China's box-office weight has already affected the kind of films Hollywood is making. But when it comes to the revenue a movie can bring in outside the cinema, the US is still leading the way. 

Internationally, film merchandise is big business. According to market researchers NPD, sales of licensed toys from Hollywood movies hit 5.7 billion US dollars, a sum equivalent to 85 percent of all Chinese box office receipts, in 2016.

In the US, merchandise sales account for 70 percent of a movie's total revenue, more than twice that of revenue generated by ticket sales. In China, however, 90-95 percent of a film's revenue comes from ticket sales and product placement.

Liu Wanlan is the CEO of Pintu 360, which provides business model analysis.

“The merchandise markets in China and the US are very different from each other,” Liu said. “This is mostly because China has nowhere near enough franchises. If you look at American movies, there are a lot of big franchises, just look at Star Wars. The characters and other content that make up these movies provide the basis for a lot of merchandise. Without this IP, the merchandise won't make any sense. It wouldn't have a brand to back it up.

“So, if the Chinese merchandise market is to develop, it can't rely on buying intellectual property rights from abroad because these rights can just as well be sold to someone else, or the merchandise can be made in the US. So, China will have to develop its own franchises.”