The co-production trap: Sino-foreign co-productions weaken foreign movies’ appeal in China

Purpose After decades of growth, China has become the world’s second-largest movie market. Unsurprisingly, foreign studios have long targeted China, often through Sino-foreign co-productions – movies jointly produced by foreign and Chinese studios, exempt from China’s import quota on foreign movies. Drawing on consumer cosmopolitanism, this study examines whether and how being a Sino-foreign co-production (vs purely foreign production) affects the box-office performance of foreign movies in China. Design/methodology/approach Using secondary data on 769 foreign movies released in China in 2006–2019, we test whether Sino-foreign co-productions (vs purely foreign productions) exhibit lower box-office performance. Additionally, we examine three quality signals – (1) star power, (2) director power, and (3) studio power – and three foreignness signals – (4) cultural distance, (5) economic distance, and (6) political distance from China – as potential moderators that may mitigate the negative effect of co-production on box-office performance. Findings Sino-foreign co-productions perform worse at the box-office compared to purely foreign movies. This negative effect is mitigated by signals of quality – star, director, and studio power – and foreignness – cultural, economic, and political distance from China. Originality/value The findings advance research on the antecedents of box-office performance in China and contribute to the literature on international partnerships in cultural industries. They also offer insights for foreign studios seeking to enhance the box-office performance of their movies and for policymakers overseeing international collaborations.