What does it take to make a hit in Hollywood? An A-list actress?

A-and-true superhero franchise?

I am Iron Man.

How about the blessing of the People's Republic of China?

For years now, now, Hollywood has been straining to make sure its films don't offend Chinese

sensors. Without their approval, studios can't gain access to China's massive box office.

Pleasing Chinese sensors can mean adding scenes that glorify the country.

But it can also mean leaving things out, particularly anything that calls attention to human rights abuses.

The financial pressure to do so has gotten so intense that in many cases American filmmakers

are actually preempting censorship altogether

and designing their films to pass muster from the first draft.

I'm Gabriel Sierra and this is why it matters.

Today China in the director's chair.

So what does China have to do with Hollywood?

So this is a particularly important year for the China Hollywood relationship

because this is the year that the Chinese box office

is expected to surpass the American box office as the most important box office in the world.

This is James Tager. He's the Deputy Director for Free Expression

Research and Policy at Penn America and the author of the Penn America report

Made in Hollywood, Cens censored by Beijing.

Now, to get access to that box office,

any movie studio, and this includes Hollywood,

...