A Hollywood executive who spent nearly two decades helping American studios break into China's film market now says the industry has become too dependent on Beijing — and says his latest movie shows how things can turn around.Chris Fenton, a veteran producer who worked to bring major releases such as "Iron Man 3" to Chinese audiences, later became an outspoken critic of Hollywood's reliance on China, writing about his concerns in his 2020 book, "Feeding the Dragon.""We were really at the trailblazing, pivotal spot in terms of collaborating with that superpower and bringing in a product and service which had never been in that market before in any sort of serious monetizable way," Fenton told Fox News Digital."And we did that for well over a decade during really the glory days between the U.S.
and China in terms of the entertainment business."An aerial view of the Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios on Feb.23, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)TRUMP TRIES TO SAVE HOLLYWOOD WITH 100% TARIFF ON FOREIGN-PRODUCED FILMS, BUT INSIDERS SAY INDUSTRY IS 'DYING'Fenton began to realize this relationship came at a cost.He said U.S.
studios were making creative and business decisions in order to satisfy Chinese authorities that ended up boosting their film industry and spreading their messaging around the world."We placated them both by allowing their domestic industry to learn and progress as quickly as possible to become best in class like Hollywood," he explained."We censored our content, and we reprogrammed our content to fit the narrative that Beijing directed in order to have access to that market."One example, he said, involved the 2012 science-fiction film "Looper," starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Fenton said scenes of the story originally set in France were moved to China as filmmakers sought to appeal to Chinese authorities and audiences.Flags of the U.S.and China are displayed at the American Inter...