China Takes on Hollywood

In 2007, an up-and-coming Chinese leader by the name of Xi Jinping was having dinner with the U.S. ambassador. As the evening wound down, the ambassador asked Xi if he'd seen any good movies lately. Xi said he had a DVD of "Flags of Our Fathers" that he meant to watch. He added that he liked Hollywood's World War II films because they're "grand and truthful" in their moral outlook. By contrast, he thought Chinese films were too concerned with "talking about bad things in imperial palaces."

If that's a guide to what Xi wants to watch, then he's probably a fan of "Wolf Warrior 2," the patriotic shoot-'em-up that has just become the top-grossing film in Chinese history, and the first non-Hollywood title to crack the top 100 of all time. China's filmmakers have long hoped to tell patriotic stories with Hollywood flair, and "Wolf Warrior 2" shows they can do it. That's good news for Chinese audiences -- and a stark warning to Hollywood.