A Star is Born on B'way? China's Yes to 'Jurassic'
Also in Transom: Apple's new 'Prince of Tides'; final CinemaCon reviews
1. Inside Jurassic’s China Release
Jurassic World Dominion is one of Hollywood’s biggest movies this summer. And its potential reach just got all the greater as The Transom has learned that the film will mark the return of Hollywood studio blockbusters to the Chinese market.
China has accepted the third Jurassic World movie, though without any commitment yet of an actual release date. With a movie this size, Universal Pictures would love a simultaneous Dominion open all over the world, but it isn’t entirely up to them, as the Chinese government dictates when movies debut.
In February, box office analyst Jeff Bock said “getting any blockbuster into China right now feels like a big deal.” And it is when you look at the numbers, as the two most recent Jurassic entries made 14 percent (2015’s Jurassic World) and 20 percent (2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) of their global gross in the Middle Kingdom ($228m and $261m, respectively). Universal likely won’t need China to push Dominion past the coveted billion-dollar mark, but that kind of money can be the difference between breaking records and barely breaking even — even with the 4 to 1 split China’s exhibitors demand.
As tensions between the U.S. and the P.R.C. ratchet up, China has, of late, blanket rejected Hollywood blockbusters — including Marvel movies Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals — in favor of local product like homegrown mega-hit The Battle at Lake Changjin. Between 2012-2019, China admitted between 45-55 Hollywood movies each year, a number that’s dwindled to a small handful of films. The Hollywood movies that did get in, such as No Time to Die and Dune, didn’t fare terribly well, taking in $64 million and $39 million in China, respectively. And Gal Gadot couldn’t rally audiences, as Death on the Nile fell far short of Murder on the Orient Express and its nearly $35 million haul in China.
Of course, the longer it takes for Jurassic World Dominion to open in China following its U.S. debut, the more likely it is that piracy takes hold and bootlegged copies hit the web. If it doesn’t open on June 10, expect it to open by early July (The Batman opened in China two weeks after its domestic debut), as anything beyond that could be an issue, especially if Dominion winds up on Peacock 30-45 days later.
2. A Star Is Born... on Broadway?
Maybe it's time to let the old ways die? No, not quite yet.
With a worldwide gross of more than $430 million, A Star Is Born is either the 52nd or 53rd-highest-grossing