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À LA UNE
CINÉMA
Hollywood goes global
CINEMA SANS FRONTIERES. L’industrie cinématographique américaine est dans une mauvaise passe. Non contente
d’essuyer la crise du piratage informatique généralisé, ses recettes nationales sont en baisse. Elle doit donc
aujourd’hui plus que jamais compter sur l’exportation de ses productions. Mais voilà, comment séduire des
publics aussi différents que l’Inde ou la Russie ?
THE ECONOMIST
Hollywood goes global
Hollywood se mondialise
worth valeur / youngster jeune.
2. dramatically de façon spectaculaire, considérablement / decade décennie / spending
dépenses / thanks to grâce à / to smash pulvériser / previous précédent / punter client,
the punters le public.
3. tide marée, vague / to lift soulever, ici faire
décoller / virtually pratiquement / to write,
wrote, written off rejeter / disappointing
décevant / so far jusqu’à présent / turnout
assistance, public /
6 • VOCABLE Du 12 au 25 mai 2011
he true worth of a film is no
longer decided by the crowd that
assembles in the Kodak Theatre—
or, indeed, by any American. It is
decided by youngsters in countries
such as Russia, China and Brazil.
2. Hollywood has always been an international business, but it is becoming dramatically more so. In the past decade total boxoffice spending has risen by about one-third
in North America while more than doubling
elsewhere. Thanks to Harry Potter, Sherlock
Holmes and Inception, Warner Bros made $2.93
billion outside North America last year,
smashing the studio’s previous record of
T
$2.24 billion. Falling DVD sales in America,
by far the world’s biggest home-entertainment market, mean Hollywood is even more
dependent on foreign punters.
Exporting goods
3. The rising foreign tide has lifted films
that were virtually written off in America,
such as Prince of Persia and The Chronicles of
Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Despite
starring the popular Jack Black, Gulliver’s
Travels had a disappointing run in North
America, taking $42m at the box office so
far. But strong turnout in Russia and South
Korea helped it reach almost $150m in sales
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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. (PETER MOUNTAIN/DISNEY)
elsewhere. As a result, it should turn a profit,
says John Davis, the film’s producer.
4. The growth of the international box office is partly a result of the dollar’s weakness.
It was also helped by “Avatar”, an eco-fantasy
that made a startling $2 billion outside North
America. But three things are particularly
important: a cinema boom in the emerging
world, a concerted effort by the major studios to make films that might play well outside America and a global marketing push
to make sure they do.
Russia and China
5. The big Hollywood studios are
muscling domestic film-makers aside. In
2007 American films made almost twice as
much at the Russian box office as domestic films—8.3 billion roubles ($325m) compared with 4.5 billion. Last year the imported
stuff made some 16.4 billion roubles: more
than five times as much as the home-grown
product, estimates Movie Research, a Moscow
outfit.
6. Growth is much quicker in China, where
box-office receipts reached $1.5 billion last
year. China’s regulator has claimed that cinema screens are going up at a rate of three
per day; some are IMAX screens that command higher ticket prices.
7. Unfortunately, Hollywood has learned
(as have many other industries) that great
sales in China do not always translate into
great profits. In America distributors tend
to receive 50-55% of box-office receipts, with
the rest going to the cinemas. Elsewhere
the average take is 40-45%. In China, where
Hollywood must use a domestic distributor, the proportion is roughly 15%. American films may be yanked in favour of domestic ones. The World Trade Organisation
has ordered China to reform, but few
moguls expect it to.
Ready, set, watch
8. Growing fears of piracy have led studios to release films almost simultaneously
in many countries; increasingly, the premiere takes place outside America. That
changes the marketing game, says Michael
Lynton, head of Sony Pictures. Studios used
to rely on rumours of American success seeping out of the country, priming audiences
elsewhere to see a film. Now they must conduct co-ordinated global campaigns.
9. The success of a film outside America is
not purely a marketing matter. As foreign
box-office sales have become more important, the people who manage international
distribution have become more influential,
weighing in on “green-light” decisions about
which films are made. The studios are careful to seed films with actors, locations and,
occasionally, languages that are well-known
in target countries. Sony cites the foreign
success of The Green Hornet (Taiwanese hero,
Austrian-German villain) and Resident Evil:
Afterlife (Japanese location) as evidence of
that strategy.
Thanks to Harry Potter,
Sherlock Holmes and
Inception, Warner Bros made
$2.93 billion outside North
America last year.
10. Big noisy spectacle travels best. Jason
Statham, the close-cropped star of many a
mindlessly violent film, is a particular Russian favourite. Films based on well-known literature (including cartoon books) and myths
may also fare well. Films that trade on contemporary American cultural references are
about as popular abroad as an oil slick on
a NASCAR track. Comedy travels badly, too:
Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler provoke guffaws at home but incomprehension abroad.
As the market swings away from America,
funny films are less likely to find financing
or broad distribution anywhere.
11. The growing internationalisation of the
film business suits the biggest outfits, and
not just because they can afford explosions.
The major studios’ power lies not so much
in their ability to make good films—plenty
of smaller operations can do that—but in
their ability to wring every possible drop of
revenue from a film. With their superior
global marketing machines and their ability
to anticipate foreign tastes, they are increasingly dominating the market. For everyone else, there is a chance to win a gold
statue. ●
to turn a profit être rentable, dégager des
bénéfices.
4. weakness faiblesse / eco-fantasy fiction
écologique / startling stupéfiant / boom essor,
développement, explosion / global mondial
/ push campagne, promotion.
5. to muscle aside écarter / domestic national, ici américain / stuff choses, ici films /
home-grown du pays, ici américain / outfit
entreprise, société.
6. receipts recettes, rentrées / regulator organisme de réglementation/vérification / screen
écran, ici cinéma / rate rythme / to command imposer.
7. unfortunately malheureusement / average moyen / take part / roughly approximativement, à peu près / to yank retirer,
supprimer (d’une programmation) / World
Trade Organisation OMC (organisation mondiale du commerce) / to order ordonner /
mogul magnat.
8. fear crainte / piracy piratage / to release
sortir, diffuser / increasingly de plus en plus /
to rely on compter, s’appuyer sur / to seep
out se répandre, filtrer, sortir (de) / to prime
mettre au courant, informer, ici inciter.
9. to weigh in on intervenir dans, peser sur /
green light feu vert, accord / to be careful
prendre soin / to seed ensemencer, ici to seed
with inclure / location lieu, décor (naturel),
extérieurs / target cible / villain méchant /
evidence (inv.) preuve(s).
10. noisy qui fait beaucoup de bruit, violent /
close-cropped aux cheveux coupés à ras /
mindlessly bêtement / cartoon bande dessinée / to fare well réussir, obtenir de bons
résultats / to trade on exploiter / abroad à
l’étranger / oil slick nappe d’huile / Nascar
= National Association for Stock Car Auto
Racing / track piste, circuit / guffaw gros éclat
de rire / to swing, swung, swung basculer,
ici to swing away from s’éloigner de, délaisser / (they) are less likely to (ils) ont moins de
chances de / broad large, vaste.
11. to suit convenir à / to afford se permettre
financièrement, s’offrir / to lie, lay, lain résider / ability capacité, talent / operation unité
de production, entreprise / to wring, wrung,
wrung arracher, ici tirer / drop goutte / taste
goût / gold statue ici Oscar.
Du 12 au 25 mai 2011 VOCABLE • 7