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Oscar winner's China debut
2019-02-28 
A poster of and a still from Green Book, which stars Viggo Mortensen as an Italian-American bouncer and Mahershala Ali as an African-American pianist. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Alibaba seen reaping big returns from 'small' investment in Green Book, Xu Fan reports. Xu Fan

The night before the winners of the 91st Academy Awards were announced at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Zhang Wei, president of Alibaba Pictures, couldn't fall asleep.

She didn't sleep the night after the awards as well. She was too excited as her company, the film arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, had co-financed Green Book along with American companies DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media. The $23 million film won this year's Oscar for the best picture.

Despite the considerably small investment for Alibaba-whose founder Jack Ma became the world's richest Chinese on the Hurun Global Rich List on Tuesday-the returns are huge. The company declined to reveal the actual sum invested in the film.

Green Book scooped two other awards for the best supporting actor and original screenplay.

According to the Nielsen company, ABC's telecast of the Academy Awards ceremony drew 29.6 million viewers, up 12 percent from last year. More than a month earlier, Chinese distributors announced the film would open at theaters across the Chinese mainland on Friday.

Boosted by the Oscar wins, the film has seen a rise in potential screenings and grossed more than 5.3 million yuan ($793,144) in presale revenues in China as of Wednesday, taking the second-highest slot for Friday. The top is still occupied by Hollywood animated film How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Set in the early 1960s, when racism was rampant in the segregated American south, Green Book is based on the true friendship between world-class African-American pianist Don Shirley and Tony Lip, an Italian-American bouncer who was hired to drive and protect the musician on a concert tour to the country's southern interior.

Jack Ma (center), founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, shares his thoughts about Green Book, best picture winner at this year's Oscars, at an advanced screening in Beijing on Monday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The film stars Mahershala Ali, the winner of two Oscars for best supporting actor, including for Green Book, and Viggo Mortensen, who shot to international fame for The Lord of the Rings films. Ali is best recognized by fans in China for his appearance on the political drama series House of Cards shown on Netflix.

After Green Book was released in the United States on Nov 21, Chinese who watched it flooded to comment on the film review website Douban, averaging a score of 8.9 points out of 10.

Zhang recalls the decision to invest in Green Book was made quickly after members of the company's Green Light Committee-a panel of top decisionmakers-watched the film.

"We didn't expect the film would win the Oscar for best picture. It's really a surprise," she says.

Responsible for Alibaba Pictures' overseas business, Zhang says the company has set internalization and globalization as important strategic goals after it was established in 2014.

In 2016, Alibaba Pictures took an equity stake in Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners and the two signed a partnership to co-produce or finance films for global and Chinese audiences.

Green Book is the fruit of this deal. DreamWorks Pictures is a production label of Amblin.

The two are also working on co-producing A Dog's Journey, a sequel to the 2017 hit A Dog's Purpose, which was a sleeper hit that raked in 608 million yuan in China.

Unlike Green Book, which Alibaba Pictures funded in part but did not get involved in its creation, A Dog's Journey stars Chinese Canadian actor Henry Lau and the Chinese side has joined the team to give the final touches to the script. The film is due to be released in North American markets on May 7.

"We wish to boost the exchanges between China and the rest of the world, take Chinese culture abroad and let foreigners learn more about China.

"We also hope to bring quality content to China to enrich the viewing experience for domestic audiences," Zhang says.

A poster of and a still from Green Book, which stars Viggo Mortensen as an Italian-American bouncer and Mahershala Ali as an African-American pianist. [Photo provided to China Daily]

But for China, the world's second-largest film market that fancies special effects-studded action films and domestic comedies, Zhang still has her concerns.

"Chinese films don't depict racism, and the Chinese audience has less knowledge about America's segregation history. Besides, the story is about two men, which probably lacks appeal for the female audience," she says.

But the diversity in taste among Chinese moviegoers will likely earn the film its space in the Chinese market, Zhang adds.

Alibaba's founder Ma alongside other celebrities such as Chinese computer giant Lenovo's founder Liu Chuanzhi and actress Jing Tian were present at an advanced screening of Green Book in Beijing on Monday.

"I felt our world is still a very warm place after watching Green Book. A good movie does not have to take a lot of money or unfold an earthshaking plot," says Ma.

"To produce an excellent film, you have to authentically love cinema first, but not the fame or money brought by it.

"Green Book is a story that awakens something inside you," adds the business tycoon, who once shot a 20-minute Chinese martial arts film.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn

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