This also means China will assert itself more aggressively to control Hollywood. In 2020, the Chinese film market officially surpassed North America’s as the world’s biggest box office, all but ensuring that Hollywood studios will continue to do everything possible for access to the country. Now, more than ever before, that boss is Beijing. No matter their clout in Hollywood, filmmakers and actors have always been subject to bosses who decide which movies get to soar at the box office and which are left to languish.

Hers is a cautionary tale-and a common one these days. (Zhao declined to comment on the matter.) Swiftly and quietly, Zhao’s native country appears to have disowned her-at least, for now. Eternals, which should have been a shoo-in to screen across China, now faces a potential ban. Beijing responded by deleting social-media celebrations of her Oscar win and canceling the release of Nomadland. In March, the Communist Party–owned newspaper Global Times anointed her “the pride of China.”īut then an eight-year-old interview in which Zhao called the country a place “where there are lies everywhere” spread online. And Zhao’s success in Hollywood made her the model of a crossover artist, bringing Chinese sensibilities to American filmmaking. Born in Beijing, she also has ties to Chinese entertainment royalty: Her stepmother, Song Dandan, is one of the most celebrated comic actresses in the country. Zhao was, for a time, just as warmly regarded in China.

She commands so much admiration from the industry right now that she gets away with showing up to the red carpet of a film premiere in jeans. In November, her big-budget Marvel movie, Eternals, will arrive in theaters. In April, she made history as the first woman of color to win Best Director at the Oscars.

C hloé Zhao, the director of Nomadland, is new Hollywood royalty.

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