Aug.21 (NBD) -- The Meg, a Chinese-American co-production, was released in both countries on August 10 of 2018, in 3D and IMAX. The film has grossed over 300 million U.S. dollars worldwide and 800 million yuan (117.02 million U.S. dollars) in China as of the mid day of Monday.

Lead producer Belle Avery dreamed to shoot the film in China when she first bought the film rights of the original book in 2008 but somehow failed to do that in the following years. Later in 2014, Avery was introduced to Jiang Wei, the then general manager with Gravity Pictures, a unit under CMC holdings, and both of them believed the film would be a good start of Chinese-American co-productions.

Avery co-produced action movies such as The Adventurers and Mission Milano, but it was the very first time for Gravity Pictures to co-produce a movie with a U.S. partner and the budget for the movie was estimated at 150 million U.S. dollars.

When approached by NBD, Gravity Pictures's CEO Ying Xujun said that film budgeting was made in line with world-class Hollywood movies. 

As this is a shark thriller, most of the budget was spent on special effects. It took the team one year to design the shark and seven months to shoot the film, Avery told NBD.

With regard to Chinese elements in the film, executive producer Jiang Wei told NBD that it took the two parties one year and a half to finalize the script in order to ensure everything makes sense in the eyes of both Chinese and American audiences.

Warner Bros. Pictures is a co-investor, responsible for the distribution in markets outside China and Gravity Pictures takes charge of the film distribution in China, noted Ying.

Over 80 co-productions were initiated each year since 2015. And Chinese investors have been gradually transforming from a pure investor to a major participant.

Bonna Film Group, for example, led the investment in and production of a new World War II action triller Midway with 80 million U.S. dollars last year. Moreover, Huayi Brothers also revealed a string of Chinese-American co-productions this year.

Huayi Brothers' CEO Wang Zhonglei, said at the 2018 Beijing International Film Festival in confidence that European and American film companies should also think about how to cooperate with Chinese counterparts.

Despite big potential, challenges remain for Chinese investors in that it's hard to win favor of both Chinese and North American audiences.

Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, the most expensive live action feature film that joined Hollywood and Chinese studios, flopped in North America last year, heightening the sense that co-production success is elusive.

The Meg has a universal theme with very few culturally specific references. It's hardly possible to sell a movie, if it contains too many local elements that only a specific group of people can understand, said Ying.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn