Chinese movies don’t make any money: or at least, the only directors that make money are Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaoggang, says one real-estate investor who also dabbles in the media. This from a brief Chinese article on Sina.com:
尽管冯仑是一名地产商人，但开办了一本电子杂志《风马牛》。对于“竞争”者如徐静蕾《开啦》等电子杂志，冯仑大揭其底，称“这些杂志基本上赚不了钱”。而记者询问他是否也会投资电影，冯仑连连摆手，称“一年中国电影票房也就三十几个亿，赚钱的就冯小刚和张艺谋两个导演，投资电影其实赚不了钱”。 记者 巫天旭
That’s what he said. Sounds a bit bleak, but on the other hand, considering the DVD market and whatnot, it’s not hard to believe that profit margins from box office and other related products are going to really pull in a lot of money.