 film)|Aftershock]]'' (2009) and Jiang Wen's ''[[Let the Bullets Fly]]'' (2010) became China's highest grossing domestic films, with ''Aftershock'' earning ¥670 million (US$105 million)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/feng-xiaogang-remembering-1942-shanghai-338567 |title=Feng Xiaogang Unveils Epic 'Remembering 1942' at the Shanghai Film Festival |author= Karen Chu |date=2012-06-17|access-date= 2012-07-07|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> and ''Let the Bullets Fly'' ¥674 million (US$110 million).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/so-young-enters-chinas-all-time-top-ten|title=So Young enters China's all-time top ten|author=Stephen Cremin|date=18 May 2013|work=[[Film Business Asia]]|access-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319110551/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/so-young-enters-chinas-all-time-top-ten|archive-date=19 March 2015}}</ref> ''[[Lost in Thailand]]'' (2012) became the first Chinese film to reach [[Renminbi|¥]]1 billion at the Chinese box office and ''[[Monster Hunt]]'' (2015) became the first to reach {{CNY|2 billion}}. 

As of 2021, 9 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China are domestic productions. On 8 February 2016, the Chinese box office set a new single-day gross record, with {{CNY|660 million}}, beating the previous record of {{CNY|425 million}} on 18 July 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://variety.com/2016/film/box-office/china-biggest-day-at-box-office-1201700835/|title= China Has Biggest Ever Day At Box Office|first= Patrick|last= Frater|date= 9 February 2016|access-date= 9 February 2016|work= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> Also in February 2016, ''[[The Mermaid (2016 film)|The Mermaid]]'', directed by [[Stephen Chow]], became the highest-grossing film in China, overtaking ''Monster Hunt''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-chows-mermaid-highest-grosser-867913|title= China Box Office: 'Mermaid' Becomes Top-Grossing Film Ever With $400M|first= Patrick|last= Brzeski|date= 19 February 2016|access-date= 21 February 2016|work= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> It is also the first film to reach {{CNY|3 billion}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://chinafilminsider.com/china-box-office-february-and-the-mermaid-smash-records/|title=  China Box Office: February and 'The Mermaid' Smash Records|first= Jonathan|last= Papish|date= 29 February 2016|access-date= 1 March 2016|work= China Film Insider}}</ref>

Under the influence of Hollywood science fiction movies like ''[[Prometheus (2012 film)|Prometheus]]'', published on 8 June 2012, such genres especially the space science films have risen rapidly in the Chinese film market in recent years. On 5 February 2019, the film ''[[The Wandering Earth]]'' directed by [[Frant Gwo]] reached $699.8 million worldwide, which became the third highest-grossing film in the history of Chinese cinema.

===Chinese international cinema and successes abroad===
[[File:Jia Zhang-Ke Skipcity DCF 2005.jpg|thumb|upright|Director [[Jia Zhangke]] at the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival in Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan, 22 July 2005]]

[[File:Huang Xiaoming in 2016.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Huang Xiaoming]], a Chinese actor, singer, and model]]

Since the late 1980s and progressively in the 2000s, Chinese films have enjoyed considerable box office success abroad. Formerly viewed only by cineastes, its global appeal mounted after the international box office and critical success of [[Ang Lee]]'s period [[wuxia]] film ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]'' which won Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. This multi-national production increased its appeal by featuring stars from all parts of the Chinese-speaking world. It provided an introduction to Chinese cinema (and especially the wuxia genre) for many and increased the popularity of many earlier Chinese films. To date ''Crouching Tiger'' remains the most commercially successful foreign-language film in U.S. history.

In 2002, Zhang Yimou's ''[[Hero (2002 film)|Hero]]'' was another international box office success.<ref name="Crean">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=164}}</ref> Its cast featured famous actors from mainland China and Hong Kong who were also known to some extent in the West, including Jet Li, [[Zhang Ziyi]], [[Maggie Cheung]] and [[Tony Leung Chiu-Wai]]. Despite criticisms by some that these two films pander somewhat to Western tastes, ''Hero'' was a phenomenal success in most of [[Asia]] and topped the U.S. box office for two weeks, making enough in the U.S. alone to cover the production costs.

Other films such as ''[[Farewell My Concubine (film)|Farewell My Concubine]]'', ''[[2046 (film)|2046]]'', ''[[Suzhou River (film)|Suzhou River]]'', ''[[The Road Home (1999 film)|The Road Home]]'' and ''[[House of Flying Daggers]]'' were critically acclaimed around the world. The [[Hengdian World Studios]] can be seen as the "Chinese Hollywood", with a total area of up to 330 ha. and 13 shooting bases, including a 1:1 copy of the [[Forbidden City]].

[[File:Jiang Qinqin from "Chinese Movie Week" at Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016 (33259230440).jpg|thumb|left|[[Jiang Qinqin]] at Opening Ceremony of the [[Tokyo International Film Festival]] 2016]]

The successes of ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and ''Hero'' make it difficult to demarcate the boundary between "Mainland Chinese" cinema and a more international-based "Chinese-language cinema". ''Crouching Tiger'', for example, was directed by a [[Taiwan]]-born American director ([[Ang Lee]]) who works often in Hollywood. Its pan-Chinese leads include mainland Chinese ([[Zhang Ziyi]]), Hong Kong ([[Chow Yun-Fat]]), Taiwan ([[Chang Chen]]) and [[Malaysia]]n ([[Michelle Yeoh]]) actors and actresses; the film was co-produced by an array of Chinese, American, Hong Kong, and Taiwan film companies. Likewise, Lee's Chinese-language ''[[Lust, Caution]]'' (2007) drew a crew and cast from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and includes an orchestral score by French composer [[Alexandre Desplat]]. This merging of people, resources and expertise from the three regions and the broader [[East Asia]] and the world, marks the movement of Chinese-language cinema into a domain of large scale international influence. Other examples of films in this mold include ''[[The Promise (2005 film)|The Promise]]'' (2005), ''[[The Banquet (2006 film)|The Banquet]]'' (2006), ''[[Fearless (2006 film)|Fearless]]'' (2006), ''[[The Warlords]]'' (2007), ''[[Bodyguards and Assassins]]'' (2009) and ''[[Red Cliff (film)|Red Cliff]]'' (2008–09). The ease with which ethnic Chinese actresses and actors straddle the mainland and Hong Kong has significantly increased the number of co-productions in Chinese-language cinema. Many of these films also feature South Korean or Japanese actors to appeal to their East Asian neighbours. Some artistes originating from the mainland, like [[Hu Jun]], [[Zhang Ziyi]], [[Tang Wei]] and [[Zhou Xun]], obtained Hong Kong residency under the [[Quality Migrant Admission Scheme]] and have acted in many Hong Kong productions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asianbite.com/default.asp?Display=2473 |title=Zhou Xun Obtains Hong Kong Citizenship<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2016-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064516/http://www.asianbite.com/default.asp?Display=2473 |archive-date=2012-04-02 }}</ref>