Reading the News
[1] Sometime in the next year or two, China will likely surpass the United States as the world’s biggest movie market. With a population of 1.4 billion, China already has more movie screens and sells more tickets than any other country.
[2] Shooting that many films requires a lot of movie studios, Hengdian World Studios, built in the 1990s on farmland in China’s southeastern Zhejiang province, claims to be the world’s largest outdoor film studio and features full-scale replicas of the Forbidden City and Beijing’s Old Summer Palace, along with dozens of palaces, gardens, and streetscapes.
[3] Reversing the longtime trend of Hollywood sending its hits overseas, top Chinese movies are increasingly being screened in American cinemas and showing up on American streaming services.Earlier this year, the sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth, the second-highest-grossing film in Chinese box office history, got a limited American theatrical release; it’s now available on Netflix. It got mixed reviews from American critics, but its arrival in the States could be sign of things to come.Hey, something’s got to compete with Star Wars, right?
New Words and Expressions
surpass /sə
pɑːs/ vt. 超过；优于；胜过
replica /
replɪkə/ n. 复制品
reverse /rɪ
vɜːs/ vt.＆ vi. （使）反转；（使）颠倒
blockbuster /
blɒkbʌstə(r) / n. 一鸣惊人的事物；非常成功的书(或电影)
gross /ɡrəʊs/ vt. 总收入为；总共赚得adj. 总的；毛的
box office 票房
release /rɪ
liːs/ n. 发行；发布vt. 释放；放开；发布；发行