China to the Rescue

　　Hollywood blockbuster Gravity reveals the rise of China’s soft power By Bai Shi

　　In Hollywood， saving the world is an American specialty， with U.S movie heroesoften portrayed as clutching the humanrace from the arms of natural disasters， unexpectedterrorist attacks or powerful aliens.

　　However， in recent years， Hollywood has started sharing the honor of world savior with other countries. For example，China is increasingly catching attention ofAmerican movie makers due to its risingeconomic status.

　　Soaring at box office

　　Currently， Hollywood space adventure Gravityis achieving a lot of success in China. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón， and staring Sandra Bullockalongside George Clooney， the sci-fi epic earned $4.7 million in China on November 19， markingthe biggest non-holiday opening day of all timefor a Warner title. In the following two weeks， the3D film has earned over 350 million yuan ($57.4million) and a dominating 68 percent share ofthe Chinese market， according to EntGroup， aleading entertainment research service providerin the country. Up to the end of November， the Chinese mainland accounts for one sixth of themovie’s earnings abroad.

　　Gravity highlights an unprecedented visualexperience of outer space. It depicts grandscenes of the universe and earth from an orbitalangle， with close to real-life visual effects associatedwith space vacuums and zero gravity.

　　The Chinese space station Tiangong anda Shenzhou spacecraft are also featured in thestory. In particular， U.S. astronaut Ryan Stone，played by Bullock， takes refuge in the spacestation while making her escape to earthaboard the spacecraft. Without China’s presencein space， the U.S. astronaut would nothave survived her ordeal.

　　But why did Gravity include a Chinese spacestation？ Director Cuarón told local press inBeijing that， since Gravity first hit U.S. screens inOctober， cinema-goers have viewed the spacestation’s inclusion as a clever marketing tacticto achieve distribution rights in the world’ssecond largest movie market， with China’s boxoffice having scored $2.7 billion in the first ninemonths of 2013 alone.

　　However， Cuarón has denied deliberately pandering to the Chinese market， saying hisstory line had nothing to do with winning overthe country’s film regulators and fans.“When we were mapping out the story， wehad to base it upon current elements in space，”the director told People’s Daily.

　　According to Cuarón， Gravity centers on thenear future， most likely 2016. At that time， the Tiangong space station is likely to already exist.“We had the Hubble Space Telescope，the International Space Station， Tiangongstation and a Shenzhou escape pod. That’swhat was in space； and this is way beforeChina became sexy for the Hollywood boxoffice，” Cuarón added.

　　Cuarón said he started drafting the outlinefor Gravity in 2008， when China’s annualbox office made only $680 million， with itsTiangong-1 space station still to blast off inSeptember 2011.

　　“I know films that incorporate Chinesee lements just for the market，” but the original storyline for astronaut Stone to flee from theHubble Space Telescope to the InternationalSpace Station， to the Tiangong， makes sense，Cuarón explained.

　　Furthermore， Chinese scientists saidthe Tiangong-1 experimental space vessel would automatically leave orbit and crashinto the South Pacific Ocean at the end ofits service around 2016， which also complieswith the film’s plot.

　　Despite such controversy， Gravityhasw on much praise from Chinese film lovers. OnDouban.com， a major local Internet communityfor film and book reviews， Gravity received anaverage of eight points out of 10， with over90，000 netizens having commented on thespace epic. On another film-rating website，Mtime， it received 8.5 points.

　　Some Chinese expressed joy at seeing elements such as spring onions， ping pong paddles and a Buddha statuette on the Tiangong， andare proud of China’s achievements as depictedby the Hollywood director. Today， only theUnited States， Russia and China are capable ofbuilding space stations independently， whichCuarón has highlighted.

　　Yan Yu， a postgraduate student atTstinghua University， said she was curiousabout space science. Recently， China’s successfullaunch of its lunar probe Chang’e-3 arousedher interests in Gravity.

　　Zhang Huijun， President of the Beijing Film Academy， told Xinhua News Agency that he attributes the success of Gravity at the Chinese box office to its spectacular visualdisplay of space and smart integration ofChinese elements.

　　Huang Qunfei， General Manager of Beijing New Film Association， a major theaterchain in China， said， “What surprises me isthat the film has done so well with such asimple story line.”

　　“Gravity occupies a high market share at Chinese cinemas. I believe that when Chinalaunched its lunar probe and rover on December2， it will arouse more attention and further boostbox office sales here，” Huang added.

　　Growing local elements

　　In the past， Chinese characters appearing in Hollywood movies such as The Lone Ranger，were mostly depicted as poor railway workersand housemaids. However， with China’s stellareconomic rise， this image is fast changing.Modern elements are increasingly incorporatedinto Hollywood productions.

　　In fact， Gravity is not the first Hollywood block buster to include Chinese elements. The disaster film 2012 depicts how China helping save the world from collapse by building anexclusive ark. This helped the movie increase itso pportunities at Chinese cinemas.

　　This year， Iron Man 3 included Chineses tars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing， but criticsquestioned the movie’s sincerity for its forcedinclusion of a China scene， which was droppedfrom the international version. In spite of that， it had still earned 748.7 million yuan ($122.9 million)as of June 9.

　　For 2013， other Hollywood productions distributed in the Chinese market that containlocal elements have also been prominent at thecountry’s box office.

　　Pacific Rim， premiered on July 31， earned689.8 million yuan ($113.2 million) up to September 1. The sci-fi uses Hong Kong as asetting and includes a huge red Chinese battlerobot that， alongside its U.S. and Russian counterparts，fights horrible monsters threateningthe human race. Pacific Rim includes manyChinese elements， which helped it do well inChina this summer.

　　Another Hollywood sci-fi action movie，Resident Evil： Retribution， includes Chinese actressLi Bingbing who plays Ada Wong. It earned108.2 million yuan ($17.75 million) from March17 to April 7.

　　With the global movie industry holding vastpotential for cooperation， foreign productions thatincorporate Chinese elements stand to gain an increasing share in the booming China market.