Foreign viewers’ tastes increasingly shape US films, as foreign ticket sales have grown over the past decade from 58 to 68 percent of the $32 billion global film market:
Studios have begun to cast foreign actors in American-themed blockbusters like “G.I. Joe.” Scripts are being rewritten to lure global audiences. And studios are cutting back on standard Hollywood fare like romantic comedies because foreign movie-goers often don’t find American jokes all that funny. Several Hollywood studios have gone as far as financing, producing and marketing original movies for markets like South Korea and Brazil.
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Satisfying foreign audiences has been tricky for Hollywood. Years ago, audiences in Japan or South Korea would faithfully go to the multiplex to watch movies that were written, produced, and cast out of Hollywood. Now, increasingly sophisticated local films are giving Hollywood a run for its money.In South Korea, ticket sales to local movies accounted for about 10% or 20% of box-office revenue in the 1990s. Hollywood movies grabbed the lion’s share. Now, local fare makes up nearly 50% of South Korean ticket sales, according to Screen Digest.