As movies get bigger and more spectacular, it makes sense to cover some of the financial risk by attracting deep-pocketed investors to share the finances and eventual rewards.
Cue Marvel, whose next “Iron Man 3“ will be a Chinese co-production. On the face of it, this makes a lot of sense as China is the very definition of an emerging film market, with a potentially massive audience primed and ready to enjoy the visual kinetics of this superhero sequel and shell out on the acres of spin-off merchandising which usually accompanies such a prominent franchise entry.
Sure, there’s that whole piracy thing to take account of, but the fact that China is allowing more Western films to be distributed and made there would indicate that all concerned realise that there’s a lot of cash on the table and what better than a film featuring the world’s most risk-averse fictional capitalist to be at the vanguard of this cultural expansion?
Just don’t mention Foxconn or anything…
