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 Set in the south of the United States in the 1960s, the film
follows the friendship of a working-class Italian-American man
who was a driver and fixer for a gay African-American pianist.
The low-budget movie is scheduled to hit Chinese theaters on
Friday, marking the first nation-wide release of a film of its
kind, centered on race relations, in a market more receptive to
blockbusters such as "Transformers" and "Fast and Furious".
Its release indicates Chinese censors are evolving when it comes
to themes like homosexuality. While that does not mean
regulators have fully embraced gay elements in films, they at
least "don't see it as a dark side that needs to be covered up",
said Wu Jian, an Alibaba Pictures analyst.
"Django Unchained", an award-winning Western involving black
slaves directed by Quentin Tarantino, was yanked from China
theaters the day it premiered in 2013, and only allowed to be
re-released a month later after graphic sequences were cut.
Wu is betting the post-Oscars glow will drive box office
earnings for "Green Book" in China. "With its momentum after
winning the Oscar it could even reach 300 million yuan if third-
and fourth-tier cities can receive this movie," he said.
But that would still be far behind "Fast and Furious 8's"
earnings of 2.67 billion yuan ($400 million) in 2017, the best
performance by an American film in China so far.
"The Revenant", which won Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor Oscar,
brought in less than 400 million yuan in 2016, making it the
best performing Academy Award winning film in China.
"Green Book's" victory is the first time a film backed by
Chinese capital has snagged Best Picture.
"We have a saying: You need to dare to dream, because what if
one day it is actually realized?" said Zhang Wei, President of
Alibaba Pictures.
Alibaba's investment in "Green Book" marks a shift from Chinese
companies' fixation on blockbusters.
"If 'Green Book' fares well in China, maybe companies here will
start to focus more on investing in small- or medium-budget
movies that have good stories," said Huang Qunfei, deputy
general manager of state-backed Huaxia Film Distribution Co.
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OVERSEAS SPLASH
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group, through its 50 percent stake in
Alibaba Pictures, has been cranking up its efforts to grow its
film business.
"Green Book" is the latest in its string of successful movie
investments, including "Dying to Survive", a top grossing film
in China last year, and "Wandering Earth", a sci-fi film which
has bagged more than 4.4 billion yuan since its February debut
and is slated to appear on Netflix.
Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma said he had watched "Green Book" three
times and would do it again.
"Good movies are not built on piles of cash. I think this movie
brings a lot of reflection, and the production cost was very
low...I think Chinese movies are not far from an Oscar."
Alibaba Pictures invested an undisclosed amount in "Green Book",
co-financing it with others including Participant Media and
DreamWorks Pictures.
China is the second-largest movie market globally after the
United States, although it already has more movie screens after
years of rapid expansion in theater networks. Its box office
revenue rose 9 percent in 2018 to 61 billion yuan.
Alibaba Pictures hopes more Chinese films can make a splash
abroad. "We have a mission...to export better content and let
the world better understand China," its president, Zhang, said.
"A lot of mainstream Western opinions hold that in Chinese films
there remains a depiction of China that is suffering, they don't
understand China's development."
($1 = 6.6812 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Pei Li and John Ruwitch; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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