FACTORS BEHIND HOLLYWOOD'S BOX OFFICE SUCCESS IN CHINA DURING THE 2012–2019 PERIOD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19166/lectura.v3i1.11566Kata Kunci:
Hollywood, China, Box office, Neoliberalism, Film industryAbstrak
China emerged as one of the world's largest film markets during the 2010s and became an increasingly important destination for Hollywood's international expansion. Despite the country's restrictive film policies, Hollywood achieved remarkable box office success between 2012 and 2019. This study examines the factors behind Hollywood's box office success in China during this period by analyzing both the industry's internal strategies and the external conditions that supported its commercial performance. The study employs a qualitative approach using an explanatory method. Secondary data were collected through library and online research, including books, academic journal articles, government publications, industry reports, statistical data, and relevant news articles. The findings show that Hollywood's success resulted from the combination of several factors rather than a single explanation. Internally, Hollywood strengthened its position through collaboration with Chinese film companies, Chinafication, market-specific promotional activities, product differentiation, and high film quality. Externally, the implementation of the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and China: Films for Theatrical Release, the relatively cooperative relationship between the United States and China, and the rapid growth of the Chinese film market created favorable conditions for Hollywood's expansion. From the perspective of neoliberalism, Hollywood's success demonstrates the importance of international cooperation, institutional arrangements, and expanding markets in facilitating international economic activities.
Referensi
Abrams, R. (2012, February 20). China's film quota cracked. Variety.
Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2020). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Brzeski, P. (2015, October 7). Accused of hiding money. China agrees to new rules in secret Hollywood summit. The Hollywood Reporter.
Brzeski, P. (2015, December 31). China box office grows astonishing 48.7 percent in 2015, hits $6.78 billion. The Hollywood Reporter.
Brzeski, P. (2018, January 1). China box office returns to robust growth in 2017, hitting $8.6B. The Hollywood Reporter.
Chen, G. (2018). The effects of word-of-mouth on the trend of movie box office performance: Take Douban Movie’s rating platform as an example. In Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research (Vol. 51, pp. 71–77). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/ICEMGD-18.2018.12
China Film Insider. Headlines from China: A History of China's Summer Blackout. (2019, August 28).
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Davis, D. W. (2014). Marketization, Hollywood, Global China. Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, 26(1), 191–241. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42940476
Express Web Desk. (2018, June 8). Avengers: Infinity War gets a 30-day extension in China following impressive box office performance. The Indian Express.
Fu, W. W., & Govindaraju, A. (2010). Explaining global box office tastes in Hollywood films: Homogenization of national audiences' movie selections. Communication Research, 37(2), 215-238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209356396
Gaenssle, S., Budzinski, O., & Astakhova, D. (2018). Conquering the box office: Factors influencing success of international movies in Russia. Review of Network Economics, 17(4), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1515/rne-2019-0017
Hennig-Thurau, T., Houston, M. B., & Walsh, G. (2004). Determinants of motion picture box office and profitability: An interrelationship approach.
Hunt, K. (2014, January 9). Hollywood outshone as China box office booms in 2013. CNN.
Ibbi, A. A. (2014). Hollywood, the American image and the global film industry. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 3(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2013.81
Kuo, M. A. (2020, October 19). Hollywood made in China. The Diplomat.
Lukinbeal, C. (2019). The Chinafication of Hollywood: Chinese consumption and the self-censorship of U.S. films through a case study of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Erdkunde, 73(2), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.3112/erdkunde.2019.02.02
Marzol Aranburu, A. (2017). The film industry in China: Past and present. Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business, 2(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1344/jesb2017.1.j021
Navarro, J. G. (2021, August 12). Global box office revenue from 2014 to 2020. Statista.
Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Beltekian, D. (2018). Growth of global exports. Our World in Data.
Papish, J. (2017, March 2). Foreign films in China: How does it work? China Film Insider.
Stratford, T. P. (2018, July 31). More officials appointed to lead film and media authorities in China. The National Law Review.
Thomala, L. (2022). Film industry in China. Statista.
U.S. State Department. (2012). Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and China: Films for Theatrical Release.
Zhang, R. (2019, April 19). Biggest "Avengers: Endgame" fan extravaganza held in China. China.org.cn.
Unduhan
Diterbitkan
Terbitan
Bagian
Lisensi
Hak Cipta (c) 2026 Elyzabeth Bonethe Nasution, Claudio, Gusti Patading, Yohanes Surya Wijaya

Artikel ini berlisensiCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website). The final published PDF should be used and bibliographic details that credit the publication in this journal should be included.