If you can\u2019t beat \u2018em, join \u2018em, goes the old saying. While the studios continue trying to crack the nut of getting Hollywood films into China, many of the majors also have a wider global strategy that\u2019s proving lucrative both there and elsewhere: Local-language production. Hollywood\u2019s involvement in the area is not new. But, increasingly, movies that are co-produced or distributed by the majors in such places as China, India, Germany, Italy, Spain, Korea and Latin America are finding themselves reaping strong returns.<\/p>\n
The markets \u201care huge,\u201d especially where local box office rivals that of Hollywood pictures. Homegrown films in China, for example, generally snag about 50% of the annual market share and are currently widely outperforming Hollywood films \u2013 this week\u2019s Iron Man 3 notwithstanding. In India, the indigenous share of a $2B market can be as much as 90%. There\u2019s an argument to be made that Chinese or Indian films don\u2019t cross cultural borders, but with those kinds of numbers, \u201cWhy would the film need to travel?\u201d posits an exec.<\/p>\n
Richard Fox, EVP International for Warner Bros., says the studio is looking to develop relationships to make Chinese-language films. \u201cThere are a lot of moving pieces in assessing which countries to focus on,\u201d but, \u201cif it doesn\u2019t recoup in the country of origin, we don\u2019t get involved,\u201d he says. Warner recently bet well in Mexico where its comedy Nosotros Los Nobles smashed records with the second biggest opening ever for a non-animated local film.<\/p>\n
Another studio exec says local language production \u201cis all relatively opportunistic.\u201d It can be a distraction to try and stay abreast of local material, but \u201cpaying attention to local markets, filmmakers and stories around the world gets you more educated in terms of worldwide taste and emerging filmmakers.\u201d Plus, \u201cthe minute you have a hit, it\u2019s \u2018How much money are we making? Why don\u2019t we up this business?\u2019\u201d Here\u2019s a look at how the studios are speaking in various tongues:<\/p>\n
There is a relatively low barrier to entry for many local language productions whose budgets are small by Hollywood standards. In China, the current number one local film of all time, Lost In Thailand \u2013 which did not have studio involvement \u2013 was made for $3.1M and has gone on to take over $200M locally. Then there\u2019s the Village Roadshow Pictures Asia co-produced Journey To The West, which was made for under $20M and has paralleled Lost In Thailand\u2019s success. Fox International Productions distributed Journey in Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia where it is one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Fox International has made three films in China including Tony Chan\u2019s 2010 Hot Summer Days and the director\u2019s 2011 Love In Space which cost $4M and grossed $12M locally. The studio is eyeing more.<\/p>\n
In Japan, the average cost of a film is $5M and many gross over $50M. Last year, the market share for local pics was about 35%, but Warner Bros. Entertainment Japan president Bill Ireton tells me, \u201cThe pie is a moving target if you have big U.S. product\u201d coming out. Warner Bros. is most active of the studios in Japan where the production model involves a consortium often made up of a local TV network, a distributor, an agency and a digital promotion partner like Yahoo. There may also be a comic book publisher in the mix. The local production initiative for Warner, says Ireton, is driven by the in-country P&L; \u201cWhatever gets picked up overseas is all ancillary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warner\u2019s recent films in Japan include Takeshi Kitano sequel Outrage Beyond which it released there for a small piece of the equity. It also developed last year\u2019s hit action drama Rurouni Kenshin and worked with the Amuse talent agency which reps star Takeru Sato. Amuse has a video distribution company, so it took sell-thru and Warner kept rental. \u201cThe profit flows back into the consortium pari passu,\u201d Ireton says. On the upcoming Japanese slate are Takashi Miike\u2019s Cannes competition title Shield Of Straw, and Sang-il Lee\u2019s remake of Clint Eastwood\u2019s Unforgiven, which is eyeing a September release.<\/p>\n
Fox International, whose second local Korean film, Running Man, has grossed about $10M since its early April release, is also active in Japan. It backed Dragonball Z: Battle Of Gods which is still on release and has taken about $28M so far to make it the second biggest homegrown film of 2013.<\/p>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.deadline.com\/2013\/05\/studios-translate-local-language-movies-into-lucrative-global-business\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you can\u2019t beat \u2018em, join \u2018em, goes the old saying. While the studios continue trying to crack the nut of getting Hollywood films into China, many of the majors also have a wider global strategy that\u2019s proving lucrative both there and elsewhere: Local-language production. Hollywood\u2019s involvement in the area is not new. But, increasingly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n