Taking pointers from successful mainland movies like Tencent-backed Monster Hunt, domestic internet firms are restructuring the burgeoning film industry with their technology and online platforms, pundits say.
Some even predict internet companies will take over the industry altogether.
"Filmmaking will be new-media oriented and characterised by the internet," said Feng Jun, a senior analyst with EntGroup, which researches the mainland entertainment industry. "It's possible all movie companies in China will work for Chinese internet companies in the future."
Not that this comes without risk: only 15 per cent of mainland films released at domestic theatres turn a profit, Feng said. Monster Hunt, which cost 350 million yuan (HK$436 million), is the highest-grossing mainland movie yet, netting more than 1.6 billion yuan since its July 16 debut.
Industry observers say it was Tencent's financial and marketing support that made the difference. And as the market changes, consumers would rather have their favourite dish made to order than wait to see what the chef serves up.
"In the future, the model will be: we find out what you want to watch, then we make it for you," said Cheng Dai-wai, secretary general of the Guangdong Film Industry Association. "Only those investors who understand the internet and mobile users will be able to turn a handsome profit from filmmaking."
Mainland internet companies have been involved in most of the top-grossing movies at the domestic box office since last year, tapping their resources and technologies, such as big data, social media and online ticket sales, to better discern internet users' tastes, Feng said.
In March last year, the Alibaba Group took a majority stake in ChinaVision, since renamed Alibaba Pictures Group, for more than US$800 million. This year, it also snapped up a US$382 million stake in production firm Beijing Enlight Media.
Over the last 12 months, Alibaba has bought a 16.5 per cent stake in online video giant Youku Tudou and acquired an 8 per cent stake in production firm, Huayi Brothers. In April, Alibaba Pictures Group dipped into its coffers once more to acquire Guangdong Yueke Software Engineering, one of the mainland's largest suppliers of cinema-ticketing systems, for US$134 million.
Cheng and Feng say Monster Hunt's success highlights the power of the mainland's big internet companies and points the way forward.
The movie was originally invested in by Bill Kong, president of Hong Kong's Edko Films, and to be released at the end of last year. But its lead actor, Taiwan's Kai Ko, was arrested for possession of narcotics last August.
Kong then changed the storyline and re-filmed it with the financial backing of Tencent Video and Heyi Pictures, the film unit of Alibaba-backed internet television company Youku Tudou.
Kong picked out several artists who were popular with the mainland's younger internet users and changed the plot to match their tastes, Feng said.
The promotional campaigns that subsequently played out on the mainland internet companies' mobile and online platforms were crucial to the film's success, she said.