Not long ago most Chinese figures appearing in Hollywood films were peripheral characters, villains and bad guys – with the notable exception of Jackie Chan. But Chinese characters – and China as a setting – are becoming increasingly prominent, judging by Iron Man 3, the latest blockbuster from Walt Disney’s Marvel division.
The film, which premieres this week in Hollywood, will be released in the US and China simultaneously on May 3. It is the latest in a string of high-profile movies to be filmed in China and has Chinese characters central to the plot, with Wang Xueqi, a renowned actor, starring alongside Robert Downey Jr. The booming Chinese box-office suggests why: Chinese film attendance is soaring, a multiplex boom is adding 10 new screens a day and the market eclipsed Japan in 2012 to become the second largest in the world.
China has about 12,000 screens but is growing so fast that it may within a few years overtake the US in box- office revenue. “If it maintains its current rate of growth you could see a box office in five to seven years that is the same size as the US or that has surpassed the US market,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation.