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国电影导演张艺谋将启用克里斯蒂安•贝尔(Christian Bale)主演一部讲述日军野蛮占领南京历史的电影，这一大胆之选凸显了中国电影行业走向全球的日益膨胀的雄心。
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克里斯蒂安•贝尔(Christian Bale)
张艺谋在周三的新闻发布会上说，这不仅是我一直在等待的机会，也是所有中国导演一直在等待的机会。
Associated Press
张艺谋
据媒体调研公司EntGroup Inc.统计，受过去十年来电影公司整合的推动，2009年中国国产片数量较2008年增加12%，达到456部。中国最大的电影发行商和制作公司博纳影业于本月早些时候在纳斯达克上市。
据EntGroup 统计，2009年，中国国产片票房收入较2008年增加44%，达到620亿元（93亿美元）。中国在全球各国票房收入排行榜中位列第九。美国以987亿美元居首位
流入电影行业的这些资金给了张艺谋这样的导演更多机会，他们得以提高电影质量，使用那些以前只有好莱坞大片才能用得起的特效。
加州大学圣巴巴拉分校（UC Santa Barbara）中国文化研究副教授贝里（Michael Berry）说，中国的电影制作公司正在努力向世界电影“大联盟”进军；张艺谋是中国最有名的导演，如果有人让中国电影走向世界，这个人就是他。
张艺谋最新的影片改编自中国作家严歌苓的一部畅销小说，影片将于1月份开机拍摄，特效大师威廉姆斯(Joss Williams)将加盟拍摄工作，他曾在马特•达蒙(Matt Damon)主演的《绿色地带》(The Green Zone)、HBO的电视剧《兄弟连》(Band of Brothers)等影视剧中负责视觉效果。
这部讲述1937年南京大屠杀的电影拥有人民币6亿元（约9000万美元）的预算，资金由张艺谋和制片人张伟平通过他们的公司新画面影业公司(New Pictures Film Co.)、一家中资银行合作伙伴以及数名投资者筹得。影片尚无在美国发行的计划，该片英文名暂定为“Nanjing Heroes”（南京英雄）。
59岁的张艺谋导演希望能再现影片《英雄》的辉煌，这部2002年的影片以古代为背景，由李连杰(Jet Li)主演。《英雄》是中国大陆的第一部票房大片，获得了1.77亿美元的全球票房，同时也是张艺谋在海外最为成功的影片。
毋庸置疑，其他中国风格的电影也在美国市场留下了印记。《卧虎藏龙》是在美国取得票房收入最高的海外影片，迄今的票房收入为1.28亿美元。这部2000年的影片由来自台湾的李安(Ang Lee)执导。
这种邀请好莱坞影星参演的策略以前也曾在中国使用过。萨瑟兰(Donald Sutherland)就参演了中国知名导演冯小刚2001年的电影《大腕》。这部影片受到了中国观众的喜爱，但在美国取得的票房还不到1,000美元。
张伟平说，贝尔的片酬并不便宜，但这是一种投资，肯定会给我们带来回报。
张艺谋说，贝尔身价不菲，但他有能力可以影响世界。
上世纪八十年代末，毕业于北京电影学院的张艺谋凭借在各大电影节上的丰厚斩获跃上了国际舞台。先是他的《红高粱》在1988年柏林电影节上拿下了金熊奖。随后，《大红灯笼高高挂》在1991年获得了奥斯卡最佳外语片的提名。在1994年的戛纳电影节上，张艺谋凭借影片《活着》夺得评委会大奖。这三部影片的女主角均由巩俐出演。
张艺谋拒绝预测他的新片将获得怎样的商业成功。他说，你永远不能为了票房成绩来做计划，你只要在拍摄影片时全身心投入，然后希望一切顺利。
Laurie Burkitt
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is tapping Hollywood actor Christian Bale to star in a movie about Japan's brutal occupation of Nanjing, a bold choice that highlights the surging global ambitions of China's film industry.
