Only these are hardly regular times. We’re in the midst of an election season in which relations with China have become a red-meat issue between President Trump and Joe Biden to show who is tougher on foreign policy. The movie industry has been severely crippled by COVID-19, making Hollywood’s foothold in China—an enormous market for American blockbusters—even more critical. Troubling to many in Hollywood is the fact that this trend already seems to be underway. Consider that Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited opus turned pandemic theatergoing test case (it was the first U.S. blockbuster to be released theatrically in the midst of the pandemic) limped along to a $60 million gross in China last month, despite that fact that Nolan films traditionally do huge business in the region. Granted, Chinese movie theaters have been operating at less than full capacity due to COVID-19. And yet the Chinese-produced historical war drama The Eight Hundred has still … [Read more...] about Hollywood has a growing China problem—but it won’t admit it
