China’s big-ticket investors have been relentless in raising the stakes in Hollywood. Last year, the Dalian Wanda Group, a formidable name in real estate and entertainment sectors, acquired Legendary Pictures to become the first Chinese firm to own a Hollywood studio. The Wanda group, led by Wang Jianlin, runs AMC, a successful international cinema chain in the U.S., as well as Odeon and Nordic Cinema in Europe.

Mr. Wang’s forays capped a string of significant investments by Chinese firms in Hollywood. In April 2015, Chinese film studio Huayi Bros signed an agreement with STX Entertainment, an American motion picture company. The Sino-American joint-venture would co-produce and distribute 12 to 15 films. Alibaba, the e-commerce giant led by Jack Ma, has reportedly sunk sizeable cash in the Hollywood blockbuster Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation. The China Film Group made an investment in the money churner Furious 7.

Commercial gains apart, these investments are likely to anchor the spread of China’s soft power. Two factors are to be noted. The first is the massive size of the Chinese market of film-goers. That is impelling film-makers in Hollywood to cater to the cinematic tastes of the audience in mainland China as well as the Chinese diaspora, which has a well-established global footprint.

Second, the ownership of movie-making infrastructure, where the Chinese have a major shareholding, is likely to spur Hollywood’s pull towards China. There are visible trends that dream-weavers in Hollywood are already aligning with the real and anticipated demands of Chinese censors. All films and video games entering the Chinese market are channelled through the Culture Ministry and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Yet, Chinese investors have to tread carefully in trying to expand their global soft power. Too much pressure to cater to Chinese tastes can result in a blowback.

Traditional markets of Hollywood products, including the U.S., significant parts of Europe, Japan and South Korea, used to the American narrative in films and not on the best of political terms with China, are prone to mounting a cultural revolt.

All is not well

Already, there are signs that all is not well with the Hollywood-Beijing tango. The Great Wall, a Legendary Pictures offering which tried to bridge China’s cultural gap with Hollywood by fusing an all-out action film in the setting of the Song dynasty, with Matt Damon in the lead, did tepid business at the U.S. box office. The Chinese audiences also responded poorly to the February release of the Sino-U.S. joint venture. On Douban, a popular movie review site in China, The Great Wall scored a lowly 4.9 out of 10.

The poor response, in turn, has cast a shadow on the future of Oriental Movie Metropolis — the Wanda group’s big studio and resort in Qingdao, where some parts of the movie were shot. Mr. Wang apparently wants his studio in China to become a global movie-making magnet. The Wanda group also recently failed in its $1 billion deal to acquire Dick Clark Productions, the U.S. television group known for staging the Golden Globes award show.

Voices are growing louder in the West that China should take recourse to subtle manoeuvring rather than flaunting its financial muscle in order to serve its interests in Hollywood. The perfect ‘Made-in-Hollywood’ noodle soup with Chinese and American cultural ingredients may have to wait some more time before it can be served.