Mr. Bale, who starred in 'The Dark Knight' and 'Batman Begins,' will play the film's leading male role, a priest who saves the lives of Chinese refugees fleeing the Japanese assault. By choosing Mr. Bale, one of Hollywood's biggest names, Mr. Zhang, an Oscar-nominee director also known in recent years for orchestrating the elaborate opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is making a global play. 'The Dark Knight,' released in 2008, grossed over $1 billion at box offices world-wide. It wasn't released in China and Mr. Bale's name isn't well-known here.
'This is not just an opportunity I've been waiting for, but one that all of China's filmmakers have been waiting for,' Mr. Zhang told a news conference on Wednesday.
The Chinese government has prioritized the creation of homegrown production and distribution companies big enough to compete with U.S. film giants like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. It believes that if China becomes a major player in the global film industry it will help to export the country's culture and soften its image overseas.
The number of locally produced films shot up 12% in 2009 from a year earlier, to 456, according to media research firm EntGroup Inc., spurred by the consolidation of studio companies in the last decade. China's biggest distributor and production studio, Bona Film Group Ltd., listed on the Nasdaq stock market earlier this month.
Box-office revenues from domestic Chinese films jumped to 62 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) in 2009, up 44% from the previous year, according to EntGroup. The country ranks ninth in international box-office revenues. The U.S. topped the global market at $9.87 billion.
All the money flowing into the film industry is giving filmmakers like Mr. Zhang greater opportunities to step up their production quality and use special effects that have been affordable only to big-budget Hollywood films.
Chinese studios are now getting a shot at the big leagues, says Michael Berry, a Chinese film expert and UC Santa Barbara associate professor of Chinese Cultural Studies. 'This is China's biggest brand-name director,' said Mr. Berry. 'And if anyone is going to open China's film to the world, it's going to be him.'
Mr. Zhang's latest film, based on a best-selling novel by Chinese author Yan Geling, is set to shoot in January and will include the work of special effects supervisor Joss Williams, who has overseen visual effects for movies such as 'The Green Zone,' starring Matt Damon, and HBO's TV series 'Band of Brothers.'
The film, depicting the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, when Japan invaded China's then-capital city, will have a budget of 600 million yuan ($90 million), funded by Mr. Zhang and producer Zhang Weiping through their company New Pictures Film Co., a Chinese banking partner and several investors. There are no U.S. distribution deals in the works for the movie, which has the working title of 'Nanjing Heroes.'
The 59-year-old director hopes to repeat the success he had with 'Hero,' a 2002 dynastic-style film featuring Jet Li. It was mainland China's first blockbuster, grossing $177 million world-wide, and was also Mr. Zhang's most successful movie overseas.
To be sure, other Chinese-style movies have made their mark in the U.S. market. 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' is the highest-ever grossing foreign film in the U.S. market, earning $128 million to date. The 2000 film's director, Ang Lee, is from Taiwan.
The Hollywood-actor tactic has been used before as well in China. Donald Sutherland starred in 'Big Shot Funeral,' a 2001 film from famed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. Chinese audiences loved the movie, but in the U.S., it grossed less than $1,000.
Mr. Bale doesn't come cheap, but is an investment that is sure to pay off, says Zhang Weiping.
'He's expensive, but he has the power to influence the world,' Mr. Zhang said.
Mr. Zhang, a graduate of the elite Beijing Film Academy, burst onto the international scene in the late 1980s on the film-festival circuit. His 'Red Sorghum' won the Golden Bear award at the 1988 Berlin film festival. 'Raise the Red Lantern' in 1991 received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. At the 1994 Cannes film festival, Mr. Zhang received the Grand Jury Prize for 'To Live.' All three films featured actress Gong Li.
Mr. Zhang declined to speculate on the financial success of his newest movie. 'You can never plan for box-office success,' he said. 'You can only put your entire life into making a film and hope for the best.'
