The MPAA is hooting victory, the studios who were denied their profits from China have been "paid in full" by the state owned national distributor, and everything is going to be all flowers, puppies, and unicorns.
Is it time to strike up the band and hold a parade to announce the dawn of a new golden age of cinema?
Nope.
China is paying the money only because the apparatchiks who run the country see it is in their personal best interests to pay the money.
Remember, we're talking about state run monopolies in the Chinese movie business. They don't have to worry about judges saying that the law of contracts dictate when, where, how, and to whom, payments should be made. They appoint the judges and make the laws whenever they want and however they want them.
This will happen again, repeatedly. It may take many different forms but when you boil it down, it will all be the same people doing the same thing.
I'm not saying that Hollywood shouldn't do business with China. It's a big market with a vibrant cinema-going culture. However, Hollywood thinks that China's billion+ ticket buyers will heal all of their self-inflicted injuries, and that's just a pipe dream.
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