How Furious 7 left the competition behind in China, unlike most China-US co-productions
- How did a film with no Chinese actors and which featured not one Chinese car among the 340 shown on screen make 2.4 billion yuan in China?
- Unlike other China-US co-productions, Furious 7 had a returning cast and a well-worn formula – and it became a tribute to Paul Walker, killed during its filming
When the 2015 film Furious 7, the fastest and most furious of the enduring action series, was released in China, it broke just about every record going. Grossing one billion yuan in five days, it eventually racked up 2.4 billion yuan at the Chinese box office, to become, at that point, the most successful foreign release of all time.
While investment from the state-owned distributor China Film Group Corporation can’t have hurt its chances, unlike most Sino-Hollywood co-productions Furious 7 makes no effort to flatter its paymasters.
There are no Chinese actors in the main cast, no Chinese cars among the 340 or so featured on screen, and though the film flits from London to Atlanta to the United Arab Emirates, it never once touches down on Chinese shores.
Indeed, the only notable Asian presence is its Malaysian-Australian director, James Wan, the Japanese character Han (Sung Kang), who is killed off in a cameo, and Thai martial arts star Tony Jaa, who makes a brief appearance. So why was it so successful?
The short answer – and the take-home for future co-productions – is that, rather than trying to precision-engineer Western films for the Chinese market, sometimes it’s best to just bankroll a sure-fire blockbuster and keep out of the way.