Laurie Burkitt
Mr. Bale, who starred in 'The Dark Knight' and 'Batman Begins,' will play the film's leading male role, a priest who saves the lives of Chinese refugees fleeing the Japanese assault. By choosing Mr. Bale, one of Hollywood's biggest names, Mr. Zhang, an Oscar-nominee director also known in recent years for orchestrating the elaborate opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is making a global play. 'The Dark Knight,' released in 2008, grossed over $1 billion at box offices world-wide. It wasn't released in China and Mr. Bale's name isn't well-known here.
'This is not just an opportunity I've been waiting for, but one that all of China's filmmakers have been waiting for,' Mr. Zhang told a news conference on Wednesday.
The Chinese government has prioritized the creation of homegrown production and distribution companies big enough to compete with U.S. film giants like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. It believes that if China becomes a major player in the global film industry it will help to export the country's culture and soften its image overseas.
The number of locally produced films shot up 12% in 2009 from a year earlier, to 456, according to media research firm EntGroup Inc., spurred by the consolidation of studio companies in the last decade. China's biggest distributor and production studio, Bona Film Group Ltd., listed on the Nasdaq stock market earlier this month.
Box-office revenues from domestic Chinese films jumped to 62 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) in 2009, up 44% from the previous year, according to EntGroup. The country ranks ninth in international box-office revenues. The U.S. topped the global market at $9.87 billion.
All the money flowing into the film industry is giving filmmakers like Mr. Zhang greater opportunities to step up their production quality and use special effects that have been affordable only to big-budget Hollywood films.
Chinese studios are now getting a shot at the big leagues, says Michael Berry, a Chinese film expert and UC Santa Barbara associate professor of Chinese Cultural Studies. 'This is China's biggest brand-name director,' said Mr. Berry. 'And if anyone is going to open China's film to the world, it's going to be him.'
Mr. Zhang's latest film, based on a best-selling novel by Chinese author Yan Geling, is set to shoot in January and will include the work of special effects supervisor Joss Williams, who has overseen visual effects for movies such as 'The Green Zone,' starring Matt Damon, and HBO's TV series 'Band of Brothers.'
The film, depicting the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, when Japan invaded China's then-capital city, will have a budget of 600 million yuan ($90 million), funded by Mr. Zhang and producer Zhang Weiping through their company New Pictures Film Co., a Chinese banking partner and several investors. There are no U.S. distribution deals in the works for the movie, which has the working title of 'Nanjing Heroes.'
The 59-year-old director hopes to repeat the success he had with 'Hero,' a 2002 dynastic-style film featuring Jet Li. It was mainland China's first blockbuster, grossing $177 million world-wide, and was also Mr. Zhang's most successful movie overseas.
To be sure, other Chinese-style movies have made their mark in the U.S. market. 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' is the highest-ever grossing foreign film in the U.S. market, earning $128 million to date. The 2000 film's director, Ang Lee, is from Taiwan.
The Hollywood-actor tactic has been used before as well in China. Donald Sutherland starred in 'Big Shot Funeral,' a 2001 film from famed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. Chinese audiences loved the movie, but in the U.S., it grossed less than $1,000.
Mr. Bale doesn't come cheap, but is an investment that is sure to pay off, says Zhang Weiping.
'He's expensive, but he has the power to influence the world,' Mr. Zhang said.
Mr. Zhang, a graduate of the elite Beijing Film Academy, burst onto the international scene in the late 1980s on the film-festival circuit. His 'Red Sorghum' won the Golden Bear award at the 1988 Berlin film festival. 'Raise the Red Lantern' in 1991 received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. At the 1994 Cannes film festival, Mr. Zhang received the Grand Jury Prize for 'To Live.' All three films featured actress Gong Li.
Mr. Zhang declined to speculate on the financial success of his newest movie. 'You can never plan for box-office success,' he said. 'You can only put your entire life into making a film and hope for the best.'
Laurie Burkitt
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