Chinese and American Film: A Comparison
...Desperado ) was opted to direct The Mask of Zorro. When he requested 44 million dollars instead of 43 million dollars, the studio terminated their agreement with him. The next director in line was Martin Campbell ( 007 - Goldeneye ), who signed on the make the film. His request was granted for 73 million dollars. But in China, they practice equal opportunity and leniency. Stanley Tong was stunt coordinator and had a story in mind. This was to be his very first picture and he presented it to Golden Harvest studios and they let him make it. SuperCop was the film he made and it was the biggest hit China has had overseas. The structure for American cinema also greatly affects the actors as well. The studios hire the actors and actresses they know are famous. They never take risks or do research to find who is talented and who is not. If an actor's last movie brought in over 70 million dollars, they will immediately choose him or her. If an actor is talented, but stars in a movie that doesn't do as well, they will not choose him on the basis of the draw in the box office. The studios in China do take their chances at finding actors from anywhere. A lot of the stars are newcomers, from either music or beauty pageants. One woman named Michelle Yeoh ( "SuperCop" ) was formerly Miss Malaysia and begun a film career from that type of background. Now, she is the most famous international actress in China's history. Also for the studios, they have the choice whether they want to keep a film. As movie is being made and they don't like the turn out so far, they will begin to auction the picture off to the highest bidder. They feel that the money from the bids will gain more money than the movie would make in the theaters. Without ...