While the topic of how Chinese movies could complete with Hollywood blockbusters was heatedly discussed last year, the recent box-office achievements of domestic films like Lost In Thailand, Finding Mr Right and So Young has turned insiders' attention in another direction - the new opportunities of the Chinese movie industry.
Discussing the same theme, Chinese directors Gao Qunshu, Xue Xiaolu, Zhang Yibai and movie critic Wei Lei gathered together at this year's Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Young Entrepreneurs' Summit last Thursday evening in Beijing.
Having made her new movie Finding Mr Right an over 500 million yuan of return ($81.6 million), Xue Xiaolu said that this movie follows a successful Hollywood style while adding in some topics currently hot in China, like material girls, home wreckers and giving birth to a child in the US.
But she also pointed out that producing movies should involve foresight, for a movie usually takes two years to finish and the director must predict whether those topics will be interesting a few years later.
Gao Qunshu, known for movies like The Message (2009) and Beijing Blues (2012), however, does not think there is a fixed rule for Chinese movies that will lead to success.
"It cannot be called an industry for Chinese movies. They just fight alone like guerrilla [warfare]," he said. According to Gao's analysis, quantitative analysis does not work on Chinese movies.
Eternal Moment (2011) director Zhang Yibai agrees: "[When we analyze] a Chinese movie, we cannot use one single successful case as a useful reference."