Paramount Rob Moore: Ang Lee reminds us that movies are not just sequels and remakes

The box office boom has made China's film market start from the past, and imitators have quickly become the center of the world. Not only France, Britain, South Korea, India, Japan, etc., but even the "former Big Brother" American filmmakers have to find opportunities here to understand the rules of the China market and the preferences of the audience.

Original title Paramount Vice Chairman: Ang Lee reminds us that movies are not just sequels and remakes.

The box office boom has made the China film market start from the past, and imitators have quickly become the center of the world. Not only France, Britain, South Korea, India, Japan, etc., but even the "former Big Brother" American filmmakers have to find opportunities here to understand the rules of the China market and the preferences of the audience.

At this year's Shanghai Film Festival, we met Rob Moore, global vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. As one of the most influential figures in the American film industry today, what does he think about Hollywood and China's film market?

"Agents 3 invited Yen Zidan and Wu Yifan to star in"

Reporter: Paramount's North American box office has declined among the top six in recent years. On the contrary, Disney has performed strongly. What do you think of this change in Paramount and Disney?

Rob Moore: The reason behind this should be that Disney acquired Marvel. We used to work with Marvel, and we also participated in the creation of more successful characters like Captain America, but now they are all part of Disney. So we also hope to create our own film series.

In the next one or two years, we will launch a new "Transformers" series.

We invited Van Diesel to star in "Extreme Agents 3: The Ultimate Return." At first, he participated in two series, one was "Extreme Agents" and the other was "Speed and Passion". In the new "Extreme Agents", we also invited Zhen Zidan and Wu Yifan to star.

Scarlett Johansson will perform in "Mobile Team in the Shell". She has also been very successful in the filming of "Superbody" and "Avengers" before.

There is also an animated movie called "Monster Truck". It tells the story of a pair of aliens who want to stop a very large oil company on earth from extracting oil and destroying the environment.

In November this year, there was a movie "Alliance" that was completed by the director of "Forrest Gump" and Brad Pitt.

Of course, after missing Marvel, we experienced some small setbacks in the United States. But our performance in the China market is as strong as ever. I hope that in the near future, I will be able to regain its glory in the U.S. market soon, while maintaining the same performance in the China market.

"Ang Lee always reminds us that it's not just about making sequels and remakes."

Reporter: After watching Hollywood blockbusters for many years, the aesthetic fatigue of China audiences has come. Many blockbusters have average box office and are not as good as a low-budget comedy from China. Will Paramount's future production plans take into account this change in the China market?

Rob Moore: We have seen that China's film industry has been booming, and the standard and quality of China's films are getting higher and higher. China's movie audiences are a very important part of our lives. We want to ensure that the movies launched to China audiences can resonate with international audiences.

We are also looking for ways to become part of China culture. For example, for a good example, we invited China singer Zhang Liangying to sing the theme song of "Terminator", which later became the theme song of global movies. This will help our films have a better connection with China audiences. For example,"Transformers 4" was filmed on the Great Wall of China. In addition, we will continue to discover some good stories and good China characters that can make China audiences feel relevant to them.

Reporter: What do you think of the phenomenon that some movies have average box office and reputation in the United States, but have good reputation and high box office in China? For example,"Speed and Furious 7","Warcraft" and so on.

Rob Moore: Historically, American film companies have been very good at finding this kind of film, which has been very successful in the American domestic market, and at the same time has been very successful internationally.

The box office revenue of "Warcraft" in China may be five times that of the box office in the United States. In fact, it also brings a challenge to all of us, which is how to find a movie that can be accepted by audiences in the international market and can also perform well in the American market.

Reporter: There is a view that Hollywood has become more and more "conservative" and "lazy". It has been making sequels and remakes of movies, and there are few innovations. What do you think?

Rob Moore: Last summer, we saw the new film director Alex Garland in the United States. He will hire Natalie Portman to shoot "Annihilation" for us. For the global film industry, it is necessary to constantly find new voices and new stories in order to truly impress the audience.

But there is definitely some risk in doing so, because the new story has no audience base, so we need to find a balance between the two, that is, the characters who already have an audience base, and the filmmakers.

We must keep looking for new talents and new stories, so that we can continue to produce classic films like "Titanic","The Godfather","Braveheart", and "Forrest Gump". We hope to further continue this Hollywood tradition and Paramount tradition.

Reporter: We really can't see movies like "Forrest Gump","The Godfather", and "Titanic" nowadays. Is it because the big Hollywood studios feel that the risks are too great and dare not invest, or are there no directors or screenwriters to make such movies?

Rob Moore: Things like "Transformers" and "superhero movies" have always been at the heart of the movie world. But we need to continue to discover and find some new filmmakers and discover new scripts, and this also needs to become a focus of our work. We all have the obligation to make novel and unconventional films, so that every time the audience goes to the cinema, it is a new journey. We have an obligation to cultivate a new generation of filmmakers by doing so.

Reporter: As a China audience, we are very curious about Hollywood, or how do you personally evaluate Director Ang Lee?

Rob Moore: Ang Lee is a very talented director, and he is committed to promoting some very novel and unique film themes. He also brings a challenge to all filmmakers, that is, he always reminds us that you must remember that in the development of films, novel, interesting and unique stories have always been a core of film development. He keeps reminding us to keep that in mind, not just making sequels and remakes. Ang Lee has recently been one of the best directors in this regard.

"The challenge for China films is how to be successful internationally."

Reporter: Sino-US co-production has become a trend, but most previous examples of co-production have failed. Which way do you think is easier to achieve success?

Rob Moore: We have worked with China film companies before, such as "Mission Impossible 5" and "Teenage Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadow." The reason why we cooperate with China film companies is to hope to understand more about China's market through China's partners, and also hope to establish relationships with China's giants. For example, like Alibaba Pictures, Wanda, Tencent, and Shanghai United, I hope they can help us understand China audiences better.

We haven't really co-produced yet, but we hope that when we really co-produced, we can understand more about China's films. That's why we haven't done this. It's why we want to be better prepared. With the foundation of cooperation now and the content we have learned, we can have a more solid foundation when we really get together.

We are also expanding Paramount's offices in China and directly establishing relationships with filmmakers in China. We hope to find some projects that both parties feel very interested in and do a good job in this project.

Reporter: Everyone predicts that China may become another Hollywood, because film talents from all over the world are now coming here to look for opportunities, just like Hollywood in the past. And China companies are also beginning to move closer to the blockbuster model. Will China repeat Hollywood history?

Rob Moore: Considering the size and development history of China's film market, and the fact that many movie audiences in China are very young. As these audiences mature, they may also influence their next generation and become movie-loving audiences. China may continue to be a very leading film market in the world.

But Hollywood has a history of more than 100 years after all. It took more than 100 years for Hollywood to figure out how to tell stories that resonate with audiences around the world. This will also be a challenge for China films, which is how to ensure that China films are not only successful in China, but also internationally.

Hollywood has been very successful in this regard. Through cooperation with China, Hollywood can help the China film market further expand, so that the China film market can gradually move onto the international stage.

Reporter: Are you optimistic about the China consortium's purchase of Hollywood film companies? Can Sony's acquisition of Colombia be replicated?

Rob Moore: For example, Wanda now owns the largest theater group in the United States. Maybe China companies will continue to find ways to further access Hollywood's top talents. Maybe they will help them expand this approach by investing in Hollywood studios and Hollywood production companies. We will see more and more such dialogues in the future.

Editor: yvette