Hoping that the record-breaking Chinese revenues from "Avatar" can be replicated many times over, Rupert Murdoch has urged Beijing to further open up its movie market at the country's leading international filmfestival.
Murdoch and his Chinese-born wife, Wendi Deng, walked the red carpet at the Shanghai International FilmFestival's opening ceremony Saturday alongside Hollywood stars including Susan Sarandon and Matt Dillon. A day later, pageantry gave away to tough talk. Speaking before a panel discussion on film finance attended by a top Chinese film regulator, the Australian-born media mogul said Sunday that "the promise" of China's huge investment in screen infrastructure "has not been fully realized because market access remains so restricted."
