Chinese taste
Some say inclusion of Chinese elements and at times, modifications considering Chinese tastes, also help passing the censorship committee in the country, known to be difficult to please.
The superhero movie grossed more than US$1.2 billion worldwide and became the fifth highest grossing film of all time.
Its box office in China was the largest overseas, second only to the US domestic market.
Chinese audiences heavily criticized the movie, though, after they found out the three extra minutes with Chinese actors were specially edited for the China edition.
In the worldwide release, Fan never showed up and Wang had one line, saying, "Hello."
"If you want to grab money here, you have to do better," says an ordinary, frequent filmgoer, Jack Ma. "After a while, with so many Hollywood movies containing Chinese elements, it won't be so easy to get our feet into the theater with just seconds of a Chinese face and a special Chinese edition."
He says he hopes that "a true collaboration," a co-production involving cast and crew from both countries in the creative process, will develop very soon.
Such simplistic and "fake" collaborations, as some Chinese film industry insiders call them, are not enough anymore, as foreign studios compete for the huge market and the Chinese audience wants more meaningful Oriental elements.
"'Transformers 4' is not like those other movies that just stick in, all of a sudden, a Chinese person, that doesn't have anything to do with the story," Ganis says.
"The story not only includes China. China is part of the story and director Michael Bay wanted to shoot in China. It has got a lot of action, a lot of technology, but it has also got a very good story, which is the most important thing for a Chinese audience, and for all audiences."
Ganis, and many others, see such collaborations as not only a way for Hollywood studios to appeal to a Chinese audience, but also a way to familiarize a Western audience "to not be afarid of seeing a Chinese movie.""Now, they are afraid, because they feel that's so distant from me, that's so not my own culture. American audiences don't even like French movies, sometimes, not even Canadian movies, and we have to help them get used to Chinese elements," he said.
"Gigantic, massive projects like 'Transformers' will help the American audience to get used to Chinese faces."
Two-time Oscar-winning Best Director Oliver Stone agrees on the role of Chinese movie stars.
"You can't sell a Chinese movie to broad Western audiences until the West can accept a true love affair between the Oriental and the West," he said in a recent interview. "You have to let Western audience fall in love with Chinese faces."
He added that it is important to have good stories about people and their relations to make the connection between East and West and make a love affair possible.
Stone the director and Ganis the marketer both say there is no need for Chinese movies to adopt Western styles in order to get a Western audience.
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