The epic WWII naval and air warfare blockbuster directed by an American director has been released recently. Due to various reasons, the film has received mediocre response in the North American film market, but it has unexpectedly gained in the Chinese film market. Super popularity. What is less known is that behind the unexpected popularity of "Midway Island" in China, there is actually an intriguing story of "China-US Cooperation in Anti-Japanese War". According to the US "Wall Street Post" report, the crew of "Midway Island" once faced the problem of funding exhaustion during the filming process. Because the movie works with the theme of World War II and grand narrative are not the type that Hollywood has liked in recent years, Emmerich and others have been shut down by their own American investors for a while, and the shooting of "Midway Island" almost died.
At this moment, the crew of "Midway Island" unexpectedly won the favor of two Chinese investors from the other side of the Pacific. The shooting cost of "Midway Island" is about 98 million US dollars, and foreign investment accounts for 45% of it, and most of this is contributed by Chinese investors. Chinese investors have become more and more willing to spend money on Hollywood blockbusters in recent years, but movies like "Midway" that have invested close to half are still rare, especially considering that this is not "Avengers" and "Iron Man" A kind of superhero movie. However, the box office performance of "Hacksaw Ridge" released in 2016 may explain this problem to a certain extent. The total box office revenue of this film in China is about 62 million US dollars, which is only 5 million US dollars less than the North American market.
Although the crew of "Midway Island" is unlikely to admit it, the fact is that the common memory of the Chinese and American people of the War of Resistance against Japan is the reason why this film was able to attract Chinese investment and was widely accepted in the Chinese film market. An important reason for welcome. In the movie "Midway Island", there is a scene in which the plane of the US military pilot Dolittle was shot down by the Japanese during the naval battle on Midway Island. The plane even fell into Chinese territory. At that time, the illiterate Chinese people once had doubts about his identity after they met him, but when they learned that Dolittle came to "fight devil", the Chinese people all showed him a great deal. bona fide.
Even if some artistic processing elements in the movie are not mentioned, the reality of "Midway Island" in the Chinese market has its foundation. The museum that tells the story of Dolittle was only opened in China last year. The discovery of the historical facts of World War II and the promotion of national energy can be regarded as an enduring topic in the Chinese film and television circle.
With the improvement of living standards and aesthetic tastes, Chinese audiences are tired of the crude production of anti-Japanese dramas. Now they can use Hollywood's mature film industry chain to express the common feelings of the Chinese and American people in resisting Japan and salvation. This is for American producers. , Chinese investors and audiences in China and the United States, at least it is not a bad thing.
However, some people are happy but others are worried. Some Japanese right-wingers are very dissatisfied with the "Midway Island" movie. On the one hand, they complained that the American producers were soft-hearted and "spoken". "They deny the great suffering that Japan brought to the Chinese people in World War II, and are also very dissatisfied with the United States' vain of the US-Japan alliance. But now Japan has no strong capital and no film industry, so it just has a mouthful and complains about itself.
