SUPERHERO: Leading actors of Iron Man 3—Robert Downey Jr. (center) and Chinese star Wang Xueqi (second right)—attend the film promotion activity in Beijing on April 6 (XINHUA)

Today, the growing Chinese film market has become nearly impossible to ignore. At the Third Beijing International Film Festival 2013, held from April 16 to 23, both foreign and domestic movie makers announced multiple joint initiatives, lending an ambitious impetus to the local industry.

Thanks to a cooperation agreement between Paramount Pictures, China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Entertainment, the Hollywood blockbuster Transformers 4 kicked off its Chinese cast recruitment on April 19. Six Chinese actors, including two Chinese movie stars, are currently set to join the new project. Moreover, a Chinese story will be added to the new series movie, which, on completion, will hit cinemas worldwide next summer.

Impetus for co-production

Booming domestic box office figures are undoubtedly some of the main reasons behind Hollywood's interest in China, which overtook Japan as the second largest sales territory behind the United States in 2012. It has also been the highest grossing overseas market for American blockbusters.

"Transformers 3 made $1.2 billion in box office sales world wide. In China it scooped 1.1 billion yuan ($178 million) alone while in North America it only hit about $350 million, roughly a third of global figures," Marc Ganis, co-founder and president of Jiaflix Enterprises and the man behind Sino-U.S. cooperation on Transformers 4, said at the festival on April 20.

In 2012, box-office sales in China reached 17 billion yuan ($2.76 billion), a growth rate of 30 percent year on year. In the first quarter of this year, it gained 5.24 billion yuan ($849 million), a 40 percent increase over the same period last year, said Zhang Hongsen, Director-General of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, while addressing a co-production forum on the festival sidelines.

Throughout last year, foreign and jointly produced films made up nearly 51 percent of local box office earnings. Moreover, "China's movie market is still showing a good momentum in sustainable development," Zhang added.

With an eye on the future, Hollywood movie makers have already been building ties with counterparts in China for several years.

"We have long been making international movies featuring Chinese elements," said Dan Mintz, co-founder and CEO of DMG (Dynamic Marketing Group) Entertainment, during the film festival.

"To date, we have been involved in every aspect of film co-production, including screenplay writing, cast recruitment, movie production and distribution. It is an evolution for the development of our company and Sino-foreign film co-production," he added.

DMG is a Chinese entertainment company that has invested in a number of Sino-American movies such as Looper (2012) and Iron Man 3.

On April 6, the main cast of Iron Man 3, including lead actor Robert Downey Jr., arrived in Beijing to promote the film, which also features Chinese stars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing.

Iron Man 3 was co-produced in China under a joint agreement reached by Walt Disney Co., Marvel Studios and DMG last year.

According to China.org.cn, the first two movies of the Iron Man series were well received at the Chinese box office, the fifth highest-grossing international film that year with earnings totaling 94 million yuan ($15 million). The 2010 sequel brought in 176 million yuan ($28 million) in turn.

"Iron Man 3 blazes a trail for cooperation between Chinese and Hollywood movie makers, it being the first time both sides are jointly involved in investment, screenplay, production and distribution," Dan said.

In view of the fast growing film market in China, people have reason to expect that more local faces will appear in Hollywood blockbusters in the future.

Challenges ahead

Despite the booming market for co-productions, producers cannot always assure the success of their projects. The biggest challenge co-produced films face is reaching cross-cultural audiences, something kung fu movies have been very successful in.

On April 21, during a press conference at the film festival, Hollywood star Keanu Reeves announced that his directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, featuring a Chinese cast and plot, will be screened around the globe this summer.

"I am personally very interested in China," Reeves confirmed.