Theater ownership is certainly no guarantee of box-office success, and quotas are no guarantee of quality. Yet Wang is a savvy businessman, so it would be premature to suggest he has bitten off a bit more than he can chew. Inasmuch as the Wanda empire of screens and its vast studio-project are basically real estate ventures, it still lacks the creative spark that animates all good art.

It is the rare film, such as Star Wars, Titanic or Avatar that soars in every available market. But it is also worth noting that these films reflect the creative stamp of stubborn, rugged individualists.

Such films are the box-office standards to beat, but they are hard to emulate. If Wanda can crack the code and produce mass-market films worthy of solitary genius, China would indeed gain prestige and be a force to be reckoned with in global cinema.

The author is a visiting research fellow at Cornell University in New York. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

( China Daily European Weekly 01/29/2016 page13)