LIFELINE: A poster of Hollywood space epic Gravity shows the imagined Chinese space station Tiangong, which helps the U.S. astronaut Ryan Stone return to Earth (FILE)

Despite such controversy, Gravity has won much praise from Chinese film lovers. On Douban.com, a major local Internet community for film and book reviews, Gravity received an average of eight points out of 10, with over 90,000 netizens having commented on the space epic. On another film-rating website, Mtime, it received 8.5 points.

Some Chinese expressed joy at seeing elements such as spring onions, ping pong paddles and a Buddha statuette on the Tiangong, and are proud of China's achievements as depicted by the Hollywood director. Today, only the United States, Russia and China are capable of building space stations independently, which Cuarón has highlighted.

Yan Yu, a postgraduate student at Tstinghua University, said she was curious about space science. Recently, China's successful launch of its lunar probe Chang'e-3 aroused her interests in Gravity.

Zhang Huijun, President of the Beijing Film Academy, told Xinhua News Agency that he attributes the success of Gravity at the Chinese box office to its spectacular visual display of space and smart integration of Chinese elements.

Huang Qunfei, General Manager of Beijing New Film Association, a major theater chain in China, said, "What surprises me is that the film has done so well with such a simple story line."

"Gravity occupies a high market share at Chinese cinemas. I believe that when China launched its lunar probe and rover on December 2, it will arouse more attention and further boost box office sales here," Huang added.

Growing local elements

In the past, Chinese characters appearing in Hollywood movies such as The Lone Ranger, were mostly depicted as poor railway workers and housemaids. However, with China's stellar economic rise, this image is fast changing. Modern elements are increasingly incorporated into Hollywood productions.

In fact, Gravity is not the first Hollywood blockbuster to include Chinese elements. The disaster film 2012 depicts how China helping save the world from collapse by building an exclusive ark. This helped the movie increase its opportunities at Chinese cinemas.

This year, Iron Man 3 included Chinese stars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing, but critics questioned the movie's sincerity for its forced inclusion of a China scene, which was dropped from the international version. In spite of that, it had still earned 748.7 million yuan ($122.9 million) as of June 9.

For 2013, other Hollywood productions distributed in the Chinese market that contain local elements have also been prominent at the country's box office.

Pacific Rim, premiered on July 31, earned 689.8 million yuan ($113.2 million) up to September 1. The sci-fi uses Hong Kong as a setting and includes a huge red Chinese battle robot that, alongside its U.S. and Russian counterparts, fights horrible monsters threatening the human race. Pacific Rim includes many Chinese elements, which helped it do well in China this summer.

Another Hollywood sci-fi action movie, Resident Evil: Retribution, includes Chinese actress Li Bingbing who plays Ada Wong. It earned 108.2 million yuan ($17.75 million) from March 17 to April 7.

With the global movie industry holding vast potential for cooperation, foreign productions that incorporate Chinese elements stand to gain an increasing share in the booming China market.

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