Chapter 899: The Casual Market

With its unique charm, Star Wars had evolved into a symbol, an enduring icon. This culture had permeated every aspect of American life. Knowing about Star Wars had become basic common knowledge. It was no exaggeration to say it held a god-like status in the hearts of Americans, much like how the people across the Pacific Ocean felt about Journey to the West.

Without a doubt, Star Wars was the National Mythology of Americans, not the Chinese.

"China's box office saw explosive growth in 2013. This growth was reflected not only in the rapid increase of total box office revenue but also in the shifting ratio between domestic Chinese films and Hollywood films."

Inside the Warner Studio Star Wars Studio, Duke looked at the promotional professionals from Lucasfilm and Warner Brothers attending the meeting.

"The growth of the Chinese box office has exceeded our expectations," he said with extreme seriousness. "By the end of this year, the entire Chinese box office market may break past 30 billion RMB."

The importance of the Chinese market to Hollywood was now unquestionable. If Star Wars: The Force Awakens was to achieve a massive breakout and maximize its profits, the Chinese market absolutely could not be ignored.

"Here, I only want to say one thing," Duke said seriously. "The promotional work we've done in the Chinese market is far from enough."

The massive success of the Star Wars Series had undeniably given many at Lucasfilm and Warner Brothers a false impression. They assumed that because Star Wars blew up in Japan and South Korea, it would naturally do the same in the Chinese market.

But Duke knew that was absolutely not the case. If they wanted Chinese audiences to buy into Star Wars, they needed to put in much more effort.

"I want a comprehensive promotional plan drawn up, and I want the resources invested in China doubled," Duke emphasized. "In the final stage before release, I want the name of Star Wars to appear in front of every single Chinese moviegoer."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but the potential of the Chinese market could never be overstated. Besides, Duke had already seen the quiet changes happening in the Chinese film market through the data and reports sent over from the Warner Greater China Region.

Over the past year, the box office ratio between domestic Chinese films and Hollywood films in China had undergone a significant shift. For the first time in over a decade, Hollywood films accounted for less than sixty percent of the Chinese box office. This major change was actually the result of the rapid growth of the Chinese film market in recent years.

The number of Chinese moviegoers had grown rapidly over the last few years, an inevitable result of the "nationalization" of Chinese cinema.

In recent years, the structure that had dominated the Chinese box office since the 1990s—where megacities dictated revenue—had undergone a fundamental transformation. This shift stemmed from two new areas of growth. First, the expanding Chinese middle class had rapidly driven growth centered around third- and fourth-tier cities. Second, the younger demographic born in the eighties and nineties had become the main driving force of current cultural consumption.

The intersection of these two factors gave rise to a highly discussed demographic of "new moviegoers" formed by the "small town youth." The rise of these new audiences fundamentally fueled the fresh growth in Chinese moviegoers. Their emergence caused a radical shift in film culture and tastes. This was, in fact, the internal driving force ensuring the Chinese film market would continue to grow. This very momentum would dictate another five to ten years of rapid box office expansion in China.

This growth was the direct result of China's deepening "urbanization." China's new middle-class audiences would turn the country into the undisputed new center for Chinese-language cinema, and even global cinema. These two forces were the most vital sources of new consumption in China, as well as fresh growth points for economic and social development. Only through their influence could the Chinese box office experience such massive gains.

This was the result of increased infrastructure deployment. The rapid spread of cinemas located inside large shopping malls down to third- and fourth-tier cities, along with the overall increase in screen count, were necessary conditions for these smaller cities to join the film market. Meanwhile, the sharp expansion of middle-income earners in recent years and the rapid income growth of ordinary workers provided a solid foundation for film consumption.

Young people had always been the main consumers of movies, but today's new wave of youth was no longer made up of young adults from the metropolises. Instead, they were the youth of third- and fourth-tier cities, whose tastes were profoundly impacting the film market. The expansion of today's film market was exactly the agglomeration effect born from the overlapping growth of these smaller cities and their young populations.

However, the first choice for the small town youth was rarely a genre like Star Wars. Instead, they leaned toward more explosive Hollywood blockbusters and grounded domestic films.

This would only further deepen the "locality" of Chinese cinema.

Today, the North American film market had stagnated. Most Hollywood blockbusters were released as sequels, and the lack of innovation was growing increasingly severe.

While Hollywood still wielded immense power, the sustained vitality of the Chinese film market and local film production had begun to alter the overall landscape of the Chinese market.

