Hollywood's 'lost kingdom'


A multiplex patron checking out a poster for a Chinese-language comedy at a theater in Beijing. — ©️2024 The New York Times Company

BEFORE the sequel to Aquaman was released in China in December, Warner Bros did everything it could to sustain the original movie’s success.

The Hollywood studio blanketed Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with movie clips, behind-the-scenes footage and a video of an Aquaman ice sculpture at a winter festival in Harbin, a city in China’s northeast.

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