After Mission Impossible 3 shot its scenes in Shanghai, more and more Hollywood directors wish to make movies in China. The Painted Veil and the recently completed The Children of Huangshi were both shot in China. It is said that the new episode of the Mummy series will also be shot in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Andrew Davis, the director of The Guardian, also said that he would shoot his next movie in China.
“It's not only the beautiful landscapes in China that attract Hollywood, but also the charming Chinese culture," said Huang, a producer. "I have been to many Western countries, and I find that most Westerners hardly know anything about China. That's why they are so interested in movies based on mysterious Chinese legends."
In fact, Hollywood is very good at finding new subjects to make its movies appealing, and China is the next hot theme for it.
Jackie Chen once talked about Hollywood's favour with oriental culture, which might come from the popularity of kungfu all over the world. Quentin Tarantino, the director of Kill Bill 1&2, believes only in China can he make a "pure" kungfu movie.
Besides, the cost of shooting movies in China is rather low. For example, the investment of The Painted Veil was only US$10 million, which could only afford a low-cost videotape back in the US, but fair enough to make a visually magnificent movie in China. Thanks to the low-cost of location shooting in China, the money could be used to pay for the salary of super movie stars. With Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil finally hit the box-office value of US$15 million.
Kill Bill is another good example. With US$60 million of investment, it became a global box-office winner that year, with a box-office value of US$330 million.
(China News Service March 16, 2007)