Censorship in film industry damaging Beijing's ties with Hollywood, says movie producer

A former movie producer that worked in China warned that Beijing’s increasing censorship may have damaged its relationship with Hollywood beyond repair.

Chris Fenton, former president of Beijing-based DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group, said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance that the relationship between Hollywood and the world’s second largest economy peaked between 2012 and 2016.

"China was the golden goose that Hollywood looked to [in order] to really recoup some big investment dollars, and the huge capital it takes to make these big franchises," said the former Chinese media company head.

Fenton, who wrote a book about China’s relationships with Western media titled “Feeding the Dragon,” said that regulation of Chinese films was handed to the Communist Party’s propaganda department around 2018.

Beijing has increasingly denied films from major studios since, citing issues like homosexuality or content that challenges the country’s socialistic and nationalistic values. Recent examples include Disney's "Black Widow," "Eternals," and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," along with Warner Bros. "Space Jam: A New Legacy” – all of which were denied Chinese releases.

"Today, [China's censorship] is probably the worst I've ever seen in my career," said Fenton.

The success of Top Gun: Maverick, which was rejected by Beijing’s censors for its pro-American story, has been touted by some as a victory over China’s market power.

The sequel to the 1986 cult classic has broken many records since its release in May, becoming actor Tom Cruise’s first $1 billion movie.

Taiwanese audiences were thrilled to see Paramount restored the Taiwanese and Japanese flags that were censored from the leather jacket worn by Cruise’s character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, in the original 2019 trailer.

Fenton also added that the Chinese market is now projected as a zero for most Hollywood films – a stark contrast from just a decade ago – due to shifting audience tastes and recent U.S.-China tensions.

American-made films accounted for more than 48% of China's box office revenue in 2012 before plummeting to 36% in 2016 and 12.3% in 2021, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.