First, the pie had grown larger. Chinese films could now compete with Hollywood films on their home turf. Especially with the help of policies like the domestic protection month, there was a gradual trend of fighting Hollywood to a draw. Outside of India, very few national film industries could achieve this.

Second, it gave the Chinese film market massive appeal to Hollywood, securing its core position in global Chinese-language cinema. Mega-commercial directors like Duke had even made changes because of it, such as his casting of Daniel Wu.

Figuring out how to attract these new audiences in the Chinese film market was a crucial part of the promotional push for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in China.

The failure of the promotional campaign for the original Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a profound lesson.

Of course, there were many objective reasons for that.

For instance, Chinese audiences hadn't met Star Wars at the right time.

In 1977, the release of Star Wars emptied the streets of America. That same year, China had only just ended a special ten-year period. During that decade, most Chinese people had at best watched the "Eight Model Plays" a few times on makeshift screens set up on threshing floors. The Star Wars trilogy never had a chance to premiere in China.

Some things, once missed, were missed forever. Meeting them at a different time just wouldn't spark the same connection.

To this end, Duke had Lucasfilm adopt a targeted strategy, granting Chinese television stations and video streaming websites free broadcasting rights to the six Star Wars films for a set period, increasing their exposure to Chinese audiences.

The movies were the foundation for merchandise. With Star Wars not having that many fans in China, few people cared about any "Star Wars Universe." And without the "Star Wars Universe," how could they cultivate new Star Wars fans during the gaps between movie releases? Ultimately, it became a chicken-and-egg problem.

The extreme scarcity of the Chinese film merchandise market was another major factor.

When the Star Wars prequels were released in China, many local cinemas didn't even have merchandise sales operations, let alone supply channels for officially licensed products. On the rare occasion a cinema wanted to dabble in it, they had to send people to Hong Kong to make purchases, and even then, the volumes were tiny. Cinemas simply couldn't afford inventory backlogs.

Having missed the optimal viewing window and lacking the cultivation of merchandise, what Star Wars: The Force Awakens was about to face in China was essentially a casual market. Chinese audiences had no "nostalgia" for it, they were certainly not short on their own "myths," and "pop culture" was at best just starting to bud in China. The elements that kept American audiences firmly hooked simply didn't apply in China.

These were all objective reasons, but the biggest failure of the promotional campaign for the original Star Wars: The Force Awakens in China was that it failed to capture the attention of the "small town youth."

With how far the Chinese film market had developed, even Duke, far across the Pacific Ocean, had to admit that if a movie wanted to hit a billion-level box office or higher in China, it absolutely had to win the approval of the "small town youth."

Unfortunately, without eye-catching, targeted promotional strategies, the "small town youth" barely cared for Hollywood blockbusters. Grounded domestic comedies were their true favorites.

Even when they did occasionally choose Hollywood blockbusters, they mostly focused on their fast-food entertainment value, with sensory stimulation as their primary pursuit. That was why visually driven movies packed with fighting and explosions, like Iron Man, The Avengers, and Transformers, were far more popular among the small town youth.

The original Star Wars: The Force Awakens had those elements too, but clearly not enough of them. If you told the "small town youth" to "conquer your fear, or you will fall to the dark side of The Force," they would most likely just roll their eyes at the screen.

To Duke, Star Wars was just like the American Journey to the West. It was normal for Chinese audiences not to be as passionate about it. However, he also knew clearly that almost all beautiful things in this world could be appreciated once people understood them enough.

Perhaps this installment of Star Wars: The Force Awakens wouldn't completely explode in the Chinese market as Duke expected, but he and Lucasfilm would not give up on laying the groundwork for the Star Wars Series in China.

The fact that Lucasfilm had already decided to cast Jiang Xiaojun and Wu Jing in the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a major signal.

As the Chinese film market matured, Chinese audiences, including the "small town youth," would become increasingly receptive to foreign cultures. And as the Chinese merchandise market matured, the stickiness of Chinese film fans would only grow stronger.

From the day Duke acquired Lucasfilm, he had been fully pushing for the spread of Star Wars culture in China. Lucasfilm CEO Katherine Kennedy had even personally traveled to China several times to map out promotional plans with various partners.

While its influence was still far from what Star Wars enjoyed in Japan and South Korea, its reach in China was no longer stuck at its former level either.

Furthermore, in Duke's view, with the right promotional marketing, it wouldn't be difficult for Chinese audiences to understand Star Wars culture.