If American films are meh...are China’s better?

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hollywood isn't performing as well at home or abroad. Is it losing its cultural dominance to China's burgeoning film industry?

‘Survive until 2025’ was the mantra that got Hollywood through the past five years of lockdown, streaming wars, and franchise fatigue. And while summer films like Lilo & Stitch, Superman, and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning made critical and box office impact… on the whole, it still doesn't compare to pre-2020 levels. And even more curious, the international box office - specifically in China - has declined over the years as well.

At the same time, the highest grossing animated film of all time hit theaters this year… in China. Ne Zha 2 has dominated the global box office and with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and K-Pop: Demon Hunters also breaking records, Brittany had to ask: What does this say about Hollywood’s global influence and how have audience appetites changed since 2020? Staff writer at The Atlantic, Shirley Li, joins the show to answer those questions and more.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:05.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
0:09.5	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:11.5	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
0:15.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:18.8	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:26.0	For years now, Hollywood insiders, critics, and audiences alike have bemoaned the decline
0:32.3	of the movie star.
0:34.0	And instead, it feels like we've gone from Hollywood stars to Hollywood IP, franchises,
0:39.6	sequels, and sagas that dependably get people into theaters until 2020.
0:45.4	Then things got shaky.
0:48.1	Theater going dropped.
0:49.9	Streaming skyrocketed, and the box office has been on a rocky journey to recovery.
0:55.0	There was this really catchy motto going around that, you know, all Hollywood had to do was
1:00.5	survive until 2025.
1:04.3	That is Shirley Lee. She's a staff writer for the Atlantic that covers culture.
1:08.8	There are a lot of franchises on the horizon with sequels and reboots and live
1:12.6	action remakes.
1:14.1	Like many film enthusiasts, surely watch the 2025 summer box office for that big
1:19.0	blockbuster success.
1:21.2	But despite a big Memorial Day weekend from the final installment in the Mission
1:25.1	Impossible series and the $1 billion success of Disney's
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.