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In France, The Preference Of Hollywood Films Has Also Been On The Increase ...

In France, the preference of Hollywood films has also been on the increase with 58 per cent of US box office share compared to only 39 per cent in 1985. In this context the question arises as to why are Hollywood productions preferred to home productions on foreign screens?

Table 1 Most prolific film-making nations (numbers of films ranked by 1994 output)

1990
1993
1994

1.
Indiaa
948
812
499

2.
USA
477
440
420

3.
Japan
239
238
251

4.
Hong Kong
247
-
192

5.
China
134
154
148

6.
France
146
152
115

7.
Italy
119
106
95

8.
Russian Federation
300b
137
90

9.
UK
47
60
70

10.
Korea, Republic of (S.)
116
63
65

11.
Germany
48
67
57

12.
Egypt
64
62
57

13.
Mexico
72
40
54

14.
Spain
42
56
44

15.
Indonesia
110
27
32

16.
Taiwan
-
23
29

17.
Australia
34
23
29

18.
Czech Republic
53
18
22

19.
Canada
42
35
22

20.
Poland
31
21
20

a 1994 southern India only. b USSR
Source: Screen Digest, June 1995, p. 129 in Hoskins et al. (1997: p. 11)
Nowadays, hundreds of movies are released per year compared to the relatively small number only ten years ago. Although Hollywood is still top entrepreneur in cinemas, it is in a constantly state of change, reusing and recreating plots of movies of the past in order to attract the same interest groups. According to Hillier (1993, 2001) most movies are destined to be viewed only one time. This one time must be exceptional and original in order to be viewed again. In their recent research Hoskins et al. agree but also elucidate (1997: p. 45-55) that Hollywood feature films are of high entertainment value so that some audiences may want to watch the film more than once. According to them, Hollywood has more than one advantage over competitors when it comes to film production. First, economically, the US has the largest domestic market with, as Hoskins et al. (1997: p. 38-43) illustrate, the largest common language and a high household income. This is important in the sense that English is the largest language market in the world and widely accepted as a second language.
Second, Hollywood has worldwide dominance through its use of established and globally recognized actors and actresses, who have their own fan audiences and act as media magnets as shall be discussed in the chapter to follow.
Third, to explain by using the author's own words,
‘Los Angeles is the single physical location in the world where all the necessary ingredients for a successful feature film are readily accessible whether they be stars, production skills and infrastructure, directors, financial and distribution expertise, entertainment lawyers, script editors, or the agents who often act as deal-makers.' (Hoskins, 1997: p.