Jun 15, 2019 - Economy

Hollywood also feeling the bite from Trump's China trade war

This image shows a row of  billboards in China showing movie posters with Chinese characters for American movies.

Hollywood billboards in Beijing in 2012. Photo: Olivier Chouchana/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

China is restricting Hollywood's access to its box office revenue as the U.S.-China trade war drags on, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: The Chinese market is as crucial to U.S. film studios 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Disney, Sony pictures, etc. — as it is to any other U.S. industry. China is projected to have the world's biggest moviegoing audience by 2020, according a PricewaterhouseCoopers study.

The intrigue: Disney is the only exception to China's current freeze on granting film release dates to American films, the Post reports — thanks in part to the Shanghai government's majority ownership of Shanghai Disney.

Go deeper: How China is building its own Hollywood

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