The Meg takes big bite out of global box office
Wang Jianlin’s Legendary Entertainment.
After reading the 1997 bestseller Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, in 2014, he felt that it would be ideal for a co-production, partly because it had a universal theme with very few culturally specific references.
China’s government has encouraged films as a way to promote the country’s image globally, building the kind of soft power that has benefited geopolitical rivals like the U.S. Hollywood filmmakers have tried including Chinese elements, from simply adding Chinese cast to setting films in China or making Chinese scientists the heroes, as in The Martian.
Jiang ’s culture-lite formula contrasts with that of The Great Wall, the most expensive live action feature film that joined Hollywood and Chinese studios. Starring Matt Damon, the US$150-million action epic, based on Chinese mythological themes and involving one of China’s best-known cultural landmarks, flopped in North America last year, heightening the sense that co-production success is elusive.
Co-productions help Hollywood capitalize on China’s fast-growing film market, now the world’s second largest. Under such deals, studios get a bigger slice of box-office revenue than when they simply export a film to China. Such films are also eligible for more favourable release dates in the country.
The biggest China-U.S. co-production of any kind was 2016 animation Kung Fu Panda 3. Having grossed US$521 million worldwide, the film still stands as the biggest China-U.S. co-production, while The Meg has become the largest live-action co-production.
“The potential profits from a successful co-production are considerable, which means films can afford a bigger budget and pursue better productions,” said Jiang. He noted that box-office receipts for The Meg have been evenly distributed among the U.S., China and the rest of the world, underscoring the film’s ability to translate regardless of cultural